Restaurant Review: Dhaba food with quirky spin

Colourful, quirky with signboards in Hindi and songs from Bollywood play in the background as you enter. The place definitely sets the mood even before you choose your table. There’s a large red truck on level two with a seating inside. It is a perfect selfie spot and has already been flooding the social media. 

As we sit chatting about the fun interiors that can add chutzpah to any dull day, we are served the good old shikanji in what we call the ‘Banta bottles’ in north. The traditional lemonade with some soda and chaat masala sprinkled on top helps in getting our palate ready for the delicious feast. 

From tandoor items, we pick palak paneer ki seekh, tandoori bhune aloo and galouti kebab. The tandoori bhune aloo is tantalising and something we have never tried before. The tandoor roasted baby potatoes are sliced and shallow fried and served with onion, tomato, spices and the magical saunt chutney. It is tangy, spicy and sweet at the same time. Palak paneer ki seekh is an innovative vegetarian kebab, in which minced cottage cheese and spinach were blended together with spices and cashews, then skewered and cooked in tandoor. It was nice but not outstanding. We have had better vegetarian kebabs in the city. But what really left a lasting impression was the galouti kebab. It was just like it should be soft and melt-in-mouth. The slow-cooked minced lamb kebab was so soft that it broke as we tried to use cutlery. It was delicious and our favourite from the evening. 

For the main course we ordered dal dhaba, dhabe di aloo gobhi and their signature non-vegetarian delicacy balti meat along with an assorted bread basket. Dal dhaba is the restaurant’s take on the popular north Indian dal makhani. It was silky smooth and buttery; without doubt the best version of the dish we have had in the city. We took a bite of Amritsari kulcha with the dal and were in loss of words. If you are dismissing the aloo-gobhi right away, look no further. Prepared in a rich yogurt-based gravy, this sour and spicy vegetarian main course dish is a must for vegetarians. It looks gorgeous and tastes even better. And for non-vegetarians balti meat is a great option. Served literally in a little bucket, this mutton gravy dish goes best with garlic naan. It is adequately spiced, flavourful and not too heavy. We loved it. 

After eating our hearts out, we hardly had space for desserts but gave into hot gulab jamuns and rabri. The former was soaked in a delicious sugar syrup, was piping hot and marvellously sweet. It will remind you of cold winter evenings spent in Delhi with hot jamuns to the rescue. The rabri, served and set in mud pots was thick, rich and mildly sweet. We loved it!

Cuisine: North Indian 

Contact: 044 33011771 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars