Pa Pa Ya houses an open kitchen where you can see chefs cooking up dishes for you. A huge bar in the center of the restaurant, on an elevated level, and tables set around the bar. They also have a small outdoor area which is great for winter evenings.
I've tried a lot of food here at multiple occasions, and nothing that I had here was just average, everything was really good each time. Really really good! If you're looking for a place to have excellent food at, get amazing ambience, and great service, Pa Pa Ya should be it for you. Molecular gastronomy in some dishes, and great taste in all.
Every meal at Pa Pa Ya begins with an amuse bouche, that keeps varying. The dimums here are to die for, and the surprising part (well, for me at least) is that the vegetarian dimsums are better than the non vegetarian ones. Sauteed Leeks with Water Chestnut and Roasted Aubergine Dimsums are simply fantastic! And if you're bored of the steamed variety, do try the Red Curry Wild Mushroom Rangoons- a crisp open shell filled with mushrooms in a beautiful red curry. A burst of flavours! The baos are made with such finesse and an absolutely spot-on flavouring inside them- super soft.
Sushi lovers are going to love Pa Pa Ya for the different sushi varieties done here. If you're in a big group or if you intend to focus your entire meal around sushi, then I suggest you go for the Nigiri Tree or the Sushi Matrix. The Nigiri Sushi Tree has two pieces each of five kinds of nigiri. Placed on a branch of a tree, the presentation is excellent! The same also goes for the Sushi Matrix which is a 360 degree matrix that has some amazing in-built feature which keeps the matrix cold and the sushi fresh.
If you like to experiment with your sushi and not go for the original version, trust Pa Pa Ya to blow your mind and your taste buds with Oriental flavours topped on your sushi!!
They also have a great deal of sliders, that come in steamed buns and not the usual buns, and the sauces inside them are Asian too, and so are the stuffings. Healthier than the burgers and sliders you have otherwise, and more delicious too. A few other places in Delhi also do these Asian burgers and sliders and they taste really good!
Being an Oriental place, they have a superb take on their tacos. Be it the vegetarian version with Avocado Tacos, Corn and Scallion, or the Grilled Chicken and Avocado Tacos, the tacos are mind-blowing good! A full-of-flavour filling, crisp tacos, with three in a portion. A must order if you want Oriental flavours yet something different. The Crispy Lotus Stem make for an excellent appetizer that you can bite on while enjoying your drinks, and so do the
If you want to try food at Pa Pa Ya that you think only a handful of places in Delhi may, and I repeat may, give a competition to, then you must try the Butayakitori, Apple and Betel Leaf Tartare- which is pork belly skewers glazed with sweet and spicy flavours, and grilled to perfection with a char on the edges. Heavenly food! Another dish that is absolutely stellar in taste is the Chilli Hoisin Duck Dogs, which are smaller versions of a hot dog, filled with duck made in hoisin sauce, and crispy fish flakes on top. No words to describe how good this tastes. Super soft bun and such excellent balance of flavours with that juicy duck- just go try this ASAP!! Another one from the same list- Chorizo Tacoyaki. Oozing with chorizo in it and some grilled octopus. Pan-fried in a ball and totally something that would take you to heaven, accompanied with parmesan tuile.
The place does not only do great appetizers, sushi, baos and the likes, but also some marvelous main course dishes. I've had the main course at Pa Pa Ya only once, when I had gone for a review, and the only two dishes I tried were superb to say the very least. These two dishes were served to practically every blogger who came for a review I guess, because the review menu was pre-set by the restaurant and every review I read written by a blogger, people were talking only about these two main course dishes. Which also tells me how the restaurant is so confident about them, hence you must try them- Singapore Chilli Crab Mantao Buns and Lamb Rendang Curry. The crab is fried in a decently thick batter, and then poured with a thick singapore chilli sauce made of coriander, ginger, garlic, and a mildy spicy sauce on top. Mantao Buns, which are soft are rolled into a small bun (like Hubba Bubba), is to be devoured with this dish. The Lamb Rendang Curry has a fine thick consistency and the gravy is to die for! But when you bite into the lamb, you see how 'falling of the bone' attains a new meaning in your life for lamb. Excellent preparation! Have this with Malabar Parantha or something of a similar texture and see how the dish elevates in taste. You can always opt for rice and noodles with the usual Thai, Chinese and other gravies here, but go for the stuff that you rarely get elsewhere in Delhi under one roof.
I haven't tried any other dessert at Pa Pa Ya but the Chocolate Ball on Fire. Comes with vanilla icecream topped with chocolate sauce inside a shell of a thin layer of chocolate that's made in the form of a ball. Around the ball is chocolate soil, broken down pieces of chocolate cake, nuts, and some candied fruits. It's a bed of chocolate soil and chocolate cake with nuts under the ball. Some hot liqueuer poured on top of the ball and the ball melts open, showing you the contents inside. A huge dessert, can be shared among 3-4 easily, but my sister and I managed to polish it off by ourselves- it was that good!!
Talking about the drinks at Pa Pa Ya, they're just like the food- excellent and with a superb presentation. If you're fond of sweet drinks and like to go with flavours that don't surprise you but still please you, then go for Bit-No-Ne Chado. Comes in a teacup with a dehydrated orange slice on the side that got finished within seconds. Beetroot syrup in a sweet concoction made with vodka. Fuku Sour (my favorite one), another vodka based cocktail, tastes superb with the in-house liqueuer infused with melon, and some sweet and sour syrup to go with. Pa Pa Ya pairs this with a raw mango candy (a lick lolly) that is just so cute and tastes excellent! I'm a complete vodka person when you ask for my preferences in cocktails and another cocktail that I tried here was also a vodka based one. Lighthouse- lemongrass infused vodka (how do you get better than this?), galangal, some pineapple flavor and slight orange. Very refreshing and a sweet drink at that.
Top 5 dishes for me: Duck Hoisin Dog, Pork Belly, Chorizo Tacoyaki, Sushi (just about any) and Lamb Rendang Curry. In case you're confused about what to order, ask your server to give suggestions. They know the food too well.
The food and drinks here are too good, and at the end of the day that's what we all want when we step out for a meal, right? To have great food and drinks and have a great time as well. Love love love Pa Pa Ya!
Address: Level 4, Select Citywalk, Saket (there's only one lift that leads to Pa Pa Ya)
Contact: 8800002881, 8800002882Timings: 12 Noon to 1AM
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