Shanghai Salsa

This place opened a few months back, and is a 2 minute walk from my office, and yet, I hadn't been there for all these months. Well, enough is enough, I thought, and when on Friday I hadn't got lunch from home, I decided to head there, with a book 'The fountains of Paradise' by Arthur C Clarke.

As soon as I entered, I knew this wasn't a small joint serving sandwiches and juices. There was blackboard with the day's specials written there, and when I saw stuff like Red Snapper written there, I thought "Woo hoo! How good is this place going to be... another disappointing wannabe?" Well, I went up, seated my fat butt, and began reading, and ordered a lime soda. I was also intrigued by the name - Shanghai Salsa. Chinese and Latino. Hmm, interesting, I thought. And then my eye caught the screens (I forgot what they're called - like TV screens but running on a closed circuit loop) which was displaying the history of Chinese immigration to Cuba.

Most Chinese went there as slaves to work in the sugar plantations several centuries ago, and eventually, like in all places, settled down and a their culture, including their food, began influencing the local culture.

I started off with a veg Tortilla soup, and as soon as it came I knew I had made a mistake - the soup was the size of a cauldron and was almost a meal in itself! Tasted good though, with black beans, and some other stuff that I couldn't quite make out coz the book I was reading was pretty darn interesting.

Veg Tortiall soup

After that came the chicken quesadilla, and I must say that although it reminded me of the humble chapathi, the stuffing inside was nice - not mind blowing wow, but nice, well cooked chicken, which wasn't too spicy.

Chicken quesadilla

Finally, my main course arrived(and by this time I was really ruing the fact that I had ordered the soup coz I had almost no space left in me for the main course). It was a soya ham with mango butter sauce. I couldn't care less about the banana chips they'd planted on top to the beans over the rice because they weren't crispy at all, but the soya ham was good, and the mango butter sauce was something very interesting - sweet, with a hint of tangyness in it.
By the time I was done, I wanted to ask them if they had a wheel barrow to cart me out as it would have been a record if I could walk out straight. Decent place, nice music, from Santana to a few Latino numbers which I couldn't quite figure out since I had my nose burried in the book, nice setup, and a menu that surely looks interesting. Time to get Mr P and Mr VP and sample a few more items.

And as far as food is concerened, I have to end with this Cuban proverb: Believe only half of what you see and nothing of what you hear.

Food: Great!
$$$: If you go in a large group, it would work out to around 300 or 350 per head (assuming you eat properly); smaller groups could end up paying almost 500 per head.
Service: Decent, prompt.
Verdict: I'm a fan of the place, and if you'd like to try Cuban, head to Shanghai Salsa. If you're anywhere near Indiranagar and wanna try something different, this is the place to be.
Extra Info: It's opposite just Bake.

Shanghai Salsa, 618/1, 1st Stage, 2nd Main, Opposite Just Bake, Indiranagar, Bangalore. Phone: 25201984