In a nutshell: A multi-cuisine restaurant serving some good but not great Asian, the best Kashmiri food in town, very good North Indian & pretty average American food – a selection from different specialty restaurants of the Old World Hospitality group that runs All American Diner, Chor Bizarre, Oriental Octopus etc. Address & other details: Drift Meal for 2: Rs. 800 onwards Cuisine type : Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian … Continue reading Drift (Epicentre, Apparel House, Sector 44, Gurgaon)
In a nutshell: Super impressed by the food, the awesome cocktails & a fabulous chat with the two brothers who own this place. Address & other details: Cocktails & Dreams Speakeasy Meal for 2: Rs. 1500 onwards (including alcoholic drinks). Cuisine type : Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the … Continue reading Cocktails & dreams Speakeasy (SCO 23, Sector 15 Part 2 Market, Gurgaon)
This is an Indian foodie’s experience of American food in Boston vs. similar food in India.
In a nutshell:
A 180+ year old Restaurant that has stood the test of time & in some ways is still stuck in a time freeze – Loved the whole experience with a special thumbs up to food.
I am not sure that this is the best ever restaurant serving famous Boston seafood today. However, opened in 1826*, this is the oldest surviving Restaurant in America & that itself speaks a lot – today it is a National Historic Landmark. The Building is also one of the oldest surviving buildings in Boston – constructed between 1716 & 1717 (Aurangazeb ruled India till 1707 – for time reference).
* For reference – Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor ascended the throne in 1837
In late 1800s, Toothpick was introduced in this restaurant for the first time ever. Charles Forster , the inventor of toothpicks got the idea from South America where he saw people cleaning their teeth with small slivers of wood. He came up with a machine that produced toothpicks from birchwood grown on Boston’s nearby city Maine. When he tried selling this to restaurants, he found no takers. Legend has it that he stuck a deal with a bunch of Harvard students – They went to dine at Union Oyster House & created a ruckus after the meal when their request for a tooth cleaning instrument was refused. In a few days Charles pitched the toothpicks to this restaurant & it was introduced, soon to be introduced to other restaurants. Needless to say that he had to pay for the bill of the students.
Tablemat with pic of the restaurant & a listing of Boston Heritage walk
Lobsters in early 1800s was known as poverty food in America!!!! It was a cheap source of protein fed to indentured servants & laborers. In fact, in Massachussets a group of servants rebelled & had it written in their contracts that they cud not b fed lobsters more than 3 times a week………………………………………
memorieson the wall
Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:
The whole look & feel as we went inside was that of a very old bar cum eatery – the kind that we have seen in movies. Small cubicles to sit & eat, no big hallways, wooden partitions for cubicles & so on. Loads of pictures, coins of yesteryears & menu cards of earlier days remain displayed in the wall. At the entrance was a huge aquarium with live lobsters of different sizes. It seemed unlikely though that this aquarium was there in its present form since the beginning of the restaurant. Opposite to the lobster area was a small & very old fashioned bar. People were sitting across the bar enjoying the drinks. The drinks made at the bar for guests upstairs were being sent on a manual lift operated using a pulley.
Aquarium at the entrance
A guy standing at one of the counter near the entrance said ‘Pls go & ask for a table with the Hostess’. As I reached the ‘hostess’, we came across an elderly lady sitting on a high stool across a high desk resembling a ‘speech podium’. She also appeared to be out of movies of fifties & sixties. She wrote our names on a paper with pencil & said ‘1 hour waiting for the Grand Dining Room upstairs’ or ‘u may sit in the ground floor small seating area’. We chose the second option.
Mammoth Lobsters in the aquarium
We loved our food & were very much at ease coz seafood is something that u have to eat with hands – everyone else was also eating with hands & I guess that made a lot of difference to our experience.
Detailed Description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:
In a nutshell: I was quite impressed with the Mexican Section at TGIF – in addition to some of my usual American favourites. Unfortunately there r not too many stand-alone Mexican Restaurants in Gurgaon who serve Great Mexican food & most of those Restaurants have very chicken heavy menu. For Lamb, pork & beef lovers, TGIF is a welcome relief. Address & other details: TGIF … Continue reading TGI Fridays (Ground Floor, MGF Mall, MG Road Gurgaon) I
This is a review of Breakfast at The All American Diner
In a nutshell:
A drop of water in the desert – that’s what this place was like, but take note, the water is surely not a mineral water like ‘Evian’ but it is pond water carried in leather bags on a camel back for maybe 2 days!!!! To top it all, its offering is not as unique as before.
The logo outside the restaurant
Address & other details:The All American Diner
Meal for 2:Rs. 500 onwards
the beautiful interiors at All American Diner
Cuisine Type: Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian
Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:
The Restaurant is Better than some other similar options in Delhi (in terms of food) but surely not comparable to good American Breakfast joints in America. Infact, Restaurants in Delhi like Choko la Khan Market , L’ Opera Khan Market, Eggspectation Vasant Kunj etc which r not just American, serve better breakfast egg dishes.
interesting competition at All American Diner
The Price is Indian for sure. That’s one argument that the Restaurant might have, for serving sub-optimal taste – An American Breakfast for approx. US$4 per dish? – u don’t get that in US for sure.
The interiors r superb – Black & white tiles , lots of bright colors, a colourful jukebox, outstanding posters all over the wall – Automobile ads of the past, Marylin Monroe ads, Alcohol ads & food ads like ‘People eat People’s meat’ – refers to a brand of meat called People’s meat. Peppy retro music that played in the background was enjoyable too.
The Guy who planned out this place is a genius & I admire his/her attention to detail. However, I am surprised at how they have left out the shop management in the hands of a bunch of uninterested people.
Retro stuff inside the diner
Service is much worse than even the smallest of most roadside eateries I have visited of late – at least in Dhabas waiters smile, greet, do not usually forget to inform ur order to the kitchen & try to accomodate people in a rush hour.
bacon & eggs platter at All American Diner
You may skip the description of our experience of bad service (in italics) if u r in a hurry –
The experience here at AAD was a disaster – We reached the Restaurant at 9.15 am. As we entered, we saw loads of people waiting. The guy in Black tee shirt (all others wore White Tee shirts) & a notebook in his hand appeared before us after about 5 minutes – till then we were looking all around trying to figure out what was happening. Even in Saravana Bhawan, a security guard notes ur name as soon as u reach there. As we asked him to note our names for getting a table, he looked at us with a facial expression that clearly said ‘oh S**t, two more morons’. Leave about being excited about getting customers, he was actually pissed. The sentence that he spoke post this & the tone was even more shocking ‘ There is a waiting of 1 hour. Do u still want to wait?’. I was getting the feeling that I was in a Govt. run ration shop where every customer is looked at like a pest who has come to spoil the shopkeeper’s time.
interesting retro posters & pics all over the walls
We decided to wait & to sit on the high stools on a side. We asked the same guy to give us a menu card so that we cud order some shake / smoothie to beat our hunger (we travelled all the way from Gurgaon). ‘Sorry, we do not serve food on the high stools’. We said – ‘We r not asking for food but drinks. This is a Rs. 1000 note – now that u r assured we will not run away, pls get us the menu card.’ He reluctantly handed us two menu cards with disgust writ all over his face. We decided on 2 drinks & as we wanted to place the order. The guy walked in front of us 3 times pretending not even to see us – almost running away & consciously avoiding eye contact. Finally we had to actually hijack his attention by getting in his way to stop him to take the order. See how desperate become when someone plays around with their hunger!!!
We got the seats at around 10.00 am – that also after one waiting guy in white tee tried to tell us that our name was not listed in the waiting list & I challenged him to get back the notebook in which names were written. He came back, without the notebook & said ‘ ur seats r ready’!!!
Orders were placed at 10.00am as soon as we sat & at 10.15 the guy returned to us – ‘Sorry, I forgot to punch the order on the system. Can u pls repeat the order’!!!! I failed to understand how that is possible. We obliged & finally got the food at 10.35. I had no idea it cud be such a struggle to get a breakfast after paying for it!!!!
the bar area at All American Diner
I also noticed that while there were people waiting, there were few couples seeing pictures from a laptop, or another group just chatting & not really eating something!!! Try that in other high traffic Restaurants like Saravana Bhawan & see what happens.
The food is not bad but not great either. I guess the myth of All American diner stems from the fact that when it was launched, there were no good alternatives & this was probably the best choice in town. Its surely time to deconstruct the myth – how about this:
If the joint is so popular & has so much waiting, why not have some more Restaurants? Why not have some more space? Why have snobbish staff with disasterous body language? Where does that pride stem from? The waiting guys? …………………… Well, nothing lasts forever. If someone else opens up a similar joint in Delhi on a larger scale, this one will not take time to wither.
another view of the interiors
Detailed Description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:
The look & feel of the interiors of the restaurant is same as u wud come across in North America. The wooden sofa / chair seating, the beautiful red & white designed tabletops, the numerous funny & not so funny but smart posters on the wall & so on. For 4 – 6 diners there were sofas & there were plenty of table-chairs for couples. Loved the concept.
the red bright table-tops
One of the posters said ‘I want my baby back ribs’ but sadly those were not being served. I loved the buffalo wings wall post.
buffalo wings
However, unlike the Delhi & Gurgaon ones, most of the American ones are not in Malls but are standalone.
Trio filling for Fajitas – chicken, shrimps & tenderloin
The guys on service are very good, polite, warm & quite friendly as well.
The menu card was colorful & was full of excellent photographs of food.
the menu card
We decided to stick to ‘Mex’ (Mexican) & our friend & Guest Blogger Neha decided to try ‘Tex’ (Food from Texas, USA) as well.
Prawn Jambalaya
We liked the food & wud surely get back. Not at par with the stand-alone Tex Mex restaurants in Southern part of USA but quite good on its own – given that its a restaurant chain.
Huge 3D poster on the wall
Good alternate to TGIF which is quite good itself.
mixed grilled meats & shrimp
Pricing here is quite interesting – Food is quite cheap but drinks are just the opposite. e.g. A trio fajita (read details below)that can fill up 2 people for an evening snack is for Rs. 400 whereas a margarita is for Rs. 350. So u pay Rs. 700 for 2 drinks & only Rs. 400 for a meal that totally fills u up!!!!
Detailed Description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:
In a nutshell: Nice & interesting fried Chicken shop. Address & Other details:Crispy Chicken Cuisine Type: Nonvegetarian Meal for 2: Rs. 250 onwards Description: One fine morning on our way out of the country, we ended up at the food court of International Departures, T3 Airport. We were not very hungry but a bit hungry. We saw a huge poster of ‘KFC look’ buckets of … Continue reading Crispy chicken T3 (Food Court, International Departures, New Delhi)
An Indian foodie’s experience of American & European food in USA vs.& comparison with same dishes available in India.
In a nutshell: Tried eating a whole lot of different things & hit rate of good vs. not good was just too high.
Address & other details: Phoenix Downtown Sheraton
Cuisine Type: Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian
Meal for 2:US$ 60 onwards
Description:
A stay in this Hotel for a week gave me an opportunity to eat different kinds of food. Here is the story of those.
First day in the Hotel, we went for the breakfast buffet. A simple Breakfast spread in which each & every item was good – the sauteed potatoes with a strong taste, the crispy bacon with a juicy aftertaste, the outstanding flavorful sausage that was uneven, lumpy & juicy within, the simple yet tasty scrambled eggs that had much less salt than what an Indian wud expect in an egg dish, a bit of salsa & another cool bread called ‘biscuit’. The ‘biscuit’ was flaky from outside & very soft within. It had a good flavor & was good to b eaten on its own.
Loved the breakfast at Phoenix Downtown Sheraton
I tried ‘Cedar Roasted Organic Salmon’. Interesting – not heard of wood grilled Salmon in too many places in India. The huge fillet of grilled salmon was placed on a bed of potatoes & veggies. It was served ‘perfectly grilled’, garnished with aromatic herbs. The fish was flaky & nice within – thoroughly enjoyable.
Cedar roasted Organic Salmon
I also tried the All American Burger with an 8 oz hamburger patty. For filling it had lettuce, tomatoes, onions, Dill Mayo, & Schreiner’s Bacon………all in one!!!!! I enjoyed the burger with mustard sauce on some bites. Interesting &Very Good – I guessthe patty wud have beenjuicier &better if I wud have had it as soon as the patty was made. Room service meant there was a transit time& hence the patty was on the borderline of being ‘dry’.
All American burger
A very interesting food that I had here was the ‘Garden Veggie Thin crust Pizza’. It was thinner than any thin crust I have ever had anywhere. We had this with extra topping of Italian Pepperoni. Unlike any other Pizza I have seen before, this one was square!!!!The crust was super thin – almost like a chapati / roti – crispy towards the corner.
Garden veggie thin crust pizza with extra pepperoni topping
Super loved the taste, texture, juiciness & everything about it exceptthe excessive cheese. Excess Cheese than a normal Homosapean can manage in 1 meal – it being the USA.
Contributed By Guest Blogger Vasudha Mukherjee Bal for ……………the Chef in u
This was one of those weekday nights where I was craving for something different for dinner and yet did not have the energy to spend a lot of time in my kitchen. I was feeling equally lazy to look for recipes and started with a blank slate – wondering what I could do with whatever little produce I had in my refrigerator.
I found that some asparagus stocks that screamed “Eat me before I die” loudly to me as I opened the chiller tray. So did some white fish I bought the other day without a clue of what I would do with them. Found some wilted parsley, a few florets of cauliflower and a lone tomato too as well as some couscous. So decided that I would use the trio of couscous, fish, and asparagus for dinner that day. The trio transformed itself to a memorable meal, so wanted to share my accidental gastronomic discoveries with everyone who cares to read. Here is what I did…
Asparagus with lemon agave vinaigrette
Asparagus with lemon agave vinaigrette
I first microwaved a bag of asparagus for a few minutes – you can blanch them if you don’t have the microwaveable variety. Next, I whisked up a dressing with the juice of a lemon, a dash of orange juice, a couple of diced shallots (or use little red onions), some agave nectar (use honey if you don’t have agave), salt and pepper. Next, heat a skillet, put a tablespoon of olive oil, sauté the asparagus, and spread the dressing over it. That is it!
Fish with lemon garlic sauce.
Fish with lemon garlic sauce
I used haddock fillets, but you can use any white fish that you have with you. I first spread some flour and a couple of teaspoons of panko crumbs on a plate and put salt, pepper and a dry rosemary-garlic rub that I had (use any dry herbs you have). Patted the fish on the flour mixture, shook off the excess flour and out it on a hot grill pan which I had earlier put some oil spray on. (You can use a regular frying pan too, but I love the grill marks that the grill pan gives me, plus cast iron distributes heat evenly).
