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2010-02-06
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Full review can also be retrieved on www.geoffstwitchen.comNo matter how many people have recommended me to visit The Chapel in Happy Valley for a good old Indian, my previous visit was a total disaster which I will not give this a 2nd chance (http://geoffstwitchen.com/?cat=54). Since then, I have not had the opprotunity to enjoy a fine Indian Meal as it is always one of those cuisine that never seem to loiter around my mind unless when I am in London or extremely hungover. It’s difficult to fin
No matter how many people have recommended me to visit The Chapel in Happy Valley for a good old Indian, my previous visit was a total disaster which I will not give this a 2nd chance (http://geoffstwitchen.com/?cat=54). Since then, I have not had the opprotunity to enjoy a fine Indian Meal as it is always one of those cuisine that never seem to loiter around my mind unless when I am in London or extremely hungover. It’s difficult to find good quality Indian Cuisine on Hong Kong island and your usual suspects like Bombay Dreams, Guru are okay but not the greatest. According to the local Indians, they say some of the best Indian cuisine are found in Chung King Mansion & whether or not you have the balls to visit the infamous building for a local taste & flavours, it ’s your choice. I recently recieved an invitation from the guys behind Gangas on checking out the food & to be honest, I have never heard of Gangas as they only recently rebrand their restaurant from Gunga Dins to Gangas in a rather quiet & subtle manner. I have eaten in Gunga Din’s last year & thought the food was simple & very reasonably priced for Central but there was an issue of hygiene as the place looked like it needed a good cleaning & bleaching nevermind talking about the food.
Heading from my REAL JOB’s office to Ganga’s was a 5 min walk but it took me at least an extra 10 mins to actually locate the restaurant on Wyndham Street. It is so hidden that you can literally walk past it without even noticing the restaurant’s entrance therefore I suggest that they should add some serious signage to increase the visibility. Walked down the stairs & turned right into an empty restaurant on a Tuesday evening around 1900pm was not a good sign to come. I hate the sight of empty restaurants as it tells me 2 important things which are either the food is absolutely crap & overpriced or the location of the restaurant has problems which Ganga’s clearly was not experiencing as it is located on Wyndham Street, a restaurant & bar hub of Hong Kong. Sat down, ordered a Tsing Tao & looked through the menu to see what tickled my fancy for the evening & to make things interesting, I let the manager decide the menu for our evening which was a wise move as I have been looking at menus all day & my eyes needed a good rest.
Surprisingly, aside from the appetisers which we ordered, the main course was the first dish which appeared on the table which was a Fish Tikka Madras served on a sizzling hot plate with shavings of onion & carrots. The chunk of fish was extremely hot (temperature wise) as the first bite burnt my tongue & the chefs did an awesome job on the seasoning & marinating of the fish as it was very flavourful. Although the fish was hot in temperature, it wasn’t mildy hot in terms of the spicyness of the dish which was disappointing as I expected a good kicking from the spicy flavours which was lacking in this dish. I recommend this dish for those that like fish but if you want your fish to have a good kick, suggest to speak with the staff on cranking up the flavours. Quite strange to start off your meal with a fish dish but nonetheless, was a good start indeed!
Next up was the appetiser which was Aloo Chat which is an authentic Indian appetiser made from Spiced Potatoes, sold by street vendors across India. It is best served on Puri (type of Indian bread) & consists of seasonings such as chilli powder, cumin powder, chaat masala etc. I love this dish because it is an extremely fusion dish where the East meets the West with potatoes infusing with traditional Indian cuisine ingredients. As an appetiser, I thought this was rather intensive as it is very starch driven and takes up a lot of your appetite but this is definitely one of those dishes that I couldn’t stop eating after a forkful as it was extremely refreshing & a deletable appetiser for our evening.
Next up is the fun part whereby we checked out various types of curry on offer in Gangas. This evening, we went for a good hearty Beef Vindaloo, Chicken Tikka Masala & Lamb Rogan Josh, of course, paired with Naan bread & Kashmiri Naan & Basmati Rice.
The Beef Vindaloo was on the border line between moderate & mediocre with plenty of improvement areas as it just didn’t carry the similar flavours & taste to the usual Vindaloos I have in England. The colour of the dish decieved me completely as it looked very potent red which gave me hope that this was gonna be damn spicy & the end result was that it was flat & surprisingly not even spicy for a Vindaloo which was very disappointing. No matter how unpleasant the Vindaloo I had in The Chapel in Happy Valley on my previous Indian meal, it still broke sweat with at least half of my T-shirt drenched from the spiciness of the dish. The size of the serving bowl for the curry was relatively big with plentiful of curry sauce but however the beef was seriously lacking in action which was a shame. From my memory, there were 5 pieces of beef in the dish shared between 2 blokes which I thought was a little un-generous portion size which they should reconsider & look into. I was sincerely hoping that the Vindaloo would have given me an extra excuse to knock back a few more beers to cool the heat but sadly, it just wasn’t the case.
Chicken Tikka Masala is a curry dish whereby roasted chicken are normally served in a creamy, mildly spiced & red coloured due to the tomato base curry sauce. The word has it that Chicken Tikka Masala was so widely loved in England that it was once considered to be the symbol & national dish of the country which even till this day, I find it amazing on how the Indian food culture dominates the lives of a British citizen. I would never order a Chicken Tikka Masala in any normal circumstances as I like my very spicy curry dishes i.e Beef Vindaloo as I believe there must always be a bit of a challenge & fun when we eat & you see how much of a man you really are by challenging yourself to a real Beef Vindaloo. Even though not my regular cup of tea, the Chicken Tikka Masala at Gangas was a surprise of the evening as it entirely fulfilled my description of a true masala. Creamy it was, mildly spiced & above all, the roasted chicken was tender & juicy which made the dish even more outstanding. This was wonderful to pair with the Basmati Rice as well as the Naan bread & for those that cannot take spicy flavours, this is your dish & what a dish this was for our evening which we managed to scrap off every last spoonful of the sauce in the serving bowl! Wonderful stuff!
Along with the surprise leader of the pack, the Lamb Rogan Josh was another delightful dish which was a wise pick by the manager himself. A curry dish originated from Kashmir, rogan josh means a lamb curry cooked in oil under intensive heat. Unlike the Chicken Tikka above which was rather un-spicy but flavourful, the Lamb Rogan Josh actually had more of a spice-kick & was a perfect sauce for dipping your Naan Bread. The flavours of the Lamb Rogan Josh was exotic & the lamb cutlets were also very tenderly braised which I must give props to the team of chefs at Gangas for doing such a wonderful treatment on the lamb as it is never easy to cook up the lamb to such tender level. Recommended dish!
Perhaps the snack which I did not enjoy as much during the evening was the Kashmiri Naan which I dont think many Hong Kongers will enjoy such distinctive & unique combination of nuts, raisins with Naan Bread which I find it very unusual comparing to the regular naan bread. Such traditional & authentic style of Naan is very popular amongst the Indian population but I dont think this will be a major hit with the local population in Hong Kong as the sweetness of the fillings with the naan bread when dipped into spicy curry sauce is not a pleasant mix. As for the regular Naan, the bits of garlic & shallots on the top of the naan made it even more flavourful & tasty & the big bonus point was that it wasn’t too greasy which was rare & made it a slightly healthier dish which the Chefs deserved props on this.
Overall, I enjoyed my visit to Ganga’s this time round as the decor has been improved & the quality of food has also improved. Above all, prices are extremely affordable by all & the set lunch is priced at HKD78 + 10% svc which I think is a bargain around Central area. Aside from the Beef Vindaloo which required major improvements, the standard & quality of all other dishes exceeded my expectations & now I know where to go for a good & cheap curry in Central next time. Great place not to miss out on!
Happy Eating!
Geoff
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