Shanghai Club at WelcomHotel Dwarka presents a mix of traditional Japanese and Chinese food without ruining the flavours. Chef liang Xiao Qing spoke to Iknoor Kaur
What is it about sushi that Japanese love the mostIJ Is it the vinegared rice, the seaweed or the raw fishIJ The fact is that none of these is complete in a sushi gurando (platter) without sake. Often referred to as rice wine, sake is an alcoholic drink of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice. Though this beverage is full of spirit, it is strong and very few people get its preparation right. However, Shanghai Club at WelcomHotel Dwarka hit the bulls eye with its live sushi counter and warm sake.
Set on the first floor of the newly-opened hotel, the restaurant is lavishly designed with two separate sections — the live sushi counter and the Chinese restaurant.
Once at the sushi counter, the fascination is inevitable. The sushi gurando is the signature dish with six types of sushi preparations and is served atop a bowl with dry ice. Sushi master Venecio Cadavida explained, “The platter is a mix of all varieties of sushi. Sushi is prepared with scallops, hamachi (yellow tail fish), meguro, tuna, salmon and tofu. The dry ice maintains the temperature equilibrium.” While the salmon and hamachi were the best, the tofu was worth a try.
The Chinese section is a more personalised one. Chef liang Xiao Qing said that every dish is moderated based on the client’s taste. “Some Chinese spices don’t go well with too many people. Earlier we used typical spices in uniformity for all customers. But soon we realised that a large chunk of people prefer milder meals. So we began altering our spices based on the kind of people that come. We had a group from Berlin recently for whom we kept the spices moderate because they like their food to taste the way it is, without the added spices,” he shared. Qing added that the lesser the drama on the palate, the more one can savour the dish.
“Too much drama on the palate means that the flavours get mixed up and some become overpowering,” he said.
The Chinese section had a large variety of food to choose from. First up was chicken shui jiao with spicy soy vinegar which opened up all the taste buds. The seafood egg drop soup was a delight. “The soup has all forms of seafood and is very light on stomach,” the chef said.
The braised lamb chop with chinkiang vinegar was the best dish on their menu and according to the chef it is the most demanded at the restaurant. “There are a lot of ways one can make lamb chops but the flavours we use are different and stay with people,” he said.
The dessert was a Chinese concoction. Steamed coconut parcels were the real invention. The dish looked like a plate of dimsums but was actually sweet. Qing said, “We did this in order to innovate the Chinese and Japanese cuisines.” The warm date pudding was also a good sweetener and left us asking for more.
All in all, Shanghai Club proved to be one of the few places in Delhi that served authentic Japanese and Chinese preparation in a contemporary style.