PICS: KZ
I vividly remember my first visit to Chinese Friendship Restaurant, sometime in early 2005. Having exhausted Thamel and not yet having made myself acquainted with the other dining hotspots of Lajimpat and Jhamel, dining on Darbar Marg felt like something of an adventure.
Eight years on, little has changed. Owner Udesh Man Singh still presides over the operation, holding court with friends in one corner while keeping a watchful eye on his polite and attentive waiters, who refill a pot of green tea throughout what proves to be something of a banquet.
Leafing through the expansive picture-book menu, we wanted to try some of the more obscure items, including pork ear in red oil, beer-braised duck, and the delightfully straightforward hoof tendon. This review took place over Tihar, however, and it seemed as though the festivities had prevented Udesh from acquiring some of his more obscure delicacies.
Instead, we made do with more sedate Chinese fare. A snack of fried corn (Rs 180) was moreish, but lacked salt and spice. The fried eggplant stuffed with minced chicken (Rs 320), however, was perfect: a delicate batter gave way to the gooeyness of the aubergine and the viscose, sticky ginger sauce it had been tossed in made it a surprising highlight.
Ordering sweet and sour pork (Rs 295) in a Chinese restaurant feels a little like an amateur move. The dish is a staple on takeaway menus back home and usually ordered by the over-cautious or unadventurous. But it can also serve as a litmus test and I knew from previous visits that here, this item is not to be missed: battered slices of tender pork give way to your chopsticks and taste buds, melting with succulence and the more-sweet-than-sour coating.
Taken with a plate of the restaurant’s signature, done-to-perfection egg fried rice (Rs 110); the dish is elevated from menu mainstay to absolute must-have. I can’t emphasise this point enough, and urge readers to head to CFR to try it today.
Sufficiently wowed and more than a little stuffed, the whole fish served in a black bean sauce (Rs 495) was a visual and gastronomic treat. The rich black bean gravy was a little salty for our tastes, but I was impressed by how such strong flavours still didn’t serve to overpower the delicate fish.
Finally, we ordered the home-style tofu (Rs 190). This ginger-heavy plate, particularly following the overload of meat and fish, felt a little workaday and was not aided by what seemed like an overload of MSG. It became clear over the course of the meal that Chinese Friendship, like Chinese cuisine itself, caters primarily to carnivores.
The thoroughfare’s reputation for fanciness is not upheld in CFR, where the downstairs seating is more greasy spoon than gourmet, while upstairs is a little cosier. But this restaurant is about substance rather than style and perhaps our only criticism is that that substance is too often MSG, in sometimes-copious quantities.
How to get there: from the main entrance to Narayanhiti Palace, walk straight down King’s Way. Chinese Friendship Restaurant is just after Nepal SBI Bank, through a small archway on the left.