Indiranagar gets another Chinese joint

With a new restaurant mushrooming every other day, Indiranagar is becoming the food hub of Bengaluru. Take a stroll on 100 Feet Road and you will see a sea of restaurants and pubs decked up in bright light.

China Bistro located in the plush neighbourhood of 12th Main is a fairly new addition to the list of casual dining restaurants in Indiranagar.

Be ready to be welcomed by two giant statues at the entrance. Step in and you will be transported to the rich culture of China. The interiors are kept simple, but the decor (like huge portraits and Chinese paper lanterns) give it a classy look.

It was a chilly-rainy evening when we decided to savour some Chinese food, and I am glad we did.

We started our meal with a pipping hot bowl of ‘Eight Treasure Chicken Soup’. The consistency of the soup was thick and it made it the perfect drink for the cold night. The chicken cubes almost melted in my mouth - it was the perfect size and soft.

Next came the ‘South Asian Cottage Cheese Jiang’s Chilli’; the perfectly cut rectangular pieces of paneer prepared with sliced onions and red and green bell peppers was soaked in a generous amount of hot and sweet chili sauce and a hint of soy sauce. It was a treat to the palate and a personal favourite too.

Having relished river fish for the longest time, I usually avoid the ones we get here because of its musky smell. However, when the chef presented the ‘Pan Fried Chilli Fish’, I was pleasantly surprised. The boneless pieces of the fish didn’t have any smell and were extremely soft. Being pan-fried, it had a little crunch to it that complemented the aromatic appetiser. However, the taste of the dish was very similar to the vegetarian cottage cheese appetiser that I had before this.

The ‘Prawn Tempura Roll’ is another starter that you can order. Add a dash of soya sauce and a drop of chilli vinegar to it and enjoy it with wasabi paste. The ‘Chicken Basil Dumpling’ was good too.

For main course, we asked for a bowl of ‘Ginger Capsicum Fried Rice’ and paired it with the T Hoi Chicken. The taste of ginger and capsicum were on point making the rice a flavourful but balanced.

Usually, whenever I visit a Chinese restaurant, my go-to order is the classic hot and spicy chicken gravy. But I am glad, the ‘Hoi Chicken’ gave me another option to look for. It wasn’t on the spicier side and had a thick texture which went well with the rice. It is ideal for those who want their chicken to be subtly flavoured.

The most exciting part of any review is dessert time. No matter how full we are, we always make some space for it.

We were given a choice between ‘Steamed Coconut Dumpling with Honey Butter Sauce’ and ‘Buddha’s Fu’. We went for the latter, honestly, just by hearing the name.

We were told to keep our phone cameras ready as something exciting was about to come to our table. This got us excited.

While we waited, we were told that ‘Fu’ in Chinese means good luck or blessing. We were bowled over by the presentation of the dessert. It was a mango pudding topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. On the side, there was a conch filled caramel sauce and on the other side was a handheld temple-styled bell.

The server rang the bell over the dessert and the cocoa powder filled inside it sprinkled down on the pudding. The sweetness of the ice cream and caramel sauce balanced the mildly sweet mango pudding. It is a must-have.

China Bistro is located at 2986, 1st Floor, Ashwini Complex, 12th Main Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Indiranagar. For details, call 9036364999.