In a nutshell:
Before the food we were not using our power of speech to order food, after eating we were speechless!!!!

Address & other details:  Mirchi & Mime

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:

This is a concept restaurant that stands apart for two things – the concept & the fact that most of the food is different, yet outstanding. Mirchi stands for Pepper & spices. Mime stands expression without speech – all servers in this restaurant are hearing & speech impaired.

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Right from outside the restaurant, there is a signboard that urges the guests to pick up sign language. There is an easy demonstration of the basics.

The boys and girls who serve food were in a black & red uniform & all of them had great bright sports shoes on their feet. They were very cheerful & enthusiastic. We had a very good time interacting with the boys – they recommended us some good dishes as well.

They also have 2 Managers who have the power of Speech, who help in case there is a communication lapse. Must mention that they are very warm, in addition to being very professional.

As the food is served, Tiny signboards with name of the dish is brought along, so that the guest can understand easily.

The boys and girls were very warm, quite attentive and very good by all standards.

The restaurant had a very good ambience & it had a décor wall made of kitchen utensils. A bar was located on another side.

A part open kitchen was there on another side.

Food was memorable. Every dish had a twist to the original. Great concept & excellent execution.

Detailed description- in case u want to njoy reading.

Day 1:

We tried Orange and chilly drink which had a taste of orange & an aftertaste of chilly. It had a full blown flavour and taste of fresh orange. Genius. Outstanding balance of taste. Rate it 4.75/5

We also tried Pomegranate juice. It was a good fresh pomegrenade juice. Good choice of fruit & perfect balance of taste. Rate it 4/5

We were served 4 complimentary chutneys. The Dahi based chutney was outstanding. It had a mild fermented feel, & had flavours of curd and mustard. Rate it 4.5/5

The orange dry chutney was Powdered peanut & chilly. Again too good & chatpata to taste. Rate it 4.5/5

For starter we had Duck sheekh kabab – We took a bite & our expression was – What the duck !!!! Another genius act. A footlong seekh it was.

The duck meat was excellent. It retained the robust flavour and taste of the duck meat inspite of having spices and a brilliant use of Mirchi. The Mirchi had an aftertaste. This is one of the best Indian duck dishes I have had in a while. Rate it 4.75/5

We also had soup , Kashmiri shorba – it was thin in consistency but extremely flavourful. The shorba was delicately balanced with spices which could not be seen but their effect felt. The meat pieces were as soft as marshmallows and were Yumm to taste. The shorba was robust and refreshing. Loved it. Every sip was divine.

Rate it 4.75/5

Betki fish cake with dried mushroom dust was outstanding. The fish was juicy and nice.

The flavours of fish were intact while the garnish made its presence felt. Rate it 4.5/5

Bitter gourd chutney acted as a great palate cleanser. People who appreciate bitter food wud love this. Rate it 4/5

The cauliflower achaar was very interesting as well. The cauliflowers retained their crunchiness and the achaar had flavours of cauliflower intact inspite of presence of good amount of spices. Rate it 4.25/5

Medium Thick slices of onion had a sweet n sour taste, the crunchiness of onion had been maintained, it was flavoured with whole spices. Rate it 4.5/5

For main course we tried Fish chettinad with Betki fish. The chettinad dish was very good. The gravy was YUMM, flavorful, hot & spicy. The fish was flaky & very nice. Rate it 4.5/5

Thalappakatti mutton rib biryani was very different. Loved the flavours of spices in the long, aromatic and soft but independent grains of rice. Deep fried onion slices made a difference. Flavours of meat had steeped into the rice. Rate the rice 4.25/5

The meat pieces were different from each other. The smaller thinner ones were very soft and nice. The thicker pieces were a bit chewy and had strands. Taste of the meat was very good. Rate the meat 3/5 due to texture.

Overall rating of the biryani averages out to 3.65/5

An Aubergine based side was served with the biryani. It had a Strong smoky flavour and was super YUMM. Super loved it and rate it 4.5/5.

We also tried Madras mutton curry – The gravy was YUMM, flavorful & unputdownable. The meat was soft & excellent. Rate it 4.5/5

We had for dessert Sugarfree sitaphal panacotta made from custard Apple (sitaphal) splenda sugar free. This I guess wud have been much better if it had either no sugar / natural sugar. Hated the flavor of sugarfree. It killed an otherwise amazing creation. Overall I wud say the dish was average & I wud make sure I never re order this dish. Rate it 2/5

Day 2:

Lobster Nihari was just too good. It had imbibed the amazing flavours and taste of lobster but u cud not find a piece of lobster anywhere. It was sheer brilliance. Rate this dish 4.75/5

Baby lamb chops were again outstanding. They were perfectly done, juicy and soft and Yumm to taste. The meat was easily coming off the bones.

The meat retained its flavours while the flavours of spices made their presence felt. The charred effect was very very enjoyable. Rate this dish 4.75/5

We also tried suran sarson pasanda – smoked yam, hung curd and sarson da saag. This was another marvel of a Dish it takes humongous caliber to come up with a dish like this.

The flavours of mustard were the most prominent and so was the taste of yam. Hung curd added to the magic on top. Loved it and rate it 4.5/5

For drink we had Masala lemonade. It had Khara masala floating in it. The drink had a punch and was very well balanced. Rate it 4.25/5

For main course we had cooker wala desi kukkad. It was country chicken cooked in a cooker in simple home style manner.

Desi chicken is something I love eating at home. It takes huge patience to cook and it takes quite a effort to soften it.

The chicken here was cut into big pieces which in itself is not a good idea coz that slows down the softening process . Some pieces were very soft, some medium and some hard, dry and fibrous. On top of this the gravy had less salt. On adding salt the gravy sprung back to life.

The host came to ask for feedback about food and we told him about the salt. He offered and insisted that we get a new one. We said ‘no, we r full’. What cud have been a magnificent dish turned out to b quite ordinary. Rate this dish 2.5/5

We also tried keema kaleji. I loved it. It was different from the traditional ones at Mughlai shops in delhi. The meat was much leaner and was probably from a smaller goat. The flavours of meat were intact. Flavours of cardamom added a character to this dish. The green peas were nice and sweet and that gave an interesting twist to the take. Rate it 4/5.

Next dish we tried was chorizo and sausage chilly fry. This turned out to b very childish and not to the standards of Mirchi and mime. The sausages were ordinary and I found no chorizo in the mix. The ‘chilly’ did not make its presence felt.

The dish was good to taste as it is but it did not have the brilliance that most dishes in Mirchi and mime have. Rate it 3/5

For dessert we tried coconut creme brûlée. It was just marvellous. The base was thick, creamy, rich and just too good. The top layer was thin and crisp. Flavours of coconut were obvious. Super loved it and almost licked the plate clean. Rate it 4.95/5

We also tried Nutella and toffee tart. This was outstanding too. The base was crispy and good. The chocolate mid and the toffee mid were intense and awesome. Every bit of this dessert was laudable. Rate it 4.75/5.

Overall rating of food at Mirchi & mime averages out to 4.3/5 – I wud say an outstanding average when it comes to so many items.

Needless to say, will revisit, to try other dishes. This restaurant has entered YUMMRAJ’s personal favorite list.