OCC Trip to Tanishq: Special Guest and a fond farewell

The Oakham Curry Club ventured to Pudong for an exciting visit to the newly opened Tanishq, situated in the vibrant EKA area of Jinqiao. While some members were struggling through the Friday night commuter traffic to arrive on time, others who lived and worked in the area were enjoying casual aperitifs by the light and water show outside.

Members were enthusiastic to check out Tanishq and meet up with Pawan Banga from one of OCCs previous favorites Lazeez. The restaurant is a bit hidden away up the stairs on the second floor, but once inside guests are treated to a pleasantly themed layout with open kitchen and bar. A small outdoor terrace is also available for those looking for a more intimate evening.

Trying to make an extra effort after arriving late one member honored members with the full OCC outfit, although there were some comments that the next item of OCC clothing to be released should be OCC branded socks.

This was an extra special meet with a returning OCC member on a business trip as a special guest and sadly the last meet of our Aussie Diplomat who is moving onto his next assignment.

According to OCC tradition the responsibility of ordering was graciously bestowed on the departing member for his final meet, even though there were some grumbles from certain corners of the table who remember his last attempt at ordering when a number of members returned home on empty stomachs.

Blocking out the noise with classic Aussie grit and determination he truly delivered a great selection of dishes for members to enjoy and feeling contented at the end of the night. For starters we were treated to a selection of Indian street food including Pani Puri, that consists of hollow, crispy dough balls filled with a combination of spicy potatos, onions and peas with an accompanying tangy sauce.

The mouthwatering Mixed Chaat dish was served in an atmospheric smoldering dish and complemented with a refreshing yoghurt sauce. Following on, the lemon infused paneer tikka arrived. Delicious paneer marinated in spices and grilled in a tandoor was the perfect accompaniment to the charcoal grilled Tandoori Chicken.

After an inspiring speech from our visiting guest who had commuted thousands of miles to attend the meet which left members eternally hopefully for the future the mains arrived. After experimenting with Indian street food for starters we were treated to traditional classic Chicken Tikka Masala and Lamb Masala curries.

The Tikka Masala was deliciously creamy with tender chicken and richly flavored spicy onions and tomato based sauce. The classic masala was slowly cooked marinated lamb with succulent aromatic spices. Although we ordered some regular basmati rice and garlic naan, Pawan also treated us with some traditional and flavorful Lachha Paratha, a flaky layered flatbread from North India.

This was followed up an aromatic steamed Chicken Biryani to ensure all members appetites were completely fulfilled. Overall, the members were impressed with the selection of dishes scoring a very credible 7.4 for quality for a very good price leading to an excellent score of 8.2 for value.

After a poem and quiz in honor our leaving member, it was time to wrap up a very enjoyable meet.

Our table and other guests all seemed to be well looked after all evening by attentive staff, so it was no surprise the service scored an impressive 7.9. As Tanishq is still building up it’s reputation and awareness it was a little quiet, which meant the atmosphere scored 6.8, but a healthy customer care score of 7.2 means overall total score of 7.5 means that Tanishq is officially OCC approved!

We all send our best wishes to our departing Aussie Diplomat and hope our special guest comes to visit more often even if his ‘secret’ visit was only came as a surprise for one member.