If you are in Kolkata and you love Chinese cuisine, visiting Mainland China at South City Mall can be the perfect place to explore. The one rock-hard reason that I keep coming back to this restaurant is the spread they offer in buffet. I mean, never in my life had I seen a Chinese buffet, let alone so vast.
The information below is especially for newbies. Here you are given two options:
- Ala Carte: To order from their fancy menu on a tablet. They also have the same in booklet form though.
- Buffet: Veg or Non-Veg buffet where you pay a fixed price respectively and can have unlimited food including desserts.
When we visited this place for the first time, we wanted to be on the safer side and chose buffet. That was mainly to know whether or not to shortlist this place for further visits, based on merely taste. Secondly, Chinese food to me had always meant Chowmein or Fried Rice or Manchurian or Chilly Paneer until I saw their Ala Carte Menu and came across dishes, that I had never heard of before.
Our buffet started with starters. Drinks and Mocktails are to be ordered separately (not included in the Buffet but watch out for offers like Buy 1 beer, get 1 free). Anyways, they have a white plate with green border for vegetarians and a plain white plate for non-vegetarians.
Our starters started pouring in one after the other. Straight from the kitchen and piping hot. At this point, control your portion size because we did not and ended up with overstuffed tummies before eating the main course and dessert. But our experience? OMG!
After this, we became frequent visitors here and started exploring the Ala Carte menu too. I have had their dimsums, their chilly garlic noodles and what not. But my all-time favourite has been Fragrant Pot Rice with Exotic Vegetables in Chilli Basil Sauce for the main course. Mint Storm (non-alcoholic) or Bailey’s Irish Cream (alcoholic) from their beverages.
ATMOSPHERE
The place is usually crowded and you need to wait for your turn to come. Still, it is neat and is more like a fine-dining experience. Otherwise, I don’t prefer to eat Chinese outside because I am bit of a cleanliness freak and this place did not disappoint us on that front.
STAFF
Their staff had started recognizing us because we are so frequent here. On one particular visit, my husband wanted to have Chicken Thai Green Curry which was on their menu earlier but was discontinued later. Still, the staff made sure to not disappoint us. He just asked us to give a moment to check whether or not the chefs could prepare it. And voila, he got the Thai Curry exclusively prepared for my husband. That speaks about the customer service!
In all, a great dining place to choose if you happen to be in South City Mall. In fact, many times I mall because I wanted to go to Mainland China.
| Restaurant Name: Mainland China | |
| City: Kolkata | |
| Location: South City Mall, Prince Anwar Shah Road | |
| Cuisines Offered: Chinese | |
| Operating Hours: 12:30pm-3:30pm, 7pm-9:30pm |
