By Joe Mascarenhas

Well, I have always been an ardent fan of Chinese cuisine…ever since my college days...of sweet and sour pork and American chopsuey. Then came the Manchurian stint - chicken Manchurian and golden fried prawns.

And then the Szechwan swerve…chicken in hot garlic sauce and Szechwan fried prawns. And then in the 90s Thailand conquered the Indian palate and the red and green curries became a hot favourite. So, was there anything more to be discovered in Chinese and Thai food, I wondered as we drove over to the Marriott’s to check out the new menu at Wan Hao.

The first thing that strikes you is the new look. Soft pastel shades and the elegant black and gold of the uniforms mirrored in the cover of the menu card. The specialty chef of the restaurant says, “I have done extensive research on the food habits of our guests over the last few years, and have designed a new menu for the year.” So what’s new? The menu has been condensed with specific signature items. It is authentic recipes. And finally it is a blend of Cantonese, Sichuan and Thai to take care of both sides of one’s palate…the sweet and the spicy.

So here we were seated, my glass filled with Australian white wine, which I was told would go beautifully with the starters recommended. The table was strategically placed near the ‘opium bed’…was it deliberately done I wondered? Now all it needed was the emperor to walk in…the Chinese always did things with pomp. Well to my fevered imagination, the Emperor did walk in, in full white, top hat and all, and marched purposefully to our table.

The starters…crab claws wrapped with crab meat, flavoured with Thai herbs and deep fried to a rich golden colour. One has to savour every morsel of the delicate crab meat, which has to be eaten with the plum sauce…just divine. Next to follow were the threaded prawns…crispy fried prawns wrapped with wanton juliennes flavoured with chilli and garlic and served with sweet chilli sauce. And finally the Sew Mai, which is steamed chicken dumplings served with chilli bean sauce. Each sauce was an excellent accompaniment to the dish and the combo was delightful to the taste buds.

For the main course we had Sichuan prawns with yong chow fired rice and deep fried red snapper with pineapple served with sweet and sour sauce, char stew pork spare ribs with plum sauce. It is very important to choose the right combination in Chinese food with the appropriate flavours so that one can enjoy the experience.

The pretty hostess kept pouring flavoured jasmine tea; it was such a delight to watch the ritual. They say that having Chinese tea with your meal helps in the digestive process.

For the sweet finale we settled for the traditional date pancake with vanilla ice cream and fresh fruits and the coconut flavoured panacota with lemon grass jelly.