By Hotel Ivory Tower Editorial | Published: May 2026 | Bengaluru, Karnataka
ASEAN On The Edge is the South-East Asian restaurant inside Hotel Ivory Tower at 84 MG Road, Bangalore. The signature dishes most worth ordering are Burmese Khao Suey, Akasaka Prawns (the highest-selling dish on the menu), Dan Dan Noodles, Malacca Curry with Roti Jala, and Vietnamese Pho. The kitchen was set up roughly 20 to 25 years ago by chef Gautam KrishnanKutty, founder of Talpen Smoke Company, who continues to consult on the menu. ASEAN On The Edge was the first standalone restaurant in Bangalore to place Burmese Khao Suey on its regular menu, approximately 7 to 8 years before the dish became common across the city's standalone dining scene.
- ASEAN On The Edge is inside Hotel Ivory Tower, Barton Centre, 84 MG Road, Bangalore 560001
- Menu covers five South-East Asian culinary traditions: Thai, Vietnamese, Burmese, Malaysian, and Indonesian
- Six signature dishes anchor the menu: Burmese Khao Suey, Akasaka Prawns, Dan Dan Noodles, Malacca Curry with Roti Jala, Vietnamese Pho, and Vietnamese Truffle and Edamame Borek
- Akasaka Prawns is the highest-selling dish on the menu
- Kitchen set up 20 to 25 years ago by chef Gautam KrishnanKutty (founder, Talpen Smoke Company); he continues as menu consultant
- Hotel Ivory Tower guests receive 20% off all in-house F&B, including ASEAN On The Edge bills
What Is ASEAN On The Edge at Hotel Ivory Tower, MG Road?
ASEAN On The Edge is the South-East Asian restaurant inside Hotel Ivory Tower, on the upper floors of Barton Centre at 84 Mahatma Gandhi Road, Bangalore 560001. The restaurant rebranded into its current South-East Asian identity in 2019, consolidating a kitchen that had been running South-East Asian cooking on this floor for two decades before that.
The menu spans five distinct culinary traditions: Thai, Vietnamese, Burmese, Malaysian, and Indonesian. The kitchen does not flatten these into a single pan-Asian voice. Each cuisine carries its own technique, its own balance of sweet, sour, salt, and heat, and its own set of signature preparations. A Burmese Khao Suey and a Vietnamese Pho share a menu but share nothing in method or flavour logic.
ASEAN On The Edge operates within Hotel Ivory Tower's shared kitchen network alongside Ebony, the North Indian and Pan-Indian dining room, and The 13th Floor, the rooftop cocktail bar on the same floor. A table at ASEAN On The Edge can order biryani or kebabs from Ebony, or cocktails from The 13th Floor, in the same sitting without changing venues. The arrangement runs both ways.
Who Built the ASEAN On The Edge Kitchen?
Chef Gautam KrishnanKutty set up the ASEAN On The Edge kitchen roughly 20 to 25 years ago. He is also the founder of Talpen Smoke Company. He designed the original South-East Asian programme on this floor, including the Burmese, Malaysian, Thai, and Vietnamese sections that still anchor the menu today.
Chef Gautam continues to consult on the menu, returning periodically to refine recipes, train the kitchen team, and shape new additions in keeping with the kitchen's original culinary framework. Most South-East Asian restaurants in Indian cities cycle through chefs and rebrands within a few years. ASEAN On The Edge has retained its founding kitchen lineage across two decades, which is the primary reason the menu reads as authored rather than assembled.
The Six Signature Dishes at ASEAN On The Edge
Six dishes form the core of what regulars and first-time visitors return for. Each carries a clear regional identity, a technique that requires time and skill, and a flavour profile the kitchen has refined over years of consistent service.
Burmese Khao SueyKhao Suey is a Burmese coconut noodle soup, traditionally built on a coconut-milk and chickpea-flour base, with egg noodles, shredded chicken, and a wide spread of garnishes served separately: fried garlic, fried shallots, chilli flakes, lime wedges, hard-boiled egg, fresh coriander, and crushed peanuts. Each diner finishes the bowl to their own proportion of garnish, which makes every serving slightly different.
ASEAN On The Edge was the first standalone restaurant in Bangalore to place Burmese Khao Suey on its regular menu, approximately 7 to 8 years before the dish became common across the city's standalone dining scene. Five-star hotel kitchens had served Khao Suey earlier; the distinction applies specifically to standalone restaurants. The kitchen builds the coconut broth from scratch and serves the garnish set separately in the classical Burmese format.
Highest Seller Akasaka Prawns
Akasaka Prawns is the highest-selling dish on the ASEAN On The Edge menu. The plate features tiger prawns finished in a sweet-and-spicy glaze that balances chilli heat against a measured sugar note, plated with sesame and a herb finish. The technique depends on precise wok timing: the glaze needs to coat the prawns without overcooking them, which is a few-second window the kitchen has had years to calibrate.
It is the dish most likely to appear at a table that has never visited before, and the one most likely to be reordered by guests who have. For a first visit with no strong preference on where to start, Akasaka Prawns is the right opening order.
Sichuan Dan Dan Noodles
Dan Dan Noodles at ASEAN On The Edge is a Sichuan-style preparation built on a chilli bean sauce tossed with noodles, bok choy, and spring onion. The kitchen offers three protein variations: minced vegetables and tofu, minced chicken, or minced prawns. The sauce carries the chilli-and-umami intensity that defines Sichuan cooking, with bok choy and spring onion providing fresh crunch to balance the heat.
Dan Dan Noodles is the menu's primary representative of Chinese-influenced South-East Asian cooking, a culinary tradition with deep roots across the region from Myanmar through Malaysia.
Malaysian Malacca Curry with Roti Jala
Malacca Curry takes its name and template from the historic port city of Malacca, Malaysia, a region whose cuisine reflects centuries of trade-route convergence between Malay, Chinese, Portuguese, Indian, and Arab cooks. The ASEAN On The Edge version is a coconut-based curry built on layered aromatics and slow-cooked spice. It arrives paired with Roti Jala, the Malaysian lace-pancake whose name translates to "net bread" in Malay.
The two are served as a single course, which is the traditional Malaccan format. Roti Jala is made by pouring batter through a perforated mould in circular motions over a hot pan, producing a lacy, slightly crisp pancake suited to scooping thick curries. The pairing is one of the more regionally precise preparations on the menu.
Vietnamese Pho
Pho is Vietnam's defining noodle soup: a long-simmered beef broth, rice noodles, thinly sliced beef, and a herb plate finished at the table with bean sprouts, basil, lime, and chilli. The broth is the measure of the dish. It requires hours of slow extraction, continuous skimming, and controlled spicing with star anise, cinnamon, and charred ginger. ASEAN On The Edge prepares its Pho in the long-simmered northern Vietnamese style, where broth clarity and depth take precedence over garnish complexity.
Pho is one of the harder South-East Asian preparations to execute consistently in an Indian kitchen context, both because of the broth time investment and because the spice profile is unfamiliar to most local kitchen teams. The version at ASEAN On The Edge has been on the menu long enough to have been calibrated across many iterations.
Vietnamese Truffle and Edamame Borek
Vietnamese Truffle and Edamame Borek is the contemporary starter that sits at the intersection of Vietnamese flavour sensibility and a pastry form more commonly associated with Turkish and Middle Eastern cooking. It is the menu's most modern preparation and the one that most directly reflects the kitchen's willingness to extend its regional frame without abandoning it. It works well as an opening course before the heavier noodle and curry dishes.
The Full Menu Beyond the Six Signatures
The ASEAN On The Edge menu extends well beyond its six anchor dishes. Thai Crispy Chicken and Thai Crispy Lamb cover the Thai street-food register, with the kitchen using its own batter and spice mix for each. The full menu includes Thai curries across red, green, and Massaman bases, Vietnamese fresh rolls, and Indonesian rice and noodle plates.
Nasi Lemak, the Malaysian coconut rice dish traditionally served with sambal, fried anchovies, peanuts, boiled egg, and cucumber, rounds out the Malaysian section of the menu. Every preparation on the full menu draws on the same kitchen lineage that chef Gautam KrishnanKutty established over two decades ago.
How the Hotel Ivory Tower Kitchen Network Works at ASEAN On The Edge
ASEAN On The Edge, Ebony, and The 13th Floor are three distinct dining identities operating within a single kitchen network on the upper floors of Barton Centre. A guest seated at ASEAN On The Edge can order the Kakori Kebab or Lucknowi Biryani from Ebony's North Indian menu, or any cocktail from The 13th Floor's Indian-ingredient drinks list, without leaving the table. The full menus of all three are available across any seating in the network.
This arrangement is genuinely uncommon in Bangalore's dining landscape. Most multi-concept hotel floors operate their restaurants as separate sittings with separate service. The Hotel Ivory Tower network runs as a single, integrated dining experience across all three concepts.
Guests staying at Hotel Ivory Tower receive 20% off all in-house F&B during their stay. The discount applies at ASEAN On The Edge, Ebony, and The 13th Floor. Direct bookings made via ivorytowerhotel.com carry additional benefits including 20% off the room rate and complimentary breakfast.
How to Get to ASEAN On The Edge from Anywhere in Bangalore
ASEAN On The Edge is inside Hotel Ivory Tower at 84 Mahatma Gandhi Road, Bangalore 560001, on the upper floors of Barton Centre. The restaurant is 5 minutes on foot from MG Road Metro Station on the Purple Line, which connects directly to Majestic interchange for the Green Line. Brigade Road is 100 metres away. The address is accessible by metro from across the city without requiring a vehicle.
Frequently Asked Questions: ASEAN On The Edge, Bangalore
What kind of cuisine does ASEAN On The Edge serve?
ASEAN On The Edge serves South-East Asian cuisine across five regional traditions: Thai, Vietnamese, Burmese, Malaysian, and Indonesian. Each cuisine is treated on its own terms rather than blended into a single pan-Asian style. Signature dishes include Burmese Khao Suey, Akasaka Prawns, Dan Dan Noodles, Malacca Curry with Roti Jala, and Vietnamese Pho.
Who designed the menu at ASEAN On The Edge?
The ASEAN On The Edge kitchen was set up roughly 20 to 25 years ago by chef Gautam KrishnanKutty, the founder of Talpen Smoke Company. He designed the original South-East Asian programme on this floor and continues to consult on the menu, returning periodically to refine recipes and shape new additions in keeping with the kitchen's founding culinary voice.
Was ASEAN On The Edge the first restaurant in Bangalore to serve Burmese Khao Suey?
ASEAN On The Edge was the first standalone restaurant in Bangalore to put Burmese Khao Suey on its regular menu, roughly 7 to 8 years before standalone adoption of the dish became common across the city. Five-star hotel kitchens had served Khao Suey earlier, so the distinction applies specifically to standalone restaurants rather than Bangalore overall.
What is the highest-selling dish at ASEAN On The Edge?
Akasaka Prawns is the highest-selling dish on the ASEAN On The Edge menu. The plate features tiger prawns finished in a sweet-and-spicy glaze, plated with sesame and a herb finish. It is the most consistently reordered dish across both first-time and returning guests.
Can I order from Ebony or The 13th Floor while dining at ASEAN On The Edge?
Yes. ASEAN On The Edge operates within Hotel Ivory Tower's shared kitchen network alongside Ebony and The 13th Floor. A table at ASEAN On The Edge can order from Ebony's North Indian menu or The 13th Floor's cocktail list without changing venues. The full menus of all three concepts are available at any table in the network.
Do Hotel Ivory Tower guests get a discount at ASEAN On The Edge?
Yes. Guests staying at Hotel Ivory Tower receive 20% off all in-house F&B during their stay, including bills at ASEAN On The Edge, Ebony, and The 13th Floor. Direct bookings via ivorytowerhotel.com carry additional benefits including 20% off the room rate and complimentary breakfast.
Where is ASEAN On The Edge located in Bangalore?
ASEAN On The Edge is inside Hotel Ivory Tower at 84 Mahatma Gandhi Road, Bangalore 560001, on the upper floors of Barton Centre. The restaurant is 5 minutes from MG Road Metro Station on the Purple Line and 100 metres from Brigade Road.
Visit ASEAN On The EdgeAddress: Hotel Ivory Tower, Barton Centre, 84, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560001
Cuisine: Thai, Vietnamese, Burmese, Malaysian, Indonesian
Highest-Selling Dish: Akasaka Prawns
Must-Order: Burmese Khao Suey, Malacca Curry with Roti Jala, Vietnamese Pho
Nearest Metro: MG Road Station, Purple Line (5 minutes on foot)
Hotel Guest Discount: 20% off all in-house F&B for Hotel Ivory Tower guests
Bookings: ivorytowerhotel.com
Sources
- Hotel Ivory Tower / ASEAN On The Edge — internal brand, menu, and chef documentation, 2025 (ivorytowerhotel.com)
- ASEAN Secretariat — regional cultural and culinary context, asean.org
- Tourism Malaysia — Malacca Curry and Roti Jala heritage, tourism.gov.my
- Vietnam Tourism — Vietnamese Pho preparation and regional origin, vietnam.travel
- Burmese culinary reference — Khao Suey heritage and garnish tradition