Dragons, bells, Buddha statues , Chinese lanterns & chopsticks! One gets to see all this & more at the ongoing Sian Pan Asian Festival at The Gateway hotel by Taj in Mangaluru. The Ambience is meticulously decorated with red, white & black colours that are traditional to Chinese. Every table has led smokeless candles, adding a bit of romance. The crockery is nicely laid with Chinese chopsticks too. Chef. Raju from Sian restaurant of Taj, Chennai has flown in specially for the festival. He says how every dish is carefully chosen to give the guest a unique experience. We tried several dishes like Talumein soup, Tofu in bean sauce, Butter garlic chilly prawns, dimsums, lotus stem schezwan, tofu & shiitaki mushrooms, mountain chicken, Hakka noodles, burnt garlic fried rice, date pan cakes & chocolate spring rolls. The recipes have traveled. And chef. Raju says that the recipes are not very authentic but have merged with Indian flavours. And that's the beauty of food. Truly, Sian Pan Asian Festival is one exhilarating experience that is a feast to eyes for the amazing decor, ears for Chinese music in the background, olfactory senses for the aromatic spices & sauces , tongue for an overwhelming tastes of sweet, salt, sour, spices & touch: the entire experience of eating with chopsticks. If you are Chinese food lover, then this festival is definitely worth the visit. Ps: Every dish is prepared without any colours, ajinomoto & taste enhancers.