Whistling Spices – N1-N2, Qutab Plaza Complex, DLF Phase 1, Gurgaon

In a nutshell:

A restaurant serving two unrelated cuisines (Awadhi & Mangalorean) , good interiors, good staff , too many flies in the dining area (wonder what it is in the kitchen) & pretty good food.

This is a review of Mangalorean food only.

Address & other details: Whistling spices

Meal for 2: 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 everything & 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 u r in a hurry:

We had been hearing about this concept restaurant for some time & its ironical how we got to visit here on the last day of our 11 year stay at Gurgaon.

The restaurant has a nice bright interior. Furniture is plain, heavy wooden.

The menu card has nice write ups about the two chefs who manage the two cuisines. Very good to see Chefs being celebrated.

The menu card was pretty descriptive.

Food in general was good & some were outstanding.

There were too many flies during lunch. Requested twice to get rid of them. Finally someone killed some flies. The rest of the flies continued to fly and sit on my neer dosa which I had to throw away. I am surprised at the lack of sensitivity of the boys to such a basic hygiene factor.

Lone fly captured on camera — Lone fly (among many) captured on camera

Detailed description – in case u hv the time to NJOY reading:

breakfast:

Idli was very soft, had an intense fermented feel to it. There was a ‘fermented sour feel’ to it. Loved that bit. Murugan idly chennai definitely makes softer idlis than this but this one was good on its own. Wud have loved to have a portion of this with ghee and gunpowder. But that was not available. Rate the idly 4/5.

Medu vada was very crisp on the outer side, very soft inside and it had finely chopped green chillies inside it ( in place of whole black pepper that many people add). The batter had a mild fermented feel and was nice. Enjoyed these a lot. Rate it 4.25/5.

The coconut chutney was Coconutty, thick, had a nice tadka of mustard & curry leaf. Was very enjoyable.

Mixed veg utthapam was crisp on the outer side and soft inside. The batter again had a mild fermented feel. Veggies were there in the utthapam but green chillies exceeded all of them in making its presence felt in terms of both flavor and taste. Rate this 4.25/5.

Sambar was very simple yet very tasty. It was made from scratch with veggies still retaining their texture. Masalas were enjoyable but they were not in the face. Loved this and rate it 4.5/5.

We were also served an Orange chutney which was OK.

Pongal savoury was salty preparation of Pongal – not had in too many places in Delhi NCR. It had good flavors of ginger, black pepper, dal. Loved eating it full… Rate it 4.25/5

We also tried Sulemani tea. It was brewed perfectly & honey added to it. Refreshing. Rate it 4.25/5

Lunch

Pomfret gravy was excellent. It had flavours of masala and it had good flavours of fish as well. Rate the gravy 4.25/5.

Fish was good but cud hv been handled better. The fish had become a bit hard due to overcooking. Rate the fish 3.25/5

Overall rating of the dish averages out to 3.75/5

Prawn ghee roast was dark red in Color, enormously hot, spicy, it had a sour tinge to it. The gravy was very good. The prawns were soft, slightly chewy but very good as well. Rate this dish 4/5.

Mutton sukka seems to hv been pressure cooked / pre cooked meat. So the meat did not intermix with the masala well. It was super soft and very good on its own.