Let me set the scene: my husband, Vikram, and I walked into Jade at The Claridges New Delhi with the modest, reasonable intention of having a quiet Chinese dinner. We left 2 hours later, having witnessed what I can only describe as a small, controlled kitchen fire arrive tableside and be greeted with more enthusiasm than most people show at their own weddings.
This is The Jade Sizzler Experience, running from 16th to 31st August, and I regret to inform you that it has ruined ordinary Chinese food for me forever.
The Sound Before the Food
Here’s the thing nobody warns you about: you hear your dinner before you see it. Somewhere behind a wall, a cast-iron platter is crackling like it’s settling a personal grudge, and by the time it actually reaches your table — trailing ribbons of fragrant steam, smelling unmistakably of garlic, soy and something that means business — every head in a six-table radius has already turned to look. My husband, a man who does not get excited about food in restaurants he didn’t pick, visibly sat up straighter. This is the sizzler’s real power. It doesn’t need your attention. It simply arrives, and takes it.
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Executive Chef Ankur Gulati, in a line I now think about unreasonably often, said he wanted this menu to capture “the soul of the wok”, the fire, the aromatics, the timing, and that the sizzle itself isn’t just sound, it’s “the final expression of craftsmanship.” I would like to state, as someone who was sitting there holding a fork like a weapon, that he is completely right, and also that I did not expect to be moved by a noise.
A Very Serious Negotiation Occurred
We started with the Imperial Kung Pao Chicken Sizzler — wok-tossed with roasted cashews and a generous, unapologetic hit of Sichuan peppercorns that made the husband go quiet in the specific way men go quiet when they’re pretending the spice isn’t affecting them. It absolutely was. He had two glasses of water and zero complaints, which in marriage terms counts as a five-star review.
The real turning point, however, was the Char Siu Pork Sizzler — smoky, honey-soy glazed, and frankly a little too good, because it triggered a ten-minute debate at our table about whether we could realistically order a second one “for the table” (there is no table, there are two of us) purely to have leftovers. We did not order a second one. We have discussed, on the drive home, whether this was the correct decision.
Jury’s still out.
The Vegetarian Section Also Refused to Be Boring
I’ll admit I went in with the standard low expectations vegetarian sizzler options usually deserve. The Mapo Tofu & Exotic Mushroom Sizzler and the Hakka Vegetable Noodle Sizzler with Chilli Basil Sauce disagreed with my expectations so thoroughly that the husband, a committed carnivore who treats tofu with polite suspicion, actually reached across the table for seconds without being asked, which those of you in long relationships will recognise as the single highest compliment a spouse can pay a dish.
The Verdict
We came in for a quiet dinner. We left having had what can only be described as A Whole Experience, one part meal, one part theatre, one part minor domestic dispute over who gets the last piece of Char Siu pork. Every platter arrives sizzling, every conversation at the table pauses respectfully to let it make its entrance, and every bite genuinely earns the drama that precedes it.
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If you’re planning a date night, book Jade before 31st August, order more than you think you need, and go in accepting that at some point you will lose a small, loving battle with your spouse over the last bite of something. It is, apparently, part of the ritual.
