A slice of Canton in Colaba

Pics/ Atul Kamble and Suresh Karkera

In July 2018 Miss T strutted in with oomph to Mandlik Road and promised a glitzy bar and dining experience. In under a year-and-a-half, owners Jay Yousuf and Gauri Devidayal and the Woodside Inn boys Sumit Gambhir, Abhishek Honawar and Pankil Shah realised she wasn't drawing enough attention. While the trio pulled out of the venture, Yousuf and Devidayal decided to resurrect it. They brought in chef Ken Lee of Hakkasan fame. "Miss T was a learning experience, and Chef Lee's ideas deserve a menu of their own."

Now, they are ready with Mei 13, a Cantonese outpost, which has a wok expert and a dim sum expert under chef Lee's leadership. The orange carpet and golden framed booths inside have made way for comfortable sofa-and-chair seating. The long T-Bar remains. They will be serving most cocktails from the Miss T menu. Mei, we learn, means beautiful.

Kent Lee, who joins Mei 13 as head chef, says, "Cantonese food is about the balance between sweet, salty, spicy and sour. We use 12-13 sauces and ingredients such as oyster sauce, soya, sugar, salt, white pepper, black pepper and black bean sauce. I've added 12 of my signature dishes to the menu," he says.

Macademia and cashew nuts with spicy butter

Rs 400

Cantonese chakhna, anyone? A sticky nut mix with spicy ginger-garlic rubbed butter, this one will give the desi ones a run for their money.

Prawn and chia seeds

Rs 600

One of our favourite dishes, the prawns are fried in a tempura, and drizzled with a wasabi sauce with the slippery texture of chia seeds. Dunk them in the Shanghai chilli sauce and garlic coriander sauce for some heat.

Mei 13 duck cigar

Rs 850

A braised duck stuffing in a spring roll pastry looks like a thick cigar, and is presented in an ash-coloured tray filled with black bean sauce.

Michael Pien, dim sum master, started making them at the age of 14 as a hobby. "Proportion and practice are most important when it comes to making a good dumpling. The right amount of filling, and the way you portion it is crucial. Luckily, I had many years to master the technique," he says.

Edamame and corn dumpling

Usually, edamame dumplings have a flat vegetal flavour but this pan-fried version has a delicate sweetness and creamy texture with corn and an edible flowers garnish.

Sui mai

The juicy bite comes in a yellow firm pocket. The art of eating dimsums, they say, is in greedy bites.

Sporting tattoos of Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, his mother and former Singaporean Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore-based Malaysian sous chef Xavier Tan tells us he started cooking as a kid in his parent's restaurant. The wok, he explains, is all about fire control. "You have to keep raising the pan, but there is a wrist technique to it. We put water in and add the vegetables and strain it within three seconds. Next, we add the garlic, wine, sauces and black bean sauce and finish the dish," he says.

Wok tossed French beans with olives

Crunchy, garlicky and the addition of olives gives it a tart finish.

Garlic chilli pok choy

Executed with one leafy ingredient, the pok choy is crunchy, and we love the simple use of two flavours.

Time 7 pm to 1.30 am
At Mei 13, 4 Mandlik Road, Apollo Bunder, Colaba.
Call 22801144

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