Monday, May 18, 2009

Authenticism Redefined.....China valley

China Valley, 10 minutes from Siddhivinayak Mandir serves authentic chinese cuisine. The restaurant is build like a vintage chiniese monastery with a sloping roof and curved edges. The use to two strong colours, red and green, in the exterior were part mysetrious and part inviting. The dragon theme furthered the autheticism.

The restarunt, as we entered was not as large as it looked from outside. The seating was the usaual wooden chairs and a strong table with covered white tables cloth. However, the leg space was restricted and we mostly had to do with sitting stifly in our seats. The colour-scheme of the walls was in-line with the restaurant exterior. I noticed that the wall art, the pottery and the chinky waiters transported me to another world, despite the discomfort lent by the furniture.

There is a grand variety to choose from - drinks, soups, appetizers, sea food, meats, stir fry, momos, dessert. We were spoilt for choice until we finally settled for a crab soup, chicken momos, a chicken dish, fried rice and noodles. The noodle was delicious, just the right amount of thickness. The crab , tenderly cooked gave it a new flavour altogether. It was my first taste of crab soup.

The momos-food I associated with Dilli Heart and Sarojini Nagar on cold winter evenings-were steaming hot and sitting pretty in the wick-steamer. I was eager to dig my teeth into these steamed dumplings for it had been long since I'd savoured one of these. The momos were accompanied with schezwan, chilli and soya sauce. The chicken and the veggie stuffing was bland, while the sauces lent it a whole new character, just how it is meant to be.

The rice, noodles and chicken were also served piping hot. The fried rice was totally tasteless for my Indian pallette. The noodles hoever did not disappoint. each strand was the right thickness and the garlic and schezwan appealed to my tastebuds. Blame it on my prefernce of noodles over rice, or the cook's haste, the noodles was far better, while the rice is conveninetly avoidable. Maybe a ginger, garlic or spiced up rice would be better.

The chicken was boneless with a thick red gravy. It went well with the plain rice. We were too full to even think about dessert and went directly to pay the bill and thank the staff for their hospitality. Since my first visit there, we're ordered twice from this restaurant.

* Portions are plenty and one serving of noodle/rice is enough for two people, if accompanied by soup and/or side-dish.
* If you like spicy food, order a spiced up rice/noodle dish because the fried rice/standard noodles are just too bland for Indian palettte.
* Home delivery is good, but be patient and make sure you have change.
* The waiters, especially those from north-east or maybe China (i'm not sure) have a slight communication problem. So make sure they undersatnd your order.
* A meal for four, complete with soup, side-dish and main-course may cost anywhere between 1,500-3,000 depending upon your order and appetite.
* We were visiting on a weekday and hence prior reservation was not required. However on weekends a reservation is a must.
*Avoid home delivery from here on a weekend for the wait time is too much!
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China Valley
 Jayant Villa Co-op Society, Appasaheb Marathe Road, Prabhadevi, Mumbai
 : 24221065, 24300272, 24329701

1 comment:

Netfreaknash said...

liked ur review .. was very handy .. keep up the good wrk..

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