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Best of Beijing in heart of CP
The focus at The Chinese is on the food and the stir fried crab with spring onions and ginger is a masterpiece.
You won’t be going to The Chinese because of the singularly unimaginative name, nor will you be attracted by the uninspiring location, in Connaught Place’s unattractive Middle Circle. If you’re visiting The Chinese, it’s the food that will be your motivating factor. Unlike other swanky Chinese restaurants that have focused on the flooring, the lighting and the tableware, the focus at The Chinese is on the food.
That’s not to say that the restaurant is tacky: once safely inside, the narrow road overcrowded with cars recedes, and you’re in a magical world cleverly fashioned with rice paper with myriad cut-outs. Slides of China — thousands of them — provide pinholes of light. It’s novel and creative, without costing a fortune. Instead, where the restaurant has not stinted is on the staff. Three chefs from Beijing, including one master chef, one Shanghainese manageress, one willowy hostess from Hei Long Jiang, and plenty of well-informed local staff, dining out in this unlikely outpost of mainland China can’t help being a fabulous experience.
Somewhat unfortunately, the management has decided to hedge its bets and stick to a formulaic menu, full of dishes that are available elsewhere in the city.
The good news is that all three chefs are willing to create masterpieces off the menu, if they’re sure that that is what a guest would like. Hence, while my Sesame Chicken Salad was tender and redolent of the flavour of sesame oil, the robust Roast Duck with Oyster Sauce had a sweetness that offset the sharp salty smokiness of sliced pomfret with black bean (real, reconstituted beans, not the bottled stuff), I was certain that the kitchen was capable of much, much more. It turned out that they were!
Without any prior notice or pre-planning, the chefs sent out three dishes, the first being a starter. Minced, seasoned chicken was heaped into bell peppers that had been cut to form cups. The whole thing had been lightly steamed so that the chicken was cooked through, but the bell peppers remained firm and crunchy. (Rs 285).
Stir-fried Crab with Spring Onions and Ginger (Rs 595) was another masterpiece — though the crab was in its shell, the ingredients had permeated the meat, without an ounce of gravy (authentic Chinese food contains no gravy, so be warned that not all concessions to the Indian palate are entertained here).
The third dish translates as Fish Cooked in Water (Rs 345). Sliced sole is gently poached and transferred to a deep bowl filled with chopped dry red chillies and Sichuan peppers, topped with hot oil. You are not supposed to eat the chillies (you’ll probably need a fire extinguisher if you do), but they, and the peppers add fragrance to the most subtle dish in the annals of Beijing cookery.
If you want to order the best of Beijing, ask for Ata, the manageress. She’s been hired as an extremely capable buffer between guests and the chefs who speak not a word of English. And such are the reasonable prices, that reservations for lunch are mandatory.
