Since it wasn’t secure to step out and mingle round Holi, ordering in some Chinjabi from Noodle Bowl appeared the one choice.
I used to be a wee lad after I had my first Chinese meal in Delhi. It was at Ginza in Connaught Place. Your childhood meals recollections mould your tastes, irrespective of what number of cuisines and flavours you check out as you get older. That explains why Chinjabi — a mixture of Chinese and Punjabi — continues to enthral me.
I used to be in a nostalgic temper final week, because it was Holi and we had been cooped up inside. I believed again to the previous Chinese eating places we used to frequent on festive events.
The craving for some old school Delhi-style Chinese meals — doused with a beneficiant dollop of soya sauce — grew. I went searching for an acceptable Chinese eatery that I had not tried out earlier than.
The outcome was a spot referred to as Noodle Bowl, a preferred chain with branches all over the place. I regarded up Swiggy, and located that the menu included pork, which many eating places sadly don’t serve any extra.
After a short dialogue at dwelling, we selected Chong do rooster (₹359), 5 spice lamb (₹479), crispy pork pepper salt (₹379), vegetable spring roll (₹109), rooster momos (₹109 for 4), vegetable fried rice (₹189) and half a plate of vegetable noodles (₹119).
First the unhealthy information: The dishes roughly regarded the identical. Now the excellent news: They, nonetheless, had their very own attribute flavours, and fairly a pleasant style. The pork was crunchy, had an aftertaste of pepper, and was an excellent appetiser.
Both the lamb and the rooster dishes did are available in a soya dressing, however I loved them. The lamb was tender and the sauce, cooked with onion, ginger and capsicum, properly tangy.
What was very nice was the rooster: items of rooster breast with spring onions, pink and yellow pepper, black mushroom, Chinese cabbage and lemon juice. The sauce was mildly candy, probably due to the peppers, and I actually loved that. The crunchy veggies added to the style and texture.
The rooster items had been deliciously squashy and went nicely with the fried rice.
The rice was long-grained, and got here with bits of veggies, and a pleasant aroma. The noodles, nonetheless, had been nothing a lot to jot down dwelling about, fairly just like the spring rolls, which had been too exhausting. The dim sums received a B from us — neither excellent, nor too unhealthy.
Noodle Bowl is worth for cash, and the parts are beneficiant. Four of us had this meal, and there was sufficient left over for lunch and half a dinner the subsequent day,
I’m not all that keen on Chinese dessert, so I ended with two sorts of gujiyas (it was round Holi, in spite of everything). One was from Hira Sweets, with a filling of thickened milk and khoya.
The second from Pitara was a smooth gujiya, with a filling of stewed apples, walnut and jaggery. It was scrumptious, and wholesome besides.
Holi turned out to be fairly good in spite of everything. It wasn’t the competition of colors, however definitely certainly one of flavours.
The author is a seasoned meals critic
