Innovative is the new authentic

After Bengaluru and Mumbai, The Fatty Bao, the 'fun Asian diner', is opening its doors in Delhi, at the Sangam Courtyard in RK Puram, on August 17. Chef Manu Chandra tells the author that his inspiration for this restaurant may be Asia, but his flavours are big and innovative. Here's a pick of his five signature dishes from The Fatty Bao

Chasu ramen bowl
Yet another favourite from the pork lovers' circle is the chasu ramen meal bowl: Silky alkaline noodles in a slow-cooked pork-stock broth with bacon-braised pork belly that is also slightly crispy, along with cured soft-boiled eggs, bean sprouts, scallions and hints of burnt garlic. "The ramen sensation is also fairly new, it's not what the samurais were eating," jokes Chandra. "Hence, authenticity can be established anytime."

Brie tempura
Brie tempura is a unique "East-meets-West" starter and one of Fatty Bao's favourites. Mixing French Brie cheese with Japanese tempura, this dish is essentially a cheese cracker on a plate - batter-fried crunchy on the outside, and gooey on the inside. It is accompanied with a contrasting garnish of plum sauce, pickled beetroot, toasted almonds, citrus and shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven-spice mix).

Asparagus tempura sushi
This sushi roll is a vegetarian delish made with cream cheese. It has crunchy batter-fried asparagus and soft cream cheese rolled in well-seasoned sticky rice. In Chandra's words, it is "comfort sushi - and neurogastronomy is about what the brain craves." He prides his extensive menu that is 40% vegetarian, with dishes such as wild mushroom and truffle oil dumpling and the 'Jain dumpling' with green almonds, water chestnut and malabar spinach.

P B and J
This playfully named dish is another diner must-have - slow-cooked pork belly with miso jam. "Our pork comes from Sri Lanka which has an old culture of raising very high-quality pigs," says Chandra. Adding some seaweed and ginger and sesame togarashi, the belly is first sliced and double-cooked, and then glazed with two to three types of miso jam, for a slightly sweet and a deep, earthy flavour.

Char siu bao
This double-cooked meat treat comes in the eponymous bao. "We cook it for over eight hours for a melt-in-the-mouth experience," says Chandra. This comes accompanied with apple kimchi and hoisin sauce, against the soft and pillowy bao. "The exciting thing about a bao is that it lends itself to fresh applications - because it is open-faced you can put fresh as well as cooked ingredients inside, and have a lot more play on flavour and texture."