CANTAN – Lavelle Road, Bangalore

The newest Chinese gastropub in town is a visual and literal feast with a thoughtfully curated and extensive menu which appeals to both the global traveller’s palate and Indo-Chinese lovers.

Set in the heart of Lavelle Road along several of the city’s favourite fine dining restaurants, Cantan occupies two floors above Sodabottleopenerwala in a space that has become a revolving door for concept restaurants. The second floor ‘bar area’ is the warmer, noisier and brighter bar area with a giant red dragon in neon above the bar, while the first floor is a more tranquil seating area with muted pastels, soft music and an enclosed space for a private gathering.

In my two visits to Cantan – the first in its opening week in May, 2019, and again recently, I’ve been most struck by the stunning craftsmanship and the decor of this place. There is incredible detail in every aspect of this large mansion – the warm, glowing lanterns eclectic enough to draw attention but still maintaining a pattern, the painted fabrics and tapestry, the lights, the East Village style bar, the floral prints on the walls and fabric of the seats, the chic bespoke ceramic cutlery bring together together various styles that keeps you looking in all directions. Yet, the lighting and ambience is at once cosy for a family meal, intimate enough for a table of two and festive for a large party. This is a recurrent feature in Cantan – it refuses to be boxed into categories. Most restaurants cater to a single dominant theme – romantic with ambient lighting and beautifully presented food, business with a quiet ambience, fussy glassware, and solid colours, family restaurant with large, comfortable seating. Cantan however, can rise to the occasion as the Ideal Venue anytime with its variety of areas within the establishment, distinguishing itself from high-end franchisee restaurants Yauatcha and Mainland China. I’d eat dinner with my parents on a weeknight in the lower floor, meet friends post work in the bar area, or a crowd of them on the same floor. Cantan has been curated with enormous planning and strategy, and it shows.

The same holds true for the 3 menus: Wine, Beverages and Food. The food menu has several sections: dimsums, soups, grill (shaokao – a chinese barbeque), cold plates, veggies, gravies, seafood, meat, poultry, noodles, rice, chef’s specials, and dessert! There’s barbeque, small plates, cold plates, sharing plates, segregations based on veg and types of non veg….this is definitely not a place where you order one item from each page. It is a slightly long browse and may require assistance from the ever-smiling and responsive service, who are quick to gauge your preferences – whether you want to try something completely new, a Chinese delicacy, a crowd favourite, or a chef’s special – and suggest combinations. Each dish is priced at around Rs. 350-400.

The food is a clever ode to Cantan creator Manu Chandra’s vast global experience in the culinary world, travels and his successful restaurants under the Olive Group. There’s references to American-Chinese cuisine in the General Tso inspired dumpling and East Coast, US favourites in the David Chang-esque pork baos and Xi’an Famous Foods’ spicy cumin lamb biangbiang noodles; specialty items from China like the broccoli, yardlong beans, and shaokao; and variations of items that feature in sister concerns Fatty Bao and Toast & Tonic like the baos, the chicken liver pate and soft shell crabs prepared in a Chinese style.

In terms of authenticity, dishes represent the cuisine of a specific region of China rather than having a single flavour profile of Chinese food: no combinations of sauces schezwan/hot garlic/black bean/hoisin/butter garlic with veggies/meat/rice and noodles here! Trying to elevate Chinese food in India can be challenging: real Chinese food eaten every day in China can be salty, chewy, leathery and tough on the Indian palate which is used to the chatpata hot, sweet, spicy and tangy Hakka Chinese or Indo-Chinese food. But Cantan delivers in this regard: it sounds Chinese, tastes exciting – but comfortably so, and looks like exquisite. It bears mentioning that the food here is assuredly high quality, and there is no post-meal suffering as is common after dining out.

The meal itself is a fantastic experience.

From the bar menu, we tried the Cantan XO – a gin and tonic with plum shrub and oolong tea which was deliciously sweet and salty. The signature cocktails look very inviting, but word is that the Cantan XO and Ruby Wong are the ones to watch out for.

The pre-meal complimentary starter is rice crackers (unfortunately, taste like regular fryums) accompanied by dipping sauces: sweet lime, ginger vinegar, crispy chilli oil and tomato peanut. The served chili cucumber in the first week as well.

The General Tso inspired dumplings were soft and juicy, with a sweet sauce mostly absorbed by the shell.

We’d also tried the roasted lamb shaokao, which does not appear on the menu any longer and was steeply priced for the quantity.

The Dongpo pork pyramid – a long strip of fatty pork belly is an indulgence, great for any lover of pork. We ordered this in the opening week, and they’ve made a good move to replace the beans with bamboo shoots  since.

The cold plates here are very good, with pate and yusheng being bits. The Smoked Tuna Cold Spring Rolls  tuna tartare enclosed in a delicately thin spring wrap with a dip at the ends was particularly memorable.

In the main course, each of the noodles and rice items can be a complete meal on its own. The portions are large and serve 2 hungry people. The lobster sticky rice was mildly spicy with liberal chunks of lobster. The raw mango and prawn fried rice tastes similar to a regular fried rice, with tiny pieces of tart mango now and then, and is better suited to be paired with a gravy. The biangbiang with braised lamb is a wonder, with flat hand-stretched chewy noodles (cut into large pieces for ease of sharing) drowned in hot chilli oil, spice with sliced peppers and lamb.

For desserts, the first time we tried the milk chocolate and hazelnut tart which was yummy, but more suited for children and fans of sweet, milky chocolate and Nutella. It was accompanied by a vanilla gelato and sweet crumble.

Our second time round, we ordered the egg custard tarts (hugely popular in SE Asia) despite my apprehensions, and it was immediately the favourite among everything we’ve tried here at Cantan! Although you can’t really tell from looking at the picture, it is a perfectly smooth creme brulee in a buttery puff pastry, served with a sweet and tart mulberry compote which contrasts the richness of the creamy tart filling. Dessert is best separately ordered, so you don’t have to share!

The Bangalore restaurant market may be saturated with hyper-competitive themed restaurants offering attractive discounts via subscription based apps, but there are few places like Cantan which provide as much fodder for thought about Chinese food and the elevation of it in India, with their luxurious ambience and wide array of dishes which make you marvel at the kitchen’s expertise.

Go to Cantan because they have delicious and interesting food, for the stunning decor which exceeds luxury hotel standards in its look and feel, and doesn’t burn a hole in your wallet!

Rating:
Ambience – 9/10
Decor – 9/10
Food – 8.5/10
Food quality and cleanliness – 9/10
Service – 8.5/10

Price for 2: 1600 (without alcohol); 2800 (with alcohol)

Address: 25/4, 1st & 2nd Floor, Opposite Harley Davidson, Lavelle Road, Bangalore