The food industry in India is scaling up at a good pace. Many foreign players are entering the market to showcase their brand offerings. The latest one is the Singaporean chain Crystal Jade. Spread across 10 countries, serving some really good food since 1991, Crystal Jade has come up with its flagship restaurant in Gurgaon on Golf Course Road.
I was looking forward to reviewing the restaurant since it opened — a nice well-lit place with a perfect fine dining set-up offering world class food. The menu is designed impressively with a display of signature dishes, and I ought to admit the pictures nudged me a bit to place my order.
A rule to start with a soup bowl whenever I am at an Oriental restaurant helped me to set the palate. Sour and spicy thick soup with shredded chicken in Sichuan style was close to perfection and good enough to get a hang of the place. Some of my friends who have eaten earlier at Crystal Jade in Singapore suggested trying the dim sums for sure.
A separate menu dedicated to dim sums gave a hint about how seriously they work on the delicacy. The xio long bao variants were exceptionally good. I have never eaten such juicy dim sums. They were delicate and flavourful and demanded full attention while eating.
Out of the many, the poached chicken dumpling with spicy chilli sauce was worth every bite. Served in a bowl with the sauce, the dumpling was mouth-watering.
A strange thing about the menu was that it had hardly anything to offer in the appetiser section. Only two dishes were listed, out of which I tried the spicy chicken in Cheng Du style. I must admit it was a very ordinary preparation.
Prawns in wasabi followed, but lacked the zing of a good wasabi. I am sure the dip is made in-house and toned down a bit.
The picture of Peking duck in the menu was tempting. The chef brought it right to the table and sliced the beautiful duck with perfect glazing.
The pancakes to roll it up in were slightly soggy due to the release of steam inside the box.
The steamed fish with cut chilli placed on top of thick tofu slices was delicious and had a very distinct flavour.
One thing to remember while visiting Crystal Jade is to keep some space for the amazing dessert offerings.
Three dishes made with glutinous rice balls, using sesame, were just outstanding and rare to find in restaurants of Delhi NCR
Meal for two: Rs.3000 plus taxes