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. 

Misal at Vinay

Dahi Misal #snack

A photo posted by Gaurav (@gauravgjain) on Dec 28, 2014 at 4:57am PST

Vinay is an age old name, another one of those joints my dad turned me onto. unfortunately their menu largely has less maharashtrian stuff and more south indian and sandwiches than it should. Most of it is not that great in any case.

This though is the star dish. no one in the city does it as well. NO ONE. Its spicy sweet but with just enough yoghurt to dial it down. 

Sharma's at Tarabag

Ever since i was a kid, my folks have been taking us to Sharma's for Chaat,  since its located on a very busy street, we attack it like gureillas with someone watching the car while the others gorge, or we take a cab.

Although i haven't been here in a while because i hate being the guy stuck in the car during peak hours.

Recently I was parked out at Saifee Hospital next door, which meant i was at Sharma's a whole lot, sometimes twice a day for my meals.

kanji vada is one of my fav things in the world. Not easy to find. This one was above average

A photo posted by Gaurav (@gauravgjain) on Dec 28, 2014 at 4:59am PST

The Kanji Vada, is a rare thing to find, this is the only place i know where these are available, they can be hit and miss, the taste depending on how well the water has been pickled and for how long. The guys here serve it nice and cold, which i love.

Dahi puri after years

A photo posted by Gaurav (@gauravgjain) on Dec 15, 2014 at 8:54am PST

The Dahi Puri, is another specialty, the dahi can be cold sometimes which is not much fun but this is rarely a miss.

Ragda Pattice just as good as I remember it

A photo posted by Gaurav (@gauravgjain) on Dec 15, 2014 at 8:57am PST

the Ragda Pattice is easily the star here. love it. served UP style, although not fried red, like the northerners like it.

The space, is cheap, even now, each dish is about 30 rupees. My mother swears by their Pani Puri and they do serve more things like bhel, sev puri, dahi samosa, etc. So its a short but varied enough menu. And you are served almost immediately.

Do check em out if in the area. 

Smoke House Deli - BKC - A Superstar Affair

Rest : Smoke House Deli,
Meal : Lunch
Loc : BKC 

Post a meeting in Andheri East (the abomination that it is) i decided to catch up with two of my mates @kapilsamant @shaileshprabhu who i hadn't seen in sometime. Instead of driving into Bandra as we had origibally planned we were actually heading to the newly opened Tiffin but were running pretty late and were unsure if they would be serving lunch post 3pm. 

I knew there was a SMD in BKC and we decided not to muck around and headed straight for it. 

fortunately they brought us some bread rather quickly and we wolfed it down even faster with these two little fluffs of butter 

If you are drinking orange juice anywhere it has to be Malta Orange only, if i ever see it on the menu i immediately go for it. 

the waiters recommended their burger festival that was going on and i chose the rather unusual soy burger which was actually the only veg option on the list. I have had their cottage cheese burger but i thought id try this since they were pushing it so hard.

When i saw it i was a bit worried, since it came open i saw the full scope of what i was about to wolf down (appetite aint what it used to be) add to this the melted cheese. At first bite it tasted a bit weird, the soy has a meaty texture and is a well known meat substitute but here it worked well. Tasted pretty good and was gone rather quickly. Highly recommend it for meat eaters trying to wean themselves of the beef. Be warned though, its messy as can be. 

the dining companions were quite interested in the desserts and went for the mango cheesecake which was very good. good call in the season. 

the real winner though was the cheesecake. Goddamn ! Excellent and Philadelphia style as god intended it to be. 

I would like to point out that the moment i sat down 3 waiters and the lead waiter all came down to shake hands with @kapilsamant who we all know is a superstar but rarely do you get to see this in action. They all kept making small talk, asking him how he was, gave us special attention and till now we can't figure out why.

The service was pretty good and quick and made good solid recommendations. Didn't review my companion meals unfortunately since i was too busy eating my burger.

Food : 8/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 2900* for 3 without drinks

Had a recent discussion on twitter about where a friend mentioned that he had a hot chocolate at LPQ in BKC (at the same time we were at SMD in fact) where it cost him 400++ rs which we both thought was pretty ridiculous. While SMD is certainly not cheap, it def is on the lower side of say an Indigo Deli etc price wise and just as good. 

New York Fries - Hong Kong - Diabolical

Stanley and the drive over there via Repulse Bay is one of the loveliest things about Hong Kong. Driving through you would not believe this is on the same concrete, glass and people fused island as the rest of HKG.

Its like driving through Florida to get to Lake Tahoe. Anyway we were there as a troop and while the women scoured the market the men were out looking for beers and a chair by the water. One of the boys started mumbling that he was sure there was a NYF around and began tweaking like a crystal meth addict. I was in no mood to have fries but i tagged along and boy was i glad i did. 

New York Fries, despite the name is actually a Canadian chain that serves large, LARGE portions with the skin on and topped with unimaginable delights. These are not your dad's fries.One can choose from Braised Beef, Pulled Pork, Butter Chicken or The Works. Poutine the classic Canadian version with curds and gravy too is available.

This is the veggie works, cheese sauce, sour cream tomato, spring onions and we picked up some malt vinegar to boot.Was it good, no.. it was great. The skin was on the fries which i love and you reall can't go wrong with cheese sauce and sour cream now can you.

It was positively the most diabolical thing i have ever seen in my 33 years. You MUST go to Stanley and when there you MUST get something at New York Fries. If you don't like it, ill refund your money. 

Swati Snacks

Rest : Swati
Meal : Dinner
Loc : Tardeo

Swati is ol faithful and a quick walk round the corner from my place. A bunch of friends wanted to dine there and we walked up to find a 20 min wait on a Monday, they must be making money hand over fist. 

I wont go into the details as i have reviewed them enough times before, suffice to say, they took and got them out to the haute set, the menu is pretty much the greatest hits of all ethnic dishes across from India, comfort food at its most comfortable. 

The Panki Chutney was amazing as usual, we got like three, its a dish that got its popularity via Swati and must not be missed. 

The days special was the Palak Appam & Stew, not bad at all, immensely enjoyable, again we got a bunch. 

the baked masala khichadi is legendary and still amazing with its caramelized onions and baked yoghurt. 

the dahi misal is one of my fav things here and i always get it, in fact if i see misal on a menu anywhere i get it. 

the mysore sada was pretty lame. avoid any south indian dishes here, not their strongpoint. 

mrs J says that the Dahi Puri at Swati is the best she has ever had (and she is from Delhi) and she knows a thing or two about chaat.

overall, if you have not been to Swati, finish reading this and rush there because its an essential Bombay experience, a must do. Its not cheap considering the kind of food they are serving but its quick, comfortable and most importantly hygienic.

Food : 8/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 1700 for 4. 

Lager Bay

Rest : Lager Bay

Meal : Dinner
Loc : Waterfeld Road, Bandra West.

Lager Bay replaced the immensely popular Zenzi a little while ago and i finally got the opportunity to check them out. I have fond memories of Zenzi, good food and one particularly debauched night out had begun here but we shall not go into details about that as this is a kid friendly blog. 

 

The place sounds like a real Burgers and Beer joint but is actually quite a generic multi cuisine menu which leans on the Italian for its mains.  

 The hummus was creamy, delicious and we immediately ordered another portion as the first one did not last very long. the toasty pita chips they were served with i am not a fan of. they should serve both the soft and hard pita because like creamy or crunchy, pulpy or pulp free, there are camps and people pick sides.

The Minestrone is one of those soups which has been utterly destroyed by people not doing it correctly here. I have had the bland tasteless version at Botticino where the chef refused to admit the problem and the over done heavy handed gujju styled version at my club. this was one was a cut above but still not the best. i guess it wasn't bad which makes it good. 

The Nachos came out cold, which was a shock, we told the server that and he was flustered and tried to ask us to go along by saying that the sauce was added later.. in any case it was sent back. They were good enough to actually make a new one 

The aglio olio was quite a hit with the table, unfortunately i only got the last few scraps and by then all that was left were garlic and pepper and some spaghetti. i found it a tad too spicy but everyone loved it.

The stroganoff was weak, all cream and veggies no taste. unfortunate. I had some decent stroganoff at Irish House, Gaylord but this does not compare at all. 

One thing restaurants need to get clear is what their menu promises and what they deliver. if it says tomato and penne i assume its anything but an arrabiata. However even as an arrabiata this failed, it was like something i would have cooked which is not saying much at all.

The veggie burger was pretty terrific. A nice big patty with sesame bun. The relish and stuff were not very good but the burger itself was quite decent. very unwieldy to eat but then i never met a burger which wasn't.

Overall, i like the decor, the main entrance section has changed greatly from Zenzi, its very casual and brightly lit, the rest of the space has not changed much. The vibe is casual and the place can get loud. The food is okay, too many hits and misses and they do have some quality control they need to work on.

The service is quick and more or less friendly if a little scatter brained. The booze is expensive, the food not so much.

Food : 7/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 8500 for 6 with drinks.  

ITC Hornbys Pavilion

Rest : Hornby's Pavilion
Meal : 3am snack 

Loc : ITC Grand Central, Lalbaugh 

Returning from a night out we decided to stop by the ITC for a much needed meal. The place was totally empty when we walked in, a gentleman out of uniform was doing some maintenance work.. which is bad form.

The tomato soup has usually been pretty stellar, it was on the best things they served at the late hour, however the soup was quite tangy and sweetish, certainly nowhere close to their usual high standard.

the bread basked has not changed in ages. not but not great either.

The veggie burger is actually two burgers, not too bad, come with some home style fries and some really nice relish, more relish would rock.

Overall, the service was quick and friendly however they were very noisy, kept dropping things all over the place. Dishes, silver ware... i know its late and only two people there but no reason to take things lightly.

Food : 7/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 900

Ice Cream Works

Rest : Ice Cream Works
Meal : Lunch
Loc : High Street Phoenix

Yesterday at lunch Mrs.J & i could not figure out where to go, the usual delis & moshe were out of the question.We were looking for something new or at the very least something interesting. Without purpose we drove to Phoenix Mills hoping something would show. Cafe Zoe was out, Hard Rock Cafe was considered but was too out of the way.

We thought of going to Rajdhani but their menu for today had too much palak & methi.

So we arrived at Ice Cream Works, as the name suggests & having been to the Chowpatty branch i like most people assumed all they do is ice-cream. However they also do proper food, I would have to thank lil Roxanne Bamboat for turning me on to this with her post.

The menu while not too expansive has plenty to keep one interested. It includes onion rings, french fries served in innovative ways, sandwiches, pasta and a bunch of pizzas. Pretty straight forward food, which is also easy to screw up.

The first thing we went for was the chilli cheese toast which is actually served like a tartine. Very nice, with pickled peppers and beet on the side, it was delicious. I would however like to complain about serving chips with the sandwich. That is such a kids birthday part a la 1988. French fries would go nicely, or ditch the side and give us a bigger portion.

The other thing we got was the margarita pizza with mozzarella. Very nice, the crust was thin as can be (popularized by Indigo Deli) it could have done with a little more fresh mozzarella, why skimp out ?

This was the chocolate something, i cannot recall the name ( so many choices, it was all a blur) but it was chocolate ice-cream, a chocolate brownie, with chocolate sauce, chocolate cereal. What can i say but hell yeah.

Besides, the scores of Sundae's they have a score of ice -cream by the scoop as well as yoghurt and make your own cheesecake. In all honesty, it can be a little overwhelming especially on the first visit (taste the paan ice cream and also the strawberry cheesecake)

We picked up some to carry home, it was packed nicely with dry ice and did not melt much on the way back. We got Chocolate & Strawberry.

Overall, the food is good, the desserts great, they do need to fix a few things, the portions are a tad small, just a little more and it would be spot on. Potato chips with a sandwich is just not done so that needs to go.

A few weeks ago i happily entered Haagen Daazs and not only was i severely disappointed but i was actually ripped off (read more here) Had i known then, what i know now, i could have gone next door to Ice Cream works and pretty much had a great time.

I intend to return with a group of friends to try out the insane 8 scoop sundae or the 12 scoop fondue with accompaniments.

Food : 8/10
Service: 8/10
Damage : 900 + 450 for the take home ice cream.

rest: smoke house deli
loc : phoenix mills, lower parel
meal : lunch

I have written about my visits to Smoke House Deli before (here) not only is it one of the most interestingly designed places in the city, its also a viable and slightly cheaper option to Indigo Deli. In the short time they have been open, they have become fairly popular, have been turned away twice due to interminably long waits.

So i was only too happy to accept their invitation to a preview of their new Summer menu this past week. The old menu continues supplemented by daily specials, however they have now launched a summer specific menu as well which will run through the season.

They have a new Cucumber & Dill Soup served cold with a smattering of white balsamic. Brilliant little concoction this one, perfect for the summer, very refreshing.

The Beetroot & Mustard soup also served cold was not to my liking, i have never been a big fan of beetroot but and this one was definitely weaker than the cucumber/dill.

The Cherry Tomato with Sour mix & Tequila was fantastic, not a very summery option but still very interesting. A little along the lines of the Sangrita i had at Wahaca in London (here) went down very well indeed.

Carrots with Raisins & Pineapple Mayo.. a little sweet but it went down pretty well. Nice light salad to do the job.

Chickpea, croutons in olive oil and curry vinaigrette, this one was intriguing. Not only did it taste brilliant but the curry taste turns this into something more than a salad. A new taste this one.

The roast vegetable gallet was a  little weird. While the pesto and the cheese tasted okay, the base itself was difficult and unwieldy to eat.  Perhaps re imagining the dish without the base might make it better. The Goat Cheese & Pine Nut Ravioli was a better dish, though a tad too creamy.

A mocktail of tangerine and i think raspberry was fantastic, deserves a place on the permanent menu, very nicely done, a great way to kick the heat.

The Berry Pavlova was decent but the mango cheesecake was soft and on the money. No crust, which is odd for a cheesecake but nicely done nonetheless.


Overall, the summer menu is a good addition to the regular menu, the soup and salads are great, the main courses are a bit hit & miss. The Beverages are fantastic. Smoke House Deli would move up a notch further if they were to learn a few tricks from their molecular gastronomy inclined elder brother based in Delhi


                                                     Full Disclaimer : I was there by invitation