In a nutshell: A real Dhaba (now somewhat urbanized) in the middle of Glitzy buildings in millennium city, serves rustic, intense, YUMM food at prices that r still 1990s by Gurgaon standards. Address & other details: Bhai ji ka dhaba. Meal for 2: Rs. 300 onwards Cuisine type : Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has … Continue reading Bhai ji foods / Bhai ji ka Dhaba (near Amex Office, Golf course road, Gurgaon).
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)
In a nutshell: Good Ambience, very warm, efficient & courteous staff, Good sophisticated North Indian food that suits this New York based Restaurant Chain in New York, but lacks the rustic punch of North Indian food that most of us r used to here in India. Great place for taking ur Firang friends & also for families with Kids. Not recommended for hardcore foodies / … Continue reading Diwan – Indian Restaurant & Bar (SCO 29, Sector 29, Gurgaon)
In a nutshell: A fading Legend, this restaurant has a complete retro look, has ‘non smiling’ servers who have been around for a while & serves average food. Address & other details: Mughal Mahal Meal for 2: Rs. 1200 onwards Cuisine type : Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the … Continue reading Mughal mahal (7, Sethi Bhawan, Rajendra Place, New Delhi)
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: A new North Indian & Mughlai food joint that serves traditional as well as innovative dishes , no nonsense grunge look interiors that stands out, polite but abysmally uninformed staff, well planned menu but still suffering from executional glitches that wud surely need constant quality control & monitoring by the Chef. A place to watch out for…………… Address & other details: Bhatti … Continue reading Bhatti Kabab Company (102/103, First Floor, Cross Point Mall, DLF Phase 4, Gurgaon)
In a nutshell: A super tiny neat & clean restaurant with a see thru kitchen that serves a whole list of Indian regional food (more North Indian options) that is good to taste but not necessarily authentic & surely not the ‘best I have had so far’ kind. Considering this to be a neighbourhood shop, it surely scores way above most neighbourhood shops of that … Continue reading Maal Gaadi (GF 147, Sushant Vyapar Kendra, Phase 1, Sushant Lok, Gurgaon)
In a nutshell: Unbelievably good parathas – many times better than at the disgustingly famous Parathewali gali, Superb vegetarian curries & daal in a nondescript restaurant with an entrance that is shy to announce its presence. Address & other details: Once out of the Chandni Chowk Metro Station, walk towards Town Hall. When u stand with ur back to Town Hall, u see a semi … Continue reading Asha Ram Foods (Opposite Town Hall, Chandni Chowk, Delhi)
Master of curries, paneer & vegetarian Kababs, one of the best of its kind in Delhi NCR, with scope for improvement in Indian Breads & rice section. Worth a 1.5 hr metro ride for me to get here, hoping that some day they will open a restaurant in Gurgaon.
The concept of food in the restaurant is ‘Food from the different places around the Indus River – From Rajasthan to Afghanisthan, North West Frontier food, etc.’ Though the river does not really touch Rajasthan or Afghanistan, some of the cuisines of those places have been included. Tibet & Ladakh have been left out.
Indus Daal – served in a balti
Leaving Geography aside, the names of certain items are quite ‘for the sake of naming’. E.g. Harappan Aloo – Harappan Civilization existed approx 5000 years back & aloo came to Indian subcontinent as late as less than 250 years back.
A side of the Restaurant’s wall has a very well made Off white colored Mural map of the Indus Valley. The seating is bright Red high sofas, dark brown wooden tables & red seat chairs arranged in a row.
Mural Map of Indus Valley
Tables are a bit near to each other & there is chance that u wud hear the chat in the next table. However that practically is not possible due to piped instrumental music in the right volume – not loud enough to disturb a chat at one’s own table but loud enough to inhibit clarity of chat on the adjacent table.
Other part of the dining Hall
The service is good & it takes a while for them to get the dishes ordered. The finishing (if not fully) of every dish seemed to be done post placing of orders. That helped the food taste ‘freshly made’. The staff were constantly running around from table to table but they were keeping an eye on all tables as well.
The place was fully packed most of the time & I recommend doing a phone booking in peak dinner hours.
All the above aside, Food is the King here. I have never had so good paneer in Gurgaon so far except in very very few places in Delhi. The only vegetarian Tandoori platter I have had is the one at Bikanervala Gurgaon – The one at Indus Flavours is multiple times better than the Bikanervala version. I was told that Paneer is made inhouse & that makes a difference. It left a lasting impression on me – Anything paneer was good.
Staff at Work inside the lit area beside beautifully laid out Dinner table
Detailed description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:
Perfect value for money proposition with some super YUMM, some just about YUMM & some ordinary food.
Kake da Hotel
Address & other details: Outer circle CP
Meal for 2: Rs. 160 onwards
Cuisine type: nonvegetarian & vegetarian
Short Description – in case u r in a hurry:
As most of my Indian readers wud know, ‘Hotel’ here refers to a restaurant.
keema kaleji at kake da hotel
If good ambience is a must for u stepping into an eatery, Do not go here. U might come across uncomfortable scenes like swarms of flies, a guy lying down in the first floor corner, loud co-diners , heaps of semi processed onions or worst, even a rat. However, if u wanna have good to great food at prices lower than imagination, check this place out.
A restaurant that has been around for 80 years, Kake da hotel has quite a following. Situated in the outer circle of Connaught place, the hotel, like its neighbours (National Restaurant, Royal Restaurant etc), has a tiny seating area on the ground floor & has a slightly spacious first floor. The first floor is supposedly for ‘family’ crowd but I prefer the ground floor as that shows the real character of the place.
A section of the Ground floor dining room & the stairs for going to 1st floor
Very Few ladies cud be seen on the ground floor that is usually packed with individual / groups of men. Unknown people share tables due to lack of space. The area is quite crammed – u can hear almost every word that is being spoken in the table next to u.
The entrance to the Restaurant is beside a Glass front that has become smoky. Behind the Glass wall are a row of 8 – 10 dekchis (huge metal containers) on which meats of different kinds r constantly being slow cooked.
People walk in, order a curry, eat that with as many rotis they want, ask for just gravy coz that costs less (than ordering a full repeat of the dish with meat).
butter chicken at Kake da hotel
As soon as order is placed, the curry is picked up from the dekchi to serving plate & served immediately. The gravy is usually all over the plate & no one bothers to clean that up before serving to the customer.
There are several types of rotis on offer & Roti takes a while to make & serve – ‘garma garam’.
All food is made from pure desi ghee – proclaims a writing on the wall. In some dishes that comes out very clearly, in some others it does not.
By Delhi standards the prices r a steal. Price of the curries is approx. INR 130 – 140 per plate & rotis start at INR 5 per piece!!!
Menu card on the wall of Kake da hotel (click on the picture to see enlarged image)
Service is as fast as it can get. Waiting staff have been around for years & some of them have become numb. They r obviously not ‘Hotel Management trained’ like their swanky restaurant counterparts – just being a normal nice human being yields good results. I tried asking our waiter for a recommendation. ‘All is good’ was the answer. I tried 3 times with interval of 10 – 15 minutes. Answer was consistent. He was however very attentive of the way we were finishing up. As soon as we were left with 25% of the roti, he wud appear – Do u want another one?
Detailed description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:
