In a nutshell –
Kitchen of Awadh is a ‘delivery only’ joint that serves YUMM Awadhi cuisine better than many full service restaurants in Delhi as well. The Chef surely has an eye for detail & a passion for perfection.
Address & other details: Home delivery only & delivered to ur car parked at South Ex market as well.
facebook page for phone number & menu: Kitchen of Awadh
Meal for 2: Rs. 500 onwards
Cuisine type : Vegetarian & nonvegetarian
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.
This post has 2 parts – Day 1 (ordered food in anonymity & paid for it & hence YUMMRAJ has rated the food) & Day 2 ( YUMMRAJ was contacted by the owner of Kitchen of Awadh for tasting & commenting on a new recipe that is yet to appear on the menu – YUMMRAJ agreed to the tasting session & ended up tasting some more dishes from the existing recipe that were not covered in Day 1. Since ‘anonymity’ was not followed in Day 2, YUMMRAJ has just commented on the food & not rated it on a scale of 5).
Short Description – In case u r in a Hurry:
We heard about this place from a long time facebook fan of yummraj.com. He had been strongly suggesting to try out the food here. Only when we started checking out the address, we figured that this is a ‘delivery only’ place with no options to park the car in front of the shop & eat there. Problem is that we stay in Gurgaon & no one in South ex wud obviously deliver in Gurgaon.
Determined to eat at Kitchen of Awadh, we thought of a plan – We parked our car at South Ex market & called up this place. We said we wanted our food to b delivered to our car – the guy on the phone asked the number of our car & surprisingly agreed to deliver. The food was delivered 15 minutes b4 schedule & we drove straight to Lodhi Gardens to enjoy the piping hot food. Must say that the packaging was so good that even after 1 hour of being delivered, the biryani was hot in the cold winter of Delhi!!!!
The portions were small in general & meat pieces were small in particular. Flavors were outstanding & so was the taste. As soon as the Biryani handi was opened, the aroma filled the air – to the extent that a dog sleeping nearby, actually woke up & started walking towards us………………….thankfully he just stopped, inhaled, maybe smiled & walked away.
Prices r not low but the food is ‘fully worth every penny’. 3 items cost us Rs. 675.
Detailed Description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:
Day 1:
We started our food with Galawati kabab. It was immensely flavourful, very soft & tasty. Different spices were making their presence felt. However, the binding agent used was slightly more than proportion & that compromised with the softness. This Galawati was less rustic than say the Tunday variety or the Al Kakori Al Kausher variety. I wud give this a 3.75/5.
Post this we had the Mutton Lucknowi Biryani. This came as a real pleasant surprise. It was packed in a burnt clay handi & sealed with atta. As soon as the lid was opened, the aroma burst out – wow. The rice was not super long grain but it had the quality of good soft non sticky independent biryani rice. Flavors of mutton & spices had intermingled very well due to the meat & rice being cooked together in Dum. The mutton pieces were soft but not as soft as say in the biryani of Arsalan Kolkata or Mutton pulao of Kabul Delhi Restaurant. I wud give this a 4/5.
Infact the Biryani here was much better here than the one at the posh fine dining place in South Ex 2 – Dum affairs.
We also had Khara masale ka bhuna gosth. Unlike my perception of a sookha gravy, this turned out to be a gravy gravy. The taste was excellent & so were the unique flavours. The masalas were full & hence the flavours were pretty rustic – felt more if u end up biting a piece of khara masala. The mutton was very soft & good as well. This gets a clear 4.25/5.
The rating for food at Kitchen of awadh adds up to 4/5.
I am hoping that these guys will b able to open a sit in restaurant soon so that it is a bit more convenient for people outside the neighbourhood. I am surely game at trying out more items on the menu at this yet undiscovered unexplored eatery. What r u thinking?
Day 2:
Tried the Tandoori Chicken – Conceptually same as Tandoori chicken that u get everywhere with no taste, but excellent quality of execution. I wud attribute that to good ingredients, the almost perfect formula, skills & ‘Wud not give up till I get it right’ attitude of the Guys here.
Chicken Malai Tikka was also enjoyable. Soft, creamy & tasty. I have had softer & creamier versions though in few occasions earlier.
Mutton Kakori Kabab was outstanding. The unbelievable flavors of the meat & spices, thin skin on the outside, the distinct taste was just too good. It was quite rustic in look & feel & totally enjoyable.
After all these meats came what I was invited to taste – Vegetarian Kakori Kabab. Interesting? Not so exciting? In case u r thinking that, sit tight. The veg Kakori Kabab had almost the same flavors of masalas , a very close texture & a very close taste as well. If u eat the mutton kakori & then eat this, u will know the difference. Without a reference point this is just too good on its own. Recommended for vegetarians for sure & for nonvegetarians as well/
The last item that we tasted was phirni – mindblowing good. Almost no commercial eastablishment uses so much of milk to make phirni. Intensity of milk was excuding. Too good taste & texture – One of the best phirnis I have had so far. A must try.
Will eagerly look forward to ur comments after u taste some of these.