Bangalore restaurant reviews Chinese

Mainland China - Jayanagar

Monday, March 12, 2012Me! In words


There is a small story to this water curtain that you see here. A couple of years ago we were driving around Jayanagar for some reason and happened to see this restaurant called Thames - water curtain on the outside seemed so inviting that we pulled up  and proceeded to walk in thinking finally, Jayanagar had a decent European/Continental place to head to. This was much before Cafe PascucciCafe MondoRogue Elephant and Eurasia made their entry. We sat down and when we were handed the menu it was like someone poured a jug of cold water on our heads. A blah! multi-cuisine non-veg menu, something close to a non-veg Shantisagar option. Since we were there we ordered and were done with it. Thankfully the place shut down soon enough. 

And now in its place comes Jayanagar's Mainland China outlet. The water curtain is still there and thankfully the interiors have a much more classy look than the last time we set foot in there. I had been to Mainland China in Mangalore with a friend on my last visit and quite enjoyed myself and so wanted to take the rest of the family there. 

The water curtain with a history ;)

Ok, now enough with the water curtain and on to the food. The menu is quite large and the selection for veg and non-veg is equally good. No pork here :-( , but that is the fate of all Chinese joints in South Bangalore. Onto the table first came the sauces and salads. And I get peeved with the fact that everyone brings kimchi to the table when its something that has been thrown together in the morning. Except for Soo Ra Sang, I have never seen any other joint actually take the trouble to ferment their kimchi the way it is supposed to be. 

We also ordered a Frozen Lychee, which was a slush, decorated and shaped well. Ice cold and really nice to on a rather hot afternoon. 


Frozen Lychee

We started with the Shanghsi Crab Meat Soup, splitting it two-ways. Quite the nice soup - lots of crab meat, not cornfloury and set the base quite well. Since junior has an affinity to soup, it went down well with her as well. 

Shanghsi Crab meat soup

We were with a friend and had two starters - Tangy crispy fish and the Stir fried chicken with straw mushrooms in chilli wine sauce. Both were really nice, but in first place was the tangy crispy fish. Pounded fish, shaped and thinly batter fried. The taste was entirely in the batter. It was at once, sweet and tangy, meaning that each of us had to attack the plate as quickly as we could if we wanted that last bite.  


The stir fried chicken I expected to be a little more dry than what came and maybe that's why it may not have been a perfect choice for a starter. The staff did not advise us otherwise. Taste-wise, the wine comes across with every bite. The dish is quite mild and for those who prefer to go easy on spice, this would be a good choice. 

Stir fried chicken with straw mushrooms in chilli wine sauce

For the mains we decided to go with one of the house specials - Lamb Mahlak. We were told that it was going to be medium spicy and was made with 5-spice powder as the base. What came was a lamb dish with the meat thinly sliced, in what seemed to be a soya-based sauce and which was spiced up with dried red chillis. You could make out that there were multiple spices in there, but none of them overwhelming. This lamb dish went pretty well with the sticky jasmine rice that we ordered.

Lamb Mahlak and jasmine rice below


We were going all out here and so decided to end on dessert. We asked for a coconut caramel custard custard. A slight technical issue with this dessert was that there was no hint of coconut anywhere, neither in the physical form, nor in essence. It was a plain and simple caramel custard and that's it. 

Coco'not' Caramel Custard

We enjoyed our afternoon here. The loos are clean and have an entire aromatherapy thing going on in there. Not to miss is poster on the door announcing that the staff have everything you need from a sewing kit to reading glasses in varying powers for you to make use of. hmmmm! The meal is a splurge and came to Rs 2500 after all the taxes involved. Could have done with a couple of 100s lower than that. :-) . Oh Yes! the Chinese tea is unlimited and I shamelessly milked the offer for all its worth. It really helps in between courses. 



Address: 233 Barons Inn, 40th Cross, 9th Main, 5th Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore
Phone: 26532525
Cuisine: Chinese
Wallet factor: Rs 1200 for two
Parking: Nothing exclusive, look in the bylanes close by

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