WANGS KITCHEN - CHINESE NEW YEAR MENU
9, Harrington Road, Chetpet, Chennai
If you confuse this with the one at Gee Gee plaza Village road, Nungambakkam, then you are in for a round tour of sorts. Couple of them in our group had this confusion and ended up arriving late (therefore the above two pictures). The "Mann-ki baath" (saying of the heart) was two outlets in pretty much parallel roads to each other and the ratings 4.1 and 2.7 for Village Road and Harrington road respectively ???
PS: A note to the "OC" PR team to list it on google maps as the place is not marked yet.
Few of the bloggers were invited to review their on-going new year menu 2016 "Gong Xi Fa Cai" - Chinese new year- the year of the Monkey. And so we unleashed our monkeys right away...
Ambiance: Situated on the ground floor has two-way access, one through the french loaf main entrance and the other on the left side (actual entrance of Wangs). Spacious, ubiquitous "Wangsy" interiors and BGM. All our north-east stewards and chef make up for the picture perfect setup
After the customary introductions of the Chef, the PR team and fellow bloggers, we ordered our
Soups: Being all non-vegetarians we went for the two soups of chicken and fish 1/2
Chilly lemon fish ball soup 129/-: Potato and tomato clean stock as a base added with own made fish balls with a hint of lemon grass. It tasted spicy enough with Hunan spices
Chicken red sky 129/-: The doubt was whether it was a broth or a soup due to its very thick consistency. But later, it became normal. The fried onions and the bread crumb powder overpowered the soup but in a good way
Appetizers: Chicken and fish
Creamy Fujian 309/-: Thin slivers of chicken batter fried, peppery butter sauce spread on top more like a cheesy sauce and crushed peanut powder, de-seeded thinly sliced red and green chilly sprinkled upon. Would remind you of a pizza but this is very different
Shanghai crispy chicken 309/-: A variant of the batter fried chicken with a sweet and tangy raw sauce on top is for those who love many flavors culminating in your mouth at the same time. Initially, you would feel that it is too tangy but the taste quickly dissipates and you crave for more
Shanghai crispy fish 399/-: I requested the Chef to prepare something for me in fish and he obliged. Quickly popped into the kitchen and sent out the dish and it was better than chicken for me... basa fillet batter fried with the same sauce topping
Creamy Fujian 309/-: Thin slivers of chicken batter fried, peppery butter sauce spread on top more like a cheesy sauce and crushed peanut powder, de-seeded thinly sliced red and green chilly sprinkled upon. Would remind you of a pizza but this is very different
Shanghai crispy chicken 309/-: A variant of the batter fried chicken with a sweet and tangy raw sauce on top is for those who love many flavors culminating in your mouth at the same time. Initially, you would feel that it is too tangy but the taste quickly dissipates and you crave for more
Shanghai crispy fish 399/-: I requested the Chef to prepare something for me in fish and he obliged. Quickly popped into the kitchen and sent out the dish and it was better than chicken for me... basa fillet batter fried with the same sauce topping
(Had a discussion with the Chef at length about his inspirations, choice of ingredients and different regional influences of the Chinese provinces and styles. Also about his personal favs in Chinese etc. )
Main course: We informed the chef to reduce the portion size to accommodate all the items in the menu - 4 side dishes and 5 rice varieties. We ordered all the dishes together to mix and match and try out various combinations and no "monkey business" at that . It took for ever to arrive on our tables and the monkey in me wanted to jump up and down but controlled the primal instincts
(Top to bottom & L to R) Spicy peanut sauce, Shandong surprise, Pineapple & pepper Prawns and Royal Jinan
Spicy peanut sauce 329/-: Spicy and (pea)nutty concoction with shreds of chicken, capsicum and onion is good with ton Ton Canton mein. Could easily convert the haplorhine to rhine (read: dry nosed to wet nosed) huffing and puffing with spice
Shandong surprise 329/-: This to me felt more like a soup than a side dish only that the consistency was thick. It lacked on salt a bit and you could tell there is wine which is a key ingredient
PPP - Pineapple pepper and prawns 339/-: Reminiscent of the pineapple jam with batter fried prawns in it would be a sure hit with kids and those who love pineapple. The sweet sour taste lingers on and on. Could be combined with hokkein pineapple rice to make it a pilbulpul (pineapple in thai) gala
Royal jinan 329/-: Now this is the close cousin of the thai red curry. Cooked in coconut milk with red chillies and spices. This goes well with either Ton-Ton canton mein or Sichuan fried noodles in my opinion
Noodles and rice:
(Top to bottom & L to R) Ton-Ton Canton Mein, black bean chilli noodles, Sichuan fried noodles, hokkein pineapple rice and hunan rice in Thai roasted chilli
Ton-Ton Canton Mein 219/-: Thin noodles with tid-bits of peanuts sauteed with chicken and topped with an open egg omelet was good
Black bean chilli noodles 219/-: True to its name and the beany-saucy flavor lacked bit of salt and was oily. Nevertheless, a good dish to try
Sichuan fried noodles 219/-: This had a nice gingery-aroma to it and the flavor was well infused with the rice
Hokkein pineapple rice 219/-: If you like pineapple and have tried kashmiri pulav before.. you will go for this right away
Hunan rice in Thai roasted chilli 219/-: The spicy option of the rices also has fish sauce mixed to it. The rice is a little fluffier and hot, went well with peanut spicy sauce
Desserts: There ain't any desserts on the new year menu and need to be ordered separately. We went for the following though my heart monkey was jumping up and down for Brownie
Fried Ice cream - A small ball of frozen ice cream dipped in a corn batter , rolled in coconut powder and deep fried in oil. This has been on their menu since 1994 and the preparation style has been consistent ever since. This will always be a hit with the customers
Coconut momos with Vanilla ice cream: This is the Chinese version of South Indian "kozhukattai" stuffed with coconut and sugar with vanilla ice cream doused with honey
Coconut momos with Vanilla ice cream: This is the Chinese version of South Indian "kozhukattai" stuffed with coconut and sugar with vanilla ice cream doused with honey
Service: The Steward who serviced our table was very professional. He not only gave us suggestions but also explained in details what was better, at times the preparation and also ways to eat a particular dish. Chef was there all the way to explain the dishes and also duly apologized for the delayed main course.
Overall rating: This is "outside-the-ordinary" regular menu. The Chef has been given a free hand to test his culinary expertise and research on what works with customers. And you have mix of flavors to try out and enjoy from this special menu. Hurry up as it is only till 28th Feb!
When hunger "Pangs" strikes, "Wangs" delivers.....
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