Madame Chow at The Oberoi, Gurgaon is easily the best Chinese restaurant in India.

Awards are a lagging indicator. Farm Lore just hit number 4 in the CNT list. It was equally good two years ago when it placed at number 41. Even the best awards are a reflection of groups of people playing catch up. So if you really want to know what India’s best restaurants are, you need to do more than just be an awards junkie ticking off a list.

Lychee bonsai: Shrimp, mozzarella, bubu arare

Some of India’s best restaurants are not on any list and won’t be getting the recognition they deserve as among India’s best for a few years. Nila and Izu in Bangalore for example. Delhi/NCR can now add Madame Chow to that list. 

People still talk about China Kitchen and Yautcha and Hakkasan. But Madame Chow is, by some distance, the best Chinese restaurant in the country. It’s genuinely not even a contest. This isn’t Mayfair or white person Chinese. This is a restaurant that would be selling out in Hong Kong every single day, dishes that would please a native Chinese citizen with a global perspective. It manages the remarkable feat of being contemporary Chinese in the truest sense while also being authentically Cantonese and Sichuan in its flavours.

I want to break the dishes down into two categories.. the slightly more traditional ones and then the more contemporary ones. 

Stir fried duck and leeks

Even in what is the most interesting dim sum menu in India you get some classic dim sums that are absolutely brilliant. The prawn cheung fun is top notch and the Shengjian pork bun is a meaty, sweet spicy bundle of happiness that feels straight out of Hong Kong. The duck is at least as good as the one at China Kitchen which has set the benchmark in India for over a decade, but what sets it apart is the stir fried duck and leeks that is made with the leftover meat from the pancakes. 

The classically Cantonese mains 

The mains generally skew more classic Cantonese. The Steamed Seafood soaked rice is subtle and fragrant, the sort of nuanced dish that is the complete antithesis of Chindian food. So is the steamed Chilean seabass with Superior soy sauce, banana chili and young ginger… incredible flavours but also a masterclass in Asian fish cooking. The Asian vegetable filled silken tofu was a reminder that great tofu maybe hard to find but when you find it, it really is something special. And finally if you want something more robust, then there’s the twice cooked pork belly with Black bean sauce, rich in umami and full of depth. 

But honestly it’s the contemporary dishes that really make this the best Chinese restaurant in the country. 

Swan: spiced chicken puff, black bean, water chestnut

Volcano bao: BBQ chicken, ash bao, 24k gold 

Again starting with dimsum, the dish that will be an Instagram phenomenon is the Lychee bonsai. What looks like ripe lychees hanging from the branches of a bonsai tree turns out to be a shrimp and mozzarella dimsum, encrusted in bubu arare, crunchy on the inside and soft and juicy inside. The Swan is almost as pretty, a spiced chicken puff stuffed with black bean and water chestnut, shaped to look like a swan with truly extraordinary pastry work, light and flaky, a hat tip to the Portugese influenced baking traditions in Macau and Hong Kong. The stunning Volcano bao has Barbeque chicken in a dark ash bao with slivers of 24k gold. And finally the Dragon mountain, saffron dome stuffed with chicken cha xiu sauce. The fascinating thing though is that all these visually stunning dishes weren’t just about form for forms sake. The flavours were wonderful, unusual but familiar, creative but comforting, modern but rooted… showcasing that even in the age of vitality, you don’t need to choose between beauty and flavour.

Dragon mountain: Chicken, cha xiu sauce

Sheng Jian bao: sesame crust, pan seared pork bun, caramelised onions 

This contemporary brilliance also manifests itself in dishes where the form may be less eye popping but the flavours blow you away. The Orient tide has Blue pea flower, rock lobster and asparagus… delicate flavours brought together by the earthiness of shaved truffle. The Mala medley of sichuan chicken and pickled wood ear fungus had my tongue tingling with the hint of Sichuan peppercorn. The Dinosaur cheungfen is even better than the prawn one with Daikon and wood ear fungus creating a crunchy, fresh, textured dimsum. The vegetable dim sums at Madame Chow are honestly remarkable, with the Fortune funguo another standout with the nutty hazelnut and earthy morel cut by celery and carrot.

Dinosaur cheunfung: Daikon, wood ear fungus, rice paper 

I ate some twenty eight dishes over the course of two meals at Madame Chow. And I know I’m already guilty of getting into a mode where I’m describing every dish so I will stop. But I think my later point is simple. At a time when we’ve had nothing exciting in Chinese food for well over ten years, where we keep having the same old tired benchmarks despite their falling standards, Madame Chow is a breath of fresh air. It is the only Chinese restaurant in the country that feels really world class and not as an imitation but as something original. What Chef Robin, Chef Wong Kwai Wah (Sam) and Chef Mark Lin have created is remarkable.

By far the best dim sum in India. 

Easily the best Chinese restaurant in India.

And definitely one of the best restaurants in the country. 

Fortune fungao: Hazelnut, carrot, morel mushroom

Empress Flare: Carnation milk, sago pearls, pomelo segments 

I ate: 

Salad: 

 - Madam chow prosperity salad: Hass avocado, jujube, goji berry and toasted sesame dressing

Dimsum basket:

• Harmony: Chicken, prawn, green onion and wheat wrapper

• Orient tide: Blue pea flower, rock lobster, shaved truffle and asparagus

• Mala medley: sichuan chicken, pickled wood ear fungus

• Lychee bonsai: Shrimp, mozzarella, bubu arare

• Dinosaur cheungfen: Daikon, wood ear fungus, signature rice paper

• Swan: Spiced chicken puff, black bean, water chestnut

• Canton: Chicken, pickled young ginger, garlic chives)

• Shengjian bao: Sesame crust , pan seared pork buns , caramelised onion

• Volcano bao: Barbeque chicken , ash bao, 24k gold

• Dragon mountain: Chicken , cha xiu sauce

• Wu gok: 5 spiced chicken puff , shitake , purple cabbage dust

• Ocean silk cheungfen: Prawn , garlic chives, baby bok choy

• Fortune funguo: hazelnut, morel, celery, carrot

• Stir fried duck and leeks: ginger and leek sauce

• Udon noodles

• Steamed Seafood soaked rice, Cantonese style 

• Cantonese steamed Chilean seabass, Superior soy sauce, fresh coriander, banana chili, young ginger

• Twice cooked pork belly, Black bean sauce

• Asian vegetable filled silken tofu, Hot garlic sauce, Oriental seasonal greens

• Lanzhou udon noodles 

• Golden garlic and edamame fried rice 

• Dark chocolate and mandarin ice cream

• Empress flare (inspired by the royal golden robes of Empress Qing Alphonso carnation milk, sago pearls, pomelo segments)

• Sesame ice cream 

• Sichuan icecream

Other dimsum: 

Peking duck: with Mandarin pancakes, scallions and cucumber, rich plum sauce

*Main Course*

Dessert:

Petit four: 

Orange and ginger pate de fruit