Dum Pukth

Rest: Dum Pukth
Loc : ITC Grand Maratha , near International airport
Meal : Dinner

Dum Pukth is one of the North Indian specialty restaurants at the ITC chain. The cooking is Dum style which means its cooked in its own juices by sealing the utensils and heating it from both ends.

We got in fairly early and were the first ones there, seated right away and out came the papads and the onion salad.


The decor of the place is a little weird, it tries to recreate a dining royal, nawabi dining room which it does fairly ok, however there is this stained glass wall to one side which completely does not fit the decor.

Anyway we started with a glass of chaas (buttermilk) which was slightly spicy but would have been great had it been chilled, all the ice in the world didnt turn it the right kind of cold.

The Merlot, went fairly well with the food, a tad on the acidic side but not too bad, not a bad choice.

The smartest thing to do when eating at a specialty Indian restaurant is to either go for appetizers or main courses, no matter how large your appetite you will never be able to eat both. We started with the Bukhara Kofta Salan which is potato in a hot (not spicy) gravy, it was excellent, the potato was soft, tender and the gravy was rich and very tasty. Once the dish cooled a little the potato hardened a little around the edges and got even better.

The only the dal on the menu was a yellow dal, however they were willing to bring out the black dal even though it was off the menu. The black dal was a dal bukhara (my fav daal) not a dal makhani. It was great, just how a dal bukhara should be, a whole notch above the dal we had at Peshawari not 30 feet away.

The rice was the subz biryani, it was ok, nothing great, i would have expected a bit more taste in the dish itself, but it was just rice with veggies, not a proper biryani.

it was served with a bowl of a cool raita which went fantastically well with the biryani, the cool raita with the hot biryani, great combination.

i usually don't get desserts after Indian meals however i was keen on trying out the kulfi and i am glad i did. it was great, the hard kulfi, some soft and delicious malai on top of it. Excellent.

The problem with the food is that its insanely heavy, you feel like a python just trying to digest it all. Hard on the system, no wonder all the ruling class disappeared, all that food has to make you lazy.

The place is good, the ambiance classy and quiet, the service is fairly efficient but not the most friendly.

Food : 8/10
Service 8/10
Damage : dinner for two with a glass of wine 4100

It was one of the most expensive meals i have had in Bombay, that too with just a single glass of wine (400) as good as the food is i am not sure if its value for money.

Question for Readers : What is your most expensive meal ? Where ? Please leave answers as comments

Dum Pukt
ITC Grand Maratha,
Near Int. Airport, Sahar.
Tel : 28303030