Well Played, Ganges. New Lido Branch Keeps Us on Our Toes

When Beijing foodies think about the long-running and well known local Indian chain, Ganges Indian Restaurant, they usually think about dependable, entry-level curries and naan breads. Desserts? Not so much. So when we stopped by the recently opened Lido venture — for which they are splitting the space with Buddy Bar, effectively upgrading the pub’s food menu with South Asian cuisine — we were pleasantly surprised to try a number of intriguing Indian sweets that usually get short shrift on the menu.

Read: Lido's Buddy Bar Wants to Be the Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name

The tender and melt in your mouth cashew fudge (known in India as the Kaju Katli that the nations royals frequently dined on, priced at RMB 25) and the tangy, zingy and cushy mango kulfi (pictured in the lead image above; a cold treat set apart from ice cream because it’s not whipped, resulting in a denser, more custardy texture that’ll be distinctively exotic for many patrons; also costing RMB 25) made for a memorable end to our meal at their new Lido space.

Those desserts put a finer point on some of the other aspects of the menu that expats frequently overlook. Among the highlights: sizzling hot roasted Bombay potatoes that boasted a plump firmness along with a hint of spice thanks to the sprinkling of cumin and aniseed (RMB 48); the creamy, wholesome and gently bitter tasting spinach curry that is dotted with chunks of cottage cheese; and the indulgent mutton and coconut curry that struck a balance between sweet and savory (RMB 55 and 72 respectively).

t was a pleasant surprise to be reintroduced to some hidden gems on a menu that I had long dismissed as a standard but reliable source for chicken tiki masala, garlic naan, samosas and similarly entry level Indian eats.

All in all, sampling such underappreciated corners of Ganges menu gave me renewed appreciated for a time-honored Beijing brand that I had come to take for granted. My preconceived notions about the chain were linked in part to its biggest assets: with its sturdy reputation, five branches around town, and 12 years of operating, Ganges become a successful purveyor of exotic eats in the early days of Beijing’s restaurant boom, well before the current abundant options of international cuisines could be enjoyed in the capital’s increasingly developing dining scene. The chain served as an introduction to Indian eats for small-town boys like me moving to a bustling metropolis for the first time, and even more so for Chinese patrons that had been closed off to exotic fare. That, in turn, left me with the impression that Ganges was a reliable old favorite, instead of counting it among the flashier fusion and more in-depth regional eateries that have sprung up in the capital ever since.

Granted, Ganges could do more to bolster these neglected aspects of their menu (indeed a bigger marketing push, slicker presentation and discounts for these items, along with the addition of even more such creative and distinctive items to new iterations of the menu, would all help in this regard). Their new Lido venture also suffers a bit from these low key tendencies, lacking Indian decor and giving the new venture (amounting to a kitchen upgrade at an already running Western-style pub) a pop-up vibe when it is in fact permanent.

However, the owners' willingness to team up with other businesses (like they famously did with Paddy O'Shea's, their downstairs neighbor Dongzhimen) is refreshing in its own way, spicing up a standard western pub’s menu without a blitz of slick marketing that other restaurant chains can lean too heavily on. And of course Lido — a charming north of Sanlitun and Liangmaqiao neighborhood brimming with expat and upwardly mobile Chinese residents, but still lagging behind other Beijing locales — is primed for another dining option. So we can see this new Ganges/Buddy Bar joint venture luring in plenty of locals eager to tuck into delectable curries and a few left-of-center desserts.

Ganges, Lido
Ganges menu available from 10.30am-11pm. 38 Jiuxianqiao Fangyuan West Road, Chaoyang District (sharing the space with Buddy Bar)
朝阳区酒仙桥芳园西路38号

Learn all about Lido with our coverage of the northeast neighborhoods openings, here.

Photos: Courtesy of Ganges