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).

All day dining at b Cafe, Shangri-La, Bengaluru

Shangri-La doesn't need any introduction but if you are not aware then they have opened their second property in India and the lucky city is our Namma Bangaluru. One of the finest hotels present in India, I was delighted to be part of their soft launch and the launch party. This time, I went for a review at their all day dining restaurant, b Cafe.

Located in the heart of the city, Palace road, Shangri-La Hotel, Bengaluru offer diners an array of authentic cuisines in some of the most spectacular settings in town. B-café is an all day dining restaurant at the lobby level featuring individual ‘open-theatre’ cooking stations and à la carte menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner in a lively, fun atmosphere. People can enjoy fresh, inventive dishes prepared à la minute by a team of international chefs from Italy, Japan, China and India, so basically you dine with the chef's :)

The staff is ever smiling, making your stay at the hotel or dine at the restaurant very pleasurable. The variety of food offered at b cafe is amazing, something which I haven't seen much in Bangalore. Chef Antonio Tardi, Executive chef says you can name any dish and you will be served. Chef Tardi along with Chef Rounak was all set to present us with their selection of lip-smacking food. While we waited for the food to arrive, we were munching on Mezze platter, where hummus, labneh, mohummara, taboulleh was served with assorted pita bread

I refreshed myself with 2 mocktails during my entire dining experience.

First came ‘Yonaha’s Sushi creations’ and the presentation with spectacular - Prawn Tempura sushi, cucumber and cream cheese sushi, carrot nigiri and Asparagus maki roll were neatly placed in a small bamboo casket, served with soy sauce, pickled ginger and wasabi. All were cooked well and it had the right moisture.

Next was ‘Winter greens chef creation’. It had a baby beet, orange segments, goat cheese and arugula salad tossed fresh with olive oil dressing and shaved parmesan. As Chef Rounak mentioned, arugula tossed well and mixed with right ingredients can be enjoyed as a meal. yes, the baby beet and orange with parmesan did not make the leaves taste bitter, in fact it enhanced the taste of the salad.

Next came 'Dim sums', chicken and pumpkin in non veg, shitake mushrooms in veg, both were served with soy chilli and dragon chilli sauce. Nothing fancy but aren't these supposed to be enjoyed when stuck to simple creation?

I skipped the Orange and Campari Sorbet as it had liquor but for those who had, they enjoyed it while it cleansed their palate.

Well cooked lamb is always my weakness so when Roasted Slow cooked lamb leg, stuffed with spinach and cheese came, I had my expectations built up, especially after having such good food already. The lamb was marinated with house spice mix of herbs served with baby vegetables and rosemary jus. The meat was tender, the spices were just right which gave me my star dish of the night. I could another helping of it, if I did not have to eat anything else. Chef Rounak, job well done.

I did try a taste of Baked homemade potato gnocchi, with cherry tomato and buffalo mozzarella. It was good but I was happy my lamb :) In between, I also had a tasting of pani puri which was served at the chaats counter, how could I miss it?

The last dish which came was Zaffrani murgh dum biryani which was served with mirchi salan and raita, homemade garlic pickle, cabbage pickle, lotus stem pickle and mango pickle. First about the pickle, I liked the collection, lotus stem pickle was my favorite followed by garlic pickle. The biryani was cooked well, the rice was moist, the chicken had the spices on it, none of the spices over powered the other, the spices were evenly spread across the entire biryani and lastly the aroma was tempting enough to clean the bowl of this delish main course. I can return to b Cafe for this biryani.

How can you finish a meal without a dessert? So Dark Chocolate fondant served with Blue cheese and pear ice cream. Delicious and extremely filling dessert which looked tempting enough too. Right balance of taste and looks, must-must try it.

The variety to offer is more and by the look of it, I couldn't think I would ever cover the entire spread. For the kid in me, I did have cotton candy before I left with a smile on my face and tummy being full. This was my second visit to b Cafe, but first time I actually tried the spread which is offered. My fist visit was a brief visit and I had chosen a la carte.

The various live counters at b Cafe can be seen below.

If you are looking for a restaurant to satisfy your taste buds for cuisines like chinese, asian, indian, japanese, salads, chaats, desserts, etc then b Cafe is your destination. They are aptly priced throught the 7 days of the week but the spread increases on a Sunday so I'm waiting to head to b Cafe on a Sunday to try their other offerings. By now if you are hungry, then head to b cafe :)