A 360 view on one of Mumbai's food gems.

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 One of Mumbai's finest food gems!    

Mumbai is a city full of people with big hopes and dreams and an even more enormous appetite for food and drinks, especially fine dining. To be more specific, our point of discussion today is Mumbai's beloved Royal China. Royal China is a fancy fine-dining restaurant at Bandra and Fort serving Pan-Asian cuisine with a vast variety of Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic drinks. 

Considering the plethora of restaurants already existing and opening on a daily basis in our city, Royal China is one of the few constantly fantastic restaurants that make family dinners feel comfortable and enjoyable, while most others make them an occasion of judgment with the dim lights and questionable music. Personally, for my family going to Royal China is a no-brainer because it guarantees you satisfactory taste and a graceful experience. 

                                                                               
This restaurant is packed with elegance, delicious food, and frequent celeb visits. Let's move on to the real deal ~ the food served here. Their menu consists of vegetarian options, fresh seafood, duck, and a few pork and lamb options. 

Unlike other restaurants, this place feels like one size restaurant in the sense that it is truly suitable for families, couples, a group of friends and corporate events. This feature is hard to find these days as restaurants and cafes are so much like bars and nightclubs, family dinner nights feel uncomfortable and misfit, and this bugs when the food is particularly worth coming back to. The interior is tasteful with lovely plates and cutlery. The staff is extremely well trained and polite. The reservation policy at the restaurant is unique, at least for dinner; they have 2-time slots 
1) 8pm to 10:15pm 
2) 10:30pm to 12:45am 

This can pose a problem as 8:30pm is too early for some people and 10:30 is too late but I can assure you that 10:30 is the preferred time as that is when most celebrities drop in, the restaurant is busy but the staff will still be at your service and the vibe is lively and the most enjoyable. 8pm is your ideal slot if you prefer a calm and mellow atmosphere. 
Out of the 4  times that I have been here, I met Jim Sarbh (famous Bollywood actor), Aisha Ahmed (popular OTT actress) and Aastha Gill (playback singer). 




                                                              


1. Mongolian fried chicken: 

This dish seems like a tradition at my family dinners because we order it every single time. It's got the perfect crunch, spice, and flavour, and is beautifully plated. While the quantity might seem too less, it somehow manages to fill the appetizer section of your belly. The sauce it comes with is pointless because the chicken itself is so tender and perfectly cooked that it needs nothing to accompany it. 

Rating: 4.5/5 

Picture credits: Personal phone camera. 






Sriracha Chicken Dumpling:

Dumplings have been the trendiest food item for a hot minute now, but these are genuinely the best in our city. Like all fine dining restaurants, the portion is small and only comes in 3 per portion and the fact that they are so addictive makes it hard on the pocket. They have the perfect balance of sriracha and the chilli oil it comes with makes them spicy and enhances the taste. They have some of the widest range of dumpling options that I have seen in a fancy restaurant.

Rating: 5/5 

Picture credits: Swiggy.com 

                                                                                                              
Minced chicken in lettuce wrap:

A not-so-favourite of mine at Royal China was this minced chicken in a lettuce wrap, this appetizer was not a great dish. It was advertised as being not spicy and on the sweeter side but it was too sweet and the only refreshing thing about it was the lettuce leaves it came with, to make your own wrap. While I often appreciate appetizers that have a mild and comforting flavour, this was not it. 

Rating: 3/5 

Picture credits: Zomato.com 


Moving on to the Main Course, Dessert and Mocktails. 

Pan-fried noodles with chicken and Black bean sauce:

These are some of the best noodles I have ever had, they are so crispy and well-cooked with the perfect amount of Black bean sauce and the sauce is also of such great quality, overall this dish can feed 4 people satisfactorily. Black bean sauces according to me aren't for everyone but this one will definitely change your mind. You do not need to order another gravy with it but since we were a group of 6, we ordered chicken Hakka noodles and Kung Pao chicken. 
Nothing much to say about the Hakka noodles, they are a classic and always a necessity at an Asian restaurant. 

Rating: 4.8/5 

Picture credits: Personal phone camera        

                                                                                           
Kung Pao Chicken:

Another classic at an Asian restaurant, despite being on the Main Course section this dish is semi-dry but you have the option of asking for a separate bowl of gravy, although it was flaming hot. The taste however was heavenly, the quality of the meat was superior and the addition of Water Chestnuts was an exciting and new experience. It paired beautifully with the Hakka noodles. But truly, the extra gravy on the side was fiery! 

Rating: 4/5

Picture credits: Zomato.com

Mocktails:

We ordered 4 mocktails and to be honest, none of them was even decent in taste. This is the only downside of this restaurant if you are not an alcohol consumer, you will have to stick to Coke, Sprite or water as your beverage. The beverages ordered were: Cranberry Kiss, Matcha-Tini, Royal China Special Splash and a Virgin Mojito. All of them tasted so artificial and extremely sour, they were not refreshing and were a complete waste of money. 
 
    
Virgin Mojito:

Rating: 2/5

Picture credits: GQ magazine








Cranberry Kiss:

Rating: 3.2/5

Picture credits: GQ magazine 







                                                                                                                                     

 Rating: 10/5 💓
Picture credits: Personal phone camera

Royal China Chocolate dome:

This is the only dessert that I have had at Royal China and it is absolutely fantastic, the visuals are clearly mesmerising and the taste is even better. The new touch of adding strawberries to the side makes it 5x times tastier. The chocolate is of such supreme quality and you simply cannot have enough of the brownie and the ice cream. There cannot be a more rich way to end a grand feast! 

The last part of my review talks about the prices of the dishes at this restaurant, it is definitely on the more expensive side, for 6 adults the cost is 10k and for 4 adults the cost is somewhere between 5-6k. In the group of 6, we had ordered 3 drinks, a dessert, 3 main course dishes and 4 appetizers and I think the total bill was reasonable as the size of their portions is bigger than most fine dining restaurants in Mumbai. Although the service charges are too high. You will undoubtedly have a wonderful time here! 

References:

Personal experience 



Blog by, 
Soha Deshmukh 
Roll No.: 284 
 
                                                                                                                            












                                                                                                                        






















                                                                                                           




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