I have always loved Thai food and my trip to Thailand for my honeymoon earlier this year only had me craving for more! So it was wonderful to hear about the Asian Grill Festival at Shiro Bangalore which was from November 19th to December 16th, 2012. I decided to check it out to enjoy some smokey flavors, tangy sauces which accompany all grills there. I heard that the menu crafted by Executive Brand Chef, Rahul Hajarnavis featured some really exquisite Chicken, Fish and Pork grills along with brilliantly crafted vegetarian grills too so I was really excited to be part of the Bloggers’ table to check it out.
Shiro has got a wonderful feel of a Buddhist monastery with huge statues and double high ceiling nicely adorned with lights. It is a tastefully decorated place that you can bring your date along to or have a quiet dinner with family too. We met up with Executive Sous Chef Priyank Chouhan  who walked us through the Asian Grill Festival menu and the specialties that they have for this festival. He checked with us whether we wanted to have something particular or should he send his favorites. We were fine with him sending us his favorites.
First item we tried out was the Tsukuni Chicken Skewers which were perfectly grilled minced chicken skewers with just the right kick of spicy chilli mayonnaise for accompaniment. We relished this and the Chef nodded in agreement too that he loves to eat his burgers with this chicken. I was reminded of the street food in Thailand and the taste was almost as good as it!
I wanted to have a drink to accompany the wonderful tastes of the Asian Grill menu. Priyank suggested that I have the Fig Mojito which is not from the Asian Grill menu but from the exhaustive drinks menu that Shiro has. I love my drinks in an exotic fashion so it was wonderful to taste this stupendous drink!
Next we tried out the Indonesian grilled chicken. This was warm, grilled chicken marinated with Sambal Oelek (raw chilli paste). A little bit of tang was added with the serving of Avocado Salsa. I enjoyed the different flavor but this definitely wasn’t my favorite dish of the night!
Next up was Grilled Thai Prawns which were delicious prawns infused with just the savory blend of coriander and scallion. This was served with Wasabi Mayonnaise. I love Seafood so enjoyed these prawns thoroughly which were grilled perfectly with a smoky flavor!
I enjoy non-vegetarian food a lot and rarely try vegetarian food when I’m at a non-vegetarian restaurant. But Chef Priyank insisted that I try out some vegetarian grills just to understand how well they are prepared at Shiro. So I decided to try out Grilled Mushroom Skewers which is fresh button mushrooms which is grilled to perfection after being flavored with a unique blend of Hoisin (Chinese Dipping Sauce) & Balsamic (Italian) vinegar. I really enjoyed these mushrooms and felt that Shiro maybe only one of the very few places in Bangalore where mushroom can be made so perfectly well that even a non-mushroom lover would lap them up!
Continuing with Seafood, I tried out the Grilled Snapper Brochettes. This was a fish dish spiced up with Thai Green Marination which offered me a unique authentic burst of flavors! It was served with carrot pieces and lime which were a perfect accompaniment with the fish. I felt a sauce could have added more pleasure to this dish though!
The final dish for the evening was Grilled Chicken with Citrus Tamarind Glaze. This was succulent chicken marinated with Shiro’s in-house special tamarind glaze. The experience was enhanced with a serving of charred corn kernels. I loved the flavor of tamarind glaze with a creamy sauce which was pleasurable to my taste buds. This sure was one of the highlights of the evening along with Tsukuni Chicken Skewers.
I was a little disappointed that Asian Grill Menu doesn’t have a dessert menu. Chef Priyank asked me not to worry and told I could select from many nice desserts in the Shiro menu. One was the trio of cheese cake which was a platter of mocha, lemon and chocolate cheesecake. I enjoyed the mix of 3 flavors at one time.
Another dessert not to be missed at Shiro was Chocolate Volcano – dark chocolate with a chocolate ganache filling served with vanilla ice cream. This sure was the highlight of the evening with regards to desserts!
Overall, it was a wonderful evening at Shiro to bring in the festive spirit of Xmas and the New year with wonderful tastes thanks to the Asian Grill Festival!
