In a nutshell:

Unbelievably good parathas – many times better than at the disgustingly famous Parathewali gali, Superb vegetarian curries & daal in a nondescript restaurant with an entrance that is shy to announce its presence.

Address & other details: Once out of the Chandni Chowk Metro Station, walk towards Town Hall. When u stand with ur back to Town Hall, u see a semi circular area. On the left side of the semicircle there is an ATM of Kotak Mahindra Bank. Beside the ATM there is a narrow dark lane with ‘Asha Ram Foods’ written on top. Walk into the dark lane & u come across a flight of stairs to the Super Food Zone.

Meal for 2: Rs. 100 onwards. For 4 people we spent Rs. 220 on lunch – all items described below + a bottle of water.

Cuisine type : Vegetarian

Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips also. http://www.yummraj.com does not have even one featured / sponsored reviews. YUMMRAJ believes in going to a restaurant in anonymity, as a normal guest, experience everything & give a honest account of the same to you.

Short Description – in case u r in a hurry:

As u reach the 1st floor after braving the super steep , super dark & narrow staircase (someone with the width of Rishi Kapoor might get stuck in the stairs), u come across a huge hall with high ceilings & huge windows. The walls r pretty shabby & no whitewash seems to have been done from ages. On one side of the wall is pictures of Gods & goddesses.

The Hall opens into another hall like huge area but this has a full open side. U get a clear view of town hall from here.

The first time we went here we had a funny experience. We were a group of 2 guys & a Lady. We walked in, took a seat & soon a waiter came & gave us a menu card. As we ordered & were waiting for the food, we noticed a queue being formed which in some time became quite huge. At first we thought that waiters were waiting in queue to get the rotis for their tables. However as soon as the queue exceeded 10, we got inquisitive. We asked our waiter ‘what is this queue’? He said ‘They are waiting for their food’. We said ‘But who are they’? He said ‘they are customers’. We said ‘ But why r they in a queue? We r sitting on our table & u r serving us. Why do they need to stand in a queue?’ The answer to this was immortal – I will never forget in my whole life. He said ‘Well coz u guys have a lady in the group – so we r serving u on the table. Else customers have to go for self service!!!!!’

On another occasion, we saw our waiter running in the opposite direction to the kitchen to place our food order. To our utter surprise we saw him reach the owner & narrate the order. The owner himself cut out a slice of butter per parantha & handed that back to the waiter. The waiter took that to the kitchen & the paranthas got made – I guess to ensure that the customer gets the right quantity of butter per serving.

Service was good on all occasions. The guys r quite simple human beings with an attitude of service. A tip of even Rs. 20 makes them look at ur face, stunned. It seems no one tips them.

Customer profile seemed to be salesmen of local companies, shopkeepers, traders, regulars to this market, students & daily wage earners. Hardly any tourists / retail shoppers cud b seen here.

Food is awesome at this pure vegetarian joint – worth travelling from Gurgaon to enjoy it.

Detailed Description – In case u have the Time to NJOY reading:

We started our meal with baingan ka bharta – Superb. Juicy well mashed (but not paste like) brinjals cooked to perfection with spices, onions, tomatoes, green peas & ginger. Unlikethe super tasty Baingan ka Bharta at Kesar da dhaba,Amritsar, this one was not dripping of ghee. It had just the right amount of ghee. I wud give this a 4.5/5.

Next we tried Kadhi pakora. It was very good – almost like eating at a friend’s house, who is a good cook. The kadhi was perfect thickness & had the right flavors. The pakora was slightly orangish inside & had a good dose of spices in it – very tasty & flavorful. Liked it & wud give a 3.5/5.

The third dish floored me totally but it failed to floor my co-diners as much – they were ‘highly impressed’ though. It was doodh wala shahi paneer. Crumbled paneer cooked with jeera & a base of milk – awesome. Excellent paneer , super texture & great taste. Must try. I wud again give this a 4.5/5.

Aloo ka parantha was very good. It had grated boiled potatoes (in place of mashed aloo). That made a huge difference to the texture & hence the taste. Perfectly spiced, this dish was very good – 3.75/5

Paneer parantha was outstanding. One of the best paneer paranthas I have had in a while. This was made in a tandoor & butter cube served atop it. The paneer in the filling was crumbled & mixed with masalas. I wud give this a 4.25/5.

Rating for food overall adds up to 4.1/5.

Super loved it & look forward to visiting many more times.