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Nippy lunches and no naps
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The Oberoi's Szechwan Court offers Express Lunches for those who want a meal-on-the-move even as they want to make it a dining experience
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PHOTO: SAMPATH KUMAR G.P.
MEALS ON WHEELS Nothing like a quick lunch platter that fills you up but doesn't put you to sleep
Chinese food from the wok may not really register as "fast food" in your mind except when you think instant noodles. The Oberoi's Szechwan Court is set to break that notion and offer a "utility" express Chinese lunch that takes you from a filling soup and starter all the way to the dessert in Chinese precision.
A popular luncheon meeting place for corporates, the Szechwan Court hopes to cater to a fine dining experience, yet not allow logistics such as time and wallet factor get in the way. "People don't really want to `indulge' during lunch. It's really a utility meal," says Pinky Mukherjee, Manager, Communications, at The Oberoi. "Good food in good ambience never hurts!" she sums up.
So the four-course pre-set menu meal comprises a soup, appetiser, main courses and a dessert. "The focus is on light food because the client needs to eat and then get back to work," says Chef Anthony, senior sous chef. "People's perception is that a Chinese meal takes long to make... very often guests asked us for a buffet, but there's no such thing as a Chinese buffet. Chinese food cannot be cooked one hour before and served on a buffet," protests Chef Anthony. So they came up with this Express Meal concept.
There is a choice of vegetarian, poultry or seafood-based lunches.
To start with, if you are one who believes in filling yourself with soup and then going easy on your main course, this is a good option. The deceptively small-looking bowl holds a hearty quantity of thick soup and goes well with the crispy finger-thin veggie spring rolls. In fact the main course consisting of two bowls of vegetables, a platter of soft noodles and a bowl of steamed rice will definitely tank you up for the rest of the day, in terms of energy.
Substantial meal
Whether its stir-fried greens (including loads of broccoli) with roasted garlic, or stir-fried potato with hot Szechwan sauce, it makes for a substantial meal along with the noodles and rice. On other days you may come across braised silken tofu with Szechwan sauce or chilli potato or crisp cauliflower as your vegetable selection.
The poultry-based lunch offers a chicken soup and a bowl of spiced chicken or stir-fried chicken in black pepper sauce and other such options. The seafood-based platter offers a seafood soup with variations of fish in pepper bean sauce, fish in chilli or Szechwan sauce.
To top it all off, you get a generous helping of yummy home-made ice-cream and you'll be done with lunch in a max of one hour. If you intend to hold a closed-door meeting over lunch or want some privacy with a group of friends, you could book an exclusive room for yourself too. You need to be a group of a minimum of eight and a maximum of 10 for this option. (There are two such quiet, exclusive and cosy rooms at the Szechwan Court.)
The pre-set menu also in a way ensures that you don't have much choosing to do from a vast menu and therefore spend less time ordering too. Though, the a la carte menu is also on offer if you really like to settle on your own menu and prefer a leisured lunch. Interestingly, this Express Lunch offer is on even on weekends.
There is a set of four menus, and these too will be changed once or twice a month, making sure that regular customers don't have to eat repeats. The vegetarian lunches are priced at Rs. 500, the poultry platter at Rs. 600 and the seafood meal at Rs. 700 (all prices inclusive of taxes).
The express lunch is on from 12.30 p.m. to 3 p.m. all days of the week. For details, contact 25585858
Ambience: Quiet afternoon
Service: Friendly
Specialty: Fast food in five-star setting
Wallet Factor: Rs. 500 to Rs. 700
BHUMIKA K.
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