Tai Pan goes a’la carte for the night nibblers

The Chinese restaurant will now be offering a’la carte menu in the evening.

KARACHI: The popular fingerlickin’ Chinese spring rolls and strong-flavoured special soup, followed by the very enticing Lobster in Butter Sauce and a rather bland Beijing Duck, were some of the highlights served at the special media dinner for the launch of Tai Pan’s all-new a’la carte menu. The Chinese restaurant is located at the Pearl Continental Hotel.

From being a dance club called Nasreen’s Room before 1985 to being one of the most renowned five-star Chinese restaurants, Tai Pan came into existence as a result of General Ziaul Haq’s strict Islamic laws. Though it may come across as a tough change of plans, General Manager of Pearl Continental Hotel Azeem Qureashi believes that any restaurant can do well on the business front, if they have a Chinese or Lebanese label under its wings.

It sure does seem so because after covering a span of 28 successful years as a top Chinese buffet restaurant, it has taken a step further and introduced an a’la carte menu for its avid customers in the evening slot. Speaking about the new venture, Qureashi said, “Initially, this [restructuring] was being planned in Islamabad, but I told my colleagues there that we will first offer it in Karachi. After all, I am a thrill-seeker, so why not?”



Qureashi added that there are more than 116 different types of ethnic Chinese cuisines available in China alone. However, there is still a need to accommodate local tastes when offering the same food in other countries. “Even though authentic Chinese food includes a lot of spices and herbs, different flavours need to be adopted in order to match local tastes,” he said. “If you ever visit Australia, you will find that the kind of Chinese food they serve is very different from the original cuisine.”

Present amongst the relatively selected gathering was Pan Qingjiang, Vice Consul General of China in Pakistan, who seemed enthusiastic about the popularity of Chinese food within the country. “Tai Pan is very popular among Chinese who are living and working in Pakistan. We try to promote everything Chinese in order to foster and promote Pak-China friendship and offering our cuisine is one way we would like to continue with,” said Qingjiang, adding that Szechuan sweet and sour fish is his all-time favourite dish.

Tai Pan’s head chef, Xiao Bing, comes from a place called Chengdu, in the Szechuan province and has been working in Pakistan for the past nine years. “I love it here. Even though I have worked in India and Nepal before, I enjoy cooking here more,” said Bing. So, what exactly is the famous chef’s specialty? Bing loves to cook sea food considering Karachi’s location. His best dishes include Crystal Prawn Dumplings, Lobster in Szechuan Sauce and Steamed Grouper Fish in Soya Sauce.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2013.                                                                                        

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