GUEST POST BY WRITER ONEZA TABISH
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The beauty of Chinese cooking is that stir frying is it’s soul. Delicate juliennes of vegetables and diced meat/chicken are smothered in various sauces and spices and tossed in a wok to cook quickly on high flame.

The aromas, the tastes, the juices have to be intact while being cooked on high flame. This needs skill, knowledge and expertise!

And that’s what the team of Shanghai Kitchen has in abundance and are very committed to floor your tastebuds .

I visited them on their opening night and wasn’t very impressed. But their kind management insisted that I visit them yet again, to try their signature creations in a more relaxed environment.
This shows the keenness to improvise – a quality we all must imbibe!

I was welcomed with a pretty rose as it was Women’s day and a refreshing mocktail called The Hanoi fling.
This was love at first sip for my tastebuds and not a fling for sure. A creamy melange of pineapple and mango juice with a burst of rose was an affair to be remembered!
I could see the craftsmanship on this drink where a pretty little rose carved out of strawberry adorned the rim.

My friend was served the Shanghai special mocktail that had a gorgeous swan carved out of apple perched on it.
This was a refreshing, heavenly medley of pineapple juice, strawberry crush, grenadine with lime juice and mint!
What a welcome for Women’s Day!

 

STARTERS

For starters we had Crackling spinach and  Crispy corn chili pepper that came in fried wanton canopies. The crackling spinach that is shredded spinach was crisp and not soggy and the presence of sugar gave it a sweet tinge. More crunch in this dish was lent by the presence of sesame seeds and almonds.

I liked the fact that Shanghai Kitchen gave this dish their own twist which at times could be bland.

The Crispy corn chili pepper were crunchy corn pearls with an overload of chili and pepper and a hint of vinegar.
This was good but the crackling spinach did overshadow this starter.
We also tried the Prawn Hargao which were steamed dim sums stuffed with prawn and water chestnuts. The dip of black pepper and green chili sauce accompanying it was delectable.

Dim sums were cotton soft and melt in the mouth. The vegetable dumplings/dim sums were delicious, too.

They also served us prawn rolls and veg spring rolls. These were beautifully plated and presented in shot glasses. The rolls were dunked in sweet chili sauce and were absolutely eye candy! They were crisp and very much finger licking good.


The crispy vegetables which is a standard order of every Chinese restaurant was presented here with a twist, too.
These veggies comprising of Crispy fried fritters of eggplant, potato, button mushrooms, cauliflower and baby corn were coated in sweet plum sauce.

I devoured this twist as this wasn’t a routine crispy vegetables dish.
It surely had a wow factor to it thanks to the plum sauce.

We also tried the delightful chicken with pepper and ginger which was deep fried chicken accompanied by bell peppers, with a flavour of ginger and crushed black pepper and coated with a combination of soya, dark soya and oyster sauce.

One of my favourite starters were the drums of heaven Shandong style.
Crispy fried chicken wings had that exquisite signature of star anise and five spice powder, just transforming these simple chicken lollipops to drums of heaven!

Delectable to the core these were and surely their best appetizer.
I have a soft spot of Shandong cuisine also know as Jinan cuisine because of its aroma and the abundant presence of five spice powder in it .

Another starter which was different and delicious was Yueyang Barbequed Fish.
Soft fish fillets glazed in hoisin sauce with a smokey finishing of Barbeque was to die for.
For all sea food lovers, this is an appetizer that you must order.

PF Chang’s legendary dynamite prawns is also present on the menu. I liked the idea of Shanghai Kitchen’s addition of wasabi sauce to this.
The prawns remained crisp till our last bite and were beautifully flavoured with mayo and had the right kick of Sriracha to them.

Prawn Tempura that were battered fried shrimps served on a stick and on a bed of fried glass noodles was good too and neatly balanced flavour wise.
Again, eye candy presentation.

Hunan style prawns which were fried prawns tossed in mix of chilli oil , sliced ginger , dry red chilli , onion and oyster sauce was good.

Now this was the starter list and trust me I had no place for mains.

 

MAINS

We were served exotic vegetables in chili basil sauce, Tshinghoi chicken with cashew nuts, General Tao’s chicken, Fish in orange peel sauce, Hakka Noodles, prawns with seasonal greens and garlic and ginger and bell pepper fried rice.


All of these were well plated and flavoursome.

My favourites amidst these and the ones which deserve a special mention were General Tao’s chicken and fish in orange peel sauce.

General Tao’s chicken is sweet and spicy diced chicken cooked in oyster sauce with an overload of crushed peanuts.
An absolute stunner where taste is concerned.
Fish in orange peel powder was exotic.

One bite reveals the mystery of the orient, it transports you back in time where flavours and spices were rustic and delicately used.
I was very sceptical in trying this fish .
Who wants to eat fish in orange sauce?
But was I proved wrong. Delectable is a mild word for it!
This was poetry for me.

I would also recommend the prawns in seasonable veggies – they had bok Choy and Chinese cabbage.
Delicious!

FOR THE SWEET TOOTH

For desserts we had the mango pudding which was similar to a panna cotta cooked in thick cream.
It had the essence of mango in it to the core but being a die hard chocoholic , the sizzling brownie with vanilla ice cream melted me and my heart!

I am very proud and happy to see a restaurant here in Oman that’s bringing you authentic Chinese food at a reasonable price.
Many restaurants in order to cater to palates of various nationalities lose out on originality and authenticity in many cuisines.
This authenticity Shanghai Kitchen is keen on preserving.
The staff is courteous and knowledgable and the ambience serene and plush.

Thank you Team Shanghai Kitchen for this beautiful culinary journey to China!

(You need to be formally dressed to eat here as that’s the rule.)