Re-enter the Dragon, in new avatar

• At: Taj Mahal Hotel

• On: Nov 25, 2009 | 05:00 PM

• Category: Attack, Threat | Add a comment

• Add a comment

At 6.30 on Wednesday evening, the iconic dragon was placed on a water body at the entrance and the Golden Dragon restaurant quietly reopened its doors a year after the terror attack.

Taj’s popular ground-floor restaurant, which had been ravaged by the terrorists, was India’s first eatery to serve authentic Schezwan Chinese food. It boasted of several regular patrons since its inception in 1973. Not surprisingly, the restaurant was fully booked on its opening night more than five days ago.

With a sparkling white decor, bright lighting and an open show kitchen, the restaurant bears no resemblance to its old avatar, although the old-time favourites such as golden fried prawns, Haricot beans and Wothib asparagus have not been dropped from the menu.

"There seems to be a well-thought-out plan to make it look completely different from what it was, so that there is no memory of what took place here," said food writer Rashmi Uday Singh who dined there on Wednesday. The menu has at least 50 new dishes and it still offers great vegetarian options. The chef is still Shi Xi Lin who had witnessed the bloodbath.

Right until the time of its low-key reopening, there was a flurry of activity, with head chef Hemant Oberoi supervising last-minute touches and general manager Karambir Kang coming in and out.