Food | Chinese New Year at the Emperor’s Court, Renaissance Powai

First of all, happy lunar new year! I know the blog has been rather food-heavy these last couple of weeks – I promise to mix it all up real soon. There will also be a delicious giveaway sometime next week.

Renaissance Hotel at Powai recently organized a sit down dinner for Food Bloggers Association of India members & some twitter folks to celebrate Chinese New Year. We were joined by Sandeep Pande, executive chef (& an avid twitter user) & Sapna Chadha, marketing & communication manager.

The dinner itself happened at the stunning Emperor’s Court – one level above Lake View Cafe,  it’s a very intimate restaurant that offers a lovely view of the Hiranandani area across Powai Lake, a favorite location for Bollywood shooting too. The menu for the evening was a mix of Cantonese & Sichuan food, cooked by Sous Chef Rahul Khosla. It’s not the adapted Chinese food we’re used to here, but as authentic as it would taste in China.

It started with the Chicken lemon coriander soup. It was as comforting & warm as a hug, easily one of my favorite dishes from the evening.The appetizer – Chicken jiaozi, spizy pork sausages & leeks tossed with dried chilly and prawn & crabmeat sui mai.Tasting some of the main ingredients that lend their flavors to Chinese food – valencia oranges, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, five spice & sichuan peppers

Dessert – Nian gao (sticky rice pudding), peanut banana roll & fresh fruits with ice cream.

I was slightly nervous about trying authentic Chinese food but I really ended up liking, it’s not too heavy either. Although having it on the Lunar New Year’s Eve made it more special, all of the food here is off the regular Emperor’s Court menu & is available anytime.
Good surroundings, great food & even better conversations – this is the first time I did anything special to observe the Lunar New Year & I’m sure I’ll remember it for years to come.