Wicked China, Creaticity Mall, Yerawada, Pune

Food Prowl Team – (L-R): Kainaaz Bokdawalla, Sankalp Parihar, Satwik Shetty, Dr. Anupam Potdar, Varad Wazarkar, Sasha Anand – Pomelo Social, Ritesh Tiwari, Michelle Mahabat and Varun Khanna

Restaurant Name: Wicked China
Location: Unit 11, Pubtown Creaticity, Yerawada, Pune, Maharashtra 411006.
Buzz: +91-93268 51111

Often Chinese serving restaurants usually have their interiors done in red color to give them their distinctive identity as well as Red signifies good luck in China, however, Wicked China doesn’t follow suit and has chosen to have interiors that have bright colors and witty one liners frames adorning the walls that bring a smile to your face. The menu brings more joy, a mix bag of traditional Chinese, Chindian (Indian Chinese) and Contemporary Fusion.

The Food Prowl Team was invited for a food tasting at Wicked China. Numerous dishes were served, most of which were spot on.

Starters:

Prawn & Chicken SuiMai: A nicely folded open dumpling with a mix of both the proteins nicely packed in the thin yellow dough sheet. Simple flavors like they should be.

Turnip Cakes with Burnt Garlic & Chillies: A dish that probably is only available at Wicked China in all of Pune. Yes, Turnip Cakes, medium size cakes made with mashed radish with rice flour, pan fried and served with large quantities of burnt garlic and green chilies adding lot of flavor and texture, it’s a melt in your mouth kind of dish with sublime flavors. Highly recommended for Vegetarians and Non-Vegetarians alike.

Wicked Filo Spring Rolls: Filo pastry sheets panko fried and stuffed with veggies, the outer layer was soft with a crunch to it, and the flavors were very minimalist, only taste the sweetness of carrots was a bit of a letdown. It required a little more seasoning that would bring the dish to a likable level. It is served with a mayo-based dip.

Drunken Chicken Cigar Rolls: These were medium sized spring rolls cut in into twos, placed vertically on the bed of same mayo that was served with the Filo rolls and flambéed with rum. Now the spring rolls on their own were decent, but as they were vertically placed the rum didn’t lend its flavor to most the pieces on the plate. The rum settled at the bottom and did not render the taste in every bite.

Crispy Prawn and Chinese Mushroom Cheung Fun:  The delicate prawns and mushrooms were encased in a crunchy deep-fried layer that was again put inside the flat rice noodles, with soy on the side, we poured the soy generously and enjoyed every bite of it.

Fish & Chilli Garlic Dumpling: This dish is brilliantly thought and conceived. The fish and green chilies were part of the dumpling stuffing and they were served on a garlic and vinegar dressing, lots of different flavors enlightening the sense together, the sourness went a tad high with both vinegar and lemon juice being part of the dish, but that didn’t steal the thunder of these modern-day dumplings.

Sichuan Chicken: It had Indian Chinese written all over it, the flavors that we all. Consisted of bell peppers and onions. This will sure make everyone happy.

Main Course:

Braised Lamb with Pak Choy and Chinese Mushroom, a very robust flavored dish that was just perfect for the rainy weather, very soulful. It also had glass noodles in the pot but were not much required.

Mushroom Pot – Wild Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce: It had different types of mushrooms added to the dish, the sauce was thick and slow cooked, and tasted good.

Sweet & Sour Chicken:  It was little sweeter than sour, overall a decent one.

Desserts:

Most Chinese restaurants serve Honey noodles, Date Pancakes, and Lychee with Ice cream for Desserts, but here the Dessert menu was totally wicked and brings a cheer.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Basil Icecream: A well-made not at all sweet chocolate cake, right level of denseness, and that basil ice-cream was oh so darn good, very unusual flavor. It paired with the cake well and both together made a great dessert.

Jasmine Tea & Dragon Fruit Mousse: Prettiest looking dessert you can find, the mouse was covered with a thin layer of pink fondant, like the dragon fruit. The mousse itself was light and had a layer of fruit at its core. This mousse capsule was served with ice-cream, fruits, oats based crunchy element and edible flowers, arranged intricately on a long platter.

Lemongrass Crème Brulee: An Asian flavor, light airy very pleasant tasting dessert, if you don’t want a very extravagant dessert, this should be your pick.

Wicked China has a unique list of Cocktails and Mocktails, a couple of them that are recommended by us are the Wicked Kala Khatta Slush, crushed ice loaded with kala khatta syrup some fruits and a little masala.  The Cheeky Linghun Fizz, a sprite-based drink that is very refreshing flavors.

Wicked China is brand owned by The Chocolate Spoon Company Pvt Ltd which also has The Sassy Spoon, Sassy Teaspoon and Baraza Bars & Bites in its stable. Rachel Goenka, Founder has won numerous awards for Sassy Spoon, so its no wonder that Wicked China seems to do Na Ting Wong with their food and hospitality as well!

Special Thanks to Sasha Anand – Pomelo Social for inviting us.

Wicked China, Creaticity Mall, Yerawada, Pune | Food Prowl – The Hunger Stories