I'm at an age when very few things surprise me or, at least, excite me. I feel I’ve seen and experienced it all before. But then there are exceptions and, recently, it was of the culinary kind.

Since I live in the Gulshan-i-Iqbal area of Karachi, I’ve gotten accustomed to driving halfway across the city — to DHA — whenever I feel the need to dine out with friends or family. This is because of the notion that all good restaurants and eating places are only situated there. Boy, was I in for a surprise!

When a friend first recommended Su Jing Chinese Restaurant on Hill Road in Block 3 of Gulistan-i-Jauhar, I gave him a weird look. After the initial argument, we decided to give it a try.

When it comes to Chinese food, I have a very set list, which I always end up ordering: prawn tempura starters (even though tempura is Japanese, most Chinese restaurants serve them), hot and sour soup, fried beef and chillies, chicken in a gravy of any kind and fried rice. It covers the major food groups, including seafood, red meat, chicken and poultry.

A little-known Chinese restaurant on the ‘wrong side’ of Karachi serves up a soup game so good, it changes the game

What surprised me at Su Jing was the option of white hot and sour soup, which was a first for me. Most Oriental restaurants that I have been to end up putting too much ketchup in the red hot and sour soup and not enough tomato paste, which makes it acidic, and too ketchup-y! Only a handful get the taste just right. The option of a white hot and sour soup definitely got my attention and got my tastebuds excited.

With the order placed, I glanced around the impressive place and was told the upper floor and terrace is limited to diners who are having hotpot. The ground floor had a female concierge and servers, with a sizeable pool in the middle of the outdoor dining area, having large, colourful Koi fish swimming in it.

Our order arrived soon after and it was love at first sight. The insulated metal, family-serving bowl contained a very generous serving of steaming and aromatic white hot and sour soup. It looked very appetising and inviting indeed. No sooner had I had the first sip, I knew I was hooked for life! To cut a long story short, after I had helped myself to two full bowls of soup, there wasn’t much room left for anything else.

But I still made an effort to try their jumbo prawn tempura starters with drizzles of spicy mayo sauce, which was like manna from heaven. The stir-fried dry beef and chillies took culinary experience to a whole new level, with succulent wisps of tender and juicy beef bits fried to crispy perfection with just a hint of grease.

The chicken fried rice was fresh and green with the wafting aroma of fragrant and freshly cooked basmati rice, while the chicken gravy also hit the sweet spot. However, the hero of the entire dinner menu was the white hot and sour soup for me. No more long drives to dine in DHA, for I have found my own food heaven right here in Gulistan-i-Jauhar!

The writer is a member of staff. He can be contacted at quraishi.faisal@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, March 30th, 2025