The Fatty Bao – Restaurant Review

 Fatty Bao Will Make Me Phat

Most of the time I've come out of a restaurant in Delhi being not so impressed with the food, given their exorbitant prices, or being completely disappointed. Not so with Fatty Bao, a pan-Asian restaurant which totally lives up to its name in R.K. Puram's Sangam Courtyard complex . You will certainly stagger out a kilo heavier after pigging out on its deliciousness and want to keep going back for more.

Scrumptious Seafood Salad 

Lets start with the char siu bao, a taco style steamed bread, stuffed with pork belly, green apple and cucumber. The bao melts in your mouth with its sweet smokey hoisin sauce and before you know it, it's all gone. That was the first thing I ordered in the restaurant and it ruined me for any other bao even though they are all good. Have had the duck bao too but it didn't compare.

The second and definitely as-amazing dish, was the seafood and pomelo salad. A light Thai style salad with pomelos, tempura fish, prawns and squid in a tangy tamarind, coconut milk dressing, feels like summer in your mouth and I devoured a bowl on my own. Was contemplating a second helping but thought that would too greedy. The starters are so good that most of the time you don't really end up even getting to the mains.

Char Siu Bao

The tuna tartare was subtle and came with a layer of jelly on top. We also had the salmon carpaccio which was pretty alright though I preferred the tuna. The Vietnamese sugarcane chicken was nicely spiced and the chilli, basil chicken fried rice and smokey chicken (which I cannot seem to find on the menu now) were good too but by then I was too stuffed and couldn't manage to shovel more than a couple of spoons in. As you can see the entire meal was non-vegetarian. A friend later told me that the veggie bao was amazing and I said I'd have to take her word for it as there's no way in hell I'm ever going there and ordering the veggie bao! Vegetarians, sorry! That's a whole different world you're going to have to experience through someone else.

As for the desserts I've only tried the Coco Caramel, an assortment of milk chocolate ganache, and fancy ice-creams and mousses and crunchy bits but was not overwhelmed by it. Am sure there are better items on the dessert menu.

What was Left of the Tuna Tartare Before I Realized it Needed to be Clicked!

Where the food is mostly great, the drinks are a let down. The cocktails were average and they could do a lot better. I would stick to a wine or a sangria or traditional drinks. My prosecco with raspberries was overwhelmingly dense with a raspberry puree which was quite sour and at 600 rupees plus tax was a total waste of money. The first time I ate here I had to return a cocktail that was highly recommended by the waiter as it was.... not nice. Still, the food really makes up for it and the menu is extensive. Am already looking forward to my next meal there.

Mind Your Head!

The kitschy decor and Chinese pop art on the walls make up the light and fun ambiance which complements the style of food served. However, the overhead hanging lampshades with Medusa like extensions with butterflies near the windows got too much for a poor young girl whose hair got caught in one of the spokes and spent what I would believe a few embarrassing moments de-tangling herself before sitting down to enjoy her meal! Yeah, watch out for that. Also, be warned, the restaurant does not allow children below the age of 10 at night.

Wine Country Lodging - Napa

Hennessey House, Napa

One of the most important decisions for me when planning a holiday is accommodation. I think the place you're bunking in can make or break your vacation, so when we planned to go to Napa, the wine growing region in the United States last November, I pored over Tripadvisor, travel blogs and Google for more than two weeks looking for the perfect place for our stay......and it sure paid off.

After all that research, I zeroed in on Hennessey House, a lovely bed and breakfast run by Lorri Walsh which got rave reviews. The place is a charming old world house with Victorian interiors and each room has a unique character, some with four poster beds and names like Mary Delight, Fox's Den, Pheasant Dreams, Duck Nook and Vintner's Trellis to name a few.

We stayed in a room called Lavender Lace and our friends stayed in Mary Delight. Our room had a four poster queen bed complete with drapes and a canopy and while I admit I wasn't too keen on a queen bed thinking it would be too constricted for the two of us, I had one of the best nights sleep there.

Lounging in Lavender Lace

What also helped was the fact that the rooms, instead of having a kettle with provisions for tea and coffee had instead a decanter of sherry with two glasses in keeping with the whole wine country atmosphere. Nice touch! 

The bathroom had a stained glass window and a boxy wooden flush above the commode with a chain that you needed to pull, which gave off the old world vibe perfectly. The place has since been renovated so might be a bit different than I described. The inn, located in a residential area is about a 10 minute walk from the Napa Wine Train station.

Mary Delight

However, the high point there was actually the service. We got so much more than we bargained for and every aspect of it was personalized. We arrived late around 5 p.m. driving in from San Francisco and were warmly welcomed by Lorri and Lynn. After dropping off our bags in the rooms we were treated to an evening feast on the dining table. 

Laid out on the dining table were three different bottles of wine, one red, one white and a rose, a cheese and fruit platter, and very refreshing water with cucumber and lime along with home made cookies. All on the house.

Last but not the Least

Breakfast the next morning had very nice coffee, even though I'm not much of a coffee drinker, teas of different kinds laid out, home made granola and breads laid out on the side table. The meal was personally made by Lorri and Lynn and served by them to all the diners. If the dining room gets full, guests are set up in the living room. We had a crystal goblet filled with freshly cut fruit placed in front of each of us and then plates with an artichoke omelet with asparagus on the side and a delicious muffin. 

There were two different types of butter on the table including maple butter and a foodie glutton like me just had to have it all! The coffee, the granola and, and, and. By the time I got up from the table, I was ready to explode. We also had to eat fast as we were running late to catch the wine train and then head out to Tomales Bay for the next leg of the trip. Our time at Hennessey House was so short and fleeting that it felt incomplete. 

While planning our trip my friend and I had a tussle about whether to spend two nights in Napa or two nights in Tomales Bay. I was pushing for more of Napa, but we went with Tomales Bay. We arrived at our`resort' which was more like a motel in the middle of nowhere, It was dark, our friends' room keys were taped to the window pane of the reception door in an envelope, and ours was nowhere to be seen.

 After calling our contact we found it had fallen on the floor. The place was so impersonal, and the exact opposite of our experience at Hennessey that we were quite depressed. We razzed our friend quite a bit for opting to spend more nights here. However, we got a ton of sightseeing done over the next day and a half which would never have happened otherwise and the motel grew on us by the second night so she was forgiven!

Still, Hennessey, the lovely bed and breakfast, run with so much warmth, care and thought is a destination in itself and should be savored for at least two or three days. I'll be back for sure.