Shang palace, Chinese experience at Shangri-La Bengaluru

Shang Palace is Shangri-La's signature Chinese restaurant perched on level 3, offering authentic Chinese cuisine presented by a brigade of Chinese expatriate chefs. It has indoor and outdoor seating. For a more intimate dining experience, guests may dine in either of the two traditional private dining rooms, Bengaluru’s first of its kind, catering to 12 and 8 guests. I had a walk through the restaurant during the launch of the property but I was recently invited to enjoy a Shangri-La experience at Shang palace along with other few bloggers.

At level 3, as you enter Shang Palace, you will have to walk a long ramp to head to the dining area. Chef Lin Lin Yang and his team greeted us to a private dining area where we experienced some of the best dishes along with conversations. Started the evening with some refreshing Chinese tea while everyone warmed up for a gastronomical experience. I love authentic chinese food so I waited with waited breath for every dish to be unveiled.

We started the meal with some appetizers, Crispy lotus stems (lotus stems tossed with chilli and hoisin sauce), Chinese cucumber salad (cucumber with yellow bean sauce, banana chilli and coriander), Chongqing chilli chicken (Wok fried chicken with dry red chilli and schezwan pepper corns) and Roasted crispy pork belly. I did not try the pork belly. But I loved the cucumber salad which had a tangy twist to it, at times I am fond of veggies too ;) I'm not a fan of lotus stems but hoisin sauce twist to this dish made the difference and I liked it. Chilli chicken was very spicy, clearing my throat and the taste of chilli was left on my throat for a long time.

After some yummilicious appetizers, it was time for some dim sums. Pan fried mushroom bun (Fungus, shiitake and spring onions in a pan fried bun) and Prawn hargau (Traditional cantonese prawn dim sum) was served. I have always loved prawn hargau and this tasted good too. Though I am not not fond of mushroom, but pan fried buns have been my favorite but in lamb. Mushroom bun with the sauces available was delish. I am waiting to try Barbecued chicken puff when I visit next.

How can I miss having Crabmeat soup when its on the menu? With asparagus and egg drops I enjoyed every spoon of it. It is a must try here.

I sipped on a refreshing mocktail while I ate some finger-licking food.

For main course, Mapo tofu (Tofu tossed with bamboo shoots and shiitake mushrooms in chilli bean sauce) and Stir fried chinese greens (Seasonal green tossed with garlic) was served with Yangzhou fried rice with egg. I am not fond of both the dishes but gave tofu a try as it was praised for tofu being very soft.

For non-veg, Hunan style steamed fish (fish with pickled chillies and fragrant soy sauce) was served with Yangzhou fried rice. This tasted exceptionally well. Also, Gongbao prawns (prawns fried with dry chillies and peanuts) with the fried rice was relished. I could also eat the prawns by itself.

Roasted Beijing duck (duck meat carved and served with scallion, cucumber, sweet bean sauce and pancakes). They made rolls by adding all ingredients and served. This dish was a little sweet compared to all other dishes and this completed my entire meal, of course dessert was pending ;)

Almond milk jelly (almond milk jelly served with papaya) with Cinnamon ice-cream was the dessert for the night. Papaya over powered the milk jelly which anyway did not have much taste but cinnamon ice-cream was very good. I'm not very fond of asian desserts much too.

Overall the experience was brilliant where almost all dishes were loved which is a rare thing I face. When I had a look at the menu, there were many other dishes which I could like to try in my other visits. I couldn't help but admire all the chandeliers in the hotel. Yes I am visiting the place again for the brilliant service along with exceptionally tasting food. The prices of the dishes are also reasonable making it a must visit place. You can also enjoy this experience while having a hearty lunch (from noon to 3PM) or a healthy private dinner (from 6:30PM to 10:30PM).

'Treasures of Sea' festival at Barbeque Nation

I love seafood festivals as I am sea food lover. This time I was invited to be part of 'Treasures of Sea' festival at Barbeque Nation, Indiranagar. I am sure most of us visit Barbeque nation with group of friend's, esp on cheat days to indulge in their lip smacking starters and heavenly desserts.

Treasures of Sea was all about enjoying sea food at Barbeque Nation from January 23rd to February 8th. I was excited to check out the various sea food which would be served.

For drinks, I tried the Chocolate monk. It was a drink resembling chocolate smoothie, stand alone I loved this drink and wouldn't mind having it on a daily basis but not for my meal as it would fill my tummy and also doesn't pair with my food. I also tried Mango Rapture which did not suit my taste as it was too heavy for my meal. So I moved to Lime soda for the evening which would help me eat and also would pair with my food.

I couldn't for starters to be served. Crispy fried anchovy with Tamrind sauce, Jamaican jerk chicken, crumb fried squids with aioli dip, Mai Thai prawns, Maryland crab cakes, Mutton Galawati and Basa Peri peri were served. I loved Mai Thai prawns, Basa Peri Peri, Mutton Galawati and Jamaican jerk chicken and did not repeating it throughout the night. Crumb fried squids does not suit my taste and so did crispy fried anchovy. Maryland crab cakes were decent and were made to perfection. I tried different dips to glaze the starters and enjoyed it.

From the live counter, which is billed separately for the customers, 2 variants of fish was served and they were totally different to taste. I liked the fish manchurian more.

Trying to stop myself for indulging in more starters, I headed to the buffet to try the soups and salad's.
Seafood laksa was superb, though it had less of seafood in it, I did not mind as I felt refreshed and more hungry after I had it. I tried the prawn cocktail salad which is one of my favorite's and Barbeque nation maintained the taste of the cocktail dressing which made me happy. I did not try strawberry and chicken salad and assorted seafood platter.

Main course has always been average at Barbeque nation, mainly because the starters are to die for. The standard of main course as maintained. I tried prawn biryani which was pretty good. Meen moilly and Mangalorean crab curry excited me which should be eaten with Iddiappam. I did not get Iddiappam on time so I just had the taste of the curry. Crab curry did not have much flavors in it and hence it did not excite me more while Meen moilly was good. I did not try Mutton Vindaloo, Bhuna Kukkad masala and Nasi Goreng.

The staff had also planned a small performance for the guest. It was enjoyable. You can watch the video here.

Time for dessert. At Barbeque nation I always indulge more in starters and desserts. So I headed to the dessert counter with a twinkle in my eye to check the varieties. Small gulaab jamoon, tender coconut payasam, death by chocolate pastry, blue sea cheesecake, chocolate strawberry tart, mango mousse, phirni along with fig and honey ice cream and some fruits were placed. I made sure I picked all of it on my plate and made sure my fellow blogger friends were also served. I loved all the dessert and couldn't resist having another round of the same.

How can one not have the famous paan flavor kulfi. This was repeated on the table till we made sure we left the premises. Make sure you have this kulfi as you will not regret the decision.

Over all, an enjoyable evening was set by Barbeque nation for seafood lover like me.

Chef's table at Hanoi Vietnamese Cuisine

A chef's table was organized on 10th October, 2014 at Hanoi Vietnamese Cuisine, First floor, F69, Phoenix Market City Mall, Whitefield, Bangalore - 560048. It is an authentic Vietnamese restaurant in Bangalore.

The restaurant is named after Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. October 2010 officially marked 1000 years since the establishment of the city. Hanoi has rich culinary traditions. Many of Vietnam's most famous dishes, such as pho, cha ca, banh cuon and com are believed to have originated from Hanoi.