There are some restaurants which serve such sumptuos food that you are willing to overlook anything else that the restaurant lacks.
Then there are restaurants which pack ambience, decor, variety on menu, service along with good-but-not-the-best food in such a way that they just take your breath away.
Nanking is of the second type.
Located in a quiet corner of C9 block in Vasant Kunj, the surroundings of the place are quiet and serene. In fact so quiet that you wont expect a restaurant like Nanking in a place like that.
The entry of the restaurant is pretty stylish, with a reception and a waiting room on the ground floor and the eating place on the first floor. Neatly dressed and well mannered waiters es*rt you to the first floor via the glass elevator. The reception has a small water body along it’s walls with a glass wall forming it’s other boundary. The rather large fishes swimming there look really pretty.
Inside the dining room, the sparkling new furniture and the bright blue ceiling catches the eye. You will get es*rted to a table and handed the food and the bar menu.
The bar menu has the usual scotches. wines and cocktails - I didnot take any.
The main menu is what is a treat. Rare delicacies like the Red Snapper fish, some soup which needs to be ordered two days in advance and some other soup for over 1300 bucks, lobsters, crabs etc.
I mentioned the above because that is the kind of food I like to eat. However, since I went with my wife who is not that big a fan of non veg food, we settled for Hakka noodles and Chilly Chicken.
Hakka noodles were good but I have tasted better and for a fraction of the price. However the chilly chicken was really good, The helpings are large and by the time we finished we were pretty full.
The presentation of the food is really great. Everything - even the crab - looks so delicious that you would want to try it.
This along with the the politeness of the waiters, the ambience, the weird music which plays in the background, the fellow diners makes this place a must visit.
I enjoyed myself thoroughly even though I thought that the noodles could be better.Next time I visit, I am going to try the crab and the red snapper:)
However the cake for the best Chinese will always go to Wanley’s in Bangalore. A place which no ambience and a place which is dirt cheap but still serves the best Hakka noodles that I have eaten.