Yum Chinese & Thai — Restaurant in Lahore Cantonment Tehsil

It had been a long time since I visited the gulberg branch, which was their first, for an Iftar buffet. It was the first of Ramadan, so the prep was a bit jittery and went on till the last minute.

The ambiance, to my surprise was a bit low on light, especially for a crowded buffet time. One of the staff member was a but rude or a bit out of synch with the importance of time of Iftar, just 2 minutes before Iftar when a couple of people including myself went to the buffet, he rudely told everyone to stop as their blogger was going to make video of the buffet first. As expected, he was told off as it did not make any sense. The manager and another senior person were very polite, though, and saw them on their toes the whole evening to make sure the buffet was filled and also apologised whenever there was a dish empty.

Anyways, now the food, their beef chilli dry was as tender as they could be. Copious amounts were consumed by yours truly but not a single piece came uncooked or chewy. For me the highlight was the sea food, fried fish was crisp and fresh, sweet and sour fish was just not to my liking but that can be because I don't like sweet and sour paste to begin with so people who like that flavor might not find anything wrong with it. Prawn tempura was again being filled hot and crispy, the batter was not oil rich like most places and so was great, the highlight of seafood was Szechuan prawns, mid sized prawns with delicious and just the right amount of spicy kick were the best of the lot. Could not have enough of them. To be honest there was nothing that could match szechuan prawns and I had to put the brakes but only after having one very crispy chicken drumstick.

The desserts were average especially the bread butter pudding, but full marks for the dessert bar setup.

Overall, it was a very good experience, especially because of the variety of meat choices that cater to almost all people, even in...

Updated review of this restaurant after many many years. It is still an average tasting Chinese. Nothing extraordinary. Rates are in the upper tier of high end restaurants.

My order: Hot n Sour soup 8/10 Chicken chowmein 4/10 Spring rolls 1/10

Credit where it is due: hot n sour soup tasted good! Especially considering its Without the MSG, it tasted really good. I do suspect they use some sort of chicken powder still. However, taste is where it matters and it was very good. Complimentary crackers were good as well.

Every single dish had way too much cabbage. It almost felt like they bought too much cabbage and decided to use it all in 1 day. Other veggies were almost non existent compared to cabbage, even in soup.

Chowmein was very ordinary... you can get that taste in any run of the mill cheap Chinese restaurant. Absolutely not worth over 1800 for a single serving. It was super spicy as well. However spice tolerance is subjective and maybe they should ask customers how much they'd like.

Spring rolls were the absolute worst there was. Super crispy outside, but not really golden brown, some were straight up approaching burnt black. Inside was a soggy gooey mess. Too many layers and the bite left like biting into steamed flour. The taste was not homogenous either among the rolls. Some were only cabbage and carrot, some had chicken in them and cabbage but no carrot etc etc. It was just strange. It was absolutely not worth it. Costed over 1300, and for THIS taste? I've had better rolls on street stalls and carts. It was truly terrible.

Overall, this place is extremely overhyped. Soup was good but rest was not worth it.

Service was fast and staff was actually really nice though.

But atmosphere is just terrible. Too noisy. You can only have a shouting match here not a conversation. Small and old tables. Difficult to even...

Achari Chana

Servings - 2 - 3

INGREDIENTS Chickpeas - 350 grams Water - 800 milliliters Coriander seeds - 1 tablespoon Garam masala - 1 teaspoon Turmeric - 1 teaspoon Chilli flakes - 2 tablespoons Fennel seeds - 2 tablespoons Cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon Mustard seeds - 1 tablespoon Nigella seeds - 1 tablespoon Salt - 1/2 teaspoon Black salt - 1/2 teaspoon Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 teaspoon Water - 120 milliliters Salt - 1/2 teaspoon Oil - 50 milliliters Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon Water - 220 milliliters Coriander - for garnishing

PREPARATION In a mixing bowl, add 350 grams chickpeas, 800 milliliters water and soak for overnight. In a blender, add 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon turmeric, 2 tablespoons chilli flakes, 2 tablespoons fennel seeds, 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, 1 tablespoon mustard seeds, 1 tablespoon nigella seeds, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black salt, 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds and grind it coarsely. Keep aside. Take a pressure cooker, add the soaked chickpeas, 120 milliliters water, 1/2 teaspoon salt and cover it with lid. Cook till you hear 4 whistles. Remove it from heat and drain them. Heat 50 milliliters oil in a pan, add 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste and saute for 1 - 2 minutes. Then, add the prepared achari masala and mix it well. Add 220 milliliters water and stir well. Bring it to a boil. Now, add the boiled chickpeas and mix it well. Cook for 5 - 7 minutes on low heat. Garnish with coriander. Serve...