In a NUtshell

Loved eating out here, warm & efficient service, good decor, very good traditional Indian food with a twist, with two dishes as exception.

Address & other details: riyasat

Meal for 2: ₹2000 onwards

Cuisine type : vegetarian & non vegetarian

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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 got to know of this place from my favourite street food blogger of kolkata, Indrajit Lahiri. So far most of his recommended restaurants have worked well for us ….. so we decided to go for this eatery on a durga pujo astami day for lunch with family.

The restaurant is run by specialty group that is famous for oh calcutta & other restaurants.

The interiors were neither pompous nor understated. The elements of the interior was nice. The lighting was dim overall but the smartest thing to do was to have good lighting in the tables that ensured that people could see each other while chatting & of course click away memories of the get together & also the food.

During durga pujo there was a special small menu, which I guess is a tweak on their best sellers. The menu card had one liner description of each dish.

The service guys were very warm & Prompt.

Food was very good, slightly exceeding expectations from a restaurant in a mall, during durga pujo. We did not like two dishes out of a total of 13 dishes.

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

Bhatti da murg (in bill), Bhatti da chooza in menu card – we ordered tandoori Chooza. We were told it’s not real chooza (small chicken full cooked & served as one portion to one person), but normal chicken. But still someone did choose to name it chooza!!!

Anyway, the Bhatti murg was absolutely brilliant to taste – perfect balance of seasoning, soft, super juicy, perfectly charred. Rate it 4.5/5

Bhetki kairi had a superb texture – flaky, juicy. Flavours of bhetki expressed themselves well & very effectively hid that of the kairi (green mango paste). Excellent to taste. Rate it 4.25/5

Khoya broccoli saufiya was a very good vegetarian starter we had. The broccoli retained its crunchiness. The khoya gave it a very creamy texture. The mildly charred ends were enjoyable. Taste was very good. Rate this 4.25/5

Gondhoraj melon cooler was a watermelon based drink flavoured with flavorful gondhoraj lebu (a variety of lemon). Good to taste. Rate it 4/5

Shikanje ka murg pleasantly surprised us with its flavours – curry leaves, spice mix. Super soft chunks of chicken with excellent taste – a great escape from the North Indian kebabs. Rate it 4.5/5

Gilawati kabab was served with rogani roti. The roti was thick, not fully cooked & not freshly made. It was not warm. It had an overdose of aromatic agent in it. Quite sad. Rate the roti 1/5.

The gilawati kabab was good on its own. It’s balance of flavours was quite different from the best gilawati kabab that we had in Lucknow. In terms of taste, the one at kitchen of awadh is many times better. Dum pukht is obviously a class apart. Rate the kabab 3/5.

Overall rating of the dish averages out to 2/5.

Shabdegh daal makhani was a good, rustic daal makhni. No one makes this at home this way. But this is a notch leer than what you get at Bukhara. Rate it 4/5.

Ambada aloo roast had perfect texture aloo, with a good balance of sweet, sour & salt. The dry onion gravy tasted very good. Rate it 4/5

Lal Maas mathania thankfully did not claim to be an authentic Rajasthani dish. So the gravy was way thicker than it is usually & the hotness level was severely rationalised. This version is way more acceptable by many people I guess. Loved the taste of the gravy, not the texture – I found it too thick. Taste of the gravy was good. Rate the gravy 3.5/5.

The meat pieces we outstanding. Super soft , yumm, brilliant texture. Rate the meat pieces 4.75/5.

Overall rating of the dish averages out to 4.1/5

Bhetki chettinad was very nice. Thankfully it was not like the usual over spicy fake chettinad sold by most restaurants in north india. This dish at riyasat was pretty close to the real chettinad food that we have had at Chidambara Vilas karaikudi. Flaky fish full of flavours of both spices & fish. Rate it 4.5/5

Oudhi gosht biryani was absolutely way below expectations. Forget comparing with idris ki biryani / rahim’s in Lucknow, or the one at dum pukht , this biryani at riyasat did not even meet the basics. The rice was sub optimally cooked. The meats were suboptimally soft. Flavours were good though. Rate it 2/5.

Kesari kulfi with chia seeds & falooda was a very good kulfi. The texture was excellent. Different from the usual hard kulfi, this one was softer. Flavours of the dish were enjoyable. Rate it 4.25/5

Nolen gurer Sandesh puff was sheer brilliance of thought & execution. The puff had soft norom pak sondesh in the center & a superb layery, crispy layer of puff outside. The sweetness of sondesh was beautifully balanced with the saltiness of the crispy puff. Rate it 4.75/5

Overall rating of this restaurant averages out to 3.95/5

Wud like to revisit to check out the regular menu.