I have been thinking of doing this from last year but finally, in 2020 it got the shape. Now onwards every week I am going to compile my weekly visit to restaurants/hotels and share them on my blog. Last week was quite interesting as it had been to a couple of places where I tried our Indian food and most of them were very good, including a home delivery which is very important because this particular home delivery is going to set new standards in-home delivery.
Lohri at Dhaba, The Claridges
Dhaba at Claridge’s always matches our expectations. Excellent and consistent food with great service. Chef Tikka MANJEET comes every year during Lohri and prepares lovely food. This year too wasn’t any different. The mutton chap was literally falling off bones. The fish tikka was excellent.
Beetroot Tikki was excellent too and with capsicum, the flavor was well balanced. The kali mirch chicken curry was the star, however my favorite of that day was Tari wala chicken. It’s a simple homemade-style chicken curry. Chef Mahavir did a fantastic job with the array of sweets. The kalakand was exceptional. I am not a fan of Doda but I loved it here. Promotion is on till 26th and you should not miss it.
Gharana at The Leela Gurgaon
Home chefs are the future of our culinary trail. The food that they cook has been the knowledge passed in their family for generations and since the family is involved in cooking, it’s always delicious and you get to taste some of the finest which is now considered as forgotten dishes.
Leela Gurgaon has started an initiative called Gharana to promote home chefs and their forgotten food. A brilliant initiative by Executive Chef Ashish Bhasin. Mrs. Ahmed is serving her delicious Delhi-6 food and you will never get in any restaurant. The fibrous shami kebab was delicious, and bhune gosht ke pasande was tastier. The nalli nihari was not like you get in the by lanes of old Delhi. It was unique! Star dish was chicken eshtu prepared with whole spices. Even the subz e pukhtan was outstanding. Their bread specially taftan was like bliss. Oh and not to forget the double ka meetha and the phirni which was prepared by her daughter-in-law – Simply outstanding! Promotion is on till 26th and only dinner during weekdays however lunch and dinner both are available during weekends. This shouldn’t be missed.
Parsi Food Festival at Taj City Centre Gurgaon
Parsi cuisine is one of the very closed community cuisines in India. Mumbai is the place where you get plenty of cafes serving Parsi and Irani food.
Recently Taj Gurugram curated Parsi cuisine promotion with Mrs. Irani. She used to manage the kitchen of Parsi Anjuman and I am sure many of us have eaten there before. After she retired, they moved to Gurgaon and started catering. Her food is absolutely delicious and has a distinct Parsi flavor. Brain cutlets and minced mutton cutlets were fantastic. In the main course, dhansak and jardalu boti was the star. They also have good vegetarian dishes. Festival is on till the 27th of this month and if you love Parsi food you shouldn’t miss this.
Galli6 at Radisson Sohna Road
A pop up in an alfresco of the all-day dining of Radisson Sohna Road shows that it’s not difficult to create and serve delicious food if you focus and work on the mix and match of right ingredients, cooking timing and selection of meats. Chef Inderdev worked hard and has created fine dishes both on grill and tawa. The nimbu mirch grilled kaleji was exceptionally good, while the fried chicken was even better. I could have easily finished my entire dinner with fried chicken Mutton champ was literally falling of bones while the fried fish tasted nice. Surprisingly the dal makhni was good and so was the rarah gosth. It’s an awesome place to gorge on the grill while sipping beer. Their brewery produces one of the finest beer in Gurgaon.
Ottimo at WestView
I must say that this was my first ever dinner curated around caviar. Definitely first but not the last! Chef Akshay Bhardwaj is one of the most talented young chefs we have in Delhi and finally he is at a place where there is an ample opportunity to showcase his talent.
The warm pumpkin soup was soothing on a cold winter night. I must add that their f&b team is equally talented and suggested some nice riseling to go with the food. Scallop with chorizo and caviar was bustling in the mouth with flavors.
Charred asparagus was so good that we finished it in no time. Lemon capellini and salmon pappardelle were flavourful and delicious. The lamb chops and pork belly were fabulous and we loved it. I would definitely recommend dining at Ottimo with Chef Akshay Bhardwaj, it’s worth all the penny.
And Now about New Home Delivery Player in South Delhi
I know Pawan now for quite some time now. First, I met him at jungle billee which was the only restaurant in Delhi serving Bombay food. Post that I met him at Verandah at Punjabi Bagh, a place par excellence with outstanding food in a locality where most of the cafe/restaurant serves below average food. Not only food but his cocktails were nice too. I was personally very impressed with his innovative Indian meal bowls. They were delicious and vfm as well. I had asked him to open a similar joint in south Delhi as most of the food we get through delivery isn’t good. Well, finally he opened verandah handcrafted delivery for south Delhi. The kitchen is in Malviya Nagar.
Pawan is super talented and his understanding of flavors is fantastic. The meal bowls which I tried were delicious. Even the paneer bowl which my wife tried was impressive. My son loved the chicken lollypop The coconut and curry leave added the flavor to the chicken.
All the very best Pawan and team verandah handcrafted.
It’s clear that we are going to be very regular for your home delivery.
Disclaimer – This review was done on an invitation from the establishment. Views expressed in the review are entirely ours and without any bias. Pictures of the dishes are not the standard portions, they are sample portions.
