Eating has been second nature to Goans, with variety of delectable recipes linked to Saraswat dishes, Portuguese cuisine, and so on, ready to satisfy the palate of the foodies. During the past few years large number of restaurants and eateries catering to varied kinds of foods has opened around Goa, with few of them achieving good response from the clientele. The PanAsian Bowl is one such popular restaurant, writes Ramnath N Pai Raikar
LOCATED at a few minutes distance from the famed Miramar beach, PanAsian Bowl is a venture of the Quenim family, which has been into the hospitality business for nearly six decades and has the unique distinction of opening the first major hotel in the state - Hotel Mandovi.
Continuing with the family’s philosophy of fresh, healthy food and an innovative dining experience, the third generation of Quenim family – Akshay and Anish – independently ventured into the hospitality business and two years ago, opened the PanAsian Bowl with the menu including specialties from Malaysia, Thailand and China, with the la carte specialties marinated in exotic spices, steamed-grilled or pan fried with the ingredients of the choice of customers assisting in an ‘out of the world’ fine dinning experience. The restaurant is today on the ‘must visit list’ of foodies who visit Goa from around the world. It has also recently won a prestigious award in the Best Pan Asian category.
Mr Akshay Quenim, sharing his experiences as regards setting up and running the restaurant with his brother Anish, said that he always wanted to be in the restaurant business, and went to Les Roches International School of Hotel Management, in Switzerland, on merit. "When I returned to Goa, I found that the basic style of hospitality is same all around the world, with the main aim focussed around pleasing the customers," he adds, pointing out that the Goan customers love being pampered with excellent service.
Speaking about the phenomenal success of PanAsian Bowl, Mr Akshay observes that the restaurant offered the best at an affordable price and soon captured the fancy of the local population. "Soon, the fame spread across the country and the globe and there are examples wherein the foodies from Dubai and other countries visiting the restaurant going for take-aways," he mentions.
Speaking further Mr Akshay states that the Bowl concept introduced at the PanAsian Bowl had never been experienced by Goans before. All this concept does is allow the customers to choose his accompaniments from a bar of meats and veggies, and then instruct the chef to cook his bowl in a choice of 18 ready-to-cook pastes available to him in a mild spicy category, along with rice or noodles of his choice. This concept also poses a challenge to the chefs to come out with new exciting combinations from the extensive range of fresh seasonal vegetables, noodles, rice, meats, sea foods and sauces to produce a meal that’s unique.
Mr Akshay also informs that he believes in giving a personal touch to his restaurant service. "In fact, I and my brother slog to put everything in place right from buying groceries, to selection of fish, with products like sauces imported from places like China and other Oriental countries," he maintains, adding that the restaurant team has been picked from all over, with the consultant chefs regularly visiting PanAsian Bowl from leading restaurants across the country. The young entrepreneur further informs that various food festivals and training sessions for the restaurant chefs are being regularly organised at his restaurant.
"The PanAsian Bowl has already completed two years and now is the stage when we can go for modulation in its brand," Akshay says, pointing out that the restaurant is now all set to expand into the state’s first Oriental Resto – Lounge, through collaboration with the NRB Group. The brand is also expected to soon venture into all major cities of Goa and subsequently, in the rest of the country as well.
Today, PanAsian Bowl is not only the most famous restaurant, but also the most visited one. And it has clean bowled its competitors as well as the customers with its taste, price and quality.
