Peng Zu, known as the founder of Chinese cooking, was a chef to Emperor Yao at the start of 21st century BC. He was responsible for taking Chinese cuisine outside the imperial courts and one of the most respected names in propagating the philosophy of Taoism.
InterContinental Chennai’s specialty Chinese restaurant, Tao of Peng, that started out in 2015 is one of the most authentic and well-known names for all those who savour Asian cuisine. The fact that it is an hour’s drive from Chennai and is situated along the picturesque ECR only adds to its allure. The specialty restaurant has now introduced a Pan-Asian brunch on Saturdays and we can tell you it’s definitely one-of-its-kind and definitely worth trying out!
At the brunch, you can indulge in mouth-watering Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean and Japanese cuisine as Chef de Cuisine, Tenzin Phuntsok takes you on an epicurean journey and guides you through the myriad flavours that make each of the above-mentioned cooking style unique.
Tao of Peng has a wonderful setting with tones of red, golden and black dominating the place. The brunch spread is colourful, full of textures and quite an extensive one at that. It is priced at a competitive INR 1999 (exclusive of taxes) and we can tell you it is value for money. Apart from the spread that is laid out, there is a separate live Asian grill section outside, where you can take your pick from chicken, pork ribs, tenderloin or zucchini, broccoli and tofu grilled with Asian sauces.
In order to try out a bit of everything, Chef Tensin curated a special tasting menu for us and we were thankful for the same. Between sips of lovely white wine, we started our brunch with a range of dimsums that included Truffle Edamame, Melange of Mushrooms, Garlic Chives, Gold Dust Chicken, Lobster XO pouch, Prawn Har gow and the slightly crunchy and delectable Cheung Fun. They were served along with Burnt Chilli Oil, Pepper Sauce and Soy.
This was followed by the highly-anticipated sushi choices that comprised of Californian roll, Ebi Tempura Maki, Nigiri, Rainbow Maki and Futo Maki served with the usual suspects – Wasabi, Gari and Soy. We devoured the Tori Katsu roll from the section and took a few servings of the same.
There are not many places in and around Chennai that do Asian grills but if you do want to have some exquisite options, we do suggest Tao of Peng. We savoured the New Zealand lamb chops, Chicken Negima and Prawn in Asian Tomato Relish. They also serve Wiskey-aged tenderloin and Barbeque Pork Spare Ribs. For vegetarians, they offer cottage cheese, mushroom, sweet pepper and zucchini grills.
After all of these, we had to squeeze in some space for the main course because who leaves an Asian place without some soulful curry. We tried chef’s Malaysian Lamb Rendang and Indonesian Chicken Curry with some Cantonese Fried Rice and Stir Fried Noodles with some stir-fried green to add some crunch to our plate. We could only hope that next time we can make more space in our bellies as these curries were extremely flavourful and delicious.
The dessert was also a high point of the menu. Chef Tenzin made our meal memorable with a plated dessert comprising of Cantonese crispy sesame sphere served with a quenelle of refreshing homemade Mandarin ice cream, followed by an extremely adventurous Black bean and vodka ice-cream (acquired taste but we loved it!) and a very mild lemon and mint sorbet to end the fantastic meal.
Tao of Peng is doing Pan-Asian brunch on Saturdays from 12.30 pm to 3.30 pm
Location: 212 Intercontinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort East Coast Road
Timings: Saturdays, 12.30 pm onwards
