We have had enough restaurants sauteacute;ing Sichuan peppers and dunking Hunan chicken, all in the name of China. If you haven8217;t got tired of Chinese delicacies, then a new restaurant has joined the crowded food map of Noida8217;s Sector 18 market. Mandarin Trail, an 80-cover diner on the third floor of The Great India Place mall, is set up by the RTC Group that runs the popular chain Ruby Tuesday. Decked with benches in bright reds and a lounge in black and white, Mandarin Trail sticks to serving the simplest of Chinese recipes 8212; a fried Chinese cabbage for starters or a shredded lamb in hot garlic sauce for main course. Nothing adventurous, nothing deeply disappointing.

Must-Try

The menu seems to play with Chinese recipes that most Delhi restaurants chalked off theirs last season. A closer look, however, will introduce you to some interesting dishes, like fresh beans hakka style and a tangy eggplant for starters. We begin with eggplant with sesame seeds Rs 175. Dices of eggplant in crispy skin and bathed in a delicious soy dressing make for a scrumptious mouthful. Apart from vegetables, seafood too is well-done here. We tried sauteacute;ed prawns Rs 375. Finished with dry chillies, it was lip-numbing and needed a heady strawberry-soda mocktail to beat the heat. Golden Black Mushroom Bag Rs 145 is artistically presented, with summery-yellow sheets of flour pouches filled with chopped mushrooms and knotted with a thin lace of lemon grass. In the main course, diced potato with corn kernels Rs 185 is a vegetarian8217;s delight. Served in hot garlic sauce, it is a refreshing shift from the usual veggie and tofu preparations that Indian restaurants churn out in the name of China. We also sampled Steamed Fish in Scallion Sauce Rs 295. The fish complemented the subtle flavours of the sauce and we paired it with Yongchow Fired Rice Rs 195, a mix-meat rice platter. The restaurant also offers braised whole pomfret Rs 375 with a choice of dressings.

Give a Miss

Singapore Rice Noodles Rs 195, in which we searched, in vain, for flavours.

Meal for two: Rs 1,000

Contact: 95120-4279322

Location: Third Floor,

The Great

Indian Place