Chennai’s relationship with Indo-Chinese flavours has strengthened steadily over the years and Wangs Kitchen played an important role in building that. But as a disappointment to many, in 2020 the 25-year-old restaurant chain was forced to shut all of its 43 outlets owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It has finally resumed service with its first new restaurant in Alwarpet. Over the next few months, the brand plans to open 10 more outlets across the city. The redesigned look sports red and green walls and bamboo light fixtures. To experience the familiar comfort of Wangs Kitchen once again, I browse through the menu and spot the good-old best sellers and some new additions as well.
My meal begins with the steamy and tangy lemon-coriander soup. It is light with bright flavours and has bits of corn, carrot and cabbage. Even as the taste of lemon lingers, we try the crispy spinach. Finely chopped spinach is flash fried and served on a bed of fried rice noodles. “How much oil is too much oil?”, I ask myself and take in a spoonful. The spinach crackles before melting away, leaving behind a salty aftertaste.
Cripsy corn cups | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
While the restaurant is no stranger to corn starters, crunchy corn kernels served in fried wonton cups are a new addition. The corn is salty, mildly spiced and accompanied by a cup of sweet chilli sauce, which we are asked to pour over the kernels. Despite the sweetness, the corn is overpoweringly salty.
Over the last few years, Chinese cuisine has been suffixed with ‘take out’, especially by students and working professionals. While there are now more restaurants that offer authentic pan-Asian dining, they often come across as a luxury. And given the popularity of fried rice-chilli chicken-gobi manchurian, there is always an enthusiastic market for familiar old-school indo-Chinese, whether its part of a Saturday night out or delivered at our doorsteps.
By re-entering the market, Wangs Kitchen is aiming to cater to this market with reasonably priced dishes and friendly dine-in experience. “Through this neighbourhood outlet format, we are hoping to bring people back into our restaurants and give them the space and meals to experience comfort in familiarity,” says Sriram from Blue Koi, Wangs Kitchen’s parent company.
Wangs special vegetable fried rice | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Moving on to the mains, try the trusted Wangs special vegetable fried rice featuring basmati served with carrots and a generous amount of spring onions. While the taste remains the same, the quality of rice and sauces used, have improved. Mildly-flavoured, it goes with the wide range of gravies on the menu. I try it with the bokchoy, mushroom, zucchini and broccoli stir-fry. While the gravy is light, it is bland and soup-like in flavour.
Next comes the poster boy of Indo-Chinese food, the Szechwan noodles served with juicy chunks of chicken and lacy eggs. The noodles are spicy and saucy as I remember them to be, but with a fresh dash of scallions.
Fried ice cream | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
The meal ends with fried ice cream topped with honey. The batter is thin and has a coating of shredded coconut that gives the dessert a toasty warmth, heightened by memories of family dinners and college reunions over this very dish.
