Aromas of China in Chennai

Yet another Thursday evening amidst friends, and this time we were at a new restaurant on Khader Nawaz khan road. Over the past few days I’ve noticed that quite a few places have shut, but a few new ones have cropped up. “Out with the old, in with the new” I guess and wondered how long these new places will survive… But that road has changed drastically over the years, it has become a landmark locality of sorts in the city. A road known for the “poshness”, high end shopping, eating and lounging.

Ok, so I headed up the elevator to the 2^nd floor and noticed Aromas of China on the left and Khansama on the other side. They both belong to the same group of hotels. At the entrance was welcomed by a giant Buddha face on the wall and a lion near the maitre de’s table.

Slide into the space on the sofa, was a tad tight, but what the hell... Chit chatted and while waiting for the soup, nibbled on the Kim chi and tried to pick a few with chopsticks and must say I succeeded. Yayy!! Along came the soup, veg sweet corn soup- it was bland and felt empty. I added quite a bit of Chilli in vinegar water and soy sauce to add some flavour. Reminded me of the good ol days when Sweet corn soup used to taste exactly like this[bland that is].  I wondered and joked that maybe the guy who orders the spices was out of town or gone missing!!

 And then came the series of Veg starters- 1st came the momo, tried picking it up with chopsticks and did succeed. Was reminded of Kung Fu panda where Master Shifu & Panda train with a bowl of momos..This momo was just about alright, I've had better, what was missing? Flavouring, n it was nothing like the momos i've eaten [heck I even make em at home] !! .Anyways, back to food, there were quite a few corn based items- one was corn cooked in white sauce with other veggies; another was crispy corn which i liked, and finally came the Crispy fried veggies[ an assortment of veggies- cauliflower, carrot and baby corn]. I ate these with ample chilli sauce, and the mustard sauce. There was another sauce which was dark in colour, nearly black, a black pepper sauce [if i remember right]

In between mouthfuls we caught up on life, and everything else, while some were busy photographing the place and the people. For a Thursday evening the place was nearly full, which had me amazed [Chennai people do get out, amazing] The main dishes began coming out, one by one. The 1^st in line was Noodles [which was quite good, esp since i prefer noodles over rice any day]. It was served along side a mix veg gravy [don’t know the name], it had cauliflower, snow peas, baby corn, capsicum and onion [tasted alright, like any Chinese dish]. The other dish was Veg dumpling, which had a flat cutlet kind of dumpling in soy based sauce. I liked it..especially since the other one was very bleh. I noticed the restaurant slowly filling up, and buzzing with customers. Always good to see a packed house :)

Then came the Schezwan Rice, it was red in colour making me wonder how spicy it was, but with the 1^st spoonful I realised it wasn’t spicy at all. The rice was just about cooked and had a generous splash of spring onion, i wondered if perhaps they added colour to give it that scary look.

Ok, so where were we? Ah yes, food. We waited and waited, laughing, catching up, cracking up and some more when suddenly there were the waiter serving us some yumm looking desserts. The 1^st one was Daarsaan [ flat noodles deep fried coated with honey and served with a few chopped up almonds] and vanilla ice cream. Now, I am not a big fan of Vanilla ice cream, but I did like this one and it went well with the dessert.  The other one was a spring roll of sorts, it resembled a cigar, except this had gooey chocolate inside and was HOT. Lip smacking, so much so that I had a 2^nd piece and another dollop of ice cream to go with it.

Well, even though the food is Indo-Chinese, the kind we get almost everywhere, and even though I've had better food, if one was to go by the crowd piling into the restaurant, I’d say the place was a roaring success. They are doing something right.. whatever that is!


Ambiance: The only quip I have is the sofa seating was very uncomfortable, getting in, sitting and the cushions, almost got backache, request the management to change the cushions
Price: A meal for 2 should cost around Rs1500 [little more if you are Non veg

Address:
Aromas Of China 
2nd Floor, #15, Khader Nawaz Khan Road, 
Nungambakkam, Chennai- 34
Ph- +(91)-9962379494 | 43178111

The place where Mocha was, it is  opp the building with Kryptos/Atmosphere.

This was part of a CFG Showcase that I attended and was conducted by Chennai Food Guide.

Disclaimer:

The reviews posted on this blog are based on my personal experience. Also remember that restaurants and eat outs sometimes change with time, so does their food and service. So, kindly consider these factors while visiting the places. Remember, no two palates are the same. Bon Appétit  :-)