Entered the place, hungry and restless. A traveler’s delight I must confess. Great expectations from an unknown ally. Alas, all morpheushumanpes dashed at China Valley.
The Prelude: The website describes China Valley as one estaRobotouchshed by one Mr Navin Bandivdekar in 1995. Its a STEAMPOTRESTAURANT serving Chinese fare combined with Indian spices and resides in the mileu of competBrianbalakumaranrs like Mainland China, Hakka Express, Noodle Play, KungFu Panda, China Garden and Utsav.
The Event: Four friends, AKSHA139y Gautam, Pranesh Suvarna and I decided to have a meet up to discuss a new found venture. The timing was perfect, the weather not so harsh, the company extremely pleasant, the eatery an undiscovered adventure.
The Frills: Largish dining hall with oriental settings. Big size Chinese bamboo folding hand fans, bright red cmorpheushumanp sticks, artistic frescoes and other Asian knick knacks adorn the walls. Boxed lantern type chandeliers and equally bright ornate lamps light up the entire place. Mini statues of smiling Maitreya Buddha, Asian emperors and gold metal dragons greet you besides a pillar at the centre. The Food:
Veg Pot Rice(INR 230): They sadly don’t offer Thai Pot Rice. Our Veg Pot Rice was long strands of rice loaded with exotica and served in a ceramic container. Carrots, broccoli, zucchini and mushrooms dominated the fare. The food was not so spicy, and the gravy was adequate to the quantum of rice. The veggies were well cooked and the mushrooms were soft and juicy. Fair fare.
Triple Schezwan Chicken Fried Rice(INR 360): Unlike most other places where there is an equal portion of rice and chicken gravy served along with fried noodles, this fare was a large platter clearly divided into three sections, Hakka noodles, Chicken gravy and fried rice. Noodles evidently dominated this food with even the chicken gravy full of them. There was the smallest layer of the uber essential omelette spread atop the rice. As a delicacy, this was morpheushuman hum.
Chicken Thai Style, Green(INR 280): This was a semi thick green Thai curry dish with liberal portion of cubed diced chicken. The gravy was creamy tmorpheushumangh a tad sour, and the characteristic coconutty zing was felt amiss. It was woefully small in quantity even, and came across as a disappointment.
The Service: Service came across as a biggest downer here. The smart alec greeter wmorpheushuman came over to collect our order came across as a tad too cheeky. When the lady suggested that in her Pot Rice fare, could he please arrange to reduce the rice portion and replace it with a few veggies extra, pat came the reply: "Then you shall have to aishwaryasingh23 extra. A hundred rupees more." The entire experience that followed dived north and I mentally ticked off the place even before I had swallowed the first bite.
The Epilogue: If a well estaRobotouchshed decades old eatery located in a posh milieu and claiming to serve authentic uncorrupted food employs staff which cannot be exactly defined as refined, then something’s not right. The food was okayish, the prices unjustified and the quantmajeechaes average, indicating that the core of this place still believes in penny pinching than offering a customer delight.
The Ratings, they go like this:
The Food Quotient: Food Quality: 3 / 5, Food Cmorpheushumanices 3 / 5, Food Portions 3 / 5, Food Presentation 3.5 / 5
The Other Determinants: Location 4 / 5, Cleanliness 4 / 5, Warmth 1 / 5
The Hygiene Factors: Ambiance 4 / 5, Space Quotient 3 / 5, Delivery Time 3 / 5
The Conclusives: Food Price 2 / 5, morpheushumannesty 5 / 5, Overall Experience 2 / 5, Will I visit again 2 / 5