Bombay Chopsticks - Indian-style Chinese Cuisine

It is a place aficionados of nouvelle Chinese food would find rather interesting. Just as French chefs in the 1970s conjured up nouvelle cuisine (new cooking) in an attempt to get away from complicated and over-rich French dishes, Indian chefs metamorphosed traditional Chinese fare into what is now unarguably the most popular cuisine after authentic Indian food.

At Bombay Chopsticks, a cosy restaurant at 30 Bristol road and Highway 10, Junni, an entrepreneur at large has revolutionised Chinese food which can officially be dubbed as nouvelle Chinese cuisine.

The Chinese who stumble into the restaurant are rightly taken aback by the sight of a suave Sikh greeting them, they find the food 'different'. The Indian and Canadian clientele keep coming back for more.

It is 7 PM and the restaurant is filling up with a smart set of people, many of whom are repeat customers now addicted to the cuisine. The restaurant has 17 tables and can at any point accommodate 48 hungry diners. The aroma, a mingling of Indian spices like ginger, coriander and garlic and the familiar Chinese condiments.

As we sit nursing our glasses of LE PIAT D'OR, the white house wine, we take in the ambience. Hindi instrumental music which plays softly in the background seems to have a western touch to it. There are Chinese fans hanging on the ceiling and defusing the light. The place is designed to make a person in casuals feel at home as well as the sharp dresser. And today there is a happy mix.

First to arrive is Chilli Shrimp Dry. The dish is garnished with cooked onion rings. It had the right flavour as we begin chewing into it, but is light on the marinate.

There are 90 dishes to choose from on this menu. We peruse the menu, the soups like Hot & Sour (Chicken) and Wanton soup is tempting, but was likely to fill us up and not do justice to are already whetted appetites.

We delve right into the section featuring the main course. After much deliberation, we settle for Fried Rice, Manchurian Chicken Chow Mein noodles, General George Chicken, Paneer Szechaun and Chilli Fish.

The service is impeccable as the two efficient stewards, silently glide about serving up piping hot dishes to diners, and in doing, the lingering aroma of flavoursome food wafts into our nostrils, causing bouts of salivation.

Our meal arrives and we tuck into a portion of Mixed Fried Rice, heap some General George Chicken and Chilli Fish into our plates. Scrumptious is a word that instinctively comes to mind. No wonder so many Canadians who sample this innovative cuisine find authentic Chinese a bland affair in comparison. NRIs who grew up on Indianised Chinese back home, will find themselves in familiar territory.

The main course was just right- not too spicy, not too bland. The chefs here aren't heavy handed when it comes to spices. They are used sparingly, just enough to enhance the taste of Chinese as `they' know it and transform it into Chinese cuisine as we always knew it.