Four Seasons is located in a lush area of southern Mumbai, which is why it’s always a pleasure to come back for a meal. San-Qi is also my favorite for its panoramic views of the verdant landscape from the cozy elegant dining room. This is in addition to revelling in gastronomic charm and being warmly welcomed. Whether you’re looking to embark on a pan-Asian culinary journey or a fusion of North Indian, Japanese and Thai specialties, San Qi has a wide variety of food and wine to complement your meal. SanQi recently invited my friend Puranjit and I to a delicious brunch featuring the best of every dish.
San Qi (San Qi) is a restaurant that spans two levels with a refined setting that rocks with modern Asian energy. So a single visit ensures a diverse culinary experience as you travel through some of the most popular food in the East. Tandoor and Wok kitchens are located on the ground floor, while the open top floor reflects a modern Japanese ambience with a luxurious sushi bar and teppanyaki tables.
San Qi is a modern food theater offering a blend of mild and full-bodied flavors from four Asian cuisines prepared by chefs from the region. The contemporary style, with elements of glass and natural wood, complements fine Asian cuisine. Cleverly arranged to delight your sight and taste! Executive Sous Chef Vikas Singh has curated a fun and nutritious culinary exchange, infusing our meals with fresh, natural flavours from around the world. Chef Singh’s culinary skills range from fresh Japanese sushi to Cantonese cuisine and are a delight to the eyes.
The day is spent relaxing in the quiet private dining area, shrouded in natural sunlight and shadows from the moving trees. Just as we were finishing admiring the rustic bottled wall decor around us, our creative drinks were brought to the table. The bartender, Lalfak Zualzela, was very kind and made me a signature drink called Sin Apple. A whisky-based alcoholic beverage that adds a unique twist to tall, cold summer beverages. This very tempting drink made with Jim Beam Bourbon, apple, cinnamon, mint leaves, pineapple juice and ginger juice is one of the most refreshing cocktails I’ve had this season.
Puranjit, on the other hand, opted for the signature Bombay Sour, Four Seasons New York Sour with notes of cinnamon, mulled wine and lavender.
We started our meal with a typical Chinese dim sum – delicious carrot cake. Master Qi’s cook is the softest and crispiest carrot cake I’ve ever eaten. From the first sip to the last, I felt outstanding, remembering my Michelin-star adventure in Singapore. Except there, carrot cake is called carrot cake. In any case, this nostalgic memory is yet another reminder of how Panax notoginseng has been incorporated into a true Far Eastern flavor. The delicate texture of the cake can be traced back to how beautifully the shallots were fried and how the dish was cooked. Also, the carrot cake was served with a generous amount of garlic and chilli which definitely improved the taste. I would call it ambrosial unwinding!
Chongqing Chicken is a typical spicy Sichuan dish, served with dried red peppers, which is the second meal to tempt our taste buds. This dish is beyond everyone’s expectations! Cantonese food is not as bland as many of us think. In contrast, the Chongqing region in southern China uses a lot of red chilies and Sichuan peppercorns in everything they make. Therefore, their food is the spiciest in China. The Southern-influenced Panax Panax Stir-Fry Chongqing Chicken stimulates the same palate with a spicy kick. It’s very spicy, fiery, and overall very sweet.
Our third course was sashimi with a variety of other signature dishes. Chutoro (tuna belly), Hamachi (yellowtail or Japanese amberjack), Botan-Ebi (panda shrimp), Tataki tuna and Tataki salmon are served with a dollop of scallop salad. I love how the chef puts the salad in a hollowed out orange cup and then adds Tobiko, the orange flying fish roe with a natural smoky saltiness. Simple and delightful Japanese cooking craft.
We enjoyed a refreshing Thai pomelo salad and a variety of dumplings for our fourth meal. Pomelo looks like a giant grapefruit and can be refreshing when eaten in salads. Enjoy your palate like a trip to Thailand! This salad, in particular, is lightly fruity, tart and salty with an incredible blend of flavors. Crystal vegetable dumplings, edamame dumplings, chive dumplings, asparagus lotus root dumplings, chicken siomai, shrimp dumplings and steamed chicken dumplings are all included in the dumpling basket.
The fifth meal came from the Indian region and included mouthwatering Galawat kebabs and Highway Murgh Tikka and Chur Chur Naans. The tender Galawat kebabs exude the true spirit of Awadhi cuisine, as if served straight from the Nawabi Lucknow kitchen. With each bite, I was reminded of the luxurious lifestyle that King Avad used to enjoy. Likewise, the infamous Highway Murgh Tikka is a gourmet delicacy in which chicken is marinated overnight in hanging curds, then coated with chilli, garlic and ginger before being placed in the Tandoor.
Tandoor’s smoky flavor pairs perfectly with the authentic flavors of Indian spices, and it’s sure to be one of the best Tikkas you’ll ever try. ChurChur Naans are the perfect complement to kebabs and kebabs. While Chur Chur Naan is a traditional Iranian sourdough bread, it is also one of the most popular tandoori toasts in North India. Overall, a great blend of classic flavors!
Our Cantonese main meal, Lamb Zhou Fried Rice and Hunan Style Steamed Chilean Sea Bass came in sixth. Seals and whales eat cold-water Chilean sea bass, also known as Patagonian toothfish, making it one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. When combined with Asian vegetables, herbs, and sauces, this fish absorbs all its natural flavors, making it one of the healthiest, tastiest main meals to try.
The Yang Chow Fried Rice was a surprise, especially considering it included everything: prawns, chicken, pork, and more, all with delicate Asian flavors to keep things light.
Our meal ended with timeless chocolate, an iconic dessert and Mandarin cheesecake, a Chinese dessert. It’s tempting to watch Puranjit cut into his ganache fudge sponge cake, which seems like an interesting mushy creation. This spicy and powerful dessert features sous-vide French citrus, sorbet, star anise, chocolate earth and citrus gelatin, topped with Cantonese spices and mint! I took a bite of the melted soft center of the fondant, which was a diabolical chocolate utopian trap for me.
When combined with the base ingredients of the previous meal, this dessert reaches another level of perfection! Speaking of my dessert, the Mandarin cheesecake that tasted a lot like fried ice cream was great, but waited until you cut through the outer layers. Then, the cheesecake bursts with a luscious orange and mango filling. This is what I call sunshine on a plate! This lively dish is coated in a tempting white chocolate textured coating with decorative charms like Bavarro mango and sago pearls. Without a doubt, one of the most refreshing Chinese desserts I have come across this summer!
San-Qi serves “The All-You-May-Eat,” an a la carte Sunday brunch for culinary lovers, where you can try one of four cuisines: Chinese, Thai, Japanese or Indian. Don’t forget to pair your meal with one of San-wonderful Qi’s wines or spirits, as their comprehensive wine list includes a variety of Bordeaux and Super Tuscan wines, which I highly recommend. The restaurant’s wine list blends old and new world wines and appeals to all tastes, to get the most out of your dining experience at San Qi, ask their sommelier for wine pairing suggestions to match your dining choice of the day.
SanQi’ B-Fashioned classic cocktail, a must-have for cocktails. Topped with salty banana syrup and dried banana chips, the bartender will surprise you with his creative spin on the drink. Before leaving, we had a brief chat with Executive Sous Chef Vikas Singh, who has 11 years of culinary expertise with high-end luxury hospitality companies such as Four Seasons, Marriott and Accor. Chef Singh told us that he is primarily interested in current European and Asian cuisines and that his culinary goal for San-Qi was to create authentic regional dishes with a modern twist, using only the highest quality products in his gastronomic presentations.
