Bite into great Desi Chinese cuisine - Beijing Bites, Jayanagar

Food - Bite into great Desi Chinese cuisine - Beijing Bites, Jayanagar

K, V and S giving a great colgate moment.
Bachelorhood. Married guys envy, bachelors pride. Yet another weekend spent postponing studying for the imminent competency exam. But no regrets. Yesterday, 29th, was one of the most enjoyable nights I have had in Bangalore. Dinner with good friends always ranks among top of my favorite activities.

So it was me, Ashu, Sandhya, Victor, Sandy and Kavita trying something other than loitering at BTM or Forum; we decided we would loiter around Jayanagar , except for Kavita who had better things to do, and then end it with dinner at Beijing Bites.

We first hit another avatar of Cafe coffee day, Kalamane koffee ( or something similarly named) to sample some fresh brewed south Indian coffee while waiting for Sandy to grace us with his ever delayed presence. Great place to chill with some really interesting kaapis. Worth checking out for its uniqueness and the price. The crowd was as usual youthful but I did notice an elderly gent with I guess more discerning taste present there. I wouldn’t mind visiting Kalmane kofee to seriously try some more.

After some more dilly dallying and delaying Kavita further, we managed to move into Beijing Bites a full hour later than schedule. No need for reservation, there was enough place for many diners. The décor was great. Grades better than the Beijing Bites at Banshankari which looks like an over glorified Chinese tapri compared to this place. The crowd was a good mixture of young and sophisticated. Again scoring above the Banshankari place.

Victor, luckily or un luckily, for him was seated between Sandhya and Kavita causing the young couple seated next table much pain. The gentleman then, I guess was forced to shield his ladyship from Victor’s charm by sticking real close to her. We provided them further engagement in their uncomfort by gesturing and speaking in obvious hushed tones at them. The entertainment was superb.

Trying to reform back to vegetarianism, albeit for a full 10 minutes, I made Kavita agree to Veg Koithio , a Malaysian noodle dish, and crispy chili vegetables. Veg Koithio I should mention is a must try at B B’s because of the unique flat noodle make and the spice. It’s a great welcome break from the usual fare. The veggies were great, better than some of the non veg stuff. Well that’s what I can say about the veg.

Many more fowls lost their lives when we asked for Manchow soup and Hot and sour Chicken soup. The Manchow was reliably good, but the hot and sour was just too bad. Sandhya and Ashu had a hard time gulping it down. Then we asked for the all time favorite at BB - lemon basil chicken which did not disappoint us. Must mention another connoisseur friend Samrat whose extensive research in non veg dishes at many eateries results in reliable recommendations. One more dish was passable. For the main course was noodles and fried rice. The spice was provided by pickle chicken curry. Frankly the main course wasn’t a great experience, it was just as expected. I was expecting a surprise. It seems the food dosent change much between branches of the same chain of restaurants.

The bill for such a big quantity of food came to INR 750. Shared among six that’s a great deal! The service was better than average similarly the food. Much better than the Banshankari outlet.

We continued chatting till we reached our steeds, strolling in the beautiful Bangalore night. For a guy from Bombay, which I love, the weather was simply wonderful. Bidding everyone a safe ride back home, I ended yet another enjoyable Bangalore experience.

China Pearl. No shes not my GF..unfortunately :(

China pearl, koramangala:

The occasion was a casual dinner party thrown by my roomie and some common friends. If you might have read my previous blog post, company really matters.

I don’t really fancy fancy places like this one, obviously they are supposed to be good, given that people who were hosting the party had tried or had been reccommended about it. Hence the notch goes higher this time.

My first night time in Koramangala, enjoying the sights and more sights (I was wearing a helmet) of Bangalore, the glam city. Hey this is what I came for. My earliest memories of Bangalore were a place where you could enjoy ‘american’ style food way back when there was none in Bombay and a hi tech, clean and functional city. Seems it still has it!

On a road full of similar joints, China pearl strikes no amazement into you. Enter and the décor is a bit crowded and usual. The staff were crisp ( hey I havent started tasting yet!) and very much in the ‘theme’ ! Not bad. The crowd seemed upmarket, except for us J had a good sprinkling of youngsters although it didn’t seemed like a very hip place (considering the fact that at one point they told us to pipe down, but we had our usual kind of fun). All this points to some serious dining. And. It’s Indian Chinese, not authentic.

We were 11 hungry people all from the same company. 11 different points of view, 10 great companions,7 states represented on a table and for sure 5 different languages spoken in a span of roughly 2.15 hours. I love my country.

So let’s eat.

What? The menu was huge. The sea food section was also well populated, which surprised me. The vegetarians definitely don’t lose out in this restaurant.
Heres what we ate, with an attempt at pro star rating, mind you this rating was done by 3 guys, hence I can say , this rating does good justice. Tabloids, please contact my agent.

Shaolin sticks (veg seekh Chinese style) – * * * * .5
Crispy paneer – * * * *
Momos – * * *
Lung fung soup – * * * .5
Chicken manchow soup – * * .5
Red Dragon chicken – * * *.5
Veg balls in hot garlic sauce – * * * *.5
Veg Chowmein - * * * *
Veg Schezwan fried rice (peas!) - * *
Chilly fish - * * * *
Kum Fa lamb - * * * .5
Chocolate mousse - * * * .5
Sweet lime soda - * * * *

Overall I can give it a * * * *. Lack s a full 5 because it seems a bit on the expensive side.

A meal I shall remember, for the food and the people.

Hey, I just did what many foodie columnists do; impose their judgement on the readers in metrics like numbers and stars. That’s the last thing I want to do.

Go to this place. It’s good.