Listed as...
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- Dessert
Rated: Excellent
based on 2 reviews
Ginseng
The Royal Orchid, 1 Golf Avenue, Airport Road, Bangalore
25205566
| Locality | Airport Road |
|---|---|
| Place Type | Bar, Restaurant |
| Food Type | Chinese, Pan-Asian |
| Timings | 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM, 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM |
| Price |
Expensive
|
- Additional Information
-
Credit cards accepted
Air conditioned
- Write a Review
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first reviewed by NotOnADiet
- User Reviews (2)
Rated: Good
Mar 13, 2008
For a Sober Ying and Yang
When it comes to eating out with wifey on special occasions, we somehow end up in a place owned by the BJN or the Royal Orchid Group. Like some inevitable truth, we find ourselves looking at some classy decor, great ambience, detailed menus with vivid descriptions under fancy titles. [It's about time they took us on board now :)]
Last week was no different. We headed out to Ginseng Oriental Restaurant, a family favorite, but one I'd never been to. After all the “wow, what food!!” stories I'd heard, I'd almost imagined a piece of China in there. It turned out to be, let’s say, more sober than I thought. The runway-like waiting lounge had a smiling hostess who ushered us in.
The decor didn’t do justice to my 'oriental' imagination. But that’s okay; I wasn't planning to eat the decor anyway. The tables had the required cutlery in addition to the dreaded chopsticks. Thanks to some earlier in-house practice I could at least pick up cucumber slices from the salad (me know no technical names of thees item) without causing much commotion.
We ordered mocktails which went by the names 'Shades of Blue' and 'Sober Ying & Yang'. The former was some regular blue stuff which I’m sick of seeing in Cafés and Bars, but the sober ‘thing’ had fresh green chili in it. Weird as the description sounded, it turned out to be quite an interesting drink with a cut, upturned chili piece emitting chili odour right into one’s nose.
I then ordered my favorite 'oriental' soup, the Manchow. It did not disappoint me. Its subtle flavours distinguished itself from the many regular Chinese joints in the 5 km radius. Unfortunately, an earlier heavy office lunch and my tight pants were becoming a hindrance to a wholesome meal and we ended up keeping our orders minimal.
One of us was off meat so we had to do with a largely vegetarian meal. The vegetable satay was quite ordinary and I wasted no time in calling it a con job. Single roasted pieces of Onion, Paneer, Tomato and Carrot on a stick smothered with some sauce (or whatever!) costing 45/- apiece will always be a joke as far as I’m concerned. This dish had 4 such sets and cost 175/-
We had hardly room for more so we decided on some simple fare. ‘Burned Garlic Fried Rice’ and ‘Vegetables in Fiery Manchurian Sauce’. (Burnt garlic sticks to the teeth like caramel but tastes a little krazzy4 consumption ;) so don’t try this at home). Each dish was flavourful and done to perfection. I polished what was served. Given the tight pants, it was an achievement.
This was easily one of my best eating-out experiences in recent times. The calm, smiling and concerned waiters asked us to comment on the food and suggested ideal accompaniments when required and kept away otherwise.
Dinner for two with a non-alcoholic beverage each is easily INR 1000 (provided you do not touch the Evian bottle at the table.) which is not too much considering the service and the simple-but-classy-ambiance which was way above average.
The last thing I expected here was Indian music. Well I was more shocked than surprised when I heard some Punjabi tracks from the Hindi movie ‘Boom’. I looked around nobody seemed to bother. I shouldn’t have too.
Verdict: Well, I'd love to go here again. But this time I'll be trying out anything but sober.
peace,
HD
May 28, 2007
The best place for SE Asian food
located in the 1st floor of the royal orchid hotel - next to the KGA. parking is not a problem - they have valet parking. ambience is awesome - you might even believe that you've been transported to some upmarket restaurant in Singapore / HK. lots of space, very quiet - the place to goto if you just want to catch up over an excellent dinner. they even have a family area which is slightly secluded and you may want to make reservations for it - seats about 10 / 12 i think.
the best SE food i've had in Blore (other than the 5 stars). great dumplings - they just melt in your mouth. the sea food is unbelieveably good and the portions are generous. most of the lamb dishes i've tried have passsed with flying colors. although they do have a lunch buffet, haven't tried that out as yet.
the sushi bar could have had a better menu and that's probably the only bad thing i can say about this place and also the fact that it's slightly on the expensive side.
service is good and ubiquitous.
no wonder they got the Times Food award for the best SE Asian restaurant!