Discover this new pan Asian restaurant hidden in the bylanes of Anna Nagar

Tokyo has the highest density of restaurants per capita in the world. It is a city shaped by an almost feverish devotion to food, where dining is less an occasion and more a daily ritual. In Chennai, Anna Nagar comes closest to that restless energy. Cafés, kiosks and hole-in-the-wall kitchens crowd its lanes, making a persuasive case for leaving your stove untouched.

This week’s discovery in the bylanes of Anna nagar East is Pep Asia. Tucked inside a café within a residential colony off the main road, it carries the hush of a speakeasy.

“We began as a cloud kitchen in T Nagar during the pandemic,” says Dennis Kumar, co-partner and owner of Pep Asia. “Last year, we took over Shack in Anna Nagar. When we acquired the space behind it, reopening Pep Asia as a dine-in restaurant felt like the natural next step.” To get to the restaurant, diners walk through Shack, a continental café, before slipping into the more intimate pan-Asian space tucked behind it.

Complete with a hibachi grill, the 26-seater space presents an expansive menu curated by Head Chef and co-partner Aravind Raja. “I understand the city’s appetite and palate, so putting this menu together wasn’t difficult,” he says. Aravind’s résumé lends weight to that confidence. He has previously worked at Golden Dragon at Taj Coromandel, China XO at The Leela Palace, and later served as corporate chef at Nasi and Mee.

We begin with a fragrant Thai coconut milk soup, perfumed with kaffir lime leaves, fresh ginger, basil and a measured hit of chillies. It wakes up the palate without overwhelming it. It pairs well with the punchy jumbo lotus stem. Unlike the thin Indian lotus stem often served crisp, these thicker slices are lightly fried while retaining a fresh, almost juicy bite. Tossed in a robust Thai garlic and black pepper spice mix, they deliver crunch, heat and depth, making it difficult to not reach for another bite.

The small-plate section invites lingering, from Korean shoestring sweet potato to Malaysian kicap chilli tofu and crisp fried chicken wings. The menu thoughtfully tags each dish with a flag denoting its country of origin and a chilli marker to indicate heat, making the pan-Asian sprawl easier to navigate.

To temper the heat, we turn to the salads. The Japanese silken tofu and avocado salad, with a wasabi dressing, is sharp and the kind of clean, bright freshness that feels tailor-made for a Chennai summer. In contrast, the Vietnamese chicken salad arrives more robust, layered with roasted peanuts, fried onions and fresh herbs. It is substantial enough to stand in as a meal on its own, though restraint may prove difficult given the rest of the menu.

Whatever else you choose to revisit later, the in-house signature seafood menu demands attention. The tiger prawns, tossed in superior XO sauce, are deeply savoury and expertly balanced. The flesh remains juicy and tender, a detail that speaks as much to sourcing as it does to technique.

Dennis is a seafood supplier and exporter, and the founder of Oyster Reef, a sustainable seafood sourcing platform that supplies several hotels across Chennai and beyond. The quality on the plate reflects that proximity to the source.

Another must-try from the seafood menu is the Thai hawker’s style crab omelette that announces itself even before it arrives on the table. The crab is soft and aromatic, and folded into a fully omelette that is slightly golden and crispy on the outside.

For the main couse, we skip past the Thai curries, laksa, pad Thai, and many renditions of ramen and fried rice, with difficult I must add, and try something new. The Malaysian mee hoon goreng, a vermicelli style noodles done in a classic hawker’s style is spicy and comes with protein of choice.

Ending a spicy Pan-Asian meal without dessert feels incomplete. We turn instead to a delicately made caramel custard prepared with coconut milk and palm sugar, scented with pandan leaves. The pandan crepes, stuffed with a sweet coconut filling, pair beautifully with coconut ice cream studded with chunks of fresh coconut.

More often than not, a massive menu at a small restaurant is a recipe for disaster, but here, the sprawl feels considered rather than chaotic. The kitchen knows where its strengths lie and is not afraid to keep turning out dishes that are bold, spicy and punchy. “It is a large menu, but we’ll keep changing things. We’re adding sushi next week,” says Aravind, laughing.

This is the kind of place where each visit could unfold differently — hibachi-grilled tenderloin one time, vegan clay pot mapo tofu the next. The only real question is: what are you ordering when you return?

Pep Asia is at C-24/2, 6th Street, Ward 101, Anna Nagar East. A meal for two costs between ₹600 and ₹800.

Published – March 02, 2026 04:10 pm IST