Well let’s face it guys – we Delhites/Gurgaonites just love our Chinese food and are always finding excuses to eat it. And what better excuse would there be than to go to good old Connaught Place, which has had a full facelift, for Chinese. The China House by QBA, has replaced their original venture “Live by QBA” and is thankfully not serving out and out Punjabi Chinese but stuff which is closer to the authentic.
The interiors of China House are very welcoming with inverted rice paper umbrellas adorning the ceiling, eye catching gold and silver orchids on the walls and a big chandelier in the middle of the spacious restaurant. China House, which is at two levels, can seat approximately seventy five people. It has a huge bar tucked away at the back churning out awesome cocktails like Ecstacy, Indian Summer, Red Sea etc.
We started with Thai Crispy Vegetables which were really well made – crispy vegetable tempura tossed in sweet Thai chili sauce, topped with caramelised onions and chili. One could make a meal out of this.
The Veg. Crystal Dumplings – broccoli, sesame and cabbage and shitake and carrot – were both quite refreshing with simple flavours of the veggies coming through each bite. The Non-Veg. Dumplings – seven spice chicken, spicy lamb and garlic chicken – all had really nice stuffings which tingled the taste buds but had a rubbery outer skin.
In the mains, you may just close your eyes and order the Lamb with Bamboo Shoot in Black Pepper Sauce – I can still taste the succulent, sliced lamb and the awesome, black pepper sauce. Their signature dish, Butter Prawns with Crispy Egg Flakes, however, missed the bull’s eye as the sauce they were tossed in had a flour taste and the pretty looking crispy egg flakes were probably fried and kept for a while making them limp. The Deep Fried Fish in Black Pepper Sauce, on the other hand, hit straight home – definitely a must try dish. The Sliced Chicken and Cashew Nuts in Ginger Chili Sauce and Four Treasure Vegetables in Hunan Sauce are other must try dishes.
We had the mains with competently made Veg Haka Noodles and Golden Onion Fried Rice (the caramelised onions gave a pleasant, sweet taste to the rice).
China House also has meal-on-the-go at very affordable prices. One could choose sticky rice/rice/noodles with a meat or a veggie topping served in a bowl. We tried the Sticky Rice with Sliced Chicken Dry Red Chilies & Roasted Peanuts in Sichuan Sauce. The sauce lacked a certain zing to it and the rice could have been stickier, but the dish was otherwise nice.
In desserts, one can have the Hot Chocolate Fudge (not to be confused with the famed Nirula’s one) – this is a brownie with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream – and give the Crème Caramel a miss.
I must mention that the suave manager (Mr. Amit Sudan) was the perfect host and that, coupled with impeccable service, added to the charm of the evening. To give you a glimpse of the impeccable service that we experienced – I took a sip of one of the cocktails I had and since I didn’t like it much, nursed it longer than the other one I had had previously – the waiter, somehow, noticed this and promptly came to ask if he could replace my drink.
China House is a place I can go back to any day because I left a lot of dishes on the menu which I would love to try.
Ratings (Out of 5)
Food: 4.0 | Drinks: 4.0 | Ambience: 3.5 | Service: 4.5| Overall: 4.0
Meal for Two: Rs. 1500 (Without alcohol) | Credit Cards: Yes | Alcohol: Yes | Timings: 12 noon- 11.30PM
Address: China House by Q’BA, K-12 Outer Circle, Connaught Place, New Delhi | Telephone:011 43560008
Disclaimer: This review was done on an invitation from the restaurant. Due judgement and care has been applied by the author to remain objective and unbiased in the review, but readers need to consider this review keeping this fact in mind.
