In a NUtshell A serious, no nonsense, authentic food restaurant that made me feel several times , that I was sitting at a restaurant in China – look, feel, decor, smell, detailing, vibe. Address & other details: peng you quan Meal for 2: ₹500 onwards Cuisine type : vegetarian & non vegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself … Continue reading Peng you quan – Friends restaurant (central plaza mall, golf course road, gurgaon)
In a NUtshell I had to pinch myself to make sure I was not dreaming – the food at sonabridge made me think I was in Guangzhou, no tweaking to meet Indian tastes, ditto same. I had been searching for such a place in the last one & half decades in NCR. Address & other details: sonabridge Meal for 2: ₹800 onwards Cuisine type : … Continue reading Sonabridge (hotel zhongqiao, golf course road, gurgaon)
In a nutshell: A relatively new tibetan food restaurant in a very unlikely location that serves some great Tibetan and other oriental style beef dishes Address & other details: shim shim Meal for 2: ₹300 onwards Cuisine type : Very few vegetarian, mostly Nonvegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill … Continue reading Shim shim ( bright street, Park Circus KOLKATA)
To read the history of ling’s pavilion, pls click here: GQ article In a nutshell: A treasure box of great authentic Chinese food, run by a Chinese origin family, this restaurant is a foodies’s paradise, only if u know how to avoid the Chinjabi dishes & end up ordering the original stuff. Food here reminded me of my days in China ……………. Address & other details: … Continue reading Ling’s pavilion (19/21, Mahakavi Bhushan Marg, Behind Regal Cinema, Colaba, Mumbai)
In a nutshell: If u r a connoisseur of great food, if u do not have any dietary restrictions (including being chickenetarian / vegetarian) and if u do not think twice b4 spending on great food, this is the place to be……. Yummraj’s ‘best lunch out ‘so far in 2013!!!! Not to mention the outstanding ambience, the cool music and very good service. Address & … Continue reading B Bar (4th Floor, Select Citywalk, Saket, New Delhi)
Chinese food always rings a few unusual bells in my head – unusual to most Indians except for those who have travelled to China, lived there or stayed there for some time. I freak out on food every time I am in China & in Hongkong. However the food that is served in most places in India as ‘Chinese’ are versions that the Chinese nationals wud be shocked to know about. So I will refer to the authentic version as ‘authentic’ & the Punjabified version as ‘Chinjabi’.
What is good about this restaurant is that they have two separate menucards for Chinjabi& authentic Chinese.
All other occassions we had been to thisplace, we just retained the authentic menu. Do not remember any major dissappointment regarding food here, in the past – rather have a very fond memory of dine outs here.
This time around we had guests who were not hardcore foodies like us & hence we thought of trying out some popular Chinjabi as well along with the authentic.
The decor in this place is wow – u can surely go for a romantic dinner. U can go with small groups of friends as well.
the dining hall
The staff is pretty smart & answer most of ur questions well. They however do not fill up empty water glasses if u have opted for filter water in place of Bottled water.
We loved the fish in black bean sauce, ate the ‘not bad’ crispy fried chicken, loved the mei foon (rice noodles), hated the fried rice, did not dislike the chicken hot pot, freaked out on fish in black pepper sauce & quite disliked the darsaan.
Detailed description – In case u have the time to enjoy reading:
This post is kind of a recap of non Indian cuisines & eateries in Gurgaon – I have covered detailed reviews of many of these eateries in doifferent posts in this blog . Needless to say that this is not a comprehensive guide of food places in Gurgaon but then it is good to start with – its about our favourite pik or not so favourite pik.
This post was first written in early 2011 for www.socialmantra.in. I am republishing this with minor changes. You will find updates to restaurants that we have revisited if u click on the links below.
Moving to cuisine from our neighboring country China, I must first explain the two types of food available Gurgaon. The first is authentic Chinese & the second is Chindian (Indianization of Chinese food). Manchurian is a common example of Chindian food – When I went to China years back, I asked for the famous Chinese dish Manchurian, to be told that they had never even heard of this. Later while reading a book called Rude Food by Vir Sanghvi, I came to know that Manchurian was invented in Mumbai by a Chinese origin Indian National hailing from Tangra in Kolkata who later opened a very successful Eatery in Delhi!!!! The Chinese of China have never even heard of it. The technique is basically to make koftas of meats & vegetables in the Indian way, deep fry them & then cook them in Chinese sauces. This form of food is so popular that last time I was in Boston I saw a restaurant with a board saying Indian Chinese Restaurant!!!
A good example of a restaurant serving Chindian food is Yo China. With most of the Chinese cuisines tweaked to cater to local tastes, this little eatery in MGF mall is a super success. Food is very tasty in general – Starts with a limited but good selection of dimsums (very chicken heavy). Honey chilli potato is a good vegetarian starter that even carnivores like me would love. Special mention for the fish & prawn dishes in starters as well as main-course. The full pomfret is excellent & so is garlic fish. Crispy mutton is also worth a try. There are a few very good sautéed chicken options as well. In the desserts section, there is a unique ‘snickers sundae’ which is actually pieces of snickers chocolate pieces dunked in vanilla ice cream. In food courts of other malls, movie halls & large departmental stores, you may come across a little colorful Yo China Cart which serves yummy momos & honey chilli potatoes. This is our favorite ‘little munch’ during our Gurgaon hopping exercises.
As the name suggests, it is a dimsum specialist. As soon as u sit, they serve coated nuts & an ‘out of the world’ garlic sauce – memorable & remarkable. You can order ‘Baskets’ of 6, 8 or 12 dimsums & they are served one after the other, choice of both vegetarian & non-vegetarian. There is a ‘Gourmet’ dimsum menu where costlier ingredients like caviar, smoked salmon, scallops etc are used. There is a ‘premium’ list as well &the rest are called ‘Classic’. We usually finish our dinner just with the excellent dimsums of different varieties. On extra hungry days in the past we have tried the main-course & they have not been disappointing either.
Detailed Description – In case u have the time to enjoy reading:
Cuisine type: Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian (yes, inspite of being called MONK)
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The setting is unique – an open restaurant inside a mall – no walls – logically people passing by can peep into ur plate & comment on ur food – However it being a scarcely populated mall, nothing of that sort happens & u can have a really good time with friends & some good food. The Live kitchen is right in part of u & so u can also choose to sit on the kitchen bar on high stools.
Live Kitchen at The Monk
Loved the sweet & salty Crispy duck wontons, enjoyed the outstanding crystal dumpling shrimp, the steamed dumpling prawn with coriander & an excellent baby lamb dumpling with oriental chillies. For the maincourse, we drifted from China to Malaysia & had a mindblowing grilled salmon with penang curry in sticky rice. The dessert was fabulous ‘home made’ coconut caramel ice cream topped with mixed nuts. Red wine poached Rum & raisin ice cream is the best dessert in this place though.
My Chinese friends said ‘this food is 85% original’ during their visit to India. So I guess that speaks a lot.
Detailed Description – In case u have the time to enjoy reading:
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