Mathur khatirdari with anoothi vishal

In a nutshell:

Our second experience of Mathur food pop up by author, columnist & food historian, Anoothi Vishal turned out super memorable once again – really good home-cooked like food, with great attention to detail, served in a beautiful hotel restaurant, with outstanding service.

Address & other details: the park

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Meal for 2: ₹1500 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

We had been to a pop up by Anoothi Vishal way back in 2015, at hotel Surya international. That was our first brush with kayasth cuisine & culture. Read about our earlier experience here – kayasth food pop up

When we met Ashok mathur (a very good friend now) last year, he explained in great detail the nuances of the kayasth community & the history.

Please read the note below for a background of the Kayasths.

You may also read more about the kayasth community & their food in this book by Anoothi Vishal – book

At the Park, it was a great experience. Right from the person who took my car keys with a broad warm smile, to the gentleman who welcomed us at the restaurant, it was really good. The boy who served us food did magic – he was super chatty with us & shared many nuances of his food experiences while growing up in UP. That conversation added to the experience of the evening.

The special menu card was self explanatory. Very easy to read & understand

Absolutely loved the food. Got some more packed, to eat at home later.

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

Mrs. LC’s shami kabab

Absolutely home style kababs with flavours of mutton, texture of daal & subtle taste. Loved every bit of it. Not a drop extra greasy. There was a layer of raw onions & raw green chillies in the middle. Loved it. Rate it 4.5/5

Kulle was boiled potato, cucumber & tomato scooped out & filled with tangy chickpeas, with kaala Chaat masala. This was crazy good. We could not believe this was on the menu. The level of tanginess was way above the comfort level, bordering ‘shocking’ & it’s amazing to see that chef did not water it down. Loved the extreme tanginess. Kaala Chaat masala did its magic. Rate it 4.5/5

We then moved to a dish called takey paise टके पैसे!! These were cylindrical lentil dumplings, as if coins are stacked on top of one another. Maybe that’s where the name came from. The curry was super simple & really good to taste. Exactly like a good home food. No extra oil/ cream floating, no undercooked spice paste etc. loved it.

The best part was that the lentil dumplings were soft enough to be enjoyable & hard enough to give a bite (not paste like, but lumpy). Rate it 4.75/5

We also had Babaji’s sookhi urad dal – we were speechless after having this. We also got a portion packed for eating later at home. Independent grains of dry urad daal, moistened by ghee, mild flavours, just the right amount of cooking & outstanding taste. Rate it 4.95/5

Kacchey keemey ke koftey – round goat meatballs stuffed with almond in the center, cooked in a thin gravy with layers of onion. When the gravy would first hit the taste buds, it would seem thin & mild. As the onions do their magic, the layers of taste & after taste would start happening. Really good. Rate it 4.5/5

Dad’s yakhni pulao was pure joy. The meats were perfectly cooked, not more not less. The flavours of meat were intact. There was no overpowering spice flavour. The rice was long grain independent strands. A really enjoyable meat dish where meat is the king, with rice beautifully complimenting it. Rate the dish 4.75/5

For dessert we ordered lauki ki lauz as recommended by the chef of park hotel. A classic dessert of the Mathurs, we are yet to have the home version. This lauz was a really good sweet, was enjoyably low on sweet & had a tinge of salt. The lauki was not obvious in either the taste or the flavour. Rate it 4/5

Overall rating of food at the pop up averages out to 4.53/5

It’s incredible how the taste, flavour, feel of home food was preserved in a large commercial set up. Loved it.