In a nutshell:
Was thrilled to hear my decade-long favorite burger chain of US opening restaurants in India. Experience was vey mixed – from ordinary to extraordinary – but none bad.
Address & other details: Johnny Rockets, Johnny Rockets
Meal for 2: Rs. 1000 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 everyWe & thing & give a honest account of the same to you.
I rate all the food items & then give a final overall rating which is a simple average of the individual item ratings. What the ratings stand for: 5 = Excellent, 4 = Very Good, 3 = Good, 2 = Fair, 1 = Disaster.
Short description – in case ur in a hurry:
I used to love having Johhny Rockets durng my US trips few years back. I liked the way they wud fry the patty right in front of u (in case u sit on the bar stool) & then arrange everything from scratch & serve hot (unlike the assembly line system of Mc Donalds). The burgers wud b juicy & really YUMM.
So when I heard from a friend that Johnny rockets was coming to India, my first reaction was ‘will they serve cheeseburgers’? The answer that I got was ‘No’. Was pleasantly surprised to see tenderloin burgers being served here in the restaurants.
The menu card was full of food pics with reference to the items on the menu & had good description of the food served.
The interiors of the restaurants bear a typical American diner look. Chequerboard black & white tile floor, wooden furniture seating, loud music & a colorful jukebox right near the entrance.
The staff wear a uniform that stands out from most in India. The Management seems to have consiously kept the gender ratio balanced while recruiting staff. The staff members were well versed with the food items that were there on menu.
The walls had huge retro american pics on them.
Liked all the food that we had. Some were outstanding. Others were just good.
Detailed description – in case u have the time to njoy reading:
This post is a culination of eat outs on 2 different days – 1 in select city walk saket & 1 in ambience mall gurgaon.
Day 1, saket:
We tried the Original Burger to start with. This burger, I was told has been around since 1986. My reaction – ‘Hey have I evolved over time that what I absolutely loved in my earlier visits to the US now seemed good but not great.
Neither is it anywhere near the beef burger that u get at sen5es, Pullman Hotel, Gurgaon. Well the one at Sen5es is for Rs 1800 when I last had it. This one is less than 1/3 rd the price.’
For the Original nonveg burger, the options for patty were aloo, ultimate veggie, mushroom, soy, panko paneer, chicken & tenderloin. The patty was accompanied with fresh shredded iceberg lettuce, tomato, chopped onions, relish, pickle, mustard & mayonnaise. The options for bread was whole wheat or maida.
we chose the regular bread for this. If was actually normal maida bun. The neat patty was juicy and soft.
We chose the tenderloin filling & maida bun. The meat was soft, juicy & nice. It burst into juices with a bite. Miles better than mc Donald’s. I personally think this is kilometers ahead of the zinger burger and other burgers.The other fillings were also good. Relish tasted really nice.
However the maida bun proved to b a bad choice. It was as flat & tasteless as a Mc Donalds bun. Overall the burger lacked the zing – it was good but not great. Rate it 3/5.
Post this we ordered Houston nonveg burger. This one was relatively more spicy than the original & was made with Jalapenos, pepper jack cheese, iceberg lettuce, fresh tomato, spicy sauce. For patty we chose tenderloin & for bread we chose whole wheat. Loved this one.
The patty was juicy & had robust flavors due to addition of accompaniments. The bread was really nice & had a character of its own. Overall, loved muching on this burger. Rate it 4.25/5
We enjoyed the burger with 2 drinks:
Chocolate peanut butter – Had a strong peanut butter flavor. Chocolate made its presence felt as well. Differentaited from regular smoothies & drinks sold in most parts of Delhi NCR. Loved it & rate it 4/5
Chocolate strawberry kiss – This one was good but nothing great. Thick liquid with strawberry & choco flavors to it. Rate it 3/5
The Onion rings were good but nothing amazing as well. They were crispy & has sub optimal seasoning. Tasted good with the dips but nothing great as it is. Rate it 3/5.
We had high hopes while ordering Cheddar apple pie. It put us off when it was served. A slice of cheese kept atop a regular apple pie , microwaved & served. However, a bite in to it impressed us. The pie was not unidirectionally sweet. It had a tinge of salt that came only from the cheese & that made a huge difference to the otherwise usual pie. Liked it a lot & rate it 3.5/5
Day 2 : Ambience mall, Gurgaon.
This time I was alone & hence ordered just Bacon cheddar double burger. It had, as the name suggests – Smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, iceberg lettuce, fresh tomato. It was just Mind blowing. I chose a double patty of tenderloin with wheat bread. Juicy, robust, bursting with flavors & just too good to taste. Perfect seasoning.
It was just Awesome . Very filling and fulfilling. Rate it 4.5/5.
To balance the mammoth burger, I also tried lemonade. Loved it. Simple, refreshing, strong & the best it cud get. Rate it 4.25/5.
Overall rating of food & beverages at Johhny Rockets averages out to 3.7/5 – Quite high, I wud say for a chain restaurant. I wud keep going in here to eat my favorites. What r u thinking of doin?