When I was invited to Taiki recently I was a little skeptical as I was not really sure as being vegetarian what I could expect in an Asian restaurant influenced by Japanese and Korean cuisine. However I was glad I did as this little restaurant that sits snugly on Indiranagar’s 100 feet road, has several choices for vegetarians too.

Founded by Krish Nayak and Apeksha Kamath this restaurant has a Pan-Asian menu inspired from Japanese noodle bars, Korean street food, food from Thailand and other parts of Asia. Taiki incidentally is from ‘tai’ (great) and ‘Ki’ (brightness) and the decor here done up in hues of teal and beige make for a perfect ode to its name.

The menu is extensive and has several sections so there is a lot of choice in terms of the dishes you can try here. I do recommend the Green Ginger Smoothie a delightful mix of spinach, apple, ginger and coconut water that is creamy and light.

I started my meal with two dishes from the ‘Small Eats’ section. The Crispy Lotus Stem was a superbly crafted dish made with deep fried lotus stem and coated with sweet chilli sauce and topped with black sesame seeds that gives a beautiful crunch to the dish. The taste of this one is superlative and it is certain you cannot keep your hands off the dish.

I also tried the Mixed Vegetable Tempura, a selection of vegetables like carrots, onions, baby corn and capsicum that is deep fried with a light batter that is crisp and has a nice bite. This is served with mayonnaise and soya sauce that makes a good contrast to the tempura.

From the main course I sampled the Basil Fried Rice, a Thai styled aromatic fried rice served with basil and chillies that makes for a lovely dish thanks to its simple flavours that never feel overpowering.

Do check the Teppan Phad Thai an interesting melange of stir fried rice noodles, tossed in peanut sauce, chilli, onion, fried shallots, peanuts, mint, coriander and fresh lime that has a slightly spicy and tangy touch.

I ended my meal with the Korean dessert Bingsu, a snowflake dessert made with milk shavings which I choose to top with the seasonal mango. This dessert is unique for its light and fluffy texture and the fresh mango pieces and pulp adds a wonderful touch to the dessert.

This post was made possible by a meal at Taiki but all opinions are my own.