Dilli 6 Festival at Level-2 Radisson Blu, Paschim Vihar
By Anubhav Sapra
Being a strong street food freak, I try not to miss any festival that celebrates the Delhi’s rich street food culture. To me, it seems that Dilli 6 is the epitome of street food of Delhi and has also inspired chefs to reinvent the street delicacies to be served in the restaurants.
Level-2 Radisson Blu is hosting a street food festival till 30th August. The lunch buffet is priced at Rs 999 + taxes and Dinner buffet at Rs 1299 + taxes. On offer are the famous street delicacies of Dilli 6- Golgappe, chaat, Dahi Bhalla , Gol Gappe, Kanji Vada, Bhel Poori, Moonglet, Lassi Kulfi, Chai, Allo Tikki, Panathe, Tawa Chicken,Lassi Kulfi, Moong Daal Ka Halwa, Pineapple Halwa and many more.
The ambience is nicely done with live counters of the dishes. Cutting chai counter, however, is worth mentioning – there was a thela (pushcart) with a tea-vendor making tea. There were also the jars of in-house made fen, rusks, and matthi.
The day I visited, I tried almost all the dishes that were there on the Street Food Menu. The highlight of the visit was Aloo Matar tikki (Potato and green peas patty), Rajbhog and Cutting Chai with fen. The aloo matar tikki was crisp and garnished with yoghurt and spicy coriander mint chutney and sweet saunth chutney. I liked it so much that I couldn’t stop asking for another helping; without any sauce-just the tikki. It was simply delicious. Rajbhog consisted of soft bhallas with raisins, cashews and pepper blended with yoghurt, saunth and green chutney. In the main course, I tried the only non vegetarian dish available in the menu- Tawa Chicken and parantha, which was fairly good.
The only missing link was the lack of options for non-vegetarians. I found the kebabs, kormas and biryani which forms the intrinsic part of Dilli-6 missing. However, one can enjoy the regular non-vegetarian dishes available in the buffet at Level-2.
I ended my Dilli 6 journey with pineapple halwa and two cups of masala chai with crisp and layered fen.