A scourge has taken hold of Xingsheng Lu. The street, which has generated so much chatter and excitement in recent months, has been hit by a plague of poor quality openings. True, none of them are so bad you want to rip your tongue from your mouth just to spare your ravaged taste buds further sacrilege, but surely you have to be able to say more for a restaurant than that.
Vanda Club epitomizes the symptoms of the recent epidemic, though it is by no means the most seriously ill patient. Staff here are more cheerful and helpful than elsewhere, and the brand-new furnishings are simple but tasteful, creating a comfortable, casual air – though the Carlsberg and Kronenberg merchandise is a little excessive.
There are all the typical bottled beers (RMB35-50) and an amusing list of special cocktails – fancy a Sexy Rain or a Boy of Guangzhou? – plus the classics (RMB55-60), mixed to varying degrees of success. Nevertheless, it’s a good spot to chill in the evenings, taking in the sounds of the bustling street in contented ease.
Just be careful what you order when it comes to food. Steaks, salads, sandwiches, pizzas and pastas are all available, generally hovering around the RMB50-60 mark, but the kitchen is more at ease with the Asian menu items – after all, Vanda is merely a renovated, Westernized incarnation of the site’s older self.
There’s a modicum of all Southeast Asian cuisines on offer, with a focus on Thai and Vietnamese dishes. Handmade beauties, the fish cakes (RMB38) are served with a garlic and chili sauce that adds piquancy to the meaty mouthfuls. Also enjoyable is the fried croaker (RMB58), served plainly and not at all muddy in flavor, a common complaint when it comes to Chinese fish.
Curries, however, are completely lackluster. With a sauce that could have come straight out of a packet, the mango coconut curry chicken (RMB68) raises the standards of blandness to a level rarely seen; it is truly a marvel how the big chunks of mango and basil leaves are utterly lost in the insipid liquid. At least while chewing on the sweet basil-fried clams (or ‘scarabs’ as they appear on the menu, RMB48) you can savor the herbs – once you unearth a clam, that is. Sifting through the mound of shells for a morsel of flesh is like panning for gold. Like so much of Vanda, the energy outstrips the reward.
// No. 102, 8 Xingsheng Lu, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 广州市天河区兴盛路8号汇峰商铺102号 (020-3805 1018)
.jpg)
0 User Comments