Cafe Lota

Rest : Cafe Lota
Loc :  India Habitat Centre 

Meal : Lunch

Cafe Lota, is what you would expect a Delhi eatery to be, quaint, artsy located in a handy craft centre, its a Delhi restaurant done right in more ways than one. A brilliant place to be when the temperature is right. 

Its got this lovely stone cut sign on the outside and a screen door lets you in to a large open space, casual dining at its best. packed on a weekday too. the menu is small plates and large plates but all the dishes are from different parts of the country. 

i ordered a masala chaas, which was excellent but the nimbu paani was totally bizarre. 

the mini rava idli molgapodi was excellent and it went so well with the chutney they served on the side. great idea to start a meal with like this. 

the chutney was served in this little home style jar, as one would expect.

The Kerala Vegetable Stew serve with Appam was excellent. The stew was almost Thai curry like which is not a complaint. I even improvised and had some with rice. 

this was a total experimental pick. The Bhatti Ki Churkani, Bhang Chutney, Kumaoni Raita served with rice and 

Raagi Roti. Overall, it was just too alien a taste for my buds, never had anything so sourish and vague. While i dont think it was bad, it was just too different. 

The Bappa Doi cheesecake was as good as it sounds. 

Overall, its a great place for a afternoon lunch  before the heat rises, its busy, so try and get there a little early. The concept of the dishes ranging from various parts of the country does make it more interesting than your generic cafes, where else will you get a Uttaranchal Dish rubbing shoulders with Idlis ? 

Food : 7/10
Servie : 8/10
Damage : 1200 for 2 without drinks 

Scenes from Delhi

Was in Delhi last month and basically went around eating like some sort of a pig. A lot of it was of course repetitive but then when else would i get a chance to go eat like this. they really have their food down pat. so much better than Bombay, sadly. 

Raj Kachori, 

papdi chaat 

Chole Bhaturey, all of these were had at Haldiram's and each item was bloody terrific. You wouldn't expect a chain to serve up good consistent stuff but this was just mind bogglingly good. They throw in little pieces of paneer with the choley and its just on the money. Def check em out, they are all over the place. 

the wife had these samosas called for at tea time one of the days and these were really good. REALLY GOOD 

Another random choley bhaturey 

this is one of the most unbeliveable servings of Lassi you will ever have. its a thick, THICK lassi with a layer of cream on top and khoya added on. Someone on my twitter or insta account called it a heart attack in a cup, which sounds about right. 

a myriad chaat vendors ply their trade on the highway leading in and out of Delhi, this is just one of them. 

and he was pretty freaking good. this was a aloo chaat, had piping hot. 

one sunday morning, we drove down to the outskirts to try out these pakoras, cheese, green pepper and potato

and spinach. all of em super terrific. 

another glass of kickass highway store lassi. super terrific. 

Kurries n Burries

Rest : Kurries n Burries
Meal : Dinner
Loc : Opp Starbucks near Chowpatty 

Kurries n Burries, replaced Rock Salt who i ordered from a few times and liked immensely. The new avatar offers Chinese & Mexican much like LocoChino who do Mexican & Dim Sum (and oddly Khau Suey) 

The menu is fairly straightforward, something for everyone. 

The chilly paneer was terrific, hot and gone in less than a two minutes. 

their mango drink was a little too thick and the nuts on top are kinda over kill. 

i think this was the burrito and was cheesy good. 

unfortunately, i think their mexican is just so so, the mix isnt quite there yet. compared to the likes of Cream Centre which is out and out Indanized or something more Tex Mex like Loco Chino, they have a lot of work to do. 

Their Asian however is terrific. The dumplings were fantastic and the Red Curry was pretty good too. 

All in all, their Asian is worth checking out, especially to have it delivered since the place is small and parking tight. Glad to have them back.

Pricing is very value for money especially the platters shown above, which are about 650 a go. 

Zen Cafe

Rest : Zen Cafe
Loc : Raghuvanshi Mills
Meal : Lunch 

The Zen Cafe is a quiet all vegetarian cafe in a furniture store in Raghuvanshi Mills with a fairly decent menu with something for everyone.

The Mezze platter was awesome, i dont care much for the basil hummus but everything else was terrific.

The tomato mozzarella panini was again just excellent. the side of mustard not so much but this one was a hit. 

The Giardino was a thin crust sun dried tomato, black olives and capers. very good.

The margarita too was good but not nearly as good as it looks. 

the chocolate brownie was good, would be well worth getting that scoop of ice cream with it. 

cafe mocha to wash it all down.

Overall, the place is quiet, secluded and out of the way. but they make up for that with a menu which has something for everyone and is executed fairly well. Their 575 lunch meal where one can order as many items as they wish is good value for money.

Service is a tad bit slow but no real complaints.

Food : 8/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 575+ taxes 

Doolally

Rest : Doolally

Loc : Bandra, Near Lilavati Hospital

Doolally is a craft brewery from Pune and the hottest ticket in the city right now.  Since they opened last week, they have run out of beer twice. 

Their food menu is limited and with some usual suspcects but also some atypical dishes for a bars. Mushroom ragout with rice, my buddy @dharmeshg says the stew is terrific. 

The serve 3 beers, IPA, a wheat beet and one with oats. The fourth and easily my fav is their apple cider. Total win. A little gassier would have been preferable but it was good stuff. Its a good idea to get a little taster of all the brews and then order a pitcher which is good value for money if you intend to have more than 2 pints. 

The burger with hot sauce was wow. Crumbly, messy, saucy, fell apart at first bite but it was possibly the best ive had in a while. Everyone at our table got one post tasting mine. it was that good. 

Overall, the place is pleasant, young and by 830 it is heaving. Service is a little scatter brained but they mean well, i am sure it'll get sorted in a few weeks. 

Food : 8/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 1200 for 3 pints and a burger.