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Shangri-la Hotel at Janpath, New Delhi started a duck promotion at the Chinese section of the 19 Orient Avenue Restaurant. A select Menu offers 10 dishes made from duck that can be ordered on a la- carte basis, says Bing Wang, Sous Chef-Chinese. But the best combination as recommended and explained by him is the order of a Beijing Roast Duck, the signature Chinese dish.
Costing Rs. 2500, this order includes serving it in three parts. One starts with crispy duck roles which number about 12-15 and are sufficient for 3 persons. The next course of roast duck soup consists of the same duck with tofu, mushrooms etc. added. Though quite bland by our standards, it may be spiced up by using the sauces. Stir-fried crispy duck is the last part of the trinity, explains Chef Wang.
The Beijing Duck may be a complete order for 2-3 persons, but an addition of duck and shredded lettuce fried rice or fried noodles with shredded duck and vegetables make the combination a full meal for 3-costing less than Rs. 3000.
But the best part of the promo, especially attractive for wine lovers is that with this order, one can order any number from 12 wines (3 whites and 9 reds) from their wine-by-the glass menu at 50% discount. If you order a bottle of Rupert Rothschild Classique or Allegrini Valpolicella Classico, for instance, the Rs. 3000 bottle would cost you Rs. 1500, resulting in a saving of Rs. 1500. Alternatively, Beaujolais could cost Rs. 1050 a bottle.
Of course, it would make a lot more sense by ordering 4-5 different wines of the 125 mL size portion to make it an interesting proposition of wine tasting and enjoying several different wines without burning a hole in the pocket.
Of course, the prices seem to have been jacked up since wines from this restaurant were evaluated last. However, as informed by the restaurant manager, the prices will be revised, at least 15-20% after the promotion ends on 6th September-due to the increase in excise duty in Delhi.
Though one hopes and with reasonable confidence can predict the roll back in duties from the government pressure, before the EU team visits India next month, it is a great time to visit the restaurant and have delicious food prepared by Chef Wang and his team and enjoy a decent number of decent wines.
If you know of a wine-destination restaurant pan India which is promoting wine where it helps the consumer drink more wine, please let us know. We would be glad to consider it for publication-editor
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