One of the most heartening fallouts of the lockdown, which hit the hospitality sector severely, has been the many ways in which the industry has responded to the unprecedented crisis. Among these many ways, the one that stood out was the idea of ‘cloud kitchens’ taking off—and how! In the early days of the lockdown, these kitchens were set up by restaurateurs whose businesses had shut down, or chefs who had lost their jobs, but with the entry of the big daddies of the industry—from the Taj to ITC Hotels—the idea of people happy to phone in a meal of their choice—and thankfully not from an industrial pizza or burger brand—seems to have found a vibrant new market.
These ‘cloud kitchens’ could be operated by established players such as Sushi Haus/Asian Haus, or Nosh, or a successful newbie such as Biryani By Kilo, or by a popular restaurant brand or hotel, but the only distinguishing feature they share is that each one of them is a kitchen producing food with a popular following. And the good news is that their number seems to be growing even though we are in the fifth stage of un-lockdown. This recent growth may be in response to the fact that the average diner still seems to be comfortable eating in, rather than eating out. The one to catch my attention first was the Asian Farm Shack (www.asianfarm-shack.com and www. shackhood.com), which has been launched by the creators of the successful restaurant brand Setz (it used to be called Zest in their time)—namely, Prasanjit Singh, Abhijit Mukherjee and Anirudh Singhal.
What I loved about the concept is that it is committed to using only seasonal vegetables sourced from neighbourhood farmers; chilled meats, fish and seafood (so, nothing is frozen and thawed before cooking); and it solves the problem of plastics by serving its food in locally procured clay pots. Asian Farm Shack goes beyond the traffic light curries (red, yellow and green) and explores the world of stirfries and noodle soups that South-East Asian kitchens are famous for.
My favourites are the Vegetarian Ya Cai Noodle Soup Bowl (vegetarians, in fact, would love the options on offer), Prawn Toban Chilli with young cucumber and onions, Sliced Fresh Fish drizzled with Indonesian sambal, and Assorted Seafood (crab meat, squid and prawns) brushed with a coat of Thai yellow chilli paste, with leeks and onions tossed in (it comes capped with a crab shell, with the claws adding to the excitement of the display). Fresh and light, packed with flavours, Asian Farm Shack is one place where I’ll keep ordering from.