Malgudi, Shivaji Marg, Rajouri Garden

What's the best part about Delhi? Its DIVERSITY I would say...
Where else would you find a pure vegetarian, south-indian chain of restaurants opening its first in the Punjabi, kukkad heartland of the city? Answer - In only DELHI.

Malgudi is a newbie on the block at Rajouri Garden, the shivaji marg market also known as BK Dutta Market is home to all kinds of restaurants. From Karim to Gola sizzlers and From Slice of Italy to Mainland China.

Malgudi is a pleasant surprise in Rajouri Garden where people swear by Butter Chicken te naan-daal naal Blenders Pride te Simran-off.

Sam's Cafe Roof Top Garden, Pahar Ganj :-)

New Delhi skyline

Why would I go to Paharganj on an absolutely random afternoon for an impromptu lunch by myself? Well - there isn't a reason when you fall in love! Is there? Yes, I am in love with our very own pahar ganj, its alleys, its chaos, its charm, its not-so-distant downtown skyline view, its cowdung manifested environment, its sights, its clientele, its smells, its location, its everything.

The New MCD building

Call me a loner/loser/whatever, because I do not mind/rather prefer to visit PG alone as many times as I want, but that's just simulating the desire of going backpacking sometime, very soon!

Sam's Cafe at Ground level

Well, Sam's cafe is quite a landmark in the dirty, dusty and trippy touristy neighborhood of Delhi. Here, you can always find people, high or low, down and out, happy and gay, clueless or knowledgeable, single or double, sometimes multiple, eating, chatting, yelling, farting, laughing, tripping, smoking, etc.


It's more like a haven in itself with absolutely yummy looking product line on offer - that of pâtisserie items. Pies, cakes, croissants, marble cakes, muffins, etc. it's definitely a must-visit for people who like bakery products.

I am a big fan too - but this time wanted to enjoy a heavy, wholesome meal in the middle of the day.

Sam's Cafe Roof Top Garden Restaurant

THere's a roof top garden restaurant atop the sam's cafe / hotel building on the 5th floor (!)
I somehow climbed the 5 floors after mustering up the courage and landed at this minimally decored, full of plants, expansive, half covered, half sky-open roof top establishment, hustling with a plethora of people of all varieties.

A family of 5, a group of 6 americans yelling at the top of their voices, a cute and cuddly couple out on a budget trip to the mysterious land of Delhi, two 70 year old Japanese friends, a Korean couple preparing a joint, 2 garrulous ladies eyeing a european-looking 20 something man while smiling away to glory and A GYPSY-type bald lady wearing a classical-indian anklet in one foot and smoking her seemingly favorite 502 pataka beedi.

All this is just complimentary to what would prove to be an excellent meal. The menu was very similar to those of other cafes/roof top establishments of main bazaar in Paharganj. Various pancakes and breakfast options to choose from. Russian salad, israeli salad, french salad, etc.
There was a choice of Israeli main course, Indian (Mughlai), chinese and other Mediterranean dishes. I looked through all of them and ordered an ISRAELI SCHNITZEL (Rs. 170). Schnitzel is an Austrian/german origin fried patty/cutlet wrapped in crumbs of bread. The israeli version served at Sam's has 4 pieces of juicy, boneless, fried chicken breasts and comes with the freebies such as israeli salad (just fresh vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, capsicum), french fries, hummus and a pita bread.

Israeli Schnitzel

The pita was just okay, nothing special, the hummus was good, freshly prepared, thick and fine paste of chickpeas mixed with olive oil and a little hint of garlic. The schnitzel wasn't really out-of-the-world nice but was a heavy, (obviously because of being fried), wholesome serving of chicken breasts. Fried to perfection, not at all spicy (just the way I like it) and crisp.

This is by far the best fried chicken breast I have had! For a 170 for all this, it's a steal!
I ordered the milk coffee (Rs 20) from the list because cappuccino (R 30) wasn't available. It was a very home-like coffee except for the quantity of coffee bean/powder used was generous and that gave a strong aroma and flavor to the coffee. Their Masala chai (20) is worth a pass. For chai, i doubt whether anything in Pganj would come close to Club India Cafe.

In the meanwhile, the place starting filling up with more and more tourists joining in for lunch. Backpackers from across the world, mostly carrying Nikon cameras with them and eagerly waiting for their "made in Paharganj" meals to arrive could not get enough of the topography of Central Delhi!

I paid the bill (a total of Rs. 220) and messaged my friends to visit the place asap.

I would say, it's a great place, excellent value for money, quite neat and clean and worth the four floor climb. I'd love to visit it again some time very soon! You should plan as well ;-)

Andhra Pradesh Bhavan Canteen , Ashok Road, New Delhi - 01

I am in lurrvvvv with this place... It's not really unknown to us but it's just excellent value for money... and therefore, I couldn't have managed without acknowledging the ever favorite Andhra Bhawan Canteen (ABC) at New Delhi's Ashok Road.

BREAKFAST - served between 0730 and 1000

Fixed meal
1 Idly, 1 Vada, 1 Masala Dosa/MLA Pesarattu

Freebies = Sambar, Coconut chutney, Gun powder, Ghee, Coffee/Tea.

What an absolute delight while driving to your office in Noida... The Andhra Bhawan falls on our way and we had been planning to stop here for at least a year now!

Finally, after planning it correctly, we left home at 9 am last wednesday and voila! were there at ABC at 0940 - just in time! ;)

You need to just take tokens from the cash counter and commence your morning gastronomic adventure....

They start with one idly and one vada! Now what's so special in that?! We have all visited Sagar Ratna, Adyar Ananda Bhawan, Saravana Bhawan, Malgudi and what not of the south indian joints BUT ABC makes the BEST IDLY IN TOWN!

YOU have to go and eat it to believe it... it's soft, melts in the mouth, a little salty and ah-what-a-delight but ohh-just-one-serving! :(

Vada is nice too but I am not one of those vada guys :)

After this platter, arrived the MLA Pesarattu - it is a dosa like pancake made of moong dal and not rice so a little crispier and tighter and guess what, It was filled with upma!!

Now why is it called MLA Pesarattu?! You find many explanations online, the one I like the best goes-- it was invented for the always hurrying assembly members of Hyderabad and hence the name M.L.A Pesarattu! And why was it filled with UPMA :O that I am still trying to decipher...

Anyway, like everytime THE FREEBIES were OH WOW! ABS undoubtedly serves the best sambhar i have had till date, the coconut chutney is good but the tomato+garlic chutney is superb! You've gotta go there ASAP...

After filling us up, as we were about to move - the waiter came and hurriedly asked TEA aar Kaafi? AMazing - we still had another round of freebies left?
Now that's called going BEYOND value for money!

We had filter coffees that was better than the coffee we get at Barista! Imagine- all this for a total of Guess what 300? 450?? 650???? NOPE!!!!!! A HUNDRED RUPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes - they charge you 50 bucks per head for the fixed breakfast!

Is it value for money ?? I don't think so - This is going Beyond just value for money.... the next time, you never know the ABC guys pay you for having a meal there ;)

All in all a very pleasant experience and worth a visit - once a month :D

Food ****
Hygiene ***
Parking * PROBLEM if you don't have a driver!

IRAQI Restaurant, Lajpat Nagar

Iraqi Restaurant - E-178, Lajpat Nagar Part 1, (Close to Krishna Market and Gurudwara), New Delhi

Phones - +91 11 4162 0710,11 Mob - 99999 43759, Free Home Delivery - till 5 km

Iraqi Restaurant was launched in February this year and is the idea of two iraqi nationals who happen to stay in New Delhi, the ever diverse city in India.
Both of them are named Haeder and are best of friends.... One of the Haeders, who talked with me, while I relished the authentic Iraqi meal, is a student at Jamia Hamdard University.

Arch - What made you open this restaurant?
Haeder - The scarcity of good LESS SPICY food for middle eastern people in this city.

Arch - Ohh! Can you please highlight some more?
Haeder to this pointed out that he's been in New Delhi for the last 2 and a half years and all this while has craved a good less-spicy meal in this city. All the food that he got was either too hot and spicy or was vegetarian/eggs.

One fine day He, along with his friend, the other Haeder, decided to open a restaurant where most people, who are staying away from their homes, and who belong to the lands where food is not necessarily cooked with a lot of spice, can relish some home-like meals, thousand of miles from their homes!

Thus came into existence the 'Iraqi Restaurant', which is not a huge establishment, but a comfortable, and air-conditioned eating joint, tucked away in a not-very-jazzy street of a modest neighborhood, Lajpat Nagar Part-1.

I had been planning to visit this place for quite sometime and reached there yesterday for lunch, around 2 pm.... There are a set of problems attached with this place - One... It's rather hard to reach from the main road (Lala Lajpat Rai path).. There are cars everywhere, honking away to glory, people appear from nowhere and yell at each other... some stare, some abuse, some just yell without a reason, while others honk..... It's quite a scene, no one lets the other one move first, eventually leading to a 5-cars jam that leads to a 25-cars jam in less than 50 seconds... pheeewww...



After all that jazz, I somehow was able to locate the Iraqi Restaurant at E Block, Plot#178, only to realize that, as luck / bad luck would have it, there was a POWER CUT! I, along with a shareef friend of mine, was quite furious!!! Anyway... we went away after giving Haeder my phone number and requested him to call us ASA the power resumed!

We were called in about an hour (Power cuts can be bitches at times)and so we reached the Iraqi Restaurant. I was quite excited, obviously, for it was my first ever visit to an Iraqi food joint! My friend hardly showed any emotion and am sure, thought to himself how weird can certain people be because food does influence a lot of their emotions!

In no time, Haeder came to us and gave us the menu.... One thing that I realized as soon as I looked at it is that - It isn't a place for veggie guys and that sheep meat conquered the restaurant's menu.



We ordered Tikka Chicken with Garlic (Rs. 200), Chicken on Rice (Rs. 200), Marq with Sheep meat(Rs. 175) and Hummus Behana (Rs. 90) with Iraqi Bread/Khabuz (Rs.15). (Please see below for pictures)

The 'Tikka Chicken with Garlic' was sort of Indian looking dices of grilled chicken, a bite of which made me realize that it actually was not a very different affair from a regular Chicken Tikka Lehsuni that we generally have at all the north indian/punjabi restaurants. Just that the flavor of the garlic was a little subtle, so much so that after we were done with all our food, my friend very inquisitively asked me "where was the garlic in the chicken tikka" :D

The chicken tikka was a good start, very less spice and salt, and came with such freebies as onions, a grilled tomato, cucumbers, beans, etc. A good entree with Khabuz and Hummus, though not really recommended for an average Dilliwalla, who loves his butter chicken and malai tikka!

'Chicken on Rice' was a surprise as the dish that arrived had a pile of plain rice, with a few fried dried fruits such as almonds, raisins, etc. besides some peas. The chicken was most probably more than one-quarter of a fried chicken that had no curry with it! What is different with the middle-eastern/Arab cuisine is that they do not remove the skin from the poultry they cook, unlike the north indian cuisine.
Again, a typical low-salt, low-spice chicken with extra good rice, full of aroma.




Marq with sheep meat was basically an ocra/ lady finger curry that was tomato based. Less spicy again and not too heavy, unlike what is generally stereotyped with middle-eastern curries! My friend hated it as soon as he tried it, where I quite liked the entire concept of a lady finger curry with a huge serving of meat! I enjoyed my rice (from the previous dish) with Marq.




All this while, we kept on munching the hummus with the khabuz (pita bread/lebanese bread/iraqi bread) and filled ourselves completely!

What arrived at the end was a complimentary black tea (known as Iraqi Tea) which was quite strong and made a lot of sense after we ate so much of the 'new' food!

All in all, a very good option for the ones who do not mind trying out and being adventurous with food! As Haeder puts "The restaurant has found a good clientele in not only the Iraqi expats but also other middle eastern, Arab and european expats who stay in the vicinity of this new food joint"!

Food - * * *
Service - * * * *
Decor - * * *

Street Parking, you might have to fight for a space!

PS - They also prepare a whole sheep (for Rs 6,000) and serve it with appetizers, if you order a day in advance :)

Break Fast Point, Prashant Vihar, Rohini

This goes out to all those that either have been to Amritsar and have relished the Amritsari Kulche with chhole and imli chutney or have atleast heard about, from their folks, this great "sunday" special treat, an Amrtisari delicacy !!

Amritsari Kulche, the ones that are sold almost everywhere in Delhi, are not even close to the original version!

What one gets here are essentially butter smeared, super heavy aaloo stuffed naan, omnipresent in the city, at road side shacks or some fine dine restaurants.. People relish the not-so-authentic Amristsari kulche with such a patronizing spirit that they've gotten accustomed to the very wrong version of the original delicacy and are often found suggesting it to others...

WAKE UP ALL THOSE GUYS who do not know what Amritsare Kulchas are all about and visit Breakfast Point at Prashant Vihar....

The guy is an Amritsari sanguinely and genetically and has been offering these absolutely delightful kulchas to the lucky people of Chander Nagar, Trans Yamuna, eastern side of the city for over a decade now... He has opened other outlets at Model Town and Rohini (Prashant Vihar) sometime back and has been doing pretty well, obviously!

The shop at Prashant Vihar, where I have been atleast thrice, is a small 200 sq ft area that has a tandoor outside besides a big crowd waiting to be seated almost everytime I have seen!

Anyway... this sunday we went in a group of 11 people, from all parts of the city... specially to this far flung breakfast joint errr.. Point... and ordered our much awaited kulche after a loathsome wait of around half an hour... as soon as you see the plates arriving, all the anguishes disappear... the drive, the wait, the sun (it's a non ac place), everydamn thing is paid for by the amazing kulche that are served to you!

Like most of the Punjabi food "items", these too arrive with freebies that include chopped onions, imli (tamarind) chutney and finely chopped fresh coriander... The kulchas, though are too heavy, full of butter and made of absolutely carbo filled white flour, melt in your mouth like salt mixes in warm water! and they hit the foodie G-Spot in a matter of seconds! The chhole are all right... not something to die for... but they come with those amazing kulche so they rather enjoy the unnecessary attention given to them!

One has a choice of wrapping the ahh so good sunday treat with lassi... I couldn't think of it, as I lacked the tummy space to accommodate anything else :)

Whatever be the case... The place deserves all the hardwork.... is totally worth a visit... maybe a couple of visits... in a month ;)

Strictly not recommended for people who are either on diet or are planning to resume/start one ;)

For all those who have been to Amritsar and have had the kulche at Chungi, Breakfast Point is way ahead in quality, taste, smell and everything, except for the ambiance and the pathos and ethos of being in Amritsar!!!

Price for two - Rs. 100 (50 per plate)

Flavor - ****

Quality- ****

Hygiene- ***.5

Ambiance-**.5

Service- ***

CASH ONLY! FIFO

Indochine, Lado Sarai OLD REVIEW that was published in Outlook Envy ;)

Picturesque expanse of the Qutab Golf Course, envious interiors and a fine choice of dining areas define INDOCHINE FORBIDDEN CITY at Aurobindo Marg, Lado Sarai in the capital.

Indochine is an international chain of restaurants that has its presence in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Germany besides India. It can boast of its unique choice of an exotic cuisine that comes from the land of French Indochine comprising of Southeast Asian nations like Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. In India, it is a joint venture of Mr. Michael Ma, CEO of the Indochine group and restaurateurs Mr. Jay Singh and Mr. Sanjay Mahtani.

Forbidden City has three dining options ranging from a bar to a fine dining restaurant.

The premise is primarily divided into three areas spread on two levels.

The ground level has an indoor bar named the bar SaVanh that has a dimly lit ambience to itself. There is a lounge like atmosphere with a DJ console that is the first visible area as one enters the bar. “The bar has a good choice of drinks to offer besides sumptuous finger food” tells the Restaurant manager.

It has a place to accommodate about 400 people easily and weekends see a huge rush of party freak Delhiites pouring in. “Though the place was brimming with a 1250 people last weekend, but we still do not want to promote Indochine as a club, we rather want to promote it as a lifestyle and a culture oriented place” added the manager.

There is another option of casual dining in the open, adjacent to the Qutab Golf course called ‘Café Alfresco’ that gives a spectacular view of lush green surroundings. The menu is a modest one that limits itself to only a fewer number of bites to choose from. The entire area on the ground level can be used to plan private parties and get togethers.

On the first floor is the fine dining restaurant called Madame Butterfly that has an Asiatic theme in its décor besides offering a clearer view of the golf course through the glass present on the left side of the restaurant. It has both smoking and non smoking areas indoor and in the open respectively.

The decor is a combination of dark red, brown and black that gives a very Chinese feel to it. Though there also are bamboo sticks lying on one side of the restaurant that does till an extent add a Vietnamese feel to the place.

The music goes with the theme and according to the manager; similar soundtracks are played in all the Indochine outlets across the world barring aside a few tracks that are favorite to the sporadic clientele. On the whole, the ambience is a combination of shades of reds, light music and comforting view of the green expanse that provides a good option of enjoying one’s lunch or dinner, whatever has been planned!

The chefs are also trained in and brought from Singapore and an effort is made to standardize the flavor across all the outlets of Indochine in the world.

The food as they put it is ‘nutriceutical’ in nature that has both nutritional and pharmaceutical essence attached to it.

The entrees included an exotic Indochinese salad called the Aloe Vera Pomelo salad.

Pomelo is a citrus fruit that is easily available across Southeast Asia. The salad also included green field baby spinach and cashew nuts and was prepared in a special Indochine sauce.

It is nutritious sans doute and has a very tangy flavor to it. Priced at Rs. 275 it’s a healthy choice. Forbidden City chilly prawns (Rs. 800) is one of the see food options available besides delicacies like lobsters and crabs. Prawns are cooked in a Chinese red chilly sauce and are a good option to choose in appetizers.

The main course included steamed rice( Rs.125), stir fried chicken of the bamboo pavilion(Rs. 575) that came in a taro basket and includes cashew nuts,

water chestnut, ginko nut, carrot, and leek prepared in satay sauce.

Tenderloins with XO sauce (Rs. 475) is a delicacy that is offered here. It is served in a clay pot in which the dish is prepared and loins are juicy and soft prepared in a shrimp based XO sauce with a hint of capsicum, onion and garlic.

An assortment of mushrooms called Xao Ba Nam (Rs. 450) is a must try. It includes mushrooms like golden, shiitake and button available in both veg and non-veg sauces.

The food is less spicy than Chinese food and has a larger menu of healthier options.

Dessert included ‘chocolate temptation’ (Rs.375) that had a brownie with melting chocolate sauce atop it along with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Though it is a very regular dessert available at almost every restaurant, here the presentation was brilliantly done. A white platter that had a vanilla ice cream scoop garnished with nuts and a chocolate brownie on one corner beautified with strawberry syrup in the middle.

The staff is well informed and offers good advice whilst choosing from the menu.

Indochine indeed offers a unique choice of dining in Delhi and is developing into a lifestyle hang out zone along with providing an exotic cuisine like nobody else.

Meal for two- upwards of Rs. 2000

Address – Forbidden City by Indochine, Behind Qutab Golf Course, Aurobindo Marg, Lado Sarai, New Delhi-110030

Telephone- 011-29523330

Club India Cafe and Restaurant, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi

There is a euphoria in me attached to Paharganj (PG), probably because it is the travelers' district of New Delhi.

One small area, one alley, one bazaar, two crossings and atleast a ten thousand people from probably a one hundred and fifty nationalities walking together, eating together, boozing together, burping together, sleeping together, oops.. and what not!!

It is fairly known to the world that PG is the hippie haven of New Delhi, but lets not discuss that here!!!!

I happen to visit PG often, maybe because there's this sense of attachment that I have with the place due to its offering an assortment of dining options that do not pinch your/anyone's pocket!

I was at Club India Cafe located at the junction called Tooti Chowk of Main bazaar, PG. The trip was absolutely out of the blue, as I had to meet some one for work and ended up having an hour and a half extra with me... So what better than chewing away to glory, cheap and exotic food with a thousand kind of travelers in your midst...

The ambiance at PG has a different aroma to it, an aroma that reflects the fragrance of a place that belongs to probably no one but a fragrance of the air that carries the breath of so many people, all of us, who belong to each other.. HOW? We're all descendants of the one couple that turned naughty and began life on earth, at least :)

I should shut the F$^@ up and talk about the food I had ;)

There are two seating options at the Club India Cafe (CIC) - the second floor covered area and the third floor open dining area.

I obviously prefer the latter, mainly because the air filled with our fragrance is available in plenty and at no cost!

They have a fairly large menu that includes food from various Asian backgrounds ranging from obviously North Indian to Israeli to Japanese and Tibetan, all attractively priced!

There's not a better drink there than the MASALA TEA... The masala tea or Chai is so decently priced at Rs. 20 that it's actually hard to believe your eyes! I obviously called for it, passing the other options of a variety of fruit juices, soft drinks, ice teas, coffees, blaah blaahhh etc.

The tea arrived and oh my god I took a sip... For a moment I thought that's about it! This probably is how it feels to be blissed!!! Awesome, not very strong tea but a very strong aroma of the masala that was added to it makes me safely say that the Masala Tea at CIC is the best tea I've ever had at any place outside home, ever!!

The roof top area was not more than 550 to 600 sq feet in size and was brimming with people of all backgrounds, races, languages, countries, and thought processes. There were families, couples, loners, random travelers who turn friends at cafes, kids with their mum dad, etc.

The cutest little girl was laughing with her mom while showing her mom the frills in her frock! I wonder what aura kids have that makes you forget for a moment about everything else that's happening in your life.... Her mom lifted the baby girl up and made her peep into the alley, the view of the street! Utter chaos but beautiful... Dusk time, neon lights at the restaurants beginning to start, some of them flickering, some focusing right at your eyes makes the place worth looking at...

Getting back to the food now, I looked through the food "items" on the menu scanning through the pastas, the steaks, the naans, the rotis , the tikkas, the japanese weirdly named choices, the noodles, the speghettis, etc. and finally decided to order the Chicken Steak Roast... The guy told me it comes with freebies such as sauteed beans, tomatoes, radish, etc. besides chips... BRING IT ON! was my reply...

A grilled breast of chicken, on a sizzling plate along with the promised freebies arrived after about 20 minutes of a comfortable wait... The chicken was tender, juicy and soft, tasted fresh and was smeared with what tasted like a mix of barbeque and tabasco peppers sauce.... all in all a very good choice of meal priced at another surprising amount of Rs. 120!!!

I took a good half an hour to savor my meal (mid-meal, honestly) and kept looking around my small round table that in the beginning had two chairs, one of which was taken during the course of my eating!

Around me there were two old men sitting and chatting about business in some European language, and there was a group of two families of Latin American origin, who could not pacify one of the infants that kept crying during the entire course of my meal! Probably, it was the weather, or the place, or the smell, or the number of people, or an amalgum of all this that made it itch so much!

I could see a guy sitting all alone, looking completely lost in the middle of nowhere and making his doze of some kind of thing that probably keeps him high all the time!! In no time, he took out a camera from his jhola bag and started clicking pictures of the surroundings, thanks to his corner table that enabled him to see the street down there....

I called for my check and to no surprise it came out to be a total of Rs. 140 (20 plus 120 remember.. my math is not all that bad). I paid a ten buck tip to the waiter who was all smiles from the beginning to the end and kept speaking in a broken English with me, only to realize ultimately that I was one of his fellow-citizens, as soon as I spoke to him in Hindi...

In all, I absolutely loved my meal at CIC, PG, it's worth a visit, for its location, the choice of food it offers and again the ambiance and chaos that you can witness sitting at the roof top of the travelers' haven in New Delhi...

Burrrrppppppp!!!!! oops.. excusez moi, s'il vous plait!

Happy New Year

Wish you all a very happy, healthy, fruitful and peaceful new year 2010. God Bless!

I am Back!!

Hey everyone!!

I am back, not from Ludhiana, but from Jaipur ;) yeah yeah..

It's not that I went to Jaipur from Ludhiana, but came back home for a day between the two trips...

Ludhiana is a great place to be, just a smaller version of Delhi (I mean... not really! but close to a version of Delhi) Jaipur is a distant dream when it comes to the roads and lifestyle.... That's what I could surmise with the help of my two day visit.... Anyway... Will surely put many pics soon...

Good luck for the new year! (6 more days to go) It's so unbelievable that another year of our lives has just moved on.... I tell you.. Time is a b*&#h!!!

Going to Ludhiana tomorrow!

Sooo happy !!!!

That's about it :)