Reconstructing Thai fare

Progressive, Bangkok and ethnic are three words that characterise Inka (pronounced "ing kha"), a brand-new Thai restaurant that opened a month ago at Central Embassy.

If you consider yourself a gastronome, I suggest you disregard these creative marketing lexicons and let the food do the talking.

Last week, with a mixed perception of Inka's concept which reads like a lifestyle branding strategy, I paid the 42-seater visit for lunch not knowing what to expect.

Behind the restaurant's all-ope front facade was a bright and breezy dining space designed to mimic a casual vibe of a high-end Mediterranean beach club.

From left: The beef cheek massaman with mashed potato; Mexican tostada with Thai-style tuna tartare topping.

Reinforcing a Mykonos resort feel are soft-curved white-washed walls, vernacular furniture, woven handicrafts and plenty of natural light.

The inviting, Instagram-ready eatery, lulled by easy-to-listen EDM, looked like it was conceptualised for posh millennials.

So, I wondered if there'd be anything for me and my dining companion, a retiree, who just like myself doesn't care much for visual frills over cooking grace.

As we left the restaurant that day, two bags of takeaway made our impression.

The reconstructed khanom jeen thod man, inspired by a dish of Phetchaburi province.

Inka is the latest venture of Yuki Srikarnchana and Sirisopa Chulasewok, proprietors of the successful Nara Thai Cuisine brand.

That means the culinary quality of Inka, despite its youthful standpoint, is approved by old pros.

Inka's "progressive" menu is an original collection of Thai dishes, some native to specific provinces, that are reconstructed according to Bangkokians' interpretation with a worldly-wise flair.

Although they are inspired by time-honoured recipes or portray familiar tastes of classic dishes, not exactly the same offering in the 70-item menu can be found anywhere else.

There are, for example, dishes such as Ratchaburi-styled braised beef jowl with Japanese udon noodles; crispy calamari with salted yolk relish; grilled sirloin steak with anchovy-seethed Café de Paris sauce; duck confit ramen in pickled lime soup; fermented tea leaf salad with grilled Hokkaido scallop; and Chiang Mai khao soi noodle curry with grilled lobster. Prices start from 220 baht for an appetiser to 990 baht for an Australian lamb main dish.

The bright and breezy Thai restaurant is designed to offer a casual feel of a high-end Mediterranean beach club.

The beverage menu, which lists soft drinks, beer, wine and coffee and tea, includes 15 choices of creative house-crafted cocktails, mocktails and smoothies.

To offer a fine welcome, the restaurant treats every guest upon arrival to a complimentary amuse bouche. That day, it was northern-style tomato-chilli relish on fresh cucumber.

We ordered the starter tuna tostada (420 baht). The restaurant's adapted version of the Mexican dish showcased crispy flour tortilla chips topped with Thai-styled tuna tartare -- a scrumptious mixture of lime, ginger, bird's eye chillies, avocado and chopped sashimi-grade tuna.

For the next dish, Inka takes an all-time favourite Thai snack, miang, to another level. Here, the DIY leaf-wrapped dish (350 baht) incorporates crispy deep-fried tiny prawn and pork cracklings.

The well-seasoned jumble of miang, permeated with the crusty pork and prawn tidbits as well as fresh chillies, lime and ginger, is to be wrapped in fresh betel leaves and dressed with a savoury sweet tamarind-based sauce to create a very addictive bite-sized thrill.

Our gastronomic pleasure continued with a hearty salad of roasted Brussel sprouts and grilled pork neck (350 baht), which deliciously summed up the restaurant's culinary approach.

One of the popular dining zones, the Seagull Cave.

The miniature cabbages were blanched and grilled to develop a smoky charred touch before being wok-fried with juicy cubes of grilled pork neck and pork cheek. Adding more pungent kick to the generously-portioned salad, which may also be served as a side dish to eat with rice, are a sweet, sour and savoury dressing dusted with toasted rice powder.

Then, there's a brilliant marriage between Asian massaman and Western mashed potatoes.

Inka's beef cheek massaman (690 baht) features soft and succulent chunks of braised beef cheek in a nutty sweet curry that was given a tangy balance by som za (bitter orange) and a garnish of ah-jahd relish. For potato, instead of being cut in wedges, it was presented in the style of mash to give the curry a thicker body and different new texture.

A Bangkok-styled moules marinieres is represented through tom kha asari clam (550 baht). The sweet and sour coconut milk soup, fragrant with smoked dry fish and herbs, features naturally sweet Japanese clams and is to be enjoyed with a baguette crouton.

For a personal-sized noodle dish, I sampled khanom jeen thod man (fresh fermented rice noodles with fish cake), a common dish of Phetchaburi province.

Thai coffee panna cotta with condensed milk froth and palm sugar honeycomb.

Inka reconstructs the low-key local fare to a healthier and more cosmopolitan level by adding to it a colourful variety of fresh vegetables, making the dish look like a neat bowl of Vietnamese bun thit nuong (cold rice vermicelli).

Inka's realm of desserts is crafted with ingenuity and grace.

Should you wish for something mild and creamy, I personally recommend coffee panna cotta (250 baht). Old-fashioned Thai coffee, characterised by dark-roast fragrance and intensity, was rendered as the Italian custard with condensed milk froth. Lending a nice crusty finish to the wobbly panna cotta was palm sugar honeycomb.

If a zesty frost is your preference for a palate-cleansing finale, go for mamuang bao granita (220 baht). It features slices of preserved mamuang bao (mini mangoes, native to Songkhla province) on a lime green mass of super sour crystalline shaved ice accompanied by a duo of dippings: caramelised fish sauce and chilli-sugar.

Other worth trying options are sago and coconut sorbet with fresh mango sauce and grilled banana stick with coconut cream sea salt caramel.