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Like a fire-spewing dragon?

RAHUL VERMA checks out the recently opened Mainland China in New Delhi, and returns with a mixed meal

I was in Kolkata some years ago when a friend took me to one of its famed restaurants, Mainland China. I had a wonderful meal there, and particularly remembered the heady taste of a lamb dish and the crunchiness of the stir-fried greens. And that's why, when I heard that Mainland China - which has numerous outlets - was opening a branch in New Delhi, I was ecstatic.

So, some days ago, I decided to try the place out - but incognito. It's not always possible to do so, but the best way to gauge a place is by going there on your own, without the fanfare that usually accompanies a food-writer. I was given a quiet corner, where I sat comfortably with my three companions. The problem was that one of my guests - a close friend - was a vegetarian. And he was not a classy vegetarian - the kind that goes for sauté-ed Buddhist vegetables with bamboo fungus or poached baby bokchoy with stir-fried mushrooms (both Rs.180). He belongs to the group that likes its aloo and paneer. Sure enough, he ordered a potato and sweet corn dish, tsing hoi style (Rs.170) and a sapo tofu (in some quarters known as the rich man's paneer) with exotic vegetables (Rs.170).

My brother-in-law ordered stir-fried Chinese greens, and we went for a burnt garlic fish with seasonal vegetables (Rs.220) and a lamb in chilli broth (Rs.220).

The vegetarian was very happy - his food, suitably red in colour— was just what he wanted. The stir-fry was a bit of a puzzle to us, because it came - not with the usual stuff like pakchoy, bokchoy or mushroom - but with two very Chinese-sounding vegetables - broccoli and zucchini. The fish was excellent - the fish was fresh and the flavour of garlic was sublime. But the lamb was a real disappointment - it was so hot that I felt like a fire-spewing dragon for the next two days. Our dessert consisted of fried noodles with vanilla ice-cream, and chocolate ice-cream. And along with the meal, we had some invigorating Chinese tea that was on the house.

A mixed meal

It was a mixed meal - there were some good moments, and some that were not so good. What troubled my music-loving relative was the loud music that played around us, seemingly just at our table. At one point of time, it was so loud that it seemed as if the management was urging us to call it a day.

We finally did so. I thought we hadn't ordered quite the right dishes, so I hope to go back there one day - incognito or cognito, but certainly not with the potato-paneer-loving vegetarian friend - and have some of the seafood that's on the menu. Some of my friends swear by the crispy prawns with chilli plum sauce (one-chilli hot) that you get in Mainland China.

This time, though, the vegetarian won. The score was vegetarian 2, carnivores 1.

Illustration Tony Smith

ILLUSTRATION TONY SMITH

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