Noodle Bar, Lower Parel, Mumbai

My sister loves Chinese food and would have it all the time if she could :D However, she is on a strict diet right now and so Chinese food indulgence has been pushed to maximum once-a-month regime which works great for me but not so much for her. Now she is thinking about Noodles and Manchurians and Dim-Sums all the time :D Anyway,so when it was her birthday (this was about 2 months ago),obviously we had to go for Chinese food, but without hurting her diet. After much deliberations, she settled for a late night movie at PVR Cinemas, preceded by a light family dinner at Noodle Bar, a place we had been to about 2 years ago and quite liked it. So here we were,at 7.40 PM sharp on a Friday evening. It had opened up just 10 minutes earlier so we had no problem finding a cozy family corner to perch on :) Be aware, every single place in Phoenix Mills,Lower Parel has a huge waiting line post 9 PM especially on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So if you are like me, someone who hates waiting in long lines, make sure to have your dinner before 9 PM :)

Now coming to Noodle Bar, the ambiance gives off a very oriental feel,it is quite elegant and comfortable. They also have quite a few festivals going on from time to time (Dim-Sum special, Soup special etc.) which could be a value for money proposition,so do check it out. There are these LCD TVs inside,almost always relaying some cricket/ football/ kabaddi or other sports match in vogue. It has a very family feel to it,good for large groups as there is ample seating around. 

All dishes are priced between Rs. 200-600, portions are quite good,so it is neither very value for money nor very expensive. Quality wise, I think, price is quite justified. I especially love the complimentary bowl of Kimchi which they brought for us,twice,since I finished the first one all by myself *Greedy Piggy Me* :D We ordered for Crystal Veg Dumplings and Four Seasons Dimsums, both tasted nice but I found the Crystal Veg ones quite thick as in,the outer layer was a bit thicker than expected and also a bit oily. Four Seasons was absolutely fabulous, very delicate and flavorful. Among the starters, we had earlier tasted Corn Curd, Crispy Chilli Vegetables, Asian Barbecue Cottage Cheese which were all tasty and in fact,I remember that we did not order any main course after that,portions were that good! This time, we had Crispy Thread Paneer which is a must try dish from this menu. Lovely big slab of Paneer in this crunchy web (thread), to be had dipped in a slightly sour mayo-yogurt dip, yumm is the word :D Five Treasure Asian Vegetables with Hakka Noodles completed our dinner for the evening and it was very well balanced in terms of flavors. Not very spicy, not bland either. Portions were enough for 3 people. In fact, ordering for dim-sums and starters alone would have sufficed for us, but who is complaining of over-eating when everything is delicious :D We also had a refreshing lime soda drink to help digest it all. I feel that food here is not heavily Indianized (a bit,yes,but not very) and it isn't very oily either.

My sister was pleased and that is all that matters. Service was very quick and efficient. We had to catch at movie at 8.40 and our meal was done and bill settled easily by then! Our visit has been a good one and we would definitely consider coming back here :)