In a nutshell:

A beautiful restored old haveli in a narrow lane of old delhi that has highly laid back lacklustre service, outstanding ambience, brilliant live performance and excellent food – an experience to remember

Address & other details:  Lakhori

Meal for 2: 800 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 were back in delhi after a year and wanted to have some good delhi food. Looked up ‘hidden gems’ section of zomAto and stumbled upon this century plus old haveli ( old mansion) restaurant.

We started off for old delhi from gurgaon in our car – reached Jama Masjid police station and realized that we had to get off. The gali ( lane) in which the haveli is situated is narrow and hence cars cannot enter.

As we started walking in, we realized the lane was not properly lit. There were patches of darkness. At the end of the lane we were happy to see a signboard of the haveli.

We stopped to read the history of the haveli written on a stone plaque near the entrance.

We also saw an antiques showroom there.

At the entrance there was a traditionally dressed guard who let us in.

The haveli retained its original old wooden door. The small room at the entrance which is now the reception is beautiful- floral painting on the ceiling, chandeliers and a collage of framed pictures that showed the haveli in different stages of restoration.

As we walked in, we were awed. There was a courtyard surrounding which was the 4 storied haveli. Coloured glass, decorated doors, arches, beautiful balconies looked splendid. The restoration had been very tastefully done and the lighting done in such a way that it accentuated the features. Instrumental music was playing.

The haveli was made from thin kiln fired bricks and the restaurant gets it name from there – lakhori

Live dance session was also an awesome experience, specially in that setting.

The waiting staff were nice but they were like a flock of sheep without a shepherd. There was no rhythm to what they were doing. For the first 10 minutes no one came to give a menu card. People took some orders and then someone else Wud come and ask the same question. In short the management of the service team was a total failure. I realized today that they charged me for 2 veg meals but we had two nonveg meals!!!! That means the restaurant is losing money as well.

The kitchen team was outstanding I Wud say – from the food that came up on our table. The food more than made up for the irritating experience we had with the service team.

Menu card was a two pager with 1 veg fixed menu and one fixed nonveg menu

Loved the food.

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

Shikanji – this had a very good punch, had perfect balance of salt, sweet, sour. Almost as good as my favourite- pandit ved Prakash nimbu paniwale of Chandni Chowk. Rate it 4.5/5

Chaach – buttermilk was fairly thick, creamy ( not like a lassi) and good to taste but it was low on salt. Addition of salt made the dish very good. Rate it 4/5

Fixed menu non veg had the following –

Welcome drink was kanji – they forgot to give us this. We asked for it and got it. The drink was chatpata and good. It was not like the ‘real kanji’, which has a slight fermented feel to it. Rate it 3/5

Palak patta chaat  – the palak patta was optimum in its crispness and was topped with the usual chaat toppings with perfect balance of taste flavour and textures. Rate it 4.25/5

Haveli ke galouti kabab had egg as the main ingredient. It was placed on a coin sized Warqi paratha. It was super soft, different from the mutton version. Rate it 4/5

Dahi ka aranchini was good to taste. Rate it 3.5/5

Haveli special dahi Puri was there in the menu card but not served to us.

Tamatar dhania shorba was very average. The one served in Rajdhani trains tastes as good or better!!!! (That was an exaggeration)…… rate it 2.5/5

Green salad was neatly cut and arranged in a wooden bowl. Loved munching on them.

Haveli special mutton korma was excellent- soft and YUMM pieces of mutton in a super tasty thick gravy. Rate it 4.5/5

Fatehpuri chicken bharta with aubergine- this one was pretty unique – served in the middle of a sliced aubergine, this was a bharta of chicken and aubergines. Excellent. Loved the smoky flavours. Rate it 4.5/5

Dharampuri special daal was lovely – that evening we had kaali daal, as good as if cud get. Rate it 4.5/5

Kinari bazar kofta dogala was interesting- intense kofta balls wrapped in leaf and served in between two thick gravies . Rate it 4.5/5

Pulao was average. The rice was suboptimally cooked. The taste and flavour was good though. RAte it 2.5/5

Daulat ki chaat is an old delhi street food served only in winters till 9 am in morning And after sunset ( else it melts). This one at the haveli actually tasted better and more intense than the street one. Rate it 4.5/5

Aloo paan roll was the second dessert – a small cylindrical mini samosa stuffed with aloo and a paan leaf from around. Needless to say there were chutneys and spices.unique dish and surprisingly good to taste. Rate it 4.25/5

Overall rating averages out to 3.9/5

This place is not just about good food but also the overall experience- highly recommended