“You know there are 100 trees around,” says the pretty Ritu Bararia who heads corporate communications & marketing at Amadeus India Bird group- that sets the tone to the first introduction to the much talked about Dusit Devarana Hotel for its beautiful architecture, its green surroundings and water bodies.

We are sitting under the canopied fine dining Chi Ni, the Chinese restaurant sampling the new menu over a four course lunch meal that has been especially curated by the smiling Chef Ban. It is being hosted by Birgit Holm, the charming Hotel Manager of Dusit Devarana.

Chi Ni is huge with an interactive kitchen and has been designed by Bop Puccini. It’s perched atop a manicured hill overlooking the beautiful stained glass boat created by Lek Bunnag.  It’s a perfect place for a quiet celebration with the family if you love Chinese food.  Across the window you will see the vast greenery that the hotel proudly boasts and the stunning view of the water bodies.

The cutlery placed in front of me has a beautiful face of traditional Chinese girl wearing a blue lipstick; it’s striking and gets the attention of everybody around the table. Soon I make my choice from the set menu opting for the ash gourd seafood soup which is also being served in its vegetable avatar.  In fact almost all dishes on the menu has a vegetarian choice, that is exciting for me to know as there are days when I prefer to eat only vegetarian. On such days my choice is restricted much to my annoyance at times.

The soup is subtle, mild and extremely tasty; it is followed by pre-plated appetisers that consist of blanched spinach drizzling with liberal dose of sesame and peanut sauce, (delicious and healthy) crispy spicy mushroom balls, (delicious) lettuce wrapped minced chicken (passable) and the tastiest of all - the wasabi shrimp plated right in the middle. The shrimp came with the right amount of wasabi, no worries about eyes watering here. (Also highly recommended by Birgit and rightly so)

My choice for the main course rested on the Szechuan steamed Indian sea bass, but you can go for wok fried chicken with asparagus if that is your preference. For vegetarians once again the amazing choice was between bean curd, three kinds of mushrooms, Szechuan style vegetarian (fake) chicken. For the staples it was either the ginger rice or the Hong Kong noodles.

Interestingly the restaurant borrows from different popular dishes from countries like Singapore and Malaysia among others. Highly recommended by Birgit again I decided to opt for the baked yogurt for the desert and was glad that I made the choice. It was spectacular in taste and display, naturally sweetened with no taste of the coriander that was in it according to the pastry chef.  

The fine dining restaurant which earlier served dinner will now be serving the lunch too.  Its regular menu features extensive innovative fusion in oriental delicacies prepared with full respect towards tradition. Inside the restaurant you will the modern artwork of Korean artist Park Seung Mo. This 140 cover restaurant is chic, elegant with private dining rooms according to requirement, winery and an alfresco seating.

Price: Rs 2900 ++ (vegetarian),  Rs 3200++ (non-vegetarian)

Time: 12.30 -3 pm