Chinese New Year Menu at Oriental Octopus, NOIDA

[Rating:3.5/5]
I’ve written on Oriental Octopus nearly 3 years ago and recall enjoying the experience. Considering the brevity of that review, I’ll describe Oriental Octopus a little. Oriental Octopus is right next to McDonalds in sector 16, NOIDA, has about 32 covers and makes up what it lacks in privacy, with comfortable seating and fairly quick service. You’ll find Chor Bizarre right alongside where the buffet must be tried.

Chef Vivek Rana of Oriental Octopus has prepared a special menu for the Chinese New Year, which we tried the day before and found it to be quite nice, barring a couple of things that could be improved. Siddhartha and I tried nearly their entire new menu and while stuffed, departed quite happy.

We tried their Herb Tofu Roll with garlic pepper sauce, Pan Fried Fish coated with Caramelized Honey and Sechuan Peppers, Tai Chin Chicken, Barbecued Pork Ribs with Lotus Root, Braised E-Fu Noodles with Shiitake Mushrooms, Stir Fried Chinese Greens in Fragrant Sauce, Steamed rice, Diced chicken in three pepper preserved bean sauce, Cantonese style steamed red snapper and finished it all off with the Chef’s Dessert Platter.

Let’s start with the stuff we didn’t like. The Herb Tofu Roll was a bit disappointing as the tofu was finely minced and was barely different from paneer, if given the same treatment I personally don’t like scrambled tofu, original recipe or not – you may like it (Thank you Siddharth Biswas for highlighting this). The distinct, smooth tofu texture that I love was conspicuous by it’s absence. I’d give this one a miss.  Finally, we didn’t like the E-Fu noodles. They were under flavored and a mish-mash as if a sharp metal implement was used to toss them, rather than using the pan as a whole. It is also possible they were pre-made in bulk and pan tossing wasn’t an option.

Now that that part is out of the way, let’s talk about the stuff we did like. The Tai Chin chicken were nuggets of chicken with a delicate, smoky, burnt chili crust that were extremely tender and juicy on the inside. The barbecued pork ribs were scrumptious – slightly sharp, a bit spicy and very tender. The nice part is, they left some of the fat on the flesh, which I personally love. Fried shavings of lotus stem added another contrasting dimension to the texture, which was a nice touch. The stir fried Chinese greens were brilliant again – crunchy, fresh, green and full of flavor. We ate them with the E-Fu noodles, and they changed the nature of the whole platter. The pan fried fish was quite nice, well flavored and tender. Siddhartha and I felt it was a mite over done as the texture of the fish wasn’t discernible. Most people however, would enjoy it, particularly north Indians who like their meats very tender and don’t like the smell of fish. The diced chicken in three pepper preserved bean sauce comprised tender pieces of boneless chicken in a piquant and slightly spicy sauce. It was nice, but didn’t have enough character in the flavor to really be memorable.

The pièce de résistance was the Cantonese style steamed red snapper. A whole fish, steamed just right, served with a topping of fragrant herbs in a mild soya broth – very very good. We couldn’t stop eating it till the fish was picked bare. The dish was appreciated all the more knowing that it’s quite easy to under do and over do a steamed fish. A little under and the parts closest to the bone are left uncooked. A little over, and the flesh falls away when you’re trying to pick up a morsel. Very delicately flavored and truly spectacular to look at, this is one dish you simply must try when you’re digging into the Chinese New Year Menu at Oriental Octopus, NOIDA.

We ended our meal with the dessert platter that featured Lychee Granita (little pieces of lychee with ice immersed in mildly flavored icy liquid), fruit satay (kiwi, cantaloupe, pineapple, watermelon and papaya on a satay stick) and chocolate mouse (no description required – smooth, sweet and delectable).

Do visit Oriental Octopus NOIDA and try out their Chinese new year menu, which by the way is available at Drift, Gurgaon as well. It’s only on till the end of this month BTW.

- Sid

1. Review: Oriental Octopus
   
2. Spice Circle, Noida- Revisited
   
3. Lahori, Sector-50, Noida