By Anand Holla

In less than four years of its launch, Chi‘Zen, the Chinese dining concept at the Oryx Rotana Doha, has won a long line of fans – it’s bustling even on weekdays.
Step into the main dining room and the stark blend of rich red shades and dramatic blacks, dark wood finishing, and classical and modern Eastern artistry, sets you up nice and smooth into the Chinese gastronomic symphony that would soon storm your table.
Chi‘Zen is derived conceptually from the critically acclaimed Zen chain of restaurants in Hong Kong, China, London and Mexico, and it does live up to the challenge. With the restaurant presenting an interesting Dim Sum menu until the end of September, it might be a good time to indulge in an assortment of steamed goodies.
A style of Cantonese cuisine prepared as small bite-sized portions of food, Dim Sum is traditionally served in little steamer baskets. Dim Sum, in Cantonese, means ‘touch the heart’. From Har Gau (steamed translucent shrimp dumplings) to Sui Mai (open-topped steamed shrimp or prawn dumplings), China’s famed tea lunch have dozens of variants.
Meticulously put together by Chef Eddie Burburanto, Chi‘Zen offer ‘Dim Sum Delights’ such as Shanghai Dumplings (spicy mix of chicken and prawn with shiitake mushroom and pok choi), 3 Star Dumplings (prawn and coriander mixed with bamboo shoot and garlic), Seafood Sui Mai (classic Dim Sum mixture of prawn and crab in a wonton wrap), and Crispy Crab Sui Mai Roll (Seaweed-wrapped crab sticks and cucumber sui mai, deep-fried, and served with spicy mayonnaise sauce), among others.
For those keen on deep-fried and pan-fried varieties, there’s Crispy Crab Sui Mai Roll (seaweed wrapped crab sticks and cucumber sui mai, served with spicy mayonnaise), Golden Fried Prawn Wonton (prawn and bamboo shoot, carrot and purple cabbage served with sweet chilli sauce) and Golden Duck Bun (fried bun filled with diced roast duck in mild black pepper sauce).
Of the vegetarian options, the Vegetable Hu Tip, which packs in mushroom, carrot, pok choi, bamboo shoot and baby asparagus steamed and then wok-fried, is delicious and filling. The Pan-fried Mushroom Pao – Chinese bun stuffed with mixed mushroom and pok choi stem – tastes divine with the sauces that accompany the dish.
But if you want to dive into the whole range, there’s nothing more satisfying than tucking into an Assorted Dim Sum Platter, which come in two variants of steamed and fried.
Our in-house foodie, Bilal Iqbal, was pleased with the variety on offer in the two types of Assorted Dim Sum Platters on the menu. “Together, the steamed and fried Dim Sum platters take you on a journey of the entire Dim Sum variety at the restaurant. The popular Golden Duck Bun was simply irresistible, with the sweet and salty flavours ideally balanced. The 3-Star Dumplings were as nice to eat as they looked, even though I am not the biggest seafood fan. If anything, the seafood dumplings in the samplers retained the flavours of their ingredients without being offensively strong. The Ginger Crème Brulee with Orange Compote was an ideal finish to the light meal. Not your typical choice for a dessert, the ginger in the crispy sugar cover added bite to the brulee, but was mild enough to not dominate the taste.”
The elegant décor complements the cuisine and the spacious seating in the main section or the private dining room that’s meant for a more intimate setting only adds to Chi’Zen’s likeability. The special Dim Sum menu is available for lunch (12pm to 4pm), and for dinner (7pm to 11pm).
Earlier this year, Chi‘Zen, which is part of Foodmark’s chain of premium restaurants, won the Favourite Chinese Restaurant Award at the Fact Dining Awards Doha 2015, and was recognised as “Highly Commended” in the Best Chinese Restaurant category at Timeout Doha Restaurant Awards 2015.