This restaurant is permanently closed
 

Safdurjung Enclave would probably be one locality in south delhi which doesn’t have great dining place. It may be because it’s very close to Green Park and Hauz Khas village where restaurants have mushroomed over the years, though in my opinion most of the places in HKV serve very average food and parking is a nightmare!. Opposite to Deer park, we have the local community centre and there are hardly good place for you to enjoy and eat gourmet food.

When I heard that Ritu Dalmia in partnership with Vikas Narula and Girijashankar Vohra were opening a restaurant which will serve American and Mexican food, I was curious and anxious to know how it will be like, as Chef Ritu dalmia’r forte is Italian.

In last one and half years,  apart from Chef Vikas Khanna, Chef Ritu Dalmia is the one with whom I have interacted the most and attended most of her masterclasses as well J. I really admire and love the way she is passionate about cookingfood and she is warm, friendly and very energetic. Both her restaurants Diva, as well as Diva Kitsch are amongst my favorite places in Delhi. Her love for Italian and Bangkok street food is well known. She is also an avid traveler.  We reached Depto 29, to try there food on their invitation. Placed over two floors and then little al-fresco area as well, this place also, has excellent interior with big glass window to get the outside view.  Menu clearly reflects Vikas Narula’s choices. Burger section is huge and has good variety. Also in their menu you will find varieties of Mexican stuff too.

 

I quite like the interior of the restaurant, beautifully done, though seating was little cramp and tables were small the long serving plates makes it little difficult to place on the table.

After a long chat with Vikas we decided to follow his recommendations and we started with guacamole along with three different dips. Loved the tangy flavor of the mango and basil guacamole and the dips had amazing flavor. The dips were served in cutting chai glass and I found it difficult to dip spoon in it. I loved their watermelon and spicy feta cheese salad. The prawns and green chili lollipops were spicy yet delicious and went well with green tomato salsa and we polished it off in no time.

 

Next on the platter was pulled pork taco and classic corn cheese quesadilla, and we loved it. Pulled pork taco was to die for and equally loved quesadilla. Somehow the rice that was served had a bad odor similar to that of rotten tomato and the tomato salsa too had a bad taste. We shared this with the server and informed Vikas too. Surprisingly chef didn’t come out even though we asked the server. Next was coffee marinated mutton chops with balsamic reduction which was prepared and served in steak style. I loved the flavor and taste of the mutton chops, however Gaurav felt it was little chewy for him.

 

We also had classic minced beef burger, knowing that vikas’s love for hamburger, I was really looking forward to it but surprisingly patty was way too dry which is very uncommon for beef patty. The dry patty had put me off, however I loved the waffles. We tried classic waffles with butter and maple syrup and chocolate cinaduja with caramelized nuts. They were fresh, little warm and exceptionally good in taste. I would just love to have it and can come here endless time to enjoy the waffles.

 

Overall it was mixed experience with some hits and some misses, but I am sure they will soon be able to improve upon it. It’s a must visit to Depot 29 and one should go to enjoy some real Mexican food and great tacos as well as quesadillas. I was told that their jackfruit burger too is amazing and I would definitely go there again and try it out.

Depot 29, B-6/2, Level 2 & 3, (Near HDFC Bank),
Commercial Complex, Safdarjung Enclave,
opposite Deer Park, call 49540029

 

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