Tired of eating the all too familiar red and brown gravies that Chinese restaurants dish out? Then think no further and head straight to Whispering Bamboo at Vivanta by Taj Pune. The ongoing festival from the 3rd to the 12thof July offers authentic, traditional dishes prepared in the different regions of China.
Executive Chef Sachin Joshi has organized this food festival and Chefs Christopher and Giri have both been brought in specifically for it and boy do they dazzle with their skills. First up came the dim sums. Dainty elegant little morsels appeared in the dim sum cart whose sole purpose being to keep the dim sums warm. The steamed Hargou Prawn dumpling , Vegetable Sui Mai and the steamed chicken and prawn sui mai were all delicious. Little bit of digging revealed that the flours for the dim sums are imported straight from Hong Kong. 
For Starters Salt and pepper prawn with Golden garlic was yum but the star of the dish had to be the crunchy garlic bits which were fabulous. Crispy Konjee Lamb was awesome with thinly shredded lamb in a sweet and tangy sauce.For Mains my personal favorite was the Tousi Fish this dish was so divine that I was blown away by complexity of the textures and flavors. Turns out the secret ingredient was yellow bean.
Kung Pao chicken with cashew nuts was fiery and teamed well with the burnt garlic fried rice. Then came the vegetarian component of Pumpkin and potato with mustard chilli sauce. The humble pumpkin sure had a makeover and really shone through. While the Stir fried Chinese greens really boasted of fresh clean flavors. 
Dessert really had my interest Piqued Deep fried sesame ferror rocher dumpling was warm and crunchy on the outside and soft molten chocolate on the inside. Sinful and oh so satisfying. The real surprise though was Red bean paste dumpling coated with nuts.It had such a unique texture and taste that it came as a pleasant surprise when I found out that the filling was none other than our local rajma.The refined meal at Whispering Bamboo totally tingles the taste buds and irresistible tempts you to keep coming back. Vivanta by Taj – Blue Diamond, Pune11 Koregaon RoadPune 411 001 Maharashtra, IndiaTel + 91 20 6602 5555www.vivantabytaj.com
Sanaea Patel.
Disclaimer - This review was done on an invitation from the establishment. Views expressed in the review is entirely ours and without any bias. Pictures of the dishes are not the standard portions, they are sample portions.
