A few meters of the highway is where the dhabas are, aren’t they? It is not very different here. With most of the roads of Chennai becoming a highway (or has always been one and we only recently noticed), a few meters of it is a nice dhaba. But then, it is right in the heart of the city and inside a small mall! Its been around for a while now, but I only got there last week.

Chennai used to have a fabulous dhaba a few years back, with large chicken tikkas and excellent dhal, but it slowly faded into a poor copy of its old self. I guess it never got replaced for a long time and we didn’t have a good dhaba style food. Until now.

Dhaba by Claridges, the same group that runs the Mamagoto outlets have set up shop inside Ishpahani centre. It is definitely an upmarket place, both with its quirky interiors and the pricing, but for a city starved of good dhaba style food outside of hotels, it is being welcomed with open arms. When we walked in at 7, we were alone, but by the time we walked out by 8:15, there was a line snaking outside waiting to get a table.

Our drinks were a mixed bag. The lassi was a little too watery for my liking, but the paan drink (paan iced tea, I think it was) with its unmistakable paan flavour in a chilled drink was super refreshing. We started off with a galouti kebab. Soft, juicy and flavourful, this was a well made galouti, though the paratha on which it was served could have been better. We got a small bread basket with naan, rumali roti and a kulcha which we paired with their excellent dhal. Phew. They got their dhal bang on and I was thankful for it. Though at Rs. 385 it is not exactly cheap, there is a non 5 star good dhal now available. A khadi chicken, which was falling of the bone and smothered with mustard completed the main course.

The Dhaba Meeta, a beautiful dessert, not exactly dhaba style, but a refined version layered with ice cream, shahi tulsa and gulab jamun! It was an excellent and heavy finish to the meal. All of this set us back by about Rs. 2300, so the pricing is definitely not dhaba pricing, but there is good food to be had here. 

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When there is an Awadhi food festival anywhere, you can judge the whole festival by their Galouti Kebab. If it is on the menu the day you go, that is! I’ve been unlucky sometimes, but time around luck was on my side. I am going to focus on two stunning dishes. Besides the great jelabi with curd that is apparently a breakfast staple in Lucknow.

The Galouti. The visiting chef, the winner of the first edition of Masterchef India has decided  to serve the food of his hometown instead of doing it the Italian way! And just for that, my respects for him are high. With deep knowledge of the cuisine along with some technical things like the differences between attar and ittar (the former is a just a perfume and the latter can be used both for food and to smell nice!), the chef dissects the differences between Awadhi and Mughalai with ease. The use of saffron, rather the non-use of saffron seems to be the biggest difference and without the food being as rich and heavy as the Mughal counterparts, Awadh is one of my favourite Indian cuisines.

The night would have simply belonged to the Galouti kebab. The chef dismisses the story about the king who couldn’t chew and all that and insisted that the Kakori kebab is his favourite, toppling the Galouti, but there was no Kakori kebab on the menu that day. So, Galouti is still king. Whether there was a king behind the story or not. Beautifully spiced, soft and melt-in-the-mouth served on a tiny paratha, there was nothing to not love about the Galouti.

But there was an underdog who didn’t let the Galouti run away with the prize. The lamb gravy called the Karele ka Korma. If I wasn’t so biased towards a Galouti, the winner that night would have been this korma. Making a melt-in-the-mouth kebab with meat that was minced, then minced again and then made in to paste suddenly didn’t seem like a big deal. The gravy with chunks of mutton, almost as easily melted away. With the super soft naan, the sheermal, giving stiff competition to the evening that could easily be titled, melt-in-your-mouth, the lamb was simply the winner. But due to my self confessed bias, I will declare the lamb as the joint winner with the galouti.

I didn’t taste much else, but the little bit of biriyani, supposedly the king of rice, was overshadowed by its humble side-kick, the raita. So much so, that I left the biriyani alone and drank the bhagara baingan raita. Literally. With beautifully spiced curd with nice nutty flavour notes, the biriyani had no chance of competing.

This is possibly what happens when a passionate chef wins a Masterchef title and still goes back to his roots! Reasonable perfection at a young age!

Awadhi Food Festival is on till the 16th of April at the Dining Room, Park Hyatt, Velachery.

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If there is one restaurant in the city that lives by the ‘quality of quantity’ principle, it has to be The Dining Room at Park Hyatt. I’ve gone gaga over their breakfast many a times, but I was appalled that they too run a food festival via the buffet. When invited to try that out, I almost went there expecting the worst, but was super glad that they’ve stuck to their principles.
If you do take a chance and sit out by their Lotus Pond with mosquitoes for company, the live seafood action will catch your eye. A big boat with sand lobsters, mud crabs, king fish (that looked angry), prawns, lady fish and the likes, all waiting for you to pick and get cooked. Titled Coast to Coast, this is a celebration of coastal food of India, so there is variety right from Bengal all the way to Gujarat, via the coasts. Though what live counter you get depends on which day you go, they are happy to make something from another state if you ask. On Monday night, the focus was on Mangalore and Goa.
Susegado from the streets of Goa was our welcome drink, albeit (and thankfully for me), the sissy version! OK, that was mean, the teetotaller version. Cold and viscous with the lemony zest, it was both refreshing and slightly filling, though I wanted to keep going back to it right through the meal. I felt like having soup that day, something that I would normally skip in a buffet, especially a food promotion buffet, but I was glad I didn’t miss it. The Shorba, from Hyderabad was warm and toasty, but only when I finished did I ask why was it on the menu? Hyderabad is not on a coast, I said. We are celebrating the coastal states and Hyderabad is in a state that is on the coast, he said. With a soup as light and refreshing and packing the right amount of punch, I shouldn’t be worried where it came from and why it was on the menu.
Then from the live counters came the food that was, until recently on the boat. The prawns arrived with the fish and the crab came in next. With prawns and crabs on the table, I didn’t even attempt the fish, so sorry, I don’t have an account of the fish. The prawns were medium sized, with a red marinade that had gone well into the meat and thus ended up with a classical South Indian mild chilly flavour. The magic was how it was as comforting as home food, but something that would be quite difficult to replicate at home. The crab on the other hand was a completely comfort food flavour, with the usual dark masala mix that goes into most South Indian kitchens. You have to get your hands dirty for the crabs and you didn’t need anything to go with it.
Again, I did something that I normally wouldn’t do in a buffet, White rice. The mutter curry was uncanny in its appearance and it felt like it was asking me to taste it and I needed something for it, so I obliged and once again glad I did. Along with the South Indian stir fried chicken, the rice with the mutter gravy, which had the tangy tomato flavour along with the taste of peas seeping through was a great decision. It was only then that the sanas arrived with a Mangalorean gravy. Right at the end of the meal! I wish I had saved more space for it. I love sanas and all its variations. A fermented rice cake which is very similar to the Vattayappam of Kerala, for me, it is the fusion between idly and appam. When done well, it is soft and has a beautiful fermented flavour with a hint of sweetness for itself and pairs well with any red gravy. The sanas here was no different and it took away some of the space I had for dessert!
The festival is on till the 26th of Feb, 2017 and the menu changes everyday. If you want something from what you read here, simply ask for it. Priced at Rs. 1600++

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A new cuisine in a city is a challenge and very few places are ready for something like that! Parsi cuisine is one such! An empty restaurant on a Sunday evening is not a great sign for any place, but when a new cuisine is been around for a while, I guess, there needs a lot more work to educate people about the cuisine, especially if you are opening a restaurant without having a ready market. Take the Korean and Japanese restaurants, for example! There is an abundance of expat crowd from the respective countries who would be happy to be customers, but Parsi? I'm not so sure.

My experience was one where I had to tell people to keep an open mind. 3 couples were out for dinner and 5 of the 6 of us wanted to walk out at various stages. The odd one out was me! Different people had different opinions about the food and the most common was, "it is so bland."

The slightly funny tasting spicy papads were a hit among everybody. No complaints.

The starters passed the test too. The Kheema Pav was an instant hit! Nice and soft breads, fantastic kheema and yummy! Boti Soti, a nice goat meat kebab on skewers were also a hit! All of them were over and gulped down. Savour cupcakes! Well, I liked it. A lot of different opinions, but ultimately, the plates were washed down. Lamb Kebabs and Chicken patties were all nice! Some dishes were two thumbs up by most of the crowd!

Simply one dish. I think one dish spoilt it for most of the group. The Dhansak with rice and onions. The waiter said, it is like biriyani! Which is a bad thing to say, I guess because the group then expected a biriyani. A slightly sweetish rice with a slightly sweetish gravy didn't go down well with them! Only one friend of mine and me washed it down and burped, but the words biriyani and the dish not being a biriyani left the table numb. They wanted to step out for dessert!

We paid about Rs. 3500 for the above! I would probably eat out in more Parsi places and then give this place another shot!

What if a restaurant doesn't serve rice in any form? And they don't give you cutlery? OK, if you notice that there are no knives and forks, you could ask, and they will politely tell you that their food is best enjoyed with hands. Of course, if you insist, you will have your way. Not the best way to eat food, but your way. More often than not, your way may not be the best way like some of us from our party of 5 found out!

Get reservations. We were on for a Friday dinner and the place was packed! We were told during entry that there is no rice served and that it is not really kid friendly. We had packed some stuff for the kids, so they were fine. So were we!

Small menu on a large menu! Yes. Just a handful of stuff, printed on a super large wooden block. Actually, two menus. One, the usual. Two, the unusual. A 10-11 course meal on one side and I think a 13 course meal on the other, priced at Rs. 3150 and Rs.3500 respectively! Nope! No way. We need to have starved a few days to make that worthwhile! My friends from Germany weren't looking to roll all the way to Germany. They simply wanted a great Indian dinner! So we asked the waiters to serve us one veg and one non veg starter!

Some Paneer in triangles arrived! One bite each and the table was in silence. You could clearly hear the kids! The adults were quiet. Then slowly, the praise for the paneer started pouring out. Soft. Juicy. Stuffed with potatoes and cooked in the tandoor. Oh, everything here is cooked only in the tandoor. So, no rice, biriyani or anything that cannot be cooked in the tandoor, on the menu! This was followed by a succulent, flavourful, definitely super fattening, Murgh Malai Tikka. The tikka was fabulous to say the least and so so so soft. Clearly, no knives were needed and the one person who tried eating with the fork, put it down quietly and started using his hands. Yours truly!

While pricy, the portions were hearty. There were 8 pieces of paneer and 6 pieces of chicken and they were large hearty pieces. We wanted to try the Naan Bukhara, called the family naan and we were warned that it was for about eight people and will be too much for the five of us. We ignored the warning.  We got the Dhal Bukhara for company and went with the waiter's choice of semi-gravy chicken.

The Naan was huge. For Rs. 1500, it certainly could feed about 8 people. We had to pack almost half of it home, but be warned. Even if you have a big appetite, order the naan bukhara ONLY if there are about 8 people because, because of the way it is cooked, it dries out super fast and then becomes leathery after about 10 minutes, if not less. So it goes from juicy to stretchy very quickly, so all of us who took the third helping after a few minutes, found it hard to tear. At home, same problem. 2 minutes out of the microwave and you had to reheat it to make it soft. But during those first few minutes, this naan with this dhal is heaven! The semi gravy chicken that was served was licked off the plate in no time. We had ordered a wonderful romali roti (for the kids) which was super soft all the way through! No space for dessert, so we split one Kulfi, just to end on a sweet note!

This is a real treat and the cuisine is very specific which is great! If you've been to Bukhara, please refrain from comparing! We know and we've heard that the original is better, but in Chennai, this is it!

Our bill was Rs. 6750 after a 20% discount! And they give you a tiny copper cup as a souvenir! So cool!

Peshawri is open for dinner and is at the lobby level at ITC Grand Chola!

A friend from US was craving for Indian food and after a lot of debate, we decided on Bombay Brasserie. The idea was to go in quick, get her food, get us some nibbles and then head out to meet every one else for dessert.

Quick didn't happen!

The order was simple. A Galouti kebab, 2 Garlic naans, one almond kofta gravy and one biriyani! The galouti had so much mixed reviews. I quite liked it. Both my other friends didn't. Our US friend is vegetarian! I don't know what they didn't like. I mean, it wasn't the greatest on earth, but certainly not bad enough for me to have to finish the plate. It was super soft, creamy, yummy and had a small bread. Maybe the bread, not being great did not add to the flavour, but the kebab it self was nice.

But the reason for this blog post is the gravy. I don't know we all loved, but the almond kofta gravy was fabulous! I mean, I could have just drunk the gravy without the garlic naan! Loved it, really loved it! The biriyani was white when the dough was removed, but when mixed, it took the colours. It was a good biriyani!

We headed out for dessert and the above cost us Rs. 1650! 

If you didn't understand the title, don't worry. No many do. Let me try to explain it to you. Hazratganj is a place. The other word has something to do with 'feast' and 'daawat' where lots of people get together. If you are still confused, think of it as a Lucknow Food Festival at Madras Pavilion in ITC Grand Chola.

It is a feast like food festival where kings are showcased. Where there is a palanquin in the middle of the restaurant. Do you know the palanquin? Where the royals sit and the not so royals carry them? Yes, I can read your mind now. Among the food family, it is reserved for our king. The Biriyani! When it is the Awadhi Biriyani, even the exec chef of the restaurant will carry him around in a palanquin and make the first set of guests cut open the screen to reveal the king. As if he is queen. Only queens need to be given that glamour, right? Why is this guy being treated with so much fuss?

As for me, I am this poor little white gravy tucked away among the buffet. I keep seeing this 'king' being given all the royal treatment, where as me, the poor gravy wasn't noticed. But I could hear what these food guys were talking about.

They were going crazy over the soups! Really going gaga over the mutton and then also the almond soup! And then over the kebabs. Of course, when there is Galouti on the menu, who wouldn't? But will they take notice of me? A poor like white gravy with a long name, the Murgh Rezala. My name may not be as royal as the single worded, biriyani, but I am tasty too! But who will notice me?  And my two friends, the Pumpkin Kebab and the Paneer in Pomegranate gravy? We maybe interesting, but it is the Galoutis and Biriyanis of the Lucknow world that get the attention. I am a little popular in Bengal though!

These food bloggers went crazy after the Galouti and the Fish. I heard words like 'fantastic' and 'awesome'. All meat eaters. I am a chicken too, but these guys are totally skewed towards meat.

But then something interesting happened! I heard a tall food blogger say that the 'Pumpkin Kebab' was way better than the Galouti!! Is this really happening? A meat eater actually prefers a vegetarian kebab to the OH-MY-GOD, Galouti? Maybe, I have a chance at getting tasted. And maybe even written about.

When I land on the table with the other main course dishes, I wasn't even photographed properly. Somewhere in the background of some dhal in a fancy pot. Hmmpff! I hear words like 'full with starters', but when there are my more famous cousins, the Nehari and the Haleem, I am sure they will find space in their stomachs to taste them. Maybe borrow space from other organs in their bodies to make space, if required!

Nope, I wasn't going to be tasted. My dear friend, the paneer in Anar, wasn't even on the table. Now they were gorging on some mushroom that is apparently Rs. 75000 (yes seventy five thousand) a kilo. Hmmmpfff! And then they eat the biriyani. I heard one foodie tell my chef that after all the amazing dishes, the 'biriyani' simply did not live up to the outstanding standards of the rest of the dishes. Or maybe, he said, that he couldn't even taste biriyani! So much for putting this guy on the palanquin.

And then I hear this awesome food lover who looks at me and says, "Interesting". Maybe I have a chance. He takes a piece of roti and dips it into me and takes a bite! And he lets out a moan! A really big MOAN! He looks at the chef, points at me and says, "What is that?" while taking another piece of roti! The chef finally introduces me. I hear lots of moans as the rest of them dip their rotis into me and start praising me. Yay! I got tasted. I got appreciation.

And our awesome food blogger points to the palanquin and tells the chef, "Hey, this Chicken Rezala thing should be on the palanquin!

Ha! In your face, you Awadhi biriyani! And in your backside, you Galouti! I am KING! Now make way...............

I am on the menu till 31st July 2016 and am priceless! You only have to take the dinner buffet if you want to taste me! 

How do you get excited by a Marwari Pop Up restaurant? Especially when everyone invited were hard core non vegetarians!?! Having had a Marwari bestie during my growing years, it is not new to me. But certainly doesn't rank up among my all time favourites. But one dish used to. Their home made rotis. While rotis at home were simple wheat, I've tasted various colours of rotis at their home. And long beans.

The Marwari food festival at Park Hyatt brought those memories back. Clearly, this is aimed at their in-house guests looking for home food! That is probably why it is hosted in their Dining Room rather than the flashy, modern, unbelievable Flying Elephant! Quaint, slow and peaceful Dining Room.

However, for me this is one concept that will be tough on a buffet. You can request for a thali served on the table and that is how we did it. Being a very homely food, I wouldn't want to get up and go for every course!

Simple dokhlas with chutneys and a beautiful mini samosas started the meal. Then the gravies and sides came along with the rotis. We started off the ubiquitous Dal Bhati Churma. Yum yum yum. This is so typical of Rajasthani and with Marwari taking a large base from there, we were happy to see this on the menu. Another surprise was the Sangri, a root vegetable that is very different and rarely seen in South Indian cuisine. A super yummy sangri and dhal bhati were good enough, but we were treated to a nice creamy gravy! And then the rotis that brought back those memories. Dessert was a fantastic, rich homely badham halwa. Not the commercial ones, but very similar to ones in my friend's home.

For a hotel catering to tons of business clients, taking a predominantly home cuisine and getting a Marwari wedding caterer to cook it up is a nice way of stepping up things!

The festival is on till the 24th of this month!!! 

Innovations! Aren't they simply wonderful? Especially when it comes to food! Now, we've spoken at length about haleem and its impact on the Chennai Food scene and all that, but when it is innovated without losing its brilliance, I guess it is simply too good to miss.

How much more can you innovate with haleem? It is after all a goo of minced meat and grains. Can you add more flavour? Yes. But it already rich in flavour. Add more spices? Add more fried onions on top? These are deviations rather than innovation.

How about serving it with a beautifully scented saffron bread? 

I've never heard of this and I am not sure if it is ever served anywhere else like that! Yes, I've had some fabulous haleem, but never one served with some fantastic flat bread (ok, roti). Now it is like eating a wonderful galouti but in a haleem form. Add one egg and serve it in a thali and this is simply yummy for the taste buds and the eyes! 

So, Taj has this offer. 850 plus tax, ends up around Rs. 1000 per person for dates, fruits, sherbet, starter of choice and haleem. Or if you are the more hungry kind, you can take their buffet for Rs. 1985 all inclusive early and they will add haleem and mezze platter at no extra cost to you! So two options. 

Clearly, I wasn't interested in the options. I was more interested in the this haleem. Where is this haleem from? It is certainly not Hyderabadi! Flavours were more South Indian (I know Hyderabad is part of South India.....), but in which South Indian cuisine do you find Saffron Roti? 

I guess somethings are best left not-understood, but I am going to keep trying to find out if this exists elsewhere. Else, this might be the time to introduce Chennai haleem to the world! Maybe if there was idly instead of saffron roti, it maybe truly Chennai Haleem, but for the lack of anything else, this is a true innovation. 

OK, not innovation, but a wonderful fusion!!!! Oh, yes, the starters, especially the mezze platter and the grilled chicken were yum, by the way! 

Can someone make you go gaga over basa?

Like, really?

Really?

When he cooks for the king, apparently he can!

Introducing us to the Royal flavours, chef Chandar Singh Rathod, with his ever folded hands left a smashing blow!

Done perfectly, with a-la-carte, he took us through royalty.

When I saw the menu and was startled at the 'Gulab Jamun Gravy,' he assured me that he makes gravies out of even Rasagolla. Oh man!

So, coming back to the basa! Starters were nice, but nothing stood out after the main course. Clearly, the maharajas weren't into starters. The Sangri kebab was a completely different flavour than what most of us might be used to. The corn kebabs were yum, the slightly pickly Chicken was nice, but only God knows how he infused so much flavour into the basa fish. Those were yellow fillets from heaven. Yes, starters were great but after main courses.............

Then the platter of the ingredients used for cooking food for the kings! Khair (not sure of the spelling). Those little pebble like things. Was a powerhouse of flavours. At Rs. 12,000 per kg, it would be surprising only if they didn't have so much flavour. And the sangri, a type of bean root.

Then came the gulab jamun gravy. Oh-my-God. What a wonderful use of a sweet. Un-freaking-believable. He then came and effortlessly squeezed some bread on the dhal and topped it off with Churma to give us a fabulous Dhal-Baati-Churma. Flavours still stuck in the brain. The roti's didn't need any gravy. They were yum by themselves. I will have to learn the cuisine to be able to explain, but when food is that good, I don't think it needs an explanation. Just an open mind.

The dessert platter was fabulous. Nothing else to say.

The festival is on till May 1st and please don't miss it.