Bonsai Pan Asian Kitchen

This blog will be like pulling off a band aid. Relatively quick, but a little painful.

Okay, who are we kidding? My blogs are never short :p

Visited Bonsai Pan Asian Kitchen earlier this evening with my parents, aunt and uncle. The menu seemed to be the standard offerings of the Pan Asian food fad that has gripped Karachi in its clutches as of late. 

My father ordered the Tom Yum with chicken, which he really enjoyed. It was reminiscent of Baan Thai which was our first love, but has closed down unfortunately. I ordered the Som Yum papaya salad which was very fresh, with the strong flavors I'm accustomed to. The kicker in this which won me over was the generous, juicy, large serving of prawns. The best part was, the seafood did not smell, and was definitely a highlight of my evening. My aunt ordered the Special Seafood Chowder which she really enjoyed, but to be honest it was corn soup with a whole lot of vegetables and prawns in it. I didn't see any fish. calamari or potato. Perhaps rename it to Special Seafood Soup? I also ordered the Beef Tataki, which I requested be sliced very, very thinly so that the beef gets a chance to marinate properly in the sauce. This was my first disappointment of the evening. The beef was sliced thicker than I like and the sauce was just sour, smelling strongly of uncooked vinegar. Didn't like that one at all. It also came when we were done with the appetizers because our server forgot and had to be reminded that we had one more appetizer left. Then I went on to try the Bangkok Chili Bites, which again was a dish doused very heavily in vinegar, with absolutely no other taste coming through. A sour boneless chicken bite on a stick I would not want to try again.

On to the mains we go. First of all, there was a very generous serving of both Egg Fried Rice and White Rice served with our meal, which was appreciated. We ordered the Garlic Chicken which was actually quite strongly flavored with garlic, and it was definitely a dish other Pan Asian restaurants should learn how to make. I particularly enjoyed that. The second dish we ordered was Mongolian Beef which I didn't enjoy. There was no umami flavor, and the beef was overcooked. The longer the beef sat, the tougher it became. The final main of the evening was the Teppanyaki Chicken, which we again had to remind our server to bring. He also forgot the two sauces, which was really sad because they might have helped enhance the flavor of the overcooked, dry chicken. I wish the Garlic Rice that came with it had been as strongly flavored as the Garlic Chicken.

My uncle wanted to end the evening with a dessert, and we were given a choice between a slice of Del Frio Heavenly Chocolate Cake, which I did not want to risk, and a Chocolate Mousse. Looking to salvage the evening somewhat, I decided to go with the mousse which was a major oops. This dessert was just sugar, sugar, sugar. No taste of actual chocolate and definitely left an aftertaste in my mouth. The consistency of the mousse was not mousse-like. It was runny, runnier than chocolate pudding and was just no. 

I didn't get a look at the bill, but my dad told me it was a pricey place, and he too felt the food wasn't worth it. I'm sure there are people who enjoy the offerings at Bonsai, but there's nothing there that I would like to try again.

Oh, and I also gave my feedback to the owner who was very hands-on and present, so I hope he works on the things I have mentioned.

Bangkok Chili Bites

Beef Tataki

Teppanyaki Chicken

Chocolate Mousse

Egg Fried Rice

Garlic Chicken

Garlic Rice

Mongolian Beef

Som Tum

Chicken Tom Yum