Great chinese food with imported liquor. Review on The Mandarin, Colaba, Mumbai

Great Chinese food with imported liquor loud music with live DJ.

Dining at this exclusive eatery makes you feel like

royalty, beginning with the red-velvet thronelike chairs that extend

several feet above your head. Take your pick from the numerous set

menus in different price ranges(cheaper at lunch). Dishes on the set

menu have fancy names. Some of our favorites include: Liquid Gold, a

superb miso soup with seaweed and squares of tofu; Splash of Joy,

delicately steamed grouper with a hint of scallion; and Drifting on the

Yellow River, king prawns marinated in rice wine and yellow soybean

paste and grilled. Vegetarians are also spoiled for choice. If you're

going a la carte, give the soups a miss and order a bunch of the

flavorful appetizers(bacon-wrapped prawns, Mongolian chicken, assorted

dim sum) - it will leave you feeling quite sated. Follow this with not

more than two dishes from the extensive menu(helpings are

substantial), and the finale should be the "tree of life, " which gets

full marks for presentation - it's really only freshly cut fruit

served on a bed of crushed ice with two flavors of soufflé. Overall,

this is a classy affair - perfect for a celebration dinner or a

special treat. Downstairs is the lounge and bar area, which is packed

to the hilt(and very loud) from Thursday to Saturday night(Thurs is

live music night). Even if you're not at the bar, do try some of the

excellent cocktails; we loved the cosmopolitans(the sugar cane is

superb) and the Caipiroskas.