Bird’s-Eye View

By The Mekong

When a restaurant has a great chef, you get superlative food. And when in addition, it has  pleasing ambiance and stunning views, you cannot but get rave reviews. Mekong ticks all the boxes

Text: Farzana Contractor

The first impression of a restaurant comes from how it looks as you walk in for the very first time; the second, from how the energy of the place feels. For me, a first-time visitor at By The Mekong, (Mekong, from now onwards) it ticked both boxes. The visual is very agreeable. Upscale, grand, without being over the top. Its largeness is rather welcome in the generally cramped-up Bombay and the spaces between tables is immediately noticeable and most acceptable. The restaurant certainly pleases the eye. And I hadn’t even reached my designated table as yet, at the far end of the restaurant. I was still to go ‘awww’ at the views Mekong offers and, I did exactly that, unintentionally ignoring the pulled back chair by the restaurant manager and heading straight to the big glass picture window, I went, ‘Awwwww’, with a few extra doubleyous, if you know what I mean!
Stunning, awesome views. By The Mekong is actually By The Race Course and overlooking the Arabian Sea and half of Bombay, including the original Ambani Antila and copy Singhania JK House. But never mind that. I am here to enjoy a good meal in some good company.
It is flattering and humbling that half the staff was in attendance. They were pleased that UpperCrust was finally here. Well, I was too. Been waiting for too long to get to Mekong. This may have been my first visit to Mekong, but it wasn’t the first time I was eating food prepared by Chef Xiang Bin Li, the Chef de Cuisine. Among my favourite Chinese restaurants in town is the one situated at my friend Namita Saraf’s Grand Hyatt. It was there, at China Gate that Chef Li had prepared the most amazing Beggar’s Chicken that I had savoured with friend Javed Gaya, who is a genuine food lover and a good writer.
Now Chef Li was here at The St Regis and as expected many patrons used to his style of cooking have followed him here. But that is no reason for him to gloat. He is that kind of a person. Cool and smiley, doing his best to communicate in a language which is still foreign to him. “But I have learned a lot,” he says smiling shyly, by which he means, learnt a lot more English, “when I first arrived here in Mumbai, 12 years ago, I did not know a word!”
Well, good for us. So now you can tell us a little about yourself, for the benefit of our readers, most of who are super foodies…
I invited him to sit down, which he did eagerly and began his story, “It was my aama (mother), the grand matriarch of the large family I grew up in, who was a great, great cook. My first experiences with food came from her. She would hold my little finger and trot me off to the fresh market nearby to buy produce we needed for the day. This was a daily affair. So you can say I learnt the art of selecting the best vegetables and fruits very early on. This is the most important part in any cooking and till today the lessons I learnt from my aama are what I follow. No good ingredients, no good food!” exclaims Chef Li as he throws his hands up in the air, dramatically.
From looking after the family livestock to pottering around in the kitchen while his mother cooked, what little Li enjoyed the most, I learnt, was attending community weddings. This was in Sichuan in China where the family was based and, at these weddings everyone would get together and cook! Li’s interest in cooking only deepened by and by and he landed up becoming a chef!
It has now been 23 years of a rich culinary experience and the chef has built up a rather formidable reputation. His mother’s age-old recipes and secrets have equipped Chef Li well. He accepts with reverence the art of cooking as his inheritance.
 Chef Li started off his career in Beijing after working for three years across three properties, his quest to seek new adventures and create things out of the ordinary led him outside of China and into India. I suppose it is the same quest to do new things that made him switch from Grand Hyatt to The St Regis, as his answer to my question ‘why’? proved. “I was going to expand my culinary creativity here. In By The Mekong you don’t just get Chinese, but also Vietnamese and Thai cuisines…” Point noted.
I shall come to the food a bit later, for to understand a restaurant it is imperative to understand its functioning. Here at Mekong, the system is that Chef Li will go to every, and I mean every table, twice. Once in the beginning to check what you would like to eat and he will guide you and the second time after the meal to check for responses. This is not an exercise in PR. His objective is to check what went down well. He makes his own assessment. If he receives negative feedback on a dish, he may tweak the recipe or even pull it off. He is the captain of the Mekong river boat and has full authority to do whatever he can to make the dining out experience for patrons absolutely perfect.
The one thing that Chef Li does not like is wastage and he could even check you if you are over-ordering. His friendliness allows him to part with his mobile number rather easily. And you are welcome to discuss the menu even before you turn up at the restaurant. Like many of his old clients do, or even house guests. So that’s certainly neat.
Well, leaving me to enjoy the expansive  vista from a window table up on the 37th floor, Chef Li disappeared into the kitchen to cook up a storm for us.  
The new menu at Mekong comprises 40 new dishes. My recommendation for vegetarians is Wok Fried Bean Curd and Vegetables in Teriyaki Sauce, as well as the Crispy Lotus Root. For the non vegetarians it is Oriental Chicken Wings, Szechuan White Fish and New Zealand Lamb in a Mala Sauce. The soup section
The mains section which is divided into four, has seafood, meat, poultry and vegetables and bean curd. Of course there is also the staple rice and noodles section. Providing the very best catches, Chef Li offers a sizzling Local Bay Red Snapper, Cochin Bay Tiger Prawns and even an Arabian Sea Lobster. For those who must have chicken at every meal, there are three ways you could order them! A Vietnamese Style Chicken, Poached Chicken or a Wok Fried Sliced Chicken – as you please.
Vegetarians need not worry as Chef along with his team have curated six dishes that will reflect Chinese tastes and its plethora of flavours. Shredded Potato Wok tossed with Sichuan Peppers, Wok Fried Iceberg Lettuce in Oyster Sauce, Stir Fried Pak Choy and Shiitake, Sizzling Okra, Stir Fried Mushrooms and Wok Tossed Peruvian Green and White Asparagus taste as good as they sound. A portion of Hainanese Fried Rice and Wok Fried Lamb Rice Noodles put a satiating end to the menu.
I was at Mekong at lunch. Which makes for a wonderful experience with soft sunlight streaming in, the cityscape below you, stretching away… Made me realise this is a perfect business lunch place, with so many top notch offices around in the area. I wasn’t surprised to see corporate honchos, executive and lawyers occupying tables around me, talking away as they dug into their Orient on the Clock, a clock-wise a fixed 4-course  Asian Bento experience, costing Rs1499,  inclusive of taxes, that will require just 40 minutes from you, start to finish. Good thinking, helpful for those in a rush.
By The Mekong works well. As a business restaurant, as a romantic one at night when the atmosphere is dim and cosy and as a family and party place especially when you have three very private dining rooms accommodating different numbers.
As my meal concluded, with Passion Fruit and Silken Tofu Cheescake, a rather interesting dessert.
I was all very decided about what I wanted to do next. Inspired by the name of the restaurant and with the very fertile imagination that I possess, I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to go on a boat cruise on the Mekong, a river steeped in history, second longest only after the amazing Amazon.’ A river which has been a lifeline for thousands of years, for zillions of people that depended on it for their survival. Flowing through from China into Vietnam, passing Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, it would be an interesting, most unusual culinary adventure.
Must check with Chef Li if he is game…

By the Mekong
Level 37, The St. Regis Mumbai,
462 Senapati Bapat Marg,
Lower Parel, Mumbai 400013