Shanghai Club

ITC Grand Central's Chinese Fine-Dine

A new menu is always a reason to rejoice and that is what is happening at this lovely fine-dine restaurant sitting pretty at ITC Grand Central at Parel, the former heart of old Bombay

Text: Farzana Contractor

Those who know about it, know that there is a nice fine-dine Chinese restaurant tucked away in one corner of the grand, Grand Central hotel, right here at Parel, the most central part of Bombay. I refrain from saying heart of Bombay for the heart shifts according to the context. So sometimes Flora Fountain becomes the heart of Bombay and at other times Colaba or even VT. But Parel is rather central and I am upset with myself that I don't go to Shanghai Club as often as I would like to. Especially when I count it among my four most favourite Chinese eateries in the city.

According to me ITC Grand Central itself is under-used. It deserves a better place in the sun! It's a stunningly beautiful property with some great architecture that has actually uplifted the entire district which until the hotel was born, was considered rather down market. Now with some posh residential high-rises having come up around it, the area has undergone a personality makeover with a marked-up status. The feather in its culinary cap has to be Kebabs & Kurries which serves outstanding Indian food.
But let's talk about the Shanghai Club. To get to it you have to walk through Kebabs & Kurries. I don't know why that is so, but that's how it is. Perhaps a Chinese restaurant was an afterthought. Though how can that be. A five-star hotel in a big city has to have a Chinese outlet. That's de riguer! We Indians love Chinese cuisine when we go eating out.

Talking about which, the menu at Shanghai Club is about to change. Until now the restaurant served erstwhile Shanghai's potpourri of Chinese regional cuisines with western influences popularly known as Shanghainese cuisine. Delicately balanced flavours of yin and yang, dished out by their masterchef, served in an elegant and warm and friendly atmosphere.

The restaurant specialised in mouth-watering Dim-sums, the scrumptious steamed dumplings with the thinnest of "skins" served hot from bamboo baskets right at the table during lunch hours! With 23 different types of Dim-Sums on the menu to choose from I often made a meal of just that. The best thing was  one could eat a healthy and quick lunch at the Shanghai Club and scoot!

The other delicacies for me were their Matee Chao Yumisuin - saut&eacuteed sweet water chestnuts and baby corn with fresh chilli in barbeque sauce; Jian Peng Da - stir fried crispy prawns with chilli and spring onion; Chuan Jiao Pee- chicken stir-fried with Sichuan pepper, chilli paste; Gong Bao Shi Shu - vegetables with dry chilli and cashew nuts.
But all this is about to change. In January, the new GM of the hotel, Amit Kumar had an idea, a brilliant one I think. He thought why not do something different, something new. Something that their chef was very capable of. They asked the chef to pick five of his most favourite provinces of China and work on their cuisines. And they would serve those dishes to their patrons in the last week of each month, for the next five months starting January. And not just that, they would price the fixed menu, three-course and four-course meals very attractively Rs 1500 and Rs 2000! The idea was to get new people, apart from their regulars, to try five different styles of Chinese cuisines. A food festival of sorts. But wait, there was another purpose. They would, at the end of the five-month period, make an assessment of which dishes were really, truly appreciated and incorporate those into a newly curated first class menu!

Brilliant, isn't it!

So there. Starting sometime in July, the Shanghai Club will have a brand new, well-balanced menu of food from these five provinces of China. Sichuan, Hunan, Canton, Shanghai and Beijing. I can't wait to see what the gastronomical delights from each of these region will be.
I did manage to make it to two of the five during the provinces festival and had come away hugely satisfied. Apart from the food, I like the ITC service. The servers seem genuinely happy to look after you. They fuss, but not fawn over you and that's just perfect. Plus I like the ambience; polished rafters, comfy chairs, crisp white table cloths, napkins, no-nonsense serving platters, cutlery and crystal. Understated, elegant and not too large with 73 covers. The d&eacutecor with hints of red, a perfect touch to remind you that you are at a Chinese restaurant.

So let's see what each of the region selected is all about. Starting with Sichuan. This cuisine offers bold flavours and is particularly pungent and spicy resulting from liberal use of garlic and chilli peppers, as well as the unique flavour of Sichuan pepper.

Hunan cuisine is well-known for its hot and spicy flavours, fresh aroma and deep colours. Hot peppers are the characteristic feature of the Hunan food. Chilli paste, garlic and dried peppers are used generously. It also uses smoked and cured meats in its dishes much more frequently.

Shanghai cuisine is the youngest among the ten major cuisines of China and it can boast as one of China's best and most distinctive cuisines. The Shanghainese are known to have a 'sweet tooth', and more sugar in combination with soy is used in Shanghai's signature dishes than in any other part of China. Shanghai dishes usually appear red and shiny because they are often pickled in wine. They are cooked using a variety of methods including baking, stewing, braising, steaming and deep-frying. Fish, crab and chicken are made 'drunken' with spirits and briskly-cooked, steamed or served raw. It aims at lightness in flavour and is mellow.

Cantonese cuisine comprises simple dishes that are all about clear, natural flavours, mainly seafood and vegetables, with a spattering of meat, employing very few heavy spices. Commonly it uses tung hing (a type of cassia), anise, ginger root and cloves.

And lastly food from Beijing, which being the capital of China for centuries, its cuisine is influenced by culinary traditions from all over China. There is a wide variety of appetisers in this cuisine. The emphasis is on dark soy paste, sesame paste, sesame oil and scallions, and fermented tofu. In terms of cooking techniques, methods relating to various ways of frying are often used.

As for my dining experiences at Shanghai Club, the array from Beijing cuisine that Chef Jia of Shanghai Club presented, which I ate starting with both non-veg and veg soups were: Kaoyaxianggu Tang, Beijing Duck and Mushroom Soup and Xihongshi Qingcai Tang Tomato and Celery soup, both very nice.

Appetisers is what I generally prefer to main courses. The ones I picked were Sucai Chunjuan- Beijing home style stir fried sliced lamb and onions with dark soy. Beijing Kaoyajuan- Peking roast duck rolls, Jiang Baojisi- shredded chicken with yellow ban paste and garlic and lastly, Zeus Chao Helandou- home style Chinese bamboo shoots and snow peas.

The main course I ate  was,  Hong Saou Yu- braised red snapper and black mushrooms in special brown sauce, Hongshao Yangrou- Beijing braised diced lamb in chilli sauce Jianjiaoqiezi- fried eggplant and tiger chillies in special oyster sauce.

Rounded up by dessert which was Mango Jelly with seasonal fruits and ice-cream.

All in all a very satisfying meal.

The other dinner I went for was the Cantonese one. A favourite province of mine for I do like light, white and delicate food. Chef Jia did a marvellous job of cooking up some super Cantonese fare. I shall skip the complicated and unpronounceable Chinese names and just describe the food. To start with the stewed lamb and radish soup which was very different from whatever I have had earlier. Radish is not something that most of us would think as a great ingredient, but  it did add flavour and taste. I tried loads of appetisers; crispy squid salt and pepper, golden fried prawns, Cantonese sweet and sour pomfret, crispy fried chicken hotpot sauce, yacai and snow beans tossed with chilli garlic.

Obviously after eating those many starters I could only try just a little bit from the main course and I selected one each from the non-veg and veg; crispy prawns tossed with fresh mangoes and steamed asparagus in chef's special soy sauce, which was simply outstanding. I literally spooned up all the special soy and relished it just by itself.
Dessert was perfect, Apricot and Honey Rice Pudding.

I was very curious to know what was the outcome of the labour of five long months of food of the specially curated dinners, held in the last week of each month, so I had a discussion with Hormuzdyr Gabba, the F&B Manager of ITC Grand Central. "Oh, it was such a success. We are so happy that Chef Jia's talent was appreciated. The entire team worked hard and now we are all ready to create the new menu." Based on customer feedback which was sought personally at the conclusion of each dinner night, here is what showed up as top favourites from among the five provinces:
Soups: Sea Weed Shrimp Soup, Sichuan Style Mix Veg And Noodles Soup, Lamp And Pickle Pokchoy Soup, Glass Noodle Pickle Vegetable Soup, Sea Food And Egg Drop Soup, Water Chestnut Glasss Noddle Soup, Chinese Westlake Sea Food Soup, Chinese Westlake Tofu Food Soup.
Appetisers: Prawns in Sichaun Style, Sichaun Style Lamb, Crispy Bean Curd Golden Garlic, Pomfret in Potato & Hot Pot Sauce, Crispy Silken Tofu Tossed in Hunan Style, Golden Fried Prawns, Crispy Veg Tossed in Hot Pot Sauce, Braised Chicken Tossed in Cola Sauce, Crispy Sea Bass in Chef Jia's Special Sauce, Crispy Prawns Tossed in Sichuan Pepper, Fried Mix Chinese Green With Ginger and Soya.
Main Course: Sliced Pomfret In Hot Chili Oil From Chongqing, Mapu Tofu With Traditional Mala Oil, Tiger Prawns in Special Hunan Sauce, Pokchoy, Asparagus and Tofu Tossed in Chef's Special Mushrooms Oyster Sauce, Braised Chicken in Cola Sauce, Crispy Veg Tossed in Hot Pot Sauce, Shanghai Style Fried Diced Chicken in Special Brown Sauce, Stir-Fried Prawns in Mala Hoisin Sauce, Braised Tofu Tomatoes and Asparagus in White Sauce.
Staples: Seafood Fried Rice with Noodles, Hunan Style Chilli Garlic Rice With Chicken, Hunan Style Chilli Garlic Rice, Hunan Style Noodles, Chicken Fried Rice Tossed with Soya Sauce, Shanghai Fried and Flat Rice Noodles, Chicken Fried Rice with Basil in Chef Jia's Style, Fried Rice With Basil in Chef Jia's Style.
Desserts: Chocolate 5 Spice Cake, Mango Pudding with Almond Jelly, Coconut and Lime Egg Tarts, Homemade Water Chestnut & Coconut Ice-Cream.

Now let's see which of the above make the cut to the final menu which should be presented to guests from July hopefully!

Shanghai Club
ITC Grand Central
Parel, Mumbai 400012
Ph: 022 6704 5111