The royal treatment

Whenever you walk into a restaurant that looks great and feels impeccable, you take the quality of the food for granted. Especially if you are coughing up a small fortune to pay for your meal. It is grossly unfair to pay a lot and get mediocre food. There are a lot of restaurants in the Capital that have a great ambience on offer but the food they dish out doesn’t match up to the feel. However, we can discuss those later. 

Eros Hotel’s Empress of China is one place that aces the ambience and the food chart - I had heard quite a bit about it even before I headed over, so it had to be checked out.

Empress of China is ready to take on this year with their new menu that includes three set meals that you can pick from. They have the Empress Meal, Empress Regal Meal and the Empress Prosperity Meal. Each has its own set of appetisers, soups, mains and desserts. If you want the best of all three worlds - you are welcome to pick your dishes from the regular menu and do check out their signatures. We wanted a bit of everything so we let Chef Tenzin Losel pick the dishes for us. 

With a wonderful view of the terrace garden we started our meal with Warm Duck Salad, Black Pepper Mushroom, Empress Corn Salt and Pepper, Garlic Lobster and Szechuan Chicken. The Black Pepper Mushroom and the Garlic Lobster get our thumbs up and are a definite must try if you are dining here. 

Then came the dumplings. We were served the Steamed Crab Dumpling, Prawn Har Gao, Char Sui Bao and the Chicken Pot Sticker.  The Steamed Crab Dumpling was heavenly as was the Char Sui Bao - if you are ok with pork - you cannot miss this one. 

The first time I had tried a bao in Delhi was in Yo China after I just moved here. They had their Chilli Chicken Bao (am sure they still do) - and I was terribly disappointed. I was almost certain that except for Old China Town in Kolkata’s Tiretta Bazaar - no other place could make a decent bao. However, thankfully, Empress of China did an incredible job. The Char Sui Bao is the perfect balance of spicy pork with the soft steamed outer bun. 

For those who are perhaps tired with all different varieties of the dimsums and the dumplings, the bao is a very interesting alternative. It gives you a lot more ‘bread’ to chew on and balances perfectly with the inside stuffing, which is usually spicier than the dumplings.

For the mains we marveled through pan friend noodles, Clay Pot Chicken, Trout in Black Bean sauce, Sliced Tenderloin and Braised Tofu. After the incredible appetisers we had very little space left for the mains but the fish is a must try. 

If you are picking the trout - a little careful with the bones. If you want a slight breather between courses, try a light soup to balance it out. 

Finally the very satisfying meal ended with Date Pancake, Fruit and Nut Roll, Szechuan Chocolate Cake and ice cream. 

Empress of China offers two very cool things - the alcoholic tea and coffee. All the offerings on this part of the menu work entirely on pairing the right tea with the perfect liquor. For example - Mintea (Tulsi Mint tea and Bombay Sapphire) or Jasmo (Vodka infused Jasmine tea with cranberry juice) and Obsession (milk coffee and Jack Daniels) or Vod-Tretto (ristretto shot with vodka). Go ahead! Experiment a bit. 

A meal for two costs about Rs 3000 (without taxes and alcohol) and Rs 4500 (without taxes and with alcohol). For the kind of food and service they offer - believe us - you won’t be disappointed. They have a very well stocked bar so go ahead and indulge yourself with a cocktail if the alcoholic tea and coffee aren’t up your alley. But what is life without new things?

The best part about Empress of China is that it offers you that cozy cocoon of comfort as you dine as it overlooks a busy intersection. The tables are evenly spaced so you don’t have to worry about having to deal with loud conversations from the next table or bother about your voices carrying across to others. And of course - the food is very good. We are definitely heading over again, soon.