Chowman (Maniktala) — Restaurant in Kolkata

Chowman having completed a decade in the city of Joy, needs no further introduction. It is one of the premium brands when it comes to oriental cuisine. Having several outlets spread across the city, Chowman has, over the years, become a household name for our Chinese cravings! Recently they opened their newest outlet in North Kolkata, near Gouribari Crossing, which luckily enough happens to be bang opposite my house. The sad fact though, the day after they opened the door to customers, a statewide lockdown was announced, wherein no restaurants and cafe's were allowed for dine in. So for the time being we all have to settle in for home delivery, or if you are someone who is just a stone throw away distance from the outlet then you can opt for a take away. That being said, we bongs love our lyadh & we would more than prefer the food being delivered at our door steps. They take all the safety precautions from gloves to double masking & even face shield. Apart from their own delivery network they are also available on other popular delivery platforms. Now coming to the packaging. In the given circumstances, they started to put in a sticker wherein the temperature of the chef to the food packer to the delivery boy everyone's temperature is mentioned. The containers come with a extra layer of cellophane covering which ensures our food is safe & nothing spills. Now coming to what I tried •Kung Pao Prawns (Dry) (Strongly Recommended) I am big fan of prawns & I absolutely loved this one.The size of the prawns were good and the taste was absolutely lip-smacking! •Pepper Garlic Chicken (Recommended) Decent sized chicken pieces tossed with crushed pepper & chopped garlic & there was hardly any chance for it to go wrong. This ensured I had a good start to the meal. •Fish in Sweet Chilli Sauce (Strongly Recommended) I absolutely loved the sweet chilli sauce & hence it made the fish taste all the more better. The fish was fresh which was quite evident once you bite into it. •Chowman Special Noodles (Strongly Recommended) This was loaded with mushrooms, babycorn, veggies, chicken & was topped with an egg. •Chicken in Black Bean Sauce Tbh, I am not a big fan of the black bean sauce, that being said my brother absolutely loved this one. •Chilli Pork I am an occasional pork eater & this was the first time I tried pork from Chowman. This has a punch to it. The fat to meat ratio was well balanced too. So if you are a pork lover then do try it out! •Mixed Fried Rice (Recommended) This is my regular order along with a side of my choice. Its loaded with chicken, eggs & shrimps & it...

Long review 👇🏻

By now, I have visited this place innumerable times (in fact the staffs also recognise me whenever I go there 🤣🥺❤️).. After my first visit, I was literally disappointed (due to some misunderstanding and a chaotic situation) and gave 3/5 🌟 rating..

But after my consecutive visits, I am very much pleased with the place 😊 So giving it a 4/5 🌟 rating..

Items I have ordered till now👇🏻

A. Starters: Drums of heaven (Thai style) {the chicken pieces could have been a bit larger} ₹285. Roasted Chilli Pork (dry) ₹320 (must try) Crispy Chilli Fish (basa) {12 Pcs} ₹355 (must try)

B. Main course: Non veg fried rice (mixed) ₹280 Chilli Garlic Fried Rice (mixed) ₹265 Chowman Special Noodles ₹290 Pan Fried Noodles (mixed) ₹280 Roasted Lamb in Chilli Plum Sauce ₹385 Chilli prawn ₹410 (yumm😋) Kung Pao Chicken {12 Pcs} ₹345 American Chop Suey (mixed) ₹275 Non veg combo meal for one person (mixed fried rice, chilli chicken 4pcs & 2pcs chicken momo; you can customise according to your needs) ₹294 - I ordered this online through the Chowman app (not available if you dine in) and I was amazed to find that they gave quite a good amount of each food item (more than enough for 1 person) 😍😋

C. Dessert: Ice cream with crunchy choco balls(there were plenty of choco balls coated with butterscotch from inside, it was yummy)😍 ₹230 Darshan with vanilla ice cream (this was best)😋🍧🍨 ₹210 Brownie with hot chocolate sauce ₹230

The quality of the food is no doubt top notch. The quantities of most of the items are quite fulfilling (for 2persons) compared to their prices😇

The only thing that I slightly disliked: They didn't have menucard, we had to scan a code and check the menu online which I personally didn't like because I like to flip through the pages of the menucard (it's lot more easier to view all the food items at a glance)☹️ Things I liked: The ambience was completely giving authentic Chinese vibes and the staff was very polite and hospitable. Also they had this very cute system of a smart bell type device which you can press to call for either the waiter, water or bill.. Last but not the least, I just loved...

Chowman Manicktala was an interesting visit.

I dropped by this location and tried their Honey Glazed Pan Fried Chicken With Lemon for starter. The chicken was overcooked,dry and the texture just very chewy in general. The glaze was absolutely amazing with little to no hint of lemon in it.

For mains we had the Spicy Orange Chicken and the Chili Garlic Noodles. One thing is praise worthy is their portion sizes. The Chili Garlic noodles tasted very good by itself.

The Spicy Orange Chicken had sour-sweet taste, it's a good choice besides Chili chicken and would taste better with rice more than noodles (choose a spicy type rice like schezwan fried rice to appreciate the taste of Orange chicken). The Orange chicken was well cooked and the chicken was moderately well marinated.

Just a day later I had the Char Siu Pork Bao and chicken momos. My biggest complain about this is that the chicken momos came without any condiments. The Bao breads were fresh from taste. The Pork belly was too well done but again the glaze was very good to taste. It has a barbecue chicken taste. There wasn't enough greens on it. It had nothing for lettuce and bean sprouts.

From an overall experience it was a 6.5/10. The restaurant serves very good normal chinese cuisine, other ventures of the restaurant still...