The Cho Cha!!! - Part 3

The challenge is simple.

Mumbai.

Random tiny Chinese Restaurants.

One American Chopsuey.

Every week.

Week 3

Location: Stomach II (7 Bungalows, Andheri West)

Order: Chicken Schezwan, Chicken American Chopsuey, Fresh Lime Soda, Iced Tea

I know, Stomach??? Doesn’t sound too appealing by its nomenclature now does it? But my suggestion…swallow all critical raised eyebrows and step into this place. It is absolutely completely worth it.

The restaurant is lively, to say the least. They were running at full capacity on a Monday night. The place is small, but colorful, with no dingy lights or dragons hanging anywhere. No pseudo chinki waiters, no pseudo chinki uniforms, nothing to remind you that you’re sitting in a supposedly authentic Chinese restaurant. It’s as Indian and normal as it gets, with no pretenses, and well, a few chinki jokes on their menu thrown in. Oh well, what to do. We are Indians. We are like that wonly.

So when the Captain suggested the restaurant, I was rather skeptical at first. Oh wait, I haven’t introduced Captain till now, now have I? Dammit… *drum rolls* Captain is the original, pure and better form of Shreya. The supposed non-screwed up form, but that is still to be verified over time. I’ve known him forever. In fact, Captain deserves much more space on this blog and a dedicated post, but that will come with time. Till then, ladies and gentlemen, kindly put your hands together for the debut appearance of Captain on this blog! *holds Applause cue card*.

Haan, so where was I? Oh ya…I was skeptical. Not to mention tired after a really long day. BUT…The schezwan chicken was good. The fresh lime soda, perfect…not over or under saturated with sugar. And the iced tea…it was….wait for it…..actually tasting of tea!!! I’m sorry, but a place which actually makes its own iced tea, and doesn’t use Nestea powder, definitely gets brownie points from me!

Which brings us to the main stuff. The chicken American Chopsuey. IT-WAS-GOOD.

• Sweet, but not in excess
• Right amount of gravy-noodle ratio
• Right thickness of noodles
• No pieces of tomato
• Right amount of vegetables
• Non-sunny egg
• Perfect quantity
• Heavenly

Oh, that’s another thing, you can choose between small and regular quantities. Small of everything was absolutely perfect for us. And cheap too.

So my final words of wisdom for Week 3:

• Not everything is the way it looks
• Sometimes Indian aint that ghastly
• Pretense usually is though
• Originality and flexibility count like hell loads in my head
• Food always does manage to set the mood for the day ahead
• A better version of me is possible
• The Captain knows best

Oh well…until next week!

P.S. Plan to step out of Andheri next week for the challenge. Any suggestions?

American Chopsuey trivia of the day: Chopsuey comes from the Cantonese term 'shap sui' literally meaning 'mixed small bits' or 'odds and ends'.