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. 

Indian Accent - Blowout Meal

Rest : Indian Accent

Meal : Lunch
Loc : The Manor Hotel, Friends Colony

Chef Mehrotra of Indian Accent is one of the few chefs worldwide changing the way Indian cuisine is createD, perceived and presented (the others being Gaggan Anand of Gaggan in Bangkok & Vinit Bhatia of Rasoi etc)

My free time in Delhi was spent trying to get to Indian Accent and after a few false starts i was able to make it a few hours before my flight back to Bombay. Two of my close mates (who don't know each other) were both at Indian Accent at the same time last week and i was beginning to feel pretty left out. 

IA, is hard to find, its located in a quiet corner of Friends Colony (not the NEW Friends Colony) where The Manor Hotel stands. The property is small but pleasant and the perfect place to be on a sunny winter day. 

Pleasantly lit, with light Indian touches and like most great restaurants IA is fairly small with limited seating (40 covers) 

we chose the Tasting Menu which was roughly 8 courses with an amuse bouche and palate cleanser

the first thing they brought out was the  little naan niblets with bleu cheese. total victory this one. you cannot go wrong by putting cheese in a naan. 

A quick shot of a thick and incredibly delicious mushroom soup served as an espresso with a mushroom biscotti. My first reaction on finishing this was wanting more 

the next thing that came in was a churan ka karela which didn't taste a lot like karela to me. served in quite a interesting contraption, it was a little hard to reach but other than that no problem. i probably wouldn't order this again though. 

the potato sphere chaat looked like anything but a chaat. tasted just about perfect though. the texture of the crunchy sphere was a marked difference to a regular puri. 

the baighan bharta cornetto with goat cheese butter was terrific. eaten just like an ice cream cone, the over whelming taste of the cheese went well with the inherently Indian, sweetish taste of the bharta. we then munched on the daal. 

kashmiri morel musallam, again, pretty terrific. a very dry little dish, with lots of mushroom flavour. 

the pomengranate and churan kulfi again was pretty terrific, served in a miniature pressure cooker, i loved it. 

the first of the mains was a sarson ka saag, a malai corn and makkai bread. Terrific. No other word for this. was just sublime. 

their take on the obligatory paneer was fabulou as well. melt in your mouth cubes of paneer in a traditional tomato gravy. luscious flavours. 

the satoo paratha, which i was told is a popular Bihari bread was served with a tomato salsa. very different, worked well though.

believe it or not, this is their take on the Khandvi with some pine nuts and delicious cherry tomato. 

terrific dal makhani and a sweetish anar and avocado raita although i didn't quite notice the avocado. 

got the pumpkin kulcha which was kinda weird but the mushroom naan was just out of this world, good enough to eat on its own. 

overwhelming trifecta of desserts, the daulat ki chaat, comes on a bed of fake 100 Rs notes, a light milk foam, slightly sweet, sprinkled with dry fruits and terrific to taste. The mishit doi cannoli was a tad sweet but enjoayble. The doda barfi treacle tart tasted like walnut fudge very good but i thought the daulat ki chat was tops. 

a charpoy of school memories was digestives to remind one of their school days. 

The man himself ! 

Overall, Chef Mehrotra has found his niche with the cuisine and the method. The dishes are inherently Indian and work well together. There are playful touches as well as sophisticated idea but underneath it all there is finesse, which is required to do what are mostly traditional dishes most diners are familiar with. Very little margin for error there.

Its truly a tasting menu and the portions are the right size.They have worked out their mains to be in keeping with the style and theme of the rest of their meal unlike Masala Library which while i enjoyed as well, switches to a completely traditional format post their first few courses, which is a total cop out and a major short coming.

My only criticisms would ideally be the lack of a rice preparation on the tasting courses and no real Southern touches (a Rasam or a Stew would have been super interesting) Other than that, it was a stupendous meal and something to experience when the menu changes again in Summer. 

Chef Mehrotra was a joy to talk to for the brief moments we could catch him, unfortunately, i am not allowed to discuss any of the things we talked about, but the man despite all his success is super down to earth which in my book is more important than the food he cooks up. 

While Gaggan is a great deal more experimental, Rasoi is more European. Indian Accent is the most Indian with dishes you would find in small towns and far corners. The presentation, the accompaniments, the layering (salsa, goat cheese) is where the twist of modernity lies.  The dishes are creatively imagined and expertly executed but the fact that Indian Accent successfully offers pre-plated non sharing dishes with a tasting menu makes it all the more remarkable.

Food: 9/10
Service : 9/10
Damage : 7000 for 2 without drinks (yeah, its not cheap)

Delhi Eat - Sarvanan Bhavan

Rest : Sarvanan Bhavan
Meal : Lunch
Loc : Connaught Place
Company : Sweets, Mon, Raj,P

Delhi as i mentioned before has been a revelation when it comes to restaurants. One of the gems around the very busy Connaught Place or CP as locals call it is Sarvanan Bhavan, a south Indian eatery.

Sarvanan Bhavan has quite a few branches around the south of India, they serve staples such as Idli, Dosa and a bunch of thalis as well. the place gets fairly crowded and its best to get their slightly early to avoid a wait. Being there with a large group meant i could sample a lot.

we started with the Rasam, which was hot, fiery and excellent, not too spicy which is good.

They are famous for their 14 idlis in sambar with ghee, its one of their signature dishes and fairly popular. The idlies were excellent and almost melted in your mouth. good stuff this!!!

the dosa was crisp, just like i prefer em, very well done, tasty, slightly sweet on their own. They cam with a bunch of chutneys, i am not a fan of green but it was good nonetheless.

The tomato onion uttapam was fairly disappointing . The sambar and chutney added enough taste to make it better though.

The medu vada i did not taste but i was told it was pretty on the money.

The thali was what i ordered. It was def not bad, however it was just too much similar stuff along the same lines which sort of made things confusing. None of it was bad or bland just too much harmony, no contrast. Maybe a dish less would have helped.

Overall the food was very good, the service was quick and the line we saw whilst leaving vouches for the popularity of the place. Good stuff.

Food : 8/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 1200

Sarvanan Bhavan
46, Janpath
Connaught Place, Delhi
Phone 23317755, 23316060

Delhi Eats - Sanchos

Rest : Sanchos
Loc : South Extension II
Meal : Lunch

Delhi has been a revelation of late, last year (read about it here) they couldn't cook anything well unless it was north Indian but this year i cant get to enough places, they got Greek, Mexican, even Russian restaurants. Wide, clean streets a metro, brilliant restaurants, now only if the folks could learn some finesse and service skills...

Sancho's is a Mexican restaurant located in the busy South-Ex II on the 3rd and 4th floors. The place is large and airy, with large windows, brilliant layout. It is also one of the few authentic Mexican restaurants in the country. the other being Sammy Sosa in Bombay

we started off with a little soup in a shot glass, it looked great but it was a little cold and didn't taste that great.

The virgin Margarita was very pink lemonadish and tasted fantastic

they have a salsa bar, with about 5 varieties on offer as well as a variety of different chips. We were offered an assortment of both chips and salsa. Most of the salsa was on the money except one while the chips were great.

The nachos were 'loaded' served with olives, sour cream, guacamole and refried beans. Overall the whole thing did not come together as well as i thought it would. It worked okay but it could have been way better.

The entrees where a regular burrito served with beans and rice on the side. It was not bad at all, tasted fairly good and was well crafted.

The enchiladas were the other entree, good stuff ! however the burrito was better, Indians are used to having their enchiladas under a heavy sauce, these were unlike that but were still fairly good.

the sides were Mexican rice & referitos (refried beans) the rice was just brilliant, tasty and just dry enough. the beans were okay, should have been thicker and drier, too gravyish.

We opted for a platter which served a honey based chocolate filo pastry, a kahlua based chocolate thingy and two others i cant recall. All desserts were fairly good.

Overall, the place is great, the ambiance is young and chic, the food is authentic and well put together. Service is friendly, pleasing and quick. Plenty of reason to go back, they are also opening a new outlet at Connaught Place.

Food : 9/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 1500

Sancho's
E 3
3rd Floor
South Extension II, South Extension, Delhi
Phone 46076422

A trip to New Delhi

New Delhi is a foodie paradise (so they say) so i figured i hit the jackpot once i got there. Unfortunately caught up in meetings i had to skip a prospected lunch at Dakshin which came highly recommended. However they have a branch in Bombay so i guess i can go here.

So my wife recommended one of her fav joints, Punjabi By Nature, in Noida. PBN is quite popular and has a few branches. We got in after a reservation and were seated promptly. The Restaurant itself is just so so, not much in terms of ambiance or decor. The service was quick and food was great. We got the paneer makhani which was succulent, sweet yet had a tang to it, the dal makhani was quite robust and almost dal bukharaesque (which has more dimension to it) the breads were average and the biryani was just weak. Overall worth going to, they could def try and take things up a notch. Food 8/10 Service 8/10. Damage 1500 for 3 without drinks.



The next day we tried another of her favcs, Bercos in Connaught Place, this one was actually dissaponting. I expected something fairly competetive but it was wanting on every level. The dim sum (called momos) was just terrible. No taste all texture. The Veggies in schezuan were allright but nothing to really crow about.

The only saving grace was the green curry which i think they mucked by making it well. It wasn't exactly authentic but it tasted good, so cant complain. Food 3/10, Service 4/10 Damage 1200 without drinks.
Also had some interesting chaat, interesting only that it was pretty bad, dont know how they have a chaat culture when almost everything we do in Mumbai is clearly better except maybe the Punjabi/Moghlai fare, which i reckon is only better on averages. The tikki and stuff was just plain bad, the pani puri was somewhat tolerable.
An interesting sidetrack while driving around we came across this guy called Jain Shikhanji, he is all over the place Noida, Meerut, Aligad, etc etc.


All he does is make fresh lime soda with his own special Masala. At 17 a glass he apparently sells 4000-5000 glasses a day. Go figure. I had some it, it was pretty good, although there are plenty of imitators all over the place.

So all in all i couldn't make it everywhere i wanted to but i got a sense that New Delhi and surroundings can really cook up some North Indian fare but they are at a complete loss when it comes to creating an ambiance, setting a palate and then doing anything Western or Eastern well.