Mainland China is located on the third floor of Avani Riverside mall in Howrah. My husband and I have lunched quite often in this outlet whenever we have been to this part of the city. On a weekday, one can directly walk in for lunch or dinner while it is always recommended to have a reservation over the weekend.
Having stayed in Bangalore for over a decade, we are extremely familiar and delighted with the hospitality of Speciality group restaurants, specially the outlets of Mainland China in Koramangala and Church Street. Thus there’s an inevitable comparison that follows. Sadly, I must say that this outlet really needs to scale up on quite a few parameters in this aspect.
The restaurant had both the options of buffet and ala carta menu during lunch. I didn’t find the buffet menu appealing enough and thus decided to settle for the other option.
Ambiance – Like all their outlets, the interiors are tastefully done and the lighting feels just perfect. The seating arrangement is comfortable and well spaced out. Overall, the ambiance looks and feels just perfect for a great time with good food with both friends and family.
Food -During each of our visits, we ended up having a scrumptious meal. It would always be soup, starters, main course and side dish with dessert being the icing on the cake. The hot and sour soup tastes just right, pan fried chili fish is heavenly, chicken dumplings literally melt in one’s mouth, mixed Singapore rice noodles is perfectly cooked, mixed fried rice is decent, sichuan chicken is tastefully spicy and hunan chicken is great. Their deserts are equally awesome. Being a non alcoholic, I enjoyed their range of mocktails like frozen lime, watermelon and cilantro crush. Overall, food looks gorgeous and tastes delicious. The portions served are enough to fill the growling stomachs of two people. As expected, they maintain cleanliness and proper hygiene with respect to cutlery and food.
Service – Right from being greeted at the entrance to being escorted to the table, customers are made to feel welcome. The staffs are very polite and courteous. They understand the requirements, customize the recommendations and convey the approximate amount of time needed to serve certain orders. I have seen this hold true across all their restaurants that I have visited. But what I have experienced is that while taking the reservation, the staff inquiring if there’s a special occasion that we would be celebrating. If answered in affirmative, they go that extra mile to make it memorable with a perfectly baked cake and music during the meal. There have been many birthdays and anniversaries that we ended up celebrating in the Bangalore outlet because they made sure to make us feel extra special. In the last visit in June, we were celebrating our wedding anniversary and while reserving the table the staff did note the information. However, it was disappointed to say the least to feel that they really didn’t care. I’m not sure if that’s how all the outlets function in Kolkata but I must say that this was the precise moment when I felt let down by a brand that I always swore by and recommended to my network.
Pricing – Pricing is marginally on the higher side. However considering the quality and quantity served, I would say there’s great value for money.
To sum it up , my rating across parameters would be –
Ambiance – 4.5
Food – 4.5
Service – 3.5
Price – 4
Overall – 4.1
I would say that this outlet of Mainland China is definitely one of the best options in Chinese restaurants in the city with great ambiance, mouth watering food and acceptable price. They only need to notch up their service higher to match up to the standard set by their counterparts and competitors.
Link to the review on Zomato is –
http://zoma.to/review/32264921
Link to the review on TripAdvisor is
soniasmusings 