Deconstructing the buzz around the new kid on the block

In a nutshell:

Makers of outstanding baked parathas (outer layer of pie) but average curries with disappeared meat flavors (average filling) when it comes to savoury pies, great hot freshly baked sweet pies for dessert, visually delightful ambience, great place to catch up with a friend, great service.

Address & other details: petite pie shop

Meal for 2: ₹1200 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 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.

YUMMRAJ rates all the food items & then gives 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

Of late there has been a lot of buzz about this place. Social media has been full with posts about this eatery. Two recommendations that caught our attention were from famous food writer Marryam Reshi & founder of gurgaon foodies – aalok wadhwa. Incidentally our friend who calls himself YUMMDOOT (he has written some posts here as well), also had great things to say about the desserts he had here.

So we (team YUMMRAJ) decided to drop in here on a Saturday evening with YUMMDOOT to have our own point of view.

It was good to see worldMark (the place where this shop is located) buzzing with people & eateries doing good business, after a catastrophic year & half.

As we reached in front of petite pie shop ( will refer to as PPS in the rest of the post), the look & feel impressed us a lot. A retro look eatery, every detail meticulously done – from the designs on the walls & ceilings, to the arches, the wood work & the lamp shades.

The chequered floor was something I just loved.

The wood & glass facade was wow.

We got ourselves a table for 4. We were pleasantly surprised to find a full service set up.

The gentleman serving us food was proactive , very efficient & took great care. He also suggested a dessert that we loved.

Menu card was quite long, it had Easy to read sections & it was visually good.

Food – loved the desserts, loved the base & the lids of the freshly made pies (such a rare experience in delhi NCR), savoury fillings were OK.

Infact, after we were done with dinner, we were so much in shock that this is what I had drafted as the beginning paragraph – Deconstructing the myth created by an outstanding PR & marketing effort by the cafe – storytelling vs reality, we fell a victim to that & ended up going there.

After cooling off, (food that is very different from what is promised , really agitates the mind as we have invested our time, money & stomach space) we decided to rephrase & rewrite the draft & we ended up with the current one.

We were so surprised at our experience on savoury items that we went back to read the original posts of Marryam reshi & aalok wadhwa.

We realized AAlok had eaten two pies that we did not. So we decided to go back another day to try those ones (pending). Marryam’s experience, we realized, wud be different than ours, as eateries wud put in their best when they know she is coming.

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

One of the few bad meals that still gives me nightmares was a ‘Pandi curry’ that we had ordered from ‘together at twelve’. For those who know, pork pandi curry is a typical coorg dish that is thick, intense & super high on flavors & textures. The one from ‘together at twelve’ came with a flowing ‘jhol’ & broccoli in it!!!! A culinary crime to me – it’s like someone claiming to serve us Awadhi gosht biryani & we find baby corns & tomato purée in it!!!! Why call it pandi curry if it is not? Why not ‘gandi curry’? In my bad dream days I see this dish has been served to me again & I wake up in the middle of the night, sweating!!! Well the last sentence was an exaggeration to prove a point, you see.

U wud b wondering why I am mentioning it here. Well, coz after I finished writing the ‘short description section’ today, I got to know that the founders of PPS are the same people who ran ‘together by twelve’. Never wrote about this or reviewed it earlier as I was in utter shock after eating that curry. Cud not resist mentioning it here.

Day 1

Spanish chorizo pie – the pie was baked after we placed the order. It came warm, not just ‘warmed in an oven’.

The temperature was just right. As I was cutting the pie, I realized the immense flakiness of its crust – I was convinced it was outstanding, even before it landed on my taste buds. Perfect texture, perfect seasoning, mind blowing. Best ever I remember having in india. Rate the crust 4.95/5

Chorizo reminds of a strong flavor of meat / lard / both & things added to it. Robust flavors & robust taste. At PPS, they had ended up currying the chorizo & just totally overshadowing the chorizo-ness of the chorizo with some kind of a tomatoeeks tomato based sauce. Murder of chorizo in broad daylight!!!!

Did it taste bad? No. It tasted like a normal sausage based filling that every average eatery in delhi NCR serves. Rate the filling 2/5

Overall rating of chorizo pie averages out to 3.5/5

Shepherds pie – a layer of minced meat (supposed to be lamb) beneath a layer of mashed potato, baked.

If I am not mistaken, the slightly burnt edges on the top of the potato were done with a hand held torch. Did not seem to have come out of the oven like that.

Rate the potato top layer 4/5

The mince meat was machine made, too fine to retain any texture or to convey a taste. The flavors of meat had vanished, as if it never existed. The robust flavorful juices that come out while cooking hand minced lamb (or even good machine minced ones) were totally gone. In blind tasting many people will not be able to tell if it is mutton mince or chicken. Quite an insult to the greatness of the animal who sacrificed itself to make us happy.

Rate the minced meat bottom layer 2/5.

Overall it was a good dish, if one has not eaten a good shepherds pie ever. Rating of the dish averages out to 3/5.

Chicken pot pie again came piping hot. As the name suggests, the pie was set in a pot & baked. The top layer was outstanding & the best ever I cud recollect. Flaky, perfect texture, perfect balance of taste. Rate the upper crust 4.95/5.

Same challenge with chicken mince as in the mutton mince, for shepherds pie (scroll above). Rate the mince layer 2/5.

Overall rating averages out to 3.5/5

Warm apple pie was different than what is served in most places in india, it was outstanding & simply memorable. The super thin filo outer cover was unique & outstanding. The warm, cooked base with an intense balance of sweet & salt complimented the super thin strips of real apple that were sweet & sour. It was theater in the plate. It was messy to cut with a knife but the best dessert I have had in a while. Rate it 4.95/5.

Salted caramel pie was recommended to us by the gentleman serving us. Crisp outer layer, super soft & melting off mid part, a beautiful interplay of bitter, sweet & salt & a mouthful of ecstasy. Wow. Rate it 4.75/5

Rating of food at PPS averages out to 3.9/5

Wud surely revisit to try aalok’s recommendations & also try the desserts.