Bengaluru's Cantan: Your search for fiery Chinese cuisine should end here

The newest entrant to Bengaluru’s food and beverage scene, Cantan, must have an enchanted portal. One minute you are on plush Lavelle Road, walking past beer breweries and luxury cars; the next moment you are on a lively Asian food street. By the time you take in the vibrant yellow lampshades and the red dragon perched atop the bar, you’re transported to Cantan’s world, one far removed from the one you’ve just left behind.

Envisioned on the lines of a Chinese bar house, an idea it embraces intimately with quirky prints and quirkier tableware, Cantan is a part of the Olive Group of restaurants founded by A D Singh, with Manu Chandra and Chetan Rampal as partners. The executive chef here is Prashanth Puttaswamy. Working in their favour is the combined wealth of the formidable experience they bring to the table, literally, by being part of favourites such as The Fatty Bao, Monkey Bar, and Toast & Tonic.

Cantan was created after scouting the innermost streets of Sichuan and Guangzhou to put together a menu that celebrated simple and clean flavours. Acknowledging that simplicity is highly underrated, Cantan attempts to redress that with just the right amount of tinkering. Between its two levels, the restaurant and bar can comfortably seat 150 people.

The cocktails menu is nothing short of poetic. There’s The Song of the Mystic Mountain Spirit, which features blossom tea (with tequila, gin and vodka), while Monk of the Yangtze Orchard has orange peel infused with rice vinegar and gin. There’s also Eagle in Monkey’s Shadow, Lady of the Moon, Cantan XO and Boo Tang Clan. The team clearly had some fun putting this section together.

With ingredients like the gai lan (Chinese broccoli) sourced from farms in Bengaluru and Pune, the food menu is extensive and innovative. Among appetisers, the crab and corn soup comes with bonito flakes, the hot and sour styled-soup has crackles made of jasmine rice, and the Yunnan Crossing the Bridge Noodles comes with 10 toppings. There’s also a whole section dedicated to shaokhao, Chinese barbecue and the most popular street food in Beijing. While vegetarians can feast on fresh shiitake mushrooms barbecued with smoked chillies, the Peking-style pork spare ribs (in sweet sauce) are a dream come true for meat-eaters. They have a slight crunch on the outside and are tender inside.

The cold plates with smoked tuna cold rolls, Cantan oysters and Yusheng (fine sashimi with vegetables) are highly attractive too. The cauliflower-loving dish called The Manchurian Candidate is another great conversation starter for film buffs.

It’ll take more than one visit to settle on favourites, such is the quandary that Cantan creates. A single bite of the prawn crackers served with fried prawns (Cantan XO prawns) tells you exactly what you’ve been missing out on every time you munched on packaged crackers. There’s also the Coca-Cola chicken wings and moon shrimp cake which will soon prove to be crowd-pullers.

If not for a feast of flavours, like raw mango with prawn fried rice, head to Cantan just to revel in the names of dishes: the very visually named Ants Climbing a Tree, for instance, are bean thread noodles with all things nice (pork mince, sesame and scallions, among others).

Despite the celebrities who have already dined at Cantan (like Nandan Nilekani) or will certainly do so in the near future, the belle of this ball is undoubtedly the Cantonese steamed cheesecake served with mulberry compote and crackers.

Even vegans have a reason to rejoice at Cantan: the Tau Foo Fah, a silken soybean pudding, comes with toppings in tiny bottles. Doesn’t matter what your heart desires, robust ginger, flavourful orange or the delightful jasmine tea syrup, the pudding goes well with all three. Its silky surface breaks into tiny cloud-like islands floating in delicious syrup.

All this in a place where oriental motifs dance along the fabric that lines the walls, where gold-toned chopsticks rest on the backs of miniature whales and black-and-white quarter plates create optical illusions. A strangely comforting confection spanning geographies and times, Cantan does a fantastic job of bringing together the best of China’s tastes and India’s aptitudes.

Average cost for two is Rs 1,600 plus taxes without alcohol