Yo China, food for pocket

Yo China, Going Global!

fnbworld bureau/Tarun David

Chinese cuisine has been a favorite of many oriental food lovers all over the world. It has made sound inroads into the Indian palate and is available in countless eateries and even shanties across the country. Over the years, many restaurants have attempted to serve from the authentic to implausible chinese fare.

Restaurants have evolved their chinese culinary style to suit the demands of its customers, while others have merely perfected the ambience by doing up the interiors in a thematic fashion, suiting the East. Enter a Chinese restaurant that brings alive a perfect blend of authenticity and affordability with verve !

YO-CHINA, a Moods Hospitality (P) Ltd. restaurant, is the not-so-latest in the crowded Chinese food business with its debut outlet in the MGF Metropolitan Mall, Gurgaon, almost three-years ago. The vibrant hues of yellow and red on its walls lend it exuberance. The restaurant chain has expanded to different centers in Delhi like: Vasant Vihar, Janakpuri, Greater Kailash, East Patel Nagar and Indrapuri. It also has an outlet in Pune.

In a span of over two years, its intricate menus have mesmerized many tastebuds, leaving its mark as a Chinese restaurant with a difference. Mr. Ashish Kapur, Managing Director of Yo-China is among the three working directors out of the total six, who have put their heart and soul in conceptualising and conceiving the restaurant. An engineer by training, Ashish holds Chinese grub as his favourite. In his words, Yo-China's USP is: Superfresh -  Superfast - Trendy. Yo-China's super quick table-service is unmatched. This is not all, the open kitchen and the in stylized uniforms of the staff too add to the overall image, all complementing the age of the youth.

Its base kitchen is located on an 8,000 square feet spread in Chattarpur, Gurgaon. This emblazons the restaurant's seriousness about the quality of food offered. Dimsums move like baggage on a conveyer belt here ! The variety comprising thickness of the dressing and its profound stuffing. Yo-China provides a balanced mix of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian delicacies right from dimsums to the main course. While browsing through the menu card, you come across a few unique features, "meal in a box" and all main dishes include complimentary steamed rice being the two of them.

The meal in a box category presents customized meals for one accommodating both vegetarian and non-vegetarian diets. Ranging form Rs. 89 to Rs.129, it offers a choice from vegetarian noodles, vegetarian fried rice and steamed rice. All main dishes include complimentary steamed rice. Priced in between Rs. 79 to Rs. 135, the meal goes easy on an average pocket.

On being asked about the idea behind offering complimentary rice, Ashish reasoned, "Indians like to be pampered, and the fact that there is something free in the offering, often brings joy to the customer and gets them coming back another time. It is just a way of pampering our customers and wooing them to try out other dishes." Apart from desserts and beverages another hallmark of the restaurant is the birthday party package.

Offered at an affordable price of Rs. 75 per child, this includes the cost of hosting, decoration of the chosen venue, gifts, game prizes and apparently the buffet meal. Since the restaurant caters especially to the youth, there is no looking back when it comes to college festivals and other events pertaining to the youth. Yo-China makes sure it gets noticed and remains alive in people's minds. "We want people to walk out with a WOW!, claims Ashish, who feels that the customer enjoys a 45-minutes vacation with a meal".

He believes that the restaurant is not only about good food but also about satisfying the soul at high esteem. The restaurant plans foraying in to Noida, Chandigarh, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The restaurant is also actively considering an international debut with prospects of opening outlets in South Africa, US and Bangladesh.

This is the food chain's third year of operation. With an array of seven outlets already, their aim is to reach 1,024 outlets by the year 2010 and offer a menu ranging from Rs. 30 to Rs. 50. Don't we look forward to another Indian restaurant chain proliferating overseas?