Fine Dining – Page 3 – Delhi Food Walks

Posted on March 3, 2015

Made in Punjab

By Anubhav Sapra

Cyber Hub is one place in Gurgaon which is constantly abuzz with corporate life. During lunch hours, corporate employees can be seen anywhere and everywhere in the cafes, restaurants, sharing meal with their colleagues. It shall only be apt that Cyber Hub should rename itself Food Hub as there are a wide array of options to choose from the list of restaurants to dine at. A sign board guides the way to different restaurants with discounts on offer. I was there the other day for lunch. Being a true Punjabi, I opted for ‘Made in Punjab’ situated on the ground floor of Cyber Hub, Gurgaon.

‘Made in Punjab’, a unit of Massive Restaurants, is owned by Mr. Zorawar Kalra, son of legendary Chef Jiggs Kalra. ‘Made in Punjab’ is one of the six restaurants that opened their outlets in 2013 when Cyber Hub started. Chef Pradeep Negi, Chef Moin Qureshi, Chef Mahavir, and Chef Mayank Bajaj have put their heart and soul in curating the dishes on the menu.

I tried all the dishes from the buffet menu which is priced at Rs 795/- (inclusive of taxes). I also tried a few from the a la carte menu as I wanted to taste some of their signature dishes. The buffet menu changes every day. There are different menus for different days. I went to Made in Punjab on a Wednesday. Customers are served starters on the table. First, there were gol guppas and papdi chaat on the table. The gol guppas were crispy, but seemed to have got soggy on their way from kitchen to the table. I was served mutton seekh kebab, mutton minced patty, murgh malai tikka, roasted chicken and fish tikka. All the starters were a bit dry for me except the seekh kebabs. They also brought the beetroot kebab and dahi kebab (not the part of buffet menu) to the table. These were very soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, which seems to me the perfect combination. Again, two other interesting dishes that need a special mention here are bhatti murgh and mutton chaap. The mutton chaap was simply excellent and a must try! An interesting part of the buffet menu is the variety of pickles that they serve – amla, shalgam, carrot, kathal and onion.

In the main course, I tried the home style cooked chicken curry, rarah mutton and chicken biryani. Again, apart from the chicken biryani, the other dishes lacked texture and authentic taste. The Punjabi flavors were missing. However, I must admit that the taste is completely different, if one tries the same dish from the a la carte menu. In fact, it happens in all the restaurants. From the a la carte menu, I tried a few dishes which tasted excellent. One such dish was “Mutton Made in Punjab” which was cooked to simple perfection. It was so soft that the meat was almost falling off the bone. I enjoyed this dish to the core. The other dish was murgh makhani, boneless chicken made in the traditional Delhi style gravy. I liked its consistency. The chef revealed that they make this dish without the seeds of tomato which gives it a smooth texture. I relished it with garlic naan.

But what came to be a surprise was the makke di roti and sarson da saag. Sarson da saag was served in a small clay pot, garnished with butter and small tomato slices. It had a nice, subtle texture. The aroma of the clay made it a dish worth trying. It went well with the buttered makke di roti. I enjoyed every bite of it.

The signature dessert of Made in Punjab is thin and finely made, crispy jalebis served with thick rabri. Phirni was equally a delight to the taste buds to round off the meal.

Made in Punjab also have discounted offers for people working in the corporate sector. Hungry souls there might find their refuge here. Also, people who hold American Express cards can dine with their membership rewards points not just at Made in Punjab, but at several other restaurants in Gurgaon such as Farzi, Zambar, Canton Spice, Sutra, and Imperfecto, to name a few. I think I should better hold its card, just for food.

Photos: Massive Restaurants

Anubhav Sapra

Anubhav Sapra is an avid foodie! He is a Founder but proudly calls himself a Foodie-in-chief at Delhi Food Walks. He is also a street-food and Indian regional cuisine connoisseur and loves to write about street-food.

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com

Posted on February 13, 2015

Bulldogs

By Anubhav Sapra

I got a chance to visit the recently opened lounge, Bulldogs, in Hauz Khas Village and try out their unique delicacies. Bulldogs is spread over three levels, each one having its own unique characteristic. The first level is a bed lounge with lower seating, the second level is a sofa lounge, and the third level is the terrace, quite closer to the sky. I seem to have been dating the stars, that day. Indeed, it was a great feeling to be close to nature. Bulldogs also has the unique concept of a ‘drink exchange game’, a guest driven, all day long, happy hour where the prices rise or crash and one can buy drinks at literally rock bottom prices. Sounds interesting! Though, it is quite an audacious attempt for one who risks it.

The music was at its peak at the bed and the sofa level. For those who enjoy loud music, it seems to be a treat. However, I prefer it to be mild. On request, they lowered down the pitch at the terrace level. As I seemed to be alone at the level, it worked for me. I found myself a comfortable sofa with a bonfire stand besides it. It was quite a pleasant feeling. The staff was warm and welcoming and would do their best to make you feel at home.

I was overwhelmed to meet the chef there, Mr. Yograj Chauhan. ‘Humble’ would be just the right adjective for him. The chef graciously introduced me to some of the most exotic dishes on their menu. The chef first served me with a platter of short dogs, which are basically bite-sized hot dogs. I tried some vegetarian and non-vegetarian ones, a few of them being: mutton seekh, murgh malai tikka, butter chicken. The buns were soft and the fillings were excellent in taste. If you are fond of mushrooms, try the short dog laden with cheese and mushroom. It was simply the best! I enjoyed every bite of the short dogs I had. If you ask for a platter, you are free to choose any four short, hot dog fillings based on your taste preferences.

In Bulldog’s Quick Bites menu, I had stuffed cheese mushrooms (crispy fried mushroom stuffed with cheese), chicken popcorns (crumb fried chicken pieces), fish sticks (crispy breaded fish served with tartar sauce). All the dishes in the Quick Bites menu were delectable except the seekh kebabs which were a bit dry for me. In the main course, I could only try the juicy and succulent pork chops, marinated with Italian herbs and served with mashed potatoes, as I was already too full.

Desserts are a must for me, even with a full stomach. I had an apple pie and a choco lava cake with vanilla ice cream. I enjoyed the apple pie, usually not found so easily. The menu has a long list of interesting dishes in the main course like lemon butter fish (pan fried sole in lemon butter sauce), spicy tiger prawns (tiger prawns marinated with chillies, and served with crispy rice, salad and thyme veloute sauce) and stuffed chicken breast (chicken breast stuffed with spinach, cheese, jalapeno, served with lyonnaise potato and salad). As the quick bites were excellent, I am sure the rest of the main course would be amazing too. I am now planning to go back to try them all soon.

Address: Bulldogs: T – 6B, 2nd, 3rd & 4th Floor, Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi-110016

For reservations and enquiries: +91.9810004215 / +91.9810102306 / +91.9810088667 / +91.11.43524216

Timings: 12:00 Noon – 12:30 AM

Meal for 2: Rs.800 ++ (Without Alcohol) & Rs.1200 ++ (with Alcohol)

Anubhav Sapra

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com

Posted on January 28, 2015 January 28, 2015

Market Café’s all-new Winter Menu

By Anubhav Sapra

Recently, I was invited to review the winter special menu of Market Café, a multi cuisine restaurant in Khan Market. Market Café is well known for its Mexican and Mediterranean cuisine. It has a nice terrace where one can bask in the sun, and experience the incomparable view of the lush greenery around.

I started my food journey with a hot piping roasted pumpkin and beetroot soup served with their in-house baked bread, lightly buttered and toasted. The soup was thick and had a nice texture with small pieces of roasted pumpkin in it. I also tasted the zesty chicken soup, which had the right tinge of lemon with some little chicken chunks.

On Mr. Ajay’s recommendation, the restaurant manager, I was served Asparagus Cigar Rolls and Mumbai Street Sandwich. The Mumbai Street Sandwich was stuffed with potatoes, peas, cucumber, onions, and tomatoes. The insides of both the breads were wrapped evenly with coriander and mint chutney. I loved the way the Mumbai Street Sandwich was made, with sweet and savory chutney, which was a nice combination indeed. It seemed that the chef made it the way I liked. The other starter, the Asparagus Cigar Rolls were a bit of a disappointment. The oil overpowered the crust and cheese seemed to have mixed itself well with the oil.

In the main course, I was served the London fish and chips, which consisted of crumbed fried fish fillet served with tartar sauce. Although fried, it was light and delicious, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. The taste was simply awesome. Chicken parmesan was another dish. The sight of it was heavenly. It seemed to have a breaded base and a fried chicken breast layered with tomato sauce, further topped with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. The chicken was juicy and soft with all the ingredients in right amount. Till the time I could taste another dish, I was quite full but could not resist my carnivore instinct and straightaway, asked for lamb chops with three pepper sauce. The grilled lamb chop was tossed with cayenne white pepper, paprika, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Yet another dish served was the Pesto Delight, a pizza with my favourite pesto sauce. The aroma of it was enough to feed my senses. Thin crust pizza was wrapped in pesto sauce, served with farm vegetables, and was topped with mozzarella cheese. However, the crust being thin was also crispier.

I rounded off my food journey with the all the three signature desserts of Market Café – Tiramisu, Philadelphia Cheesecake, and Gooey Chocolate. It was indeed a great treat for my taste buds.

Also included in the winter menu is the barbeque on the terrace. The winter menu has a wide array of other delectable dishes and is available till March 31^st, 2015, everyday from 12 noon to 12 midnight. Bask in the sun this winter. Go on to have a wonderful lunch on Market café’s terrace!

Address: 8, Khan Market

M-40, FF, GK-2, Main Market.

Cost of meal for 2 – Rs. 1400.

Anubhav Sapra

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com

Posted on August 24, 2014 August 25, 2014

Soju like to drink?

August 24, 2014

Soju like to drink?

By Aisha Bhattacharya

When people talk about alcohol it’s usually the regulars that get discussed like Vodka, Whisky, Rum, and Beer. I recently had the opportunity to go for a Soju tasting. Now, the invite said it was Jinro Soju – Jinro is the world’s leading producer of Soju and is a South-Korean brand. A little like Sake but not quite. While Sake is like warm beer (being a fermented drink) Soju is distilled and closer to vodka in terms of the manufacturing process.

Surprisingly Soju is the most widely consumed drink in the world and sold nearly 65 million cases worldwide which is 2.5 times more than the next best selling spirit in the world. And we hear about it now! As of 2014, only Jinro Soju is available in India. Jinro 24 Soju is bulk imported and bottled in Goa for further distribution in the cities of Delhi/NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Before the tasting I decided to ask a few friends about it. The friends I chose had varying things to say:

Friend 1 is an American citizen of Chinese origin, an aspiring actress based in L.A. Here is what she said via a messaging application, ‘It’s not so different from Sake to me. Not for everyone, lol. Not really my thing, I prefer cocktails or wine. But, some people probably love it!’ This left me wondering, it didn’t give me a clear picture of what to expect. So I asked the next person who I thought would know what Soju is like.

Friend 2 is an Anglo-Indian based in Gurgaon; he has been in the hospitality industry for over 10 years now and deals in the luxury segment. I thought he’d be the perfect person to ask. Here is what he said, “Not my thing. You need to develop a taste for it and it usually goes well with Japanese food. It’s had neat and tastes like cheap vodka, like the one that was an outcome of a science project. If you like vodka maybe you’d like it. Drink it as chilled as possible and keep something you like eating in your mouth.” Now this was definitely making things clearer for me. I’m not really a fan of Vodka but by now my curiosity had got the better of me. I do enjoy Japanese food and luckily the venue for this tasting was Shiro at the Samrat Hotel in Chanakyapuri. But, I still wanted to ask one more person but I had no idea who else would know.

Friend 3 : My desire was fulfilled when I received a phone call from a very dear friend based in New York, he is a Punjabi-Bengali NRI and is very Wall Street (anyone who does anything with finance in New York is Wall Street enough for me). So, I asked him his opinion on Soju and his take was rather refreshing! He said, “I love it! It is my favourite first date drink.” When I asked him why, he said that the high creeps up on you very slowly and before you know it you’re drunk. So if any woman could handle him like that there lies the possibility of a future. I asked him if the deception was like Feni and he said yes!

Armed with all this invaluable knowledge I arrived at Shiro for the tasting and I have to admit I am a fan. The Soju was served chilled and neat as expected. The General Manager – Mr. Diljeet Singh Bindra came and spoke to us about the Soju and later even sent us a plate of Fire Cracker prawn that was absolutely delicious and went down well with it. We were served in the traditional ceramic cups and the Soju was poured into ceramic pots which lay nestled in a bowl of ice ensuring it remained chilled.

It is a clear, colourless and versatile liquid that is rather smooth and tastes pretty good. Unlike Vodka it doesn’t send a burning sensation down your throat and can be sipped at ease through the meal. We had the Teppanyaki Experience and the Soju went very well with all the food on offer. We sipped it chilled and managed to go through 2 bottles of 375ml each. As the name suggests this particular Soju had an ABV of 24% making it a little over half the strength of Vodka and none of the burning sharpness that accompanies vodka or even white rum for that matter.

I didn’t feel dizzy or anything but I did get very sleepy by the time I got home and woke up with a mild headache that went away after 2 glasses of water. Other than that no hangover!

Soju tips:

Serve absolutely chilled
Drink it neat
Pair it with Sushi or Sashimi if you like that. Or as my friend said with anything you like to eat but definitely go Asian with the flavours.
Soju can also be used as a base for cocktails or a shot dropped into a pint of beer to make a ‘Soju-Bomb’. You could also mix 30% Soju and 70% Beer to make a ‘Somaek’.
Watch how much you drink because of the high alcohol content
It hits you much after you drink it so make sure you have a ride back home and are not driving

Soju Facts:

Soju is traditionally made from rice, wheat or barley but modern producers use supplements or even replace rice with other starches like potatoes, sweet potatoes or tapioca.
It has a high alcohol content ranging from 16.7% to 45% alcohol by volume (ABV) for traditional Andong soju with 20% ABV being most common.

Soju Etiquette:

When receiving a glass from an elder, one must hold the glass with two hands (left palm on the bottom and hold the glass with the right hand) and bow the head slightly.
When it is your turn to drink, turn away from the elder and cover your mouth and glass with your hands. This is a useful tip in case you aren’t used to drinking neat alcohol.
While pouring a glass for others hold the bottle with your right hand and support your right arm with your left hand by touching the elbow. Anyone who has ever done puja or aarti at a temple will manage the supporting part with ease.
Most importantly: Never pour your own and don’t refill until the glass is empty.

Here comes the awesome part: You can visit jinro and login to their page via facebook to nominate a friend for a Soju Party on their birthday! I’ve already asked a couple of friends to nominate me and why not? I really enjoyed the drink! Drink it with an open mind and a not too empty stomach and you’ll actually enjoy the experience. Also please see the Jinro Locator provided by Jinro India for Delhi.

Anubhav Sapra

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com

Posted on January 6, 2014 April 26, 2015

LEVEL 2, RADISSON BLU

LEVEL 2, RADISSON BLU

By Samridhi Jain

A decade back there was dearth of good hotels in west Delhi, to have a proper dining experience, one had to think and ponder where to go and so, having a good buffet was like a distant dream. But then came in Radisson Blu and brought us two restaurants- Indyaki and Level 2 for Indian and continental cuisine respectively. I went for the ‘Level 2’ restaurant and it proved to be a ‘foodie’s paradise’, the best thing about it is that through all these years Radisson Blu has been able to maintain its standard in every new branch it has opened. It is known for its high standards and international style and this restaurant is not an exception, the whole place spells of sophistication. It is calm and quiet, just perfect to spend a lovely evening, I enjoyed the amazing buffet, starting from salads to appetizers and then you’ve got soup, main course and desserts.

Trust me when I say that, every single dish was impeccable. Level 2 provides continental food and the salad, one can also make pick and choose the ingredients to be put in his salad dish or go for a pre-prepared and finely presented salad dish, there is good variety to choose from in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. If you’re not in the mood for salads, don’t worry, they’ve got lots of starters to get you hooked up and tempted, the variety in the starters is huge- for vegetarians, they provide Paneer Tikka , Kebab, crispy babycorn in schezwan sauce, Pizza and Pastas.

The starters and soups are prepared and served though live kitchen which looked really nice and the pizza was hand tossed and freshly baked, although the starters are enough to fill your stomach but only the look of the main course will make you want to overeat. The list in the menu is huge, so much so that you cannot recollect all of the names.

The food went well with the ambience of the place, it was combination of western and Indian decor to make everyone feel welcomed, with its dim lights, it is the perfect dine-out for a couple, family or formal meetings. The light jazz music in the background spices things up as you just want to relax and savour everything that you eat. Also, the service doesn’t let you stop soon- they serve you with sweet smiles and answer all your queries which reflects the knowledge and coherence in the staff, everyone well aware of what are they serving. Everything was up to the mark. In fact, even the cutlery was according to the dishes being served. Last but not the least, the ending part of a great meal is a great dessert, which was truly amazing. They served mud cake, Strawberry Cheese Cake, Orange Pannacotta (sugar free), Blueberry crumble, Kiwi Mousse(eggless), Walnut pudding, Pineapple Halwa and Malai Tikki.

The desserts were for every kind of person- you’ve got eggless for pure vegetarians, sugar free for dieticians who can enjoy dessert without taking in a lot of sugar and whatever you choose to have, feels like a piece of heaven, you can just feast upon all the desserts all night long and you won’t get tired. It’s definitely one time stopover and then you can decide for yourself.

Anubhav Sapra

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com