This is a series about how eating out is, post COVID lockdown. Read about the previous dining out / takeaway / home delivery experiences after the COVID pandemic lockdown here – amar Jyoti tres spectra threesixtyone Tenali bagundi potbelly divine cafe lungta
In a NUtshell
A visually beautiful, cool, restaurant that serves Tasty, urbanized, moderately firangized, not at all rustic food, from different regions of india – nowhere in comparison to the Bombay canteen (same concept). Great place to catch up with friends. Good professional service.
Address & other details: jamun
Meal for 2: ₹500 onwards
Cuisine type : vegetarian & non 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
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 restaurant from a fellow food blogger – Sneha Lata saikia. She has been going out to interesting places since lockdown was lifted. We have followed her trail at times.
The restaurant is situated in the beautiful, colonial architecture, all white, Lodhi Colony market. Parking was quite easy – not in abundance but there were 4-5 slots free when we reached the restaurant around 1.30 pm.
As we entered, someone checked our body temperature. There was an automated, touch-free hand sanitizer dispenser on the wall. It was the only eye sore in the stunningly beautiful restaurant. A good idea would be to of course have it, but mask it with something that goes with the theme.
The walls were like hand finished rural house walls.
The furniture was all retro, I guess hand made, now restored. So there was no uniformity in the furniture, as it would have been collected from different places.
The green creepers with red flowers made a statement. They just dramatically changed the look of the room. The iron grill windows added to the drama.
The cutlery looked traditional – metal.
The tablemats has the same theme of green creepers & red flowers.
Thruout our stay of 90 minutes, the Same retro Bollywood song was playing in a loop!!! I don’t know if this is planned or was an oversight. Whatever it was, it was very irritating.
The menu card was a piece of art.
Loved reading the note on the menu card
No Amex!!! In Lodhi market!!! Joke?
Detailed description – in case u hv the time to njoy reading:
As we sat, we got 4 chutneys & papad to munch on. loved 2 out of 4 – the orange one & the yellow one.
The yellow papad was outstanding.
Tamatar ki Chaat – the tamatar cud not be seen when the Chaat arrived. Small nimki (deep fried maida chips, dough made with adding ghee/oil to make it crisp & flaky) was what we cud see on top. A digging in with spoon revealed the crunchy tomatoes.
The Chaat came out Very interesting due to the play of contrast textures – crisp nimki, soft yet crunchy tomatoes, crunchy onions. The taste had a medley of sweet, sour, salt, chilly hot. The chaat was chatpata & hands wud not stop munching it.
Our friend who had eaten this chaat in Varanasi, on the roadside, said this one at Jamun was thicker than the more watery but more flavorful chaat in Varanasi. Rate it 4.25/5.
Mutton ghee roast was good but we had had this dish better in many places. The robustness of the original dish was missing. The rustic ness was absent. It was almost like A tamed circus lion – looked like lion but did’nt behave like one. Mellowed down. The mutton ghee roast at gusto by Sanhita is miles better than this. Rate it 3/5
Aam panna was tangy. It had a good balance of sweet, sour & salt. It had a bit of plasticky feel as it was a bottled drink & not freshly churned one. Rate it 3/5.
Jamun butter chicken was good. The chicken pieces were soft & nice. The gravy was smooth & creamy. The tanginess was a bit on the higher side. Sweetness balanced it. The one at Amar Jyoti restaurant was way better. Rate it 3.75/5
Ker sanghri kofte – we always like ordering ker sanghri if it is on the menu. We like the distinct texture of this dish which is a common dish in rajasthan. The kofte were good to taste on their own but the ker sanghri was lost. The thick gravy was good to taste. Rate it 3.5/5
Lal maas was very very urbanized, firangized, tamed, chained etc etc. usually this dish is rustic, robust, hot, full of flavors of the chilly that makes the gravy red, has a medium thickness, uneven consistency gravy. This one was contrast – not rustic, not robust, low flavors of chilly, thick gravy, smooth consistency. It was a good dish on its own but not the laal maas I have known during my multiple trips to rajasthan.
The meat was very soft & falling off the bones.
Rate it 3.75/5
Malabar paratha was excellent. It was super crisp on the outside & was perfectly soft in the middle. The infinite layers (exaggerating) were super enjoyable. Rate it 4.5/5
There were two options of sweets in the menu. None of them were made Inhouse. So we decided not to have desserts & go some place else for the same.
Overall rating of food at jamun averages out to 3.7/5
We Wud likely never revisit for a meal. However we might visit to treat our firang / NRI friends here, or anyone else who we think would not be able to handle the real thing. The Bombay canteen which has a similar theme (regional food from across the country) is way better in representing regional tastes & flavors. The difference between the two restaurants is as wide as the difference between a Honda city & a BMW.