Oriental cuisine and in particular, Chinese food has taken quite a twist in India. Most of us are very familiar with the Indo-Chinese version, which we love to no end (the veg fried rice, chicken chowmein and of course the famous 'gopi manchuri') :-) Authentic Chinese cuisine while not too drastically different is really good with quite a bit of variation across the geographical confines of the region, very similar to India. But today I will not be looking only at Chinese cuisine but Asian cuisine in totality. S Hotel in JP Nagar has 2 restaurants of taking note - one an Indian called Swad-Desh and the other which serves multiple Asian cuisines called East Winds. My wife and I, feeling in the mood for Chinese dropped into East Winds last weekend. Located conveniently on 13th Main, 2nd cross, JP Nagar 3rd phase, right behind Mandovi Motors, its a roof top restaurant with an open view of the city at night. Alcohol is served, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian fare is served here and it is not air-conditioned being open roof-top.
The ambience is so-so and can definitely be spruced up. The tablecloths were a little dirty and I could see furniture not being maintained properly. Off the bat, we ordered steamed momos (veg) or dimsum as starters with a pint of Fosters for me. Kimchi salad and some cut veggies in vinegar were offered on-the-house while our starters were getting done.
The Kimchi was a little spicy as expected from the dish and slightly overpowered the tanginess of the salad and the crispness of the leaves. The momos are exceptional here, I always try them here as my first choice for a starter. The filling was perfect with the right balance of spices and crunchiness to the veggies while the sauce was brilliant with a shade of ginger drifting above its natural spiciness. If there was one thing that put me off, it was the momos texture itself. With the flour not setting properly the momos broke open while being steamed. Hence they kinda crumbled when we tried to take them out, not to mention that they were fused together.
Next up was the main course and we decided to be a little exploratory here. The Thai curry (green and red) are brilliant here which we usually order. Today we decided to try the continental fare for a change. My wife ordered the Cannelloni Florentine while I chose the Chicken steak Singapore.
First up the Cannelloni Florentine - tubed pasta filled with spinach and creamy white cheese sauce. The marinara sauce was good, fresh and vibrant while the dish itself presented a pretty picture. The cannelloni did seem a little big to me and over cooked a bit on top that it resembled a tawa cooked kathi roll with stuffing in it. Generous portions of spinach and less cheese sauce inside ensured that the taste was a little bland. Could have been balanced a little bit better - neither the fresh spinach nor the cheese stood out on our palate.
Next was the Chicken Steak Singapore - chicken burger steak served with mashed potatoes, boiled veggies garnished with pineapple slices.
This dish was a big let-down for me. Here are the points:
a) No pineapple (don't put fancy descriptions in your menu if you are not going to follow it)
b) One big thick chicken steak - too dry, over cooked and just too much to eat
c) Sauce was plain and had no flavors - tasted like ketchup with a few chunks thrown in
d) Boiled veggies were ok but again no flavors - no trace of olive oil or butter. The scattered herbs were too fine and too few to make a difference
All in all, the moral of the story - go to East Winds and stick to Asian fare which they are pretty good at. Skip the continental fare - its too much of a mess to comprehend.
Cost being not too expensive - this above meal for 2 cost us 950 Rs/-
Service - pretty quick and efficient but the waiters have no clue about the dishes
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