Now I feel dwarfed by the league of exetraordinary gentlemen who before me have reviewed this establishment.
It has been visited my dignitaries from all over the world including that cheating on his guy, what's his name ,ah yes , bill, Bill Clinton! Also they say Mr. Puttin also put in a good word!
It's ranked in the "Best 50 Restaurant'ss in the World"!
That's all fine, but like the great Mr. Clint Eastwood said it "Opinions are like A**holes; everyone has one!"
So here is mine! (Opinion!)
I haven't been here in years, I remember it vividly though from all those family dinners we had there as kids! Today I come back to review the place!
As I told on the phone they don't take reservations for after 9p.m, we arrive there without one & are told the wait would be 45 minutes!
I being an optimistic, take this as divine intervention for me to try the bar. We find empty stools for our party of 4.
We order 2 Grey Goose Vodkas with guava & litchi juice & 2 glasses of Red wine for the ladies.
There was no litchi or guava juice so we settled for humble cokes! The red wine was served to the ladies tepid!
I bring this oversight to the attention of the bar keep. He informs me (a lesser mortal obviously) that Red Wine is supposed to be served at room temperature! I thank him for the input, though I can't resist inquiring, that did he know this that the theory of Red Wine being served at room temperature has originated from Europe, were the weather is a cool 16 degrees in July while here its 36 degrees! Then I further request if he would overlook my ignorance & replace my Wine with another one which is cooler than a Nuclear Reactor!
Later were told our table is ready, We find ourselves seated on a couple of some very uncomfortable stools with the table in front of us too low & fashioned in the form of a log cut vertically & placed horizontally !
I give the place a once over, the decor was exactly the way I remembered from my juvenile days! The crowd is the same melange of diplomats, ex-pats, western tourist who have been shopping around Janpath the entire day. Now they have come to enjoy "Frontier food" whatever that means! There's another species here the local Punjabi crowd, the King Singhs who have made an obscure amount of money from there Karol Bagh stores selling "Ladies Items" & now can no longer be seen at there favorite Pandara road haunts!
So were ready to order but there are no menu pages to browse through here, its all on one piece of wooden plaque. We settle for the non-veg platter as it would offer all there best of the best, along with a serving of Daal Bukhara, I'll explain why later. It arrives in a humdrum fashion.
Ready to eat, I look form my napkin but there isn't any instead there's a bib ! A BIB? An elongated one though, but a bib. Just like the one my daughter has but minus the statement "I love daddy"!
I look for my fork to fish out my seekh again there isn't one, I'm told by the server "Sir, we like our dinners to enjoy the warmth of the food!" to which I politely answer "Sir, my mouth is not lined with fleece, I'm sure when I put my food in my mouth with the help of my fork, I would be able to enjoy its warmth." I m provided with a for somewhat haughtily!
The platter is furnished with modest amounts of Kalmi Chicken which has a bit uncooked marination in some places! The Chichen Tanoori Tikka is overcooked & has sustained 40% burn injuries! The Fish Tandoori is split open in two! Seekh kababs are pretty decent, last but not the least is the Lamb! Now this animal went through the trauma of death just to feed a carnivorous like me but the Chef did not give it the proper respect it deserved. It has humiliated in some kind of over spiced marinating paste & then in order to add insult to injury was left in the tandoor to be over cooked. So it lay in front of me tasteless & rubbery, masecating on it like a cow was the only way to swallow!
Thank God for thr Daal I had ordered, everybody cracked the papads , scooped some Daal on it & a few drops of Pudina Chutney , having them like some Indian canapes !
We were ready to order the main course. We asked for the Daal Bukhara ( duh!), Murg Tikka Makhani & the Raan with Roomali rotis .
The daal was excellent as always, Murg was good too, the Raan belonged to the same Lamb I had earlier thus had meet the same fate! The Roomali rotis were served at room temperature (European) & were rubbery, slightly raw from the edges.
Finally we ordered Kulfi Faludas for dessert; I've had better ones on the streets of Chandini Chowk!
We ask for the bill, instead are handed over a report of the fiscal deficit of Libya! On further investigation we realize that this is the penalty we have to pay for patronizing a place which is designed to cater to foreigners , tourists and company reimbursing executives , who don't know that food at par , even better is available all over Delhi , from Connaught Place to Pandara Road to Vasant Vihar at the fraction of the cost.
In conclusion the food is good, very good at times no doubt, the service is horrendous the attitude of the staff is the same as of the British in the late 1800s for us! The decor is 1980s, don't think it been renovated! The place is expensive considering all this!
It's over rated in my humble opinion!
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