Sirop de Vanille

Everyday, every single day, work takes me to this amazing example of architecture gone crazy, town management gone to the dogs and infrastructure lacking any structure.

Yes, how did you guess? Oh! I’ve said it a thousand times already? The much hated, much visited Gurgaon. No, don’t worry, I’m not going to discuss the many wonderful traits of Gurgaon. I am going to talk about the places where we eat, which obviously depends on the said lunch/dinner’s proximity to the salary day. So, let’s eat!

Mainland China, Gurgaon

The buffet at Mainland China seals the deal. They take some 395+ tax on weekdays and some 495+ tax on Fridays for a pretty size-able and tasty spread.

You get your soup and starters: 2 non-veg, 3 veg, including dim-sums right on the table. Then you do the picking and choosing from a variety of prawns, crabs, lamb, fish and chicken dishes. Yes, there are lots of options for vegetarians as well. There’s the bean curd deal happening, some tofu, lots of veggies and mushrooms and potatoes are plenty. The rice and noodle options are pretty interesting. I found the kimchi rice very very nice and so was the sea food chow! It’s all about second helpings here!

You can order some wine (not included in the package, of course) or whatever drink you fancy to go along with your food. You can also behave yourself and drink copious amounts of Chinese tea, hoping that all that food you had will not add to your waistline or whatever it is that health conscious people worry about! It’s good food, and at a good price of say Rs 600-700 per head including tax and no extras. The tables are nice, could have been more comfortable. The place does business, so you may want to check on Fridays before showing up… weekdays are alright… the office lunch crowd is all around you… so feel right at home!

My only complaint is the dessert section. It truly makes my heart bleed. The mousse I make would be better. The brownies I bake in under an hour are immensely superior. The ice cream I buy feels tastier! It’s just a sad looking dessert corner, with sad dessert and the darsan, which is something a lot of us look forward to is of poor quality and soggy. My suggestion is to fill up on the food and go out and get an ice cream or a bar of chocolate.

All in all, if you can give dessert a miss (oh just have some ice cream and chocolate sauce and don’t experiment), then go for it! Sea food lovers will enjoy this place and so will anyone who is a Indo-Chinese food enthusiast!

I give it a rating of 3.8

Ambience – 3  (Office crowd)

Food – 4

Drinks – 4

Service – 4

Spend – 700 per head (only for the Lunch buffet!)

Hao Shi Nian Nian, Gurgaon  

A Sichuan Speciality Restaurant

I had heard a lot about this restaurant. It ranged from it being over-priced to “fine dining”, to “bahut hi authentic hai yaar…”.

Well, I finally went there for my birthday lunch, my foster boss and foster colleague and a friend took me out for my birthday. Me being me, I spotted the Table D’Hot menu and spoke to the server about it. For 600 per person, if more than 2 people are at the table, you get -

Cream of Crab Soup :)

1 Non Veg and 1 Veg Starter (Fish and mushrooms)

2 Main courses (Chicken and Lamb)

1 Fried Rice (Shrimp fried rice)

Dessert (Home-made chocolate ice cream)

So, we decided to go in for this option… except for our vegetarian friend who ordered some Bean curd with mixed fried rice – which was quite yummy…

The deal with the food here is that it is NOT your usual Chinese grub. There is no Chilly Chicken or Manchurian. There are no Crispy Chilly Potatoes! But… there is stir fried chicken with bell peppers and ginger and shitake mushrooms… with hints of balsamic vinegar. There is lamb in the red chilli and garlic paste. There is fried rice that is so delicately fried with beautiful baby shrimp that you stop and breathe in the aromas and even catch notes of fish sauce in there. There is pickled ginger… there is lemon grass to accompany it… fresh baby shallots… button mushrooms going well with shitake… peppers and shredded meats… it’s all quite lovely.

But somehow, the chilli is too much. It burns your lips once the meal is over, and makes your eyes water. Luckily, the ice cream is creamy and smooth and oh so lovely. I think my glass of Gentleman’s Jack, made me love the food more. Or the fact that it was my burrr-day! The meal was good, it was definitely different from Indian Chinese restaurants. Of course it was Indian-ised a little (more frying, more caramelising of onions etc, more spices) but then… who would eat it otherwise? So, an experience worth having… but be ready to pay for it :)  

I give it a rating of 3.6

Ambience – 3.5 (Nice, quiet)

Food – 4

Drinks – 4

Service – 3 (A little slow)

Spend – 2000 + taxes per head (A drink per person, Table D’Hot + Extra appetizers or main course dishes… so you do the math)

That’s all for now… we will review some more interesting lunching options next!