Restaurant review: Mainland China (Chinese)

Restaurant review: Mainland China (Chinese)

Yet another Mainland China has recently sprung up in Hinjewadi adjacent to the Marriott Courtyard on the ground floor.

Decor
With the now familiar decor of the two gold Chinese Xiang warriors at the entrance and a wall of gold jars, rosewood furniture and subdued designer lighting, this is now become a standard expectation. I was curious about the clientele and the food at Hinjewadi. During the week, I hear this place is abuzz with office goers and it quietens down at weekends, which is a good time I guess, for anybody else to visit. The menu is more or less the same as the other Mainland China restaurants in Pune but the pricing here is about 20% lower. They also have the weekend lunch buffet deal, a steal at `523 non-veg and `464 veg inclusive of taxes.

Food
We ended up having mainly starters. The quality of the dimsums at Mainland China has really reached a level of excellence rivaling any 5 star Chinese. I ordered my favourite, the corn and water chestnut, crab cakes and the prawn hargao, all excellent and really very reasonably priced for the level of skill involved. What I admire is the creativity with the vegetarian appetisers - lettuce wrapped with water chestnuts, corn and mushroom; the all time favourite crackling spinach and the other all time Mainland China special, crispy corn pepper. This time we also tried the chicken Hunan style - the Mainland China take on chilli chicken but made with chilli oil, ginger and soya as opposed to the usual thick chilli sauce. Also try the black pepper jumbo prawns. This particular sauce made with coarsely crushed pepper, garlic and oyster sauce is one of my all time favorites of the restaurant. A new dish we tried is stir fried lamb with cumin which has a 'distinctive Indianess' to it but is apparently from Kunming in China. I like the light stir fry technique, without sauce. The squid butter garlic has now become fish butter garlic which is an improvement on the old dish.

What I have always loved about Mainland China is whether you want a more traditional take on Chinese (don't we all hanker for a sweet corn chicken or a hot and sour at sometime?) or really eclectic regional Chinese dishes, you will find them both in this restaurant. Do ask for guidance from the senior staff who are very well trained and are able to guide people according to their taste buds. My advice when going to Mainland China is to try the more exotic sounding dishes rather than sticking to safe choices as their chefs visit different parts of China every year and come back with some outstanding dishes.

Desserts have hugely improved and the variety quite stunning for a Chinese restaurant. Don't miss the coconut dumpling in a honey butter sauce, a much better version of the traditional Maharastrian modak; the date ice-cream and the hot chocolate spring rolls. If I were living on this side of the city, this would undoubtedly be my regular Chinese restaurant and at these prices you can afford to indulge quite often.

Plus & Minus: Great quality of food. A little out of the way if you don't live in and around Hinjewadi

Mainland China: Survey 20/6/3, Hinjewadi Main Road, Next to Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, Hinjewadi
Price for two: `1800 (with four courses)
Timings: Lunch: 12.30-3 pm (buffet) and till 3.30 pm (a la carte), Dinner: 7.30-11 p
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