Malls have food courts, with plastic trays and two-minute noodles in cardboard boxes, not fine dining and a five-course buffet. It was a sea of college students and north-Bangalorean families who hadn't much to do on a Friday afternoon. I soldiered on, wading through the crowd, I had a meal to eat.
As a family we are genetically incapable of manipulating symbols or reading maps, and in my case it did not skip a generation. The mall seemed to send me round in circles and I followed like a stupid puppy. I found the restaurant – Mandarin Trail was on the third floor. It stood in the corner next to his other sad fine dining friend and was as out of place as an orphan at a family reunion.
At the entrance was a plastic mandarin tree, with plastic fruit hanging off it, and I am still not sure how to react to that little detail. But it did help their case that you could not see the entrance from where we were seated. And Oriental music played loud enough to cut out the stray strains of pop music that could have drifted in.
We started our meal with a soup, and all was well with the mall – the spicy soya coriander thick soup was their redemption. And if that had not done the trick, trust the chicken crystal dumplings to do the needful. It was a good start for a meal that began with a plastic tree.
To the salads which stood proud at the head of the buffet spread, I have nothing unkind to say. Both, the cold noodle salad, with slender strips of coloured peppers and the chicken salad were light and full of summery goodness. Most importantly like little guerrilla soldiers they were inconspicuous in your stomach, allowing you to think that you have enough space in there to swallow the world.
The triathlon race of the appetizers followed, the chicken wings emerged victorious, followed by crispy vegetables in chilli garlic a close second. A little further away but a contender in every sense of the word was the chicken sanso pepper.
As for the main course take notice of seasonal vegetables in garlic wine and sliced chicken and baby pokchoy. The rest of the main course was forgettable, which justifies why I have forgotten. If you thought that undid the meal, wait till I tell you about dessert.
It is ironic how the meal began with a plastic fruit and ended with a plastic fruit. The chilled mango pudding and strawberry mousse was synthetic and a complete let down. Why don't we all eat some polyester instead? And what would otherwise be honey glazed noodles with vanilla ice cream, was honey glazed noodles, and no vanilla ice cream.
Mandarin Trail is located on the Third Floor of Mantri Mall, Sampige Road. For reservations call 22667351/2.
