What excited me the most when the Shangri-La Bengaluru opened its doors in the city was the opening of their signature Chinese restaurant the Shang Palace. Having dined at a Shang Palace before, the expectations were high and the excitement to savor their Peking Duck, even higher!
It begins with a walk down a long corridor, from the entrance to the restaurant itself until we were ushered into a warm and comfortable space – decked in gold and red accents, bamboo plants and Chinese lanterns and striking gold chandeliers – a common feature at this hotel. The restaurant offers both indoor and outdoor seating and a private dining room for up to 12 people. The menu features an extensive selection of authentic Cantonese, Shanghainese, Beijingese, Schezwan and Chinese vegetarian dishes and we were lucky to have the hotel General Manager choose some of his favorites for us.
Our appetizer menu featured:
Roasted crispy pork belly: Little cubes of crispy-skinned pork heaven that was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, served with granulated sugar and a dark dipping sauce. These were gobbled up even before we managed to grab a decent picture of it!
Chongqing chilli chicken: The wok-fried Chilli chicken cooked with Schezwan peppercorns and vinegar was perfectly spicy and a powerhouse of flavor thanks to those pungent peppercorns.
Salt and pepper prawns: These batter-fried golden beauties, perfectly cooked and sprinkled with spring onions, delivered on taste.
Crispy lotus stem: If you have not tasted lotus stem before, this is where you must. Tossed in a chilli and hoisin (barbeque) sauce, they had the perfect sweet and sour crunch and was just the vegetarian appetizer we needed. Still considered a bit of a delicacy here, the Lotus Stem is also a great source of all your essential vitamins.
Prawn hargaw: This delicate Cantonese dim sum dish, served with ginger vinegar and chili bean sauce was the only dim sum dish we tried and it was spot on – flavorful and full of melt-in-your-mouth goodness.
Crabmeat Soup: Not a usual choice of soup but I enjoyed this A LOT. Served with asparagus and an egg drop, the soup was light and fluffy and was served rightly after that big appetizer spread to slow down that explosion of flavors.
This was further calmed as we were brought a hot cup of Chinese herbal tea, yes – right in between our meal – in the noteworthy and extremely pretty red and gold tea cups.
And then we were ready for our mains.
The Hunan style steamed fish served with stir-fried baby corn and broccoli in garlic sauce and Yangzhou fried rice with Char siu chicken, prawn and egg fried rice. That’s as perfect as it gets.
The Hunan style steamed fish – delicate filets of sea bass, cooked to melt-in-your-mouth perfection and served in a broth of soy sauce and pickled chillies was so flavorful, so delicious and when served with the Yangzhou fried rice – we were in food heaven. The second time, that afternoon. The stir-fried baby corn and broccoli were garlicky without overpowering our taste buds and the right choice of side-dish.
We weren’t leaving without tucking in some of the Roasted Beijing duck, a signature dish at Shang Palace and a personal favorite. The duck slices were moist and served in rolls with its crispy skin, scallions, cucumber, sweet bean sauce, which our host efficiently rolled for us. These were delicious but were they the best I’ve ever had – probably not.
And then it was time for dessert! While I like to save the best for the last, my epic lunch meant I had to choose carefully and so it was some Cinnamon ice-cream for me. Thankfully my partner was feeling a little more indulgent and chose the Caramelised banana toffee with vanilla ice cream, both the perfect sweet ending to our perfect lunch!
Shang Palace and Chef Lin Lin Yang and his team of Chinese chefs definitely lived up to my expectations. And with an authentic, vast and value-for-money menu, we sure won’t have to think twice before revisiting this place.
Where: Shangri-La Bengaluru
#56-6B, Palace Grounds, Bengaluru
Phone: 080 4512 6100
