In these unbearably hot days in the capital there are many who prefer visiting an air-conditioned restaurant than to cook at home. And when it’s a Chinese offering who can resist! Schezwan and Haka dishes with the aroma of garlic on a platter for buffet has to be a foodie’s delight, of course with a slight Indian touch.
Though paneer is not a part of Chinese cooking, Chef Debasish Roy at Swosti Plaza says the Red Thai paneer curry has a strong element of the cuisine. “They use soya bean curd. But unless there’s an Indian replacement to few ingredients, it won’t be very flavoursome for localites. The gravy however is a proper Red Thai one,” he adds. With the local touch included in almost every dish, the recently launched Chinese lunch and dinner buffet here has variety and taste too. The menu is cyclic and the offering changes every week. As many as six varieties of starters can be found nicely decorated at the salad bar four of which are vegetarian. If the ‘egg with oyster sauce’ does not feel great one can proceed towards the tiny fish salad. In the vegetarian side, the pickled vegetable salad (actually giving that pickle sensation) or the gajrela type honey grazed carrot and sesame salad made out of grated raw carrot or even the vinegar onion are good enough to start with. A vegetarian and non-veg variety in the broth section arouses the taste buds and the appetite. The clear chicken soup here is indeed worth a try.
Coming to the main course, one can select from an assortment of noodles for both vegetarian and non-veg lovers, two rice items accompanied with a fish and a chicken option and four vegetarian items, all of which are distributed equally into wet and dry choices. “At least one of the items will include a shrimp preparation as it is an important element of Chinese cuisine,” Roy explains. Vegetable dishes include bottle gourd, babycorn, mushroom and broccoli mostly. Of the four desserts ice-cream of any flavour, a mousse, fruit salad and a fruit cake help conclude the experience on a sweet note. Though most of the items look plain, one will find them luscious except for one or two in the vegetarian sideliners. The flavour can always be enhanced with the addition of vinegar and sauce to taste. Overall, the buffet is definitely attractive with this plethora of Chinese dishes coming for just Rs 250 per head in the perfect ambience displayed at Confucius