In a nutshell: A cool eatery inside a heritage building, that serves very good veggie and nonveg continental food. Address & other details: Woodside inn Facebook page: Woodside inn Meal for 2: 800 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 … Continue reading Woodside inn (Wodehouse Road, Opposite Regal Cinema, Colaba, Mumbai)
This is in continuation to my earlier super popular post on AC 1st Class Duronto train In a nutshell: Quite enjoyable food, a memorable journey & excellent service by the crew. Address & other details: N.A. Meal for 2: N.A. Cuisine type : vegetarian and nonvegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill … Continue reading Food aboard AC 1st class Rajdhani train, Delhi Mumbai
In a nutshell: A winter sweet sold in Lucknow that is conceptually similar to Daulat ki Chaat of Delhi but tastes better & is more flavorful (in my opinion). Address & other details: Chowk Meal for 2: Rs. 40 onwards Cuisine type : only vegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & … Continue reading Makhan Malai (Chowk , Lucknow)
This is a review by YUMMRAJ’s foodie friend Rashi Agarwal. She is the one who poked & prodded YUMMRAJ to go to this place. YUMMRAJ’s review is placed just below this review: So one fine day I decided to ditch the malls and go to the National Science Center and National Crafts Museum. What I expected while entering the majestic gate of the museum was … Continue reading Cafe Lota (National Crafts Museum, Bhairon Marg, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi)
This is a part of YUMMRAJ’s series called TIMELESS KOLKATA EATOUTS – reviews of Heritage Kolkata restaurants. Each restaurant has been rated as ‘Old is Gold’ or ‘Old is no more Gold’ based on the experience. Year/decade of opening- 1920 as per cmpany website, banner outside shop says 100 years……maybe they rounded off. In a nutshell: Legendary Kolkata 100 yr old restaurant with a typical … Continue reading Mitra café (47, Jatindra Avenue, at Shobha Bazar Metro station crossing, Kolkata)
This is a late add to YUMMRAJ’s series called TIMELESS KOLKATA EATOUTS – reviews of Heritage Kolkata restaurants. Each restaurant has been rated as ‘Old is Gold’ or ‘Old is no more Gold’ based on the experience.
Year/decade of opening- Around Independence.
YUMMRAJ Demystifies the Legend of Peter Cat & maintains OLD IS GOLD
In a nutshell:
A retro restaurant (not by design but coz they never changed with time) with a great ambience, old school staff, good food for the prices that they charge but nowhere as good compared to the ’real thing’- be it European or Persian.
Peter Cat has been around for decades & that speaks a lot – Restaurants open very often & close down almost as often. The ones who survive the test of time surely have something good / unique to offer.
The décor as I mentioned above is retro in today’s context – red sofas facing each other & nice lamp shades above each table. The lighting is dim overall but the lamps on each table illuminate the table good enough to see each other, have a good chat & enjoy some good food. There are two floors & the way to top floor is as grand as it can get.
The dining Hall at Peter Cat & the Waiting staff in the background
Waiting staff look Grand as well, with their sherwani suits, flamboyant headgear & pointed shoes. Most of them are however quite Old School – smooth talking, knowledgeable, not overtly attentive but attentive as well, not quite warm, talks with an air of authority interspersed with some rare smiles & I guess quite bored of doing the same job for donkey’s years…… & that shows on their face. U will enjoy the evening if u think this to b a part of the package – dining at a retro restaurant & being served by people who r enacting the past:)
The food is good in general & at the prices that the food is offered, I wud say some are excellent. However, if u compare the non- Indian dishes to the original dishes the way they r, then u might b quite disappointed.
Read YUMMRAJ’s latest review of AC 1st class rajdhani here: rajdhani
In a nutshell:
My first time travel in AC 1 of Duronto – turned out to b a series of Pleasant surprises. Pretty Good food, very good service & an amazing experience in a coupe of a new coach.
The story:
Duronto , like the Rajdhani trains, r full AC trains with meals included in the ticket price. Unlike Rajdhani, Duronto is a ‘no stop’ train – so it straight away stops at the final destination. We decided to travel by this train for a holiday from Delhi to Kolkata & chose AC1.
inside Duronto AC1 coupe
What is strange about AC1 is that even if u book way in advance, the seats / cabins r not allocated till the day of journey. We were thrilled to see us being allotted to a coupe (only two people in a cabin instead of four).
As I entered the coupe , I was pleasantly surprised. It did not quite look like Indian Railways. New coach, spic & span, pristine white walls & ceiling, a huge 4ft X 3ft mirror, a tiny mirror etc. I cud sense the room freshner as well. At times it felt like we were sitting in a mid-range hotel (of course ignoring the size of the cabin).
We were lucky to have the pantry car just next to our coach. It had transparent glass window & I peeped into it – looked as good as an open kitchen restaurant. Within I guess 10 minutes after the train started, an IRCTC representative came & welcomed us & gave us a rose & a facial wet wipe.
welcome rose & face wipe aboard Duronto
Within minutes of this, the pantry boy appeared with two menu cards – printed & laminated like the ones in low to mid end Restaurants. One menu card was veg Indian & nonveg Indian. The other was Veg continental & non-veg continental.
We started to read the Indian non-veg & were surprised to see ‘veg au gratin’ written in it. We were told that ‘the starters r common for Indian & continental but the main course is different’.
Detailed Description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:
Service started within 30 minutes of the start of journey. The server came in & pulled out two foldable tables from one corner of our cabin & set them up.
Foldable dinner tables aboard Duronto
He served freshly made thick vegetable soup. Good to taste by Restaurant standard & awesome to taste by ‘Indian Railways standard’. Soup sticks were also given along with this – those turned out to be sub optimally crunchy. We njoyed our soup with dollops of Amul butter. Halfway thru the soup I decided to season it with black pepper – that is what turned out to b a bad decision. The pepper provided was as fine as dust & it was quite weird. Spoilt the Soup to some extent.
vegetable thick soup aboard Duronto
After a gap of almost 20 minutes, we were served starters – 2 pieces of Fish Orly & a lump of vegetable au gratin, in addition to one apple.
Vegetable au gratin turned out to b a catastrophe. It was a lump of sweet potato with cheese popping up at different spots, funny texture & really bad by Restaurant, someone’ home or train or any standard.
The fish orly was awesome to the power 10. It was deep batter fried fish that had a thin outer batter layer & a superbly juicy, soft, flaky fish fillet inside. Outstanding flavors of the fish & also the spices ……………….. Good by all standards – Restaurant, train, aeroplane, someone’s house etc.
My childhood favourite – Re-visited after many years & Loved the simple menu , some good & some great food at prices that surprise.
Bengal Hotel – Moton o fowl
Address & other details:Bengal Hotel
Meal for 2: Rs. 200 onwards
fish fry at Bengal Hotel
Cuisine Type: A bit of Vegetarian & predominantly Nonvegetarian
Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:
As kids we used to go to this super tiny restaurant to have fish cutlets. The ambience did not matter then coz we were not aware of ‘ambience’ in an eatery & now it does not matter to me as long as the food is superb. We used to drool over the food then & this time around I found it very good, if not as good as before.
mutton cutlet at Bengal Hotel
The owner sits right at the entrance – He handles cash & remote manages the place. There is one guy who I have seen as the manager for many years now – order taking from customers & coordinating. Food is served by ‘chhotus’.
Fish roll at Bengal Hotel Behala
The most interesting thing at this restaurant is the rate chart. The menu is printed on a board on the wall – permanent (I think it was same when I was a kid). The price of the dish is written with chalk everyday besides the description. All items r made in limited quantities & as soon as an item is sold out, the manager runs to the board & rubs off the price. Popularity still soars & by 6.30 pm onwards one by one the items start getting sold out. The shop opens at around 3.30 pm & shuts by approx. 8.00 pm.
The ‘interesting’ rate chart at Bengal Hotel, Behala
They also pack ‘fry & eat’ chops & cutlets. I have heard that NRIs carry these back home. I carry these back to Gurgaon at times.
‘fry & eat’ chops & cutlets in case u want to pack it for home
The food is Anglo Indian – Chops & cutlets that have become Bengali now & mutton & chicken curries that have a wide following in Britain these days. We tried the mutton cutlet, fish roll, fish fry & also mutton kosha. Liked the mutton cutlet, liked very much the fish roll & fish fry & super loved the mutton kosha.
Detailed Description – In case u have the time to njoy readin:
Super tiny & quite a cool place to hang out, retro music, books on the shelf to pick & read, good for catching up with a friend, a quick date (maybe not the first), reliving nostalgic high school moments & so on……. amidst some good food
Sakley’s
Address & other details: Sakley’s
Meal for 2: Rs. 500 onwards
very interesting pasta
Cuisine Type: Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian
banana toffee pie
Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:
The shop board made with Wood reminds of similar eateries up in the Himalayas. The eatery is tiny with a very warm decor. Seating is with simple lightweight & good looking metal-wood combo furniture. Huge retro posters adorn the walls. Retro music plays in the background quite loud – Good enough to let u talk with ur partner while njoying the music at the same time. The ceiling is too curious – It looks like ‘made of logs’. Beyond the super tiny seating area is a pastry counter that showcases some really ‘mouth-watering look cakes’.
the interiors – with the pastry counter in the background
As I mentioned above, the space is small & the seating is packed – so chances that u will hear the debates / discussions of the next table & vice versa but thankfully nothing of that sort happened to us. While people came & went, it was never 100% full & hence the table next to us was empty for the 2 hrs we spent here.
the good sandwich
As we sat, we came across a very cool writeup on Sakley’s – Must admit that after reading this, I remembered my ‘high school’ day romances & I was lucky that the same person I romanced back then, was sitting right in front of me here at Sakley’s 🙂 & over the next 1 hour I watched the sun setting in her backdrop.
the Legend of Sakley’s
The menu card was cool – great concept & good artwork. Someone really used a lot of dimaag while conceptualizing this. Sadly, it was badly physically mangled at the corners – the lamination had gone for a toss. Reprinting / relamination doesn’t cost a lot & is surely due for the menu cards here.
the menu card at Sakley’s
Food was better than I had expected here. Drinks were good but not ‘I have not have it so good ever’ variety. The portions of food were huge. So cud not try much at a go. Will try some more variety sometime later.
Another view of walls & ceiling of Sakley’s
Detailed Description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:
