Walk in History

Of Chinatown, Chinamen and all things Chinese

Tracing the history of restaurants that have made a mark on the Indian palate, second only to Indian ghar-ka-khana, we find out what it is about the Chinese cuisine that has charmed so many and why some restaurants have been more successful than others in their league. By Beryl Menezes

Chinese cuisine, a favourite the world-over, had humble origins in the homes of poor farmers, for whom the simple recipes were more a form of sustenance than a gourmet's delight. In India, Chinese cuisine flourished in the narrow bylanes of Chinatown - a landmark that over time came to be synonymous with the city of erstwhile Calcutta and Fat Mama stories. As time passed and people travelled around the country, dropping culture and cuisine wherever they went, Mumbai soon came to witness its own brand of desi-Chinese cuisine that went from being showcased at a few authentic Chinese restaurants run by the Chinese themselves to being available at almost every street corner and 'pure veg' Udipi restaurant, fully adapted to the Indian taste buds in terms of pungency, local ingredients, and even innovative dishes, which probably even the best Chinese chefs would never have heard of.

The early years

As early as the war days, in the 1920s and the 1930s, Chinese cuisine first made an appearance in Mumbai. Starting with Lok Kok in Grant Road which was the city's Chinatown in those days, Shanghai soon followed on 5th Pasta lane in Colaba, with Fredrick's (now Ling's Pavillion) nearby coming up in quick succession about the same time.

The restaurant was then followed by the Chinese Room at Kemps Corner and soon after that came the arrival of the extremely successful Ko Kwah (later re-named Mandarin) behind the Taj Mahal hotel at Apollo Bunder. Legend has it that it was more popular for its in-house cabaret dancer. In the early 1940s, the still-flourishing Kamling restaurant made an appearance, soon to be followed by Nanking just opposite. Then in the 1970s, Flora came up along the Worli sea face and Sea High opened soon after, where Café Mondegar in Colaba now stands.

However, few of these restaurants survived longer than a few years, due to various unforeseen circumstances, with the exception of a few like Kamling and Ling's Pavillion. In 1979, Waikiki Peking came up near Sterling cinema and ran successfully for 17 years, finally downing its shutters in 1996. Decades later the restaurant was re-opened in Borivali as Peking Family Corner.

Following the closing of Waikiki Peking was the emergence of Hong Kong, behind Regal, where Sachin's now stands, Sanju - another restaurant in Worli where Nelson Wang once worked, China Town on Kemps Corner next to the Chinese Room and finally China Garden also at Kemps Corner - which became the one-stop destination and a brand name for Chinese cuisine in Mumbai. Run by owner Nelson Wang, who started his career in Fredrick's and then went on to cater for the Cricket Club of India, which launched his entrepreneurial skills in running restaurants, China Garden is probably the longest running Chinese restaurant in Mumbai.

An undying favourite

With a proliferation of Chinese restaurants emerging practically on a monthly basis, it is difficult to keep count of how many exist at present. Given the typical Indian mentality of sticking with safe and nutritious desi-khana, what can this love for a singular foreign cuisine be attributed to?

According to Hwa Shan Chang, owner of Peking Family Corner, what has helped Chinese cuisine to remain a favourite with critics and ordinary, non-experimental people alike is its ability to retain its essence and flavours, despite being adapted to suit various palates. "While Indians would not like the sweet-sour combination of authentic Chinese cuisine which is quite bland, the addition of local spices and ajinomoto is what has helped this cuisine survive." He adds, "Chinese food is so simple that if one knows the basic art of preparing it, one can innovate and create one's own recipes," which probably explains unheard of Chinese dishes appearing on many a Punjabi or Udipi restaurant menus.

Authentic or…??

Still, in terms of authenticity, what separates one Chinese restaurant from another, or a roadside Chinese stall from an original Chinese restaurant is probably the taste predominated by the ability of each ingredient's individual flavour to stand out despite being combined with a variety of other, sometimes clashing ingredients.

According to Nelson Wang of China Garden, quality and consistency are the two main factors that separate one Chinese restaurant from another. "Most roadside stalls or small eateries claiming to serve Chinese cuisine use an overdose of ajinomoto or MSG, which is what makes the food tasty. But apart from being bad for health, this is a disgrace to real Chinese food. Further, just because someone can twirl a wok around, it doesn't mean that he knows how to prepare Chinese food."

Apart from quality ingredients, Chinese chefs or well-trained Indian chefs are integral to maintaining consistency in standards like cooking temperature of food and other nuances, which is also what has made a restaurant like China Garden stand out from other Chinese restaurants through the years, Wang says.

With the eating habits and lifestyles of Indians changing, there is even more pressure on restaurants to maintain high standards from patrons. "Some of the visible changes that I have noticed over the years are more Indians willing to experiment and try other Chinese cuisines like Cantonese, Mandarin and Pekinese, apart from the old favourite, Schezwanese. I have also seen more use of chopsticks and requests for them," remarks Nelson Wang.

However, Chef Hemant Oberoi of the Taj Mahal Hotel has this to say, "After all these years, it is still only a small percentage of people who will experiment with other Chinese cuisines. Most Indians by and large still find anything other than Schezwan cuisine bland and unappetising as they want as much spice in Chinese food as Indian food."

Whatever the case may be, what remains is that Chinese cuisine in whatever form is here to stay. Korean, Tibetan, Burmese and Indonesian may make a cameo appearance and may even be successful and create a few ripples in the Indian palate, yet none of the changes will ever be as sweeping or as profound as that of Chinese cuisine, which having created a mark with revolutionary restaurants all over the world, are becoming an integral part of every Indian's life.