Modern oriental Wing Wah

  I remember from my youth the Bamboo Inn – on downtown Robert Mugabe (then Manica Road) – as the height of local exotic. Dim recessed lighting behind cut-out oriental screens, hushed carpets, waitresses in thick Chinese silk imprinted with peonies, and tiny decorated bowls and spoons all added to the rich ambience of a special night out, stepping into another world.  Along with the Golden Dragon and the Mandarin the very names conjured up millennia of enigmatic culture, images of ancient jade collections and priceless porcelain.
The Bamboo Inn and its companions are long gone and these days Chinese restaurants are mostly brightly lit and offer a much more mundane experience. 
The latest addition is the huge Wing Wah International Hotel at 84 Glenara Avenue. Complete now for some months, its daunting exterior has kept me from trying it out till now.
The double story building is set back from the street in a huge parking lot. Everything is on a massive scale. Entering the lobby one walks over a little bridge spanning an indoor stream. Water is an important element in feng shui –  the ancient Chinese Art of balancing physical construction within the elements of the universe – and focuses on improving communication, networking, professional opportunities and wealth.
Most of the ground floor is taken up with two large scale dining areas – easily able to accommodate a few hundred people. Waiters in embroidered red jackets were on the ball and Elijah ushered us to a table in the room on the left. Early evening it was busy and got busier as we ate. Outside was lit up like a video game though with many lights not working the effect was all-too-familiar ‘zhing zhong’. Characterised by garish lighting, lurid artificial flowers and super speedy service the atmosphere is still relaxed and cheerful – and also warm on a cold night in spite of the vast expanse of bare floor. Popular with large family groups it’s an easy space for kids to feel comfortable.
We watched a child at the next table spin a plate off the Lazy Susan. I first encountered these spinning servers at the Bamboo Inn and remember that delight in bringing the shared dishes to a halt in front of you. You had to be careful not to spin it too fast otherwise the centrifugal force would get out of control and scatter plates over the diners! Decades and eras apart the restaurants don’t have much else in common.
Wing Wah plates are practical melamine, the menu large and faux leather and not a chopstick in sight. The past is indeed another country.
The menu offers the usual variety of dishes – chicken, beef, pork, fish and duck – nice for sharing in a group. As always I love the oddities that arise from translation into English and couldn’t resist the fried greengrocery (US$5) – which turned out to be iridescent bok choi. We also sampled chicken and cashew, beef and ginger  (both US$10) and crispy duck (US$18) – accompanied by noodles and egg fried rice. (US$3) All dishes arrived steaming hot and tasty.
Cold beers came in no time – and our food arrived before the guys were even half way through their first. We were done within the hour, and as we were leaving, noticed lots of young oriental men rushing eagerly upstairs – we assume for karaoke which happens Wednesdays and weekends. From the carpark we glimpsed groups of diners upstairs where a series of smaller dining rooms allows for private functions  giving parties the convenience of a restaurant but with more intimacy than the large public spaces downstairs.
– g.jeke@yahoo.com