In a nutshell

A large restaurant with endless ‘rooms leading to more rooms’ , fast and efficient service and really nice food

Address & other details:  Shalimar

Meal for 2: 500 onwards

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.

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 were introduced to this restaurant by our friend Parvez. It’s been a year in mumbai and we had heard about this place but had a wrong image in our heads (we thought it would be something like karim’s Jama Masjid or Kallu nihariwale of delhi).

Our perception changed as soon as we reached. The restaurant had a nice memorable facade.

Inside, there were innumerable ‘rooms leading to rooms’ , all of which were very neat and clean, well air conditioned. The ceilings were low though.

The service was very fast and efficient. I noticed that the gentlemen managing the floor was very attentively looking all around constantly to make sure every table is being attended well.

Menu card was long with many options.

We went strictly by recommendation of our friend Parvez who has been here several times.

Food was very good.

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

We started with tandoori chicken. Must say that I wud not ordered this on my own unless our friend Wud hv recommended. The chicken was good quality, not the over refrigerated variety that u get in a lot of places in delhi. It was juicy and soft inside but crisp at the corners. The spices made their presence felt but they were not on the face. Rate this dish 4.5/5

We then ordered shami kabab. This was very good again. It reminded me of one of the best shami kababs that I have had – at idris Ki biryani, Lucknow and kitchen of awadh gurgaon. The shami was soft inside and had crisp outside. The inside had good amount of meat, not an overdose of daal, as in most places. The fibers of the meat cud be felt. Rate it 4.5/5

For main course we ordered mutton biryani. This was way better than what I expected, after eating average to bad biryani in delhi for a decade. The biryani here was close to the Hyderabadi style in terms of the meat being curried and the concept of layering dry gravy between layers of rice. The meat was super soft and YUMM. The rice was closer to the Lucknowi version, with long aromatic independent grains. Very good I wud say, but not in the range of the best I have ever had. Rate it 4.25/5

We also had mutton Nalli Nihari – the Nihari was closer to the ones in delhi like karims’s and haji shabrati nihariwale but different from say Kallu nihariwale of delhi and idris of Lucknow. Nalli Nihari meant that they used the Nalli pieces which are anyway one of the most sought after pieces.

Needless to say that the meat was super soft, melt in the mouth. The gravy was thick, Rich and just too YUMM. It was garnished with juliennes of ginger and Thinly chopped green chillies. Rate it 4.5/5

For dessert we had shahi gulab falooda. This was falooda in a glass with reduced milk, rose syrup and a very good hand churned ice cream. It was sweet but not overtly sweet. The ice cream was excellent – rich and creamy. Loved this dish. Rate it 4.25/5

Overall rating of food at Shalimar averages out to 4.4/5

Wud surely revisit to try out other delicacies that were jumping out of the menu card as we were trying to close our choice.