Shanghai Club

Rest : Shanghai Club
Loc : ITC, Grand Central, Parel
Meal : Lunch

Chinese in India is a separate cuisine by itself. The taste is livelier, tangier, spicier then traditional Chinese. If you go to a restaurant like Royal China which is more on the authentic side chances are you will be pretty disappointed with its bland offerings.

However Shanghai Club at the ITC sticks to its Indian Chinese roots and offers a delectable selection of dishes. ITC is famous for its pan Indian offerings but they also have strong credentials in the Asian cuisine section as well (My humble house, Pan Asian) Shanghai Club is their lesser known restaurant in Bombay.

The place is small (compared to the gargantuan and perennially full Kebabs n Kurries) but it has charm and is a fairly comfortable place to dine. The silver and the china have subtle oriental touches.

Not offered but served with dim sums is the soy ginger and garlic sauce which is a must have. If not having dim sums do ask for this anyway.

Our drinks of choice as usual were a lemon iced-tea which was not that great

A diet coke which was well, a diet coke.

the traditional jasmine tea is a great palate cleanser however i reckon they forgot the jasmin somewhere as all i got was boiled water

The glass noodle soup with greens was a fantastic choice, i was expecting a clear soup but this was some tasty darkness. I wish it had been a little less salty but it tasted great nonetheless.

The vegetable dumplings, steamed were delicious. I was never very impressed with their dim sums but this one was great, it went great with the soy ginger garlic sauce it was served with.

The entrees were the pan fried noodles with veggies which were acceptable. However the veggies with mushrooms in a chilli sauce thing were completely wrong. We were told and expected something spicy and it turned out to be sweet. Not that it was bad, it wasn't it just wasn't what we had asked for.

The golden garlic fried rice was excellent, it has a unique sourish taste and goes well with anything spicy.

Overall the meal was good but there were little disappointments here and there. Usually they are consistent above average, this time however it seemed like a bit of a dip.

The service was friendly as usual but pretty scatter brained and slow.

Food 7/10
Service 6/10
Damage for 2 without drinks 2800

Shanghai Club also serves a four course set meal with unlimited Indian bubbly for 1000+taxes. Not bad but i always prefer making my own choices.

Noodle Bar - No No Bar

Noodle Bar is part of the Blue foods group which runs quite a few restaurants (Bombay Blue, Spagetti Kitchen amongst others) Their strategy is the same, provide a generic, fine dine, minimalist ambiance and marry it to Indianised versions of whatever cuisine you are serving.

Initially Noodle bar were an acceptable option for Oriental food, lately things have changed drastically. The place itself is showing signs of wear and tear and the look itself is now getting boring. Spaghetti Kitchen is really the only acceptable place they run.

Food : The food is mostly Oriental (though they do offer nachos for the weirdos) so you have a smattering of Chinese, Thai & Japanese. Since i was the only person eating, we went for the Schezwan sizzler which is basically noodles, mushrooms, spring rolls, paneer and greenbeans.

The food was ok, nothing great, the downside being, one its not authentic, two its not tasty enough. I don't mind Indian Chinese but it has to be done right just throwing in mushrooms and paneer and hot sauce does not equal taste.

M stomach did not feel very happy an hour after the meal and it shows their carelessness with materials and quality. I reckon the restaurant is more or less dead, it seems the people who used to patronize it knew their food and have since moved on to other restaurants. I think their best days are behind them.

Drink : They still do a killer ice tea, i would highly recommend the lemon version, everything else is too sweet.

Food 4/10, Service 7/10

Damage 520

Oriental Blossom - Birthday Celebration

Happy Birthday

Rest: Oriental Blossom
Location: Marine Plaza
Meal: Dinner
Company : Mr&Mrs Jain, Mr&Mrs Bathija, Mr&Mrs Chabbria, Mr Patel, Miss Anie, Mr.Jain


The Decision : We were looking to go someplace with a group of 9 to celebrate my wifes birthday. The alternatives were China Garden ( no table at short notice) Golden Dragon (read dine here and become a Banana Republic) Henry Tham (untested weapon)

Since our fav Oriental place shut down (china white) and we absolutely detest Royal China Oriental Blossom was the only natural choice.

The Experience : It turned out to be a good move. We got a table for 9 and the meal was the best so far at Oriental Blossom. Usually the restaurant can be patchy or short of great but it has never been bad or below par.


The Meal -

Beverages: We ordered a bunch of beers Kingfisher(terrible) Heineken, Diet Pepsi.

Soups : Our soups were Wanton Soup (excellent) Tom Yum (not bad)
absolutely first rate. Although the tom yum has been wildly inconsistent but it was ok this time.

Appetizers : Potato in dry red chilli (good) Grilled Wanton (not bad) Some mushroom thing (not bad again)

The Boys

Main Course : We got Hakka Noodles ( excellent, very well done) we got two different veggies one was the regular veggies sans broccoli in an Oyster Sauce and the other was Stuffed Mushrooms in their hot sauce. The veggies in the oyster sauce were not too bad but the Mushrooms were just fantastic. Too good, this one dish is the highlight of their meal service. Its hot (temp) and tasty.

Dessert : We cut a cake.

Overall : The meal was pretty good. The service was slow and scatter brained at times which was disappointing. Mrs Bathija had been to Royal China recently and China Garden and said this was by far a much better meal than any of the others. Overall its a def place to visit and can easily become your regular Chinese joint. If only they were slightly more consistent with food and service they could jump a notch and enter the real of the 9's on this blog.

Rating : Food 8/10, Service 7/10

Damage : 6500 ($175) (includes additional alcohol)

Oriental Blossom
Hotel Marine Plaza
29, Marine Drive, Mumbai
Phone 22851212

China Gate

Rest : China Gate
Meal : Lunch
Location : Atria Mall, Worli
Company : Gotti, Rishab, Wife


Ambiance : The place is well done up and the seating is comfortable, it has an upscale loungish look to the whole thing more than a restaurant.

Drinks : Corona x 1, Diet Pepsi x 2

Soup : We got the Tom Yum (below average) Wanton (good) Sweet Corn (disgusting)

Appetizers : Onion Pancakes were pretty on the money, the spring rolls are something we never order anywhere and with good reason, they were terribly done. The kung pao paneer had a very soya beanish taste to it but overall was pretty good.

Main Course : Three veggies in chilli garlic sauce, the sauce was mostly all heat and not enough taste but it wasnt all bad. The burnt chili fried rice was pretty good, the pan fried noodles i thought were pretty average.

Experience : Overall the ambiance was acceptable, the meal itself was nothing above ordinary and too inconsistent to become a regular jaunt. The service too was quick but not good enough.

Rating : Food 7.9/10 Service 6/10
Damage : 1600 ($38)

Golden Dragon

Rest : Golden Dragon
Meal : Dinner
Date : 30/3/07
Location : The Taj
Company : Ze Wife

Experience : The rest is still the same, though getting on it doesn't show any wear and tear in age. The staff is the same too. Quiet, classy and great service.

Meal: The meal was ok. not that Great. The appetizer was fantastic mushrooms in hot garlic sauce (575) the Beijing onion pancake(425) small portion and not as good as the stuff you get at the oriental blossom. Also the schezwan sauce i called for was not as good. The cashew and chilly noodles were fantastic (525). The peanut sauce veggies were terrible(575) Not bland but tasteless, pointless, they were promptly removed from the bill.

Overall the meal was satisfactory but dissapointing. I think i shouldnt have picked the peanut sauce but gone for the schezwan which is their specialty.

Service, AWESOME as always.

Rating : Food 7/10 Service 9.5/10

Damage : 1900 (fucking steep)

China Garden

Restaurant - China Garden
Location - Om Chambers, Kemps Corner
Date - Feb 24
Meal - Dinner
Company - Ze Wife

Experience - It was a pleasure returning to China Garden after almost the best part of a decade. i just refused to go to CG in a mall! Anyway, the new decor is kind of cool, very swanky, dark lighting, no lower level however. The decor is fitting the times i guess. We had a table for 8pm and we got there and were seated at 8pm on time ( i remember a time when you would have to wait 3o mins for a table even after u showed up on time)

Drinks - Chardonnay, Bloody Mary both drinks were allright, the chardonnay went great with the food.

Meal- Tom Yum Soup, very good, slightly on the spicy side but full of good taste, not too lemony or gingery.
The Appetizers were Steamed Wontons (half portion 8 vs 12 in the full) and the Onion Pancakes. The wontons were alright, very generic, however the pancake was fantastic, extremely light, with a liberal helping of condiments and eating them one bite after another, they jammed very well.
The Main course was veggies & cottage cheese in schezuan sauce, and a half portion of teppan soba noodles. The Noodles were ok, almost hakkaish while the the veggies were great, the sauce seemed to have two different layers, one not spicy the other fiery, which was interesting and it allowed the spiciness to build rather than be there on the outset.

Overall a good meal, almost great but for 2 things - one we weren't very adventurous with the food and played it safe, as well as some things like the noodles and wantons being very generic (Still good) in their taste.

They have Dim Sum Lunches as well Mon-Fri which is cool coz i can walk it up :)
Service was pretty good attentive, quick and it was good to see Mr.Nelson Wang in attendance just like old times.

Damage Food (1100) Drinks (600) Total = 1700 ($38)

Rating Food 8.5/10 Service 9/10

China Garden & Piano Bar
201, Om Chambers, 123, August Kranti Marg,
Kemps Corner, Mumbai
23630841, 23630842

Oriental Blossom

Rest : Oriental Blossom
Meal : Dinner
Date : 30/12/2006
Location :Marine Plaza, Marine Drive
Company : Pie

Experience- A nice classy ambience, the service is good and they have a nice options of seating and private banquets.

Drink :Water, Tiger

Food : We started with the Tom Yum soup and i must say its the best tom yum in the city thus far. We decided to skip the appetizers and go straight to the food. The food was dissapointing, i didnt spend enough time on the menu i think and i might have ordered incorrectly. We got the stuffed mushrooms in garlic sauce and the pan fried noodles.
They were both allright, the noodles were well done and the taste was ok. The mushrooms were not bad but werent exactly my thing coz i like a bit more spice and taste in my chinese.
All in all the place def has potential and i cant think of any alternatives to go to other than CG83 or Golden Dragon.
We got some dessert as well, the irish cheesecake (ok) the marbled mousse (average)
Rating : Food 7.5/10, Service 8.5/10

Damage : 975 ($21)

Golden Dragon

Rest : Golden Dragon*
Time : Dinner
Date : October 4th 2005
Location : Taj Mahal Hotel.
Company : Gautam, Vishal

Experience: We had a table for 9 and we got there on time, were immediately seated by the hostess. The menus came in almost immediately and the wait staff was generally pretty friendly.

Order : Schezuan being their specialty we got some schezuan style paneer, also a mushroom appetizer, Some babycorn in a garlic sauce. Noodles with vegetables sans broccoli prepared Schezuan style, white rice, vegetables in a brownish garlic sauce.

Drinks : Aquafina

Food: The mushrooms were incredible. Melt in your mouth, explode into taste and make you wanting more. The rest of the meal was a mini anti climax. The noodles were good, spicy but well done. The vegetables were allright, not the most tasteful thing but they were a good compliment to the rest of the meal. The wait staff was very good in making the recommendations some of which worked, some didnt. Overall a splendid meal, almost the best you can get BUT it didnt explode like the mushrooms so it was a relatively dissapointing but still a great meal.

Overall : I would give the food a 9/10 Service 9/10.

Damage : 2400 INR ($60)

Reservations are a must*