Spineless

Natraj Dahi Bhalle Wala - Thanks to Delhi Metro

2010-03-13T21:03:00.000-08:00

Written by me on Burrp, Jan 07, 2009

Thanks to the metro, when you come out of the metro station and enter Chandni Chowk through the narrow alley, you encounter this shop on the corner. I tried the stuff without knowing the legend or popularity and found it to be good. Different from the lot of other places in Delhi.

Later I realized how famous and popular this place was, but I still enjoy an occasional bhalla there.

Natraj Dahi Bhalle Wala
1396, Chandni Chowk, Delhi
Phone: 65364631, 9811167400

Howzatt - the ONE and only in Country

2010-03-13T21:01:00.000-08:00

Written by me on Burrp, Jan 21, 2009

This is kind of proud moment for me, to review a place that is one of its kind in not only in the city but country itself.

As many of us know that Micro-Breweries are quite popular in the west, however in India we do not have the culture yet. There are one that we thought would come up in Gurgaon and after following up for 6 months and that not opening, we gave up following up. But this weekend, my friends decided to meet at Howzzat and they told me that its a Micro brewery, I was surprised that I was not aware about its opening.

Now one I entered the place, I got the feel of a super expensive lounge, and I started taking account of the moolah I had in pocket :D. As the name suggestes, its a cricket theme places, with large screen and few more strategically placed screens. The seating looked quite plush and all the metal that was shining from the brewery made it look uber.

Anyhow, I settled down and looked at the menu, the first thing was beer, they have four different types of beer and 3 of them were not available at that time (it was 6 pm, we were told that other beers would be ready as evening progresses) so we ordered what was available.

So we started of with bouncer (name of beer), which was quite good in taste, rich, flavorful, smooth are few of the terms I can find to define it. After some time they asked us that they have some other beer also available, and gave us samples of the same, however compared to bouncer we did not like the other one too much. And later in the evening, they gave us more samples but we were happy with our bouncer itself.

Coming to food, we ordered lot of things and I not even recall the names of the same, but whatever we ordered was quite good and lapped up quite fast by our group. They had this preparation of mushrooms, which was particular favorite of our group and we made multiple orders of the same.

The price of beer were actual surprise for me, it was Rs.285 +taxes for a 1.5l pitcher, which is quite okay by any standards, and this we are talking about fresh and rich beer. However other drinks were super expensive, a large (60ml) Smirnoff costed around Rs.650. We ordered 7 or 8 pitchers of beer, 3 large Smirnoffs and lot of snacks, the total damage was close to Rs.7k.

I definitely recommend this place for beer drinkers, which is priced very well and tastes very well. An ideal place for couple of pints with your friends.

Howzatt
Hotel Galaxy, Sector-15, PART- II, NH-8, Exit-8, Sector 15, Gurgaon
Landmark: Behind 32nd Milestone
Phone: 4565000, 4032222

Bittoo Tikki Wala - The most famous Tikki in Tikki-Land

2010-03-13T20:55:00.000-08:00

Written by me on Burrp, Jan 09, 2009

This dude has to be the most famous chaat walla in the city, which is known for its chaat. His tikki has taken the status of a legend and people rave about his stuff. He now is also a regular fixture in weddings.

You can call it my misfortune, that I had never ever tasted his stuff earlier, but I got the 'opportunity' couple of weeks back and I was not disappointed.

The tikki was very well done, crisp and tasty. Infact after spending around 20 minutes and Dahi and Chutney it still had that crispy feel to it. The dahi was of top quality and embellishments flavorful. Same was true for his Bhalle, which were quite good too. Tasked the Kachallu after a long time, and they did taste good on the Bhalle.

All in all, even though its not the original one, but still this place lived upto the legend.

Bittoo Tikki Wala

G-46, Aggarwal Millennium Tower, Netaji Subhash Place, Pitampura, Delhi

Mithlesh Ande Walla - Singhs made him the king :D

2010-03-13T20:53:00.000-08:00

Written by me on Burrp, Jan 07, 2009

Well, one evening while passing through Ramesh Nagar, my friend showed me a egg stall and told me that this guys sells an omelet for Rs.50. I though he was joking and decided to ask the rates myself. And he was correct, this guy standing on a street cart had the audacity to ask for Rs.50 for a omelet, and did not want to share what was so special about it.

However that was a different story, after asking the rates, my friend said that he can show be a far better place and there they do it for Rs.25 only. And we straight away shot off to Tilak Nagar to sample the stuff. the Rs.50 omelet would be tried and review later by yours truly.

This place is like on of those gems, that will have no results on Google. but when you go to them you would have to wait 15 to 30 minutes to get served. And all they do is omelets, and there are 3 people making them at once, but still at-least 15 minutes is the waiting time.

Sometimes I wonder what can a guys do differently in an Indian style omelet, but some people do manage to surprise me. Now this one located in hardcore Punjabi locality was expected to be generous on butter, and generous he was. After cooking the omelets and heating the breads in butter there comes another dollop of it before he serves and if that was not all, a splatter of cream to top it up.

Now coming to the chutney, its Magic. Its very different from what we are used to. Raw tomatoes, onion, garlic, chillies and god knows what combined together in a chutney. Its like a combination of green chutney and tomato ketchup and much better than that. Raw tomatoes hold a different flavor altogether.

For Rs.25, its sure a treat, I have rated some places earlier to, but this one is something that has potential to blow one away.

By the way there are other joints splatted around this one, one soup waala, one tangri waala and god knows what all, they do good business because of this dude, but they do add value to the place.

Mithlesh Ande Walla
Tilak Nagar, Jail Road, Near Tilak Nagar Metro Station, Janakpuri, Delhi
Landmark: Opposite HDFC Bank

Ram Kachodi - Thank you Hanuman Ji..

2010-01-04T09:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a Sunday, and at around 10:45 am, my dad's religious spirit awakened and he wanted to visit Lord Hanuman's temple behind Red Fort. It popularly goes by name of Marghat Waale Hanuman ji. Well anyhow, who wants to get out of rajai at that hour in winters, however after dad promised some breakfast, I was game.

He is ultimate foodie and encyclopedia when it comes to Delhi's street food, so eating out with him is always a pleasure. Anyhowwe reached the mandir complex by 11:45 am, only to find out that temple closes at 11:30 am. While my parents were disappointed and sulking, I was grinning and drooling :D. It was like Hanuman Ji has ensured that I drive more than 10 km to reach there and have his prasad a.k.a KACHODIS....he is not my favorite god for nothing.

Regardless of the general hygiene of the temple complex, which is as sad as any other temple in he city, you can spot few shops selling Kachori, bread pakora, poori and stuff. Out of those 'Ram Kachodi' seemed most prominent, and we decided to have a go. Rs.12 per plate for piping hot stuff. First few bites did not excite me, could taste lot of baking soda in the pithi (stuffing), and thought what a disappointment it was, should have tried other outlets. However enter peice number two and things suddenly changed. The excessive soda was gone, and now the kachodi was as good as any, if not better. Suddenly I realised that it was quite well done, and had spent a lot of time over fire. It was quite crispy, but not hard at all.

There is nothing more divine on face of earth than a properly cooked and stuffed kachodi, and Ram kachodi had that on offer. You cannot blame me for having 2 more after that, and still wanting more. I sincerely thank Lord Hanuman from bottom of my heart or rather top of my belly,for making me come to temple, only to shower me with his blessings in form of food.

Pranathas near Moolchand

2010-01-01T23:34:00.000-08:00

Now this one is another legend of the city. If one tries to think of Delhi and Paranthas, its quite easy to assume that Paranthas would be sold at every nook and corner of the city, as we do swear by our paranthas. but unfortunately that is not the case. In this parantha crazy city, everyone only likes what their mom makes (or wfie maybe) and do not generally go out for paranthas. And yes, the legendary Paranthe waali gali is alive in legends only, its a sham.

However the Paranthe-walla sitting opposite Vikran Hotel, near Moolchand Hospital in Lajtap Nagar is one of the few that has been able to make a name for itself. It is know by many names, but yes, most of the foodies in the city would know about this place for sure.

As any other famous and roadside joint, this place is often crowded, hygiene is not what you are looking for, food comes cheap and there are not many who do better than them. I guess the most expensive Parantha on the menu would not cross Rs.20, and they have a good variety of those. The most famous one being Egg Parantha.You can have them with combination of Rajma, Boondi Raita, butter or either one of those. They serve it with Masala on top and bunch of spiced up green chillies.

And yes, coming to actual praranthas they are quite good, made on a giant Tawa with perfection of an assembly line. Its the stuff that Taxi waalas eat for a days heavy lunch and youngster after their evening party sessions in fancy clubs and pubs.

If you notice, I have not commented on taste, well is it not a given :D with the description above.

Baba Nagpal Ke Chhole Bhature

2009-12-17T21:21:00.000-08:00

Being a Delhiite, its impossible to avoid Chhole Bhature. Every single citizen of the city would have his/her favorite outlet for the same.

When we talk about Nagpal from Amar colony, we are talking about top of league here. In a city which has a (or two) Cholle Bhature waala at very corner, Nagpal would feature in Top 5 of any self respecting food lover. For some it might be number one, for some number 5, but it has to be there, because they hardly do better than him.

Its not hard to find, just go in Amar colony and ask anyone, and you will be directed to the outlet. The prices are average at Rs.30 per plate. There are other things on the menu too like, Rajma Rice, Shahi Paneer rice etc.

The stuff is pretty heavy, a foodie like me is satiated with two bhaturas itself. If going there on weekend, be prepared to brave some crowds. Generally the stuff sells out by 2 pm.

Tandoori for Vegetarians

2009-12-04T20:41:00.000-08:00

Good Tandoori food has always been hard to find on the street for vegetarians. The traditional dish being Paneer Tikka, maybe mushroom. Even though there are other options like veg seekh kebabs, stuffed aloo etc., however there hardly has been a place where you go exclusively for vegetarian tandoori stuff. Otherwise its generally ordered when your non vegetarian friend is having his kebabs or tandoori chicks.

Thanks to Jatin once again, for recommending Amtritsari Chaap corner in Karol Bagh area. Even though I had seen the joint earlier, and wanted to go there, but Jatin beat me to it. Anyhow. now have been there couple of times, the menu has 8-9 items on it, including Rumali roti. The USP of the place being, it specializes in Tandoori stuff and deals only in vegetarian food.

You can actually count what they have to offer, 3 types of Soy chaap (Stuffed, Masala and Malai), 2 paneer tikka (normal and malai), Mushroom tikka, Veg. Seekh Kebab (with or w/o roomali roti). All the dishes are Either Rs.60 or 70 for a full serving and half the rate for half serving. They serve them on paper plates, with kuchumber salad and chutney. There is no sitting arrangement, you just stand and hog :D.

When I was there first, it was like a trip to Appu Ghar for me, wanted to try everything, so we ended up having Mushorooms, Paneer malai Tikka, Stuffed Chaaps and Masala Chaaps. And it was some spread. I have had stuffed chaap earlier as well, and this one was nothing extraordinary this is not to say it is not good, it was quit good, but not exceptional. Mushrooms, tasted like just that, Mushrooms ;). However I really loved the Malai Paneer Tikka and Masala Chaap. Paneer tikka was like the best I had (Till that date, watchout for next posts :D), Masala Chaaps were unlike anything I had eaten before. I was there again last night, however they only had Masala Chaap and Malai Chaap to offer, rest all was sold out. Well, I did not find malai Chaaps to be that good compared to Masala Chaaps, however still worth a try. .If you can see the pic, you can see the kind of spread we had, and paid around only Rs.200 for all that stuff.

The important thing to keep in mind, that these guys generally sell out by 10 pm. So you better be there early, or you gonna be disappointed.

Here are the details of the outlet :

Amritsari Chaap Corner

4973/2-3, Shiv Nagar, Ganga Mandir Marg, Karol Bagh ND-5.

Behind Khalsa College, Opposite Reebok Showrrom.

Ph: 65876171, 9250782785

Rahim's Mughlai Food

2009-11-19T22:26:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to go out last night to one of the tried and tested places, however this friend (Jatin Ghai) of mine recommended Rahim's right in the neighborhood. Now I am quite skeptical about hardcore Mughlai places, besides our regular places, these restaurants have little to offer for vegetarian food.

However went there, its quite small arrangement, not for dine in basically, but you can still sit on stools and eat. I ordered a Butter Paneer and Jatin ordered a Jehangiri Murgh. It was too basic, the food was served in same packing boxes in which they deliver, paper plates for roti, plastic spoons etc. However the khamiri roti's looked quite promising, well done in the tandoor, and thinner than usual.

The prices on the menu card seemed quite ok, with all veg dishes in range of Rs.75 to 95. For non-veg most of the offerings were for Rs.99, barring a few.

The first bite of the food, put away all the apprehension I had about the place. It straightaway reminded me of Paneer at Karim's at Jama Masjid. It confirmed what my companion had maintained all along, its as good as Karim's. Even the chutney was quite nice. Combine all three with amazing hospitality of owner, Md. Tahir, and you have a great dining experience.

Tahir bhai told us that they have 4 outlets in all, three other being in Dwarka, Vasant Kunj and Kalkaji, and they actually are somehow related to Karim's. He is someone who does his Nawaz 5 times a day, is fond of good bikes (his imported Yamaha Drag Star was parked right outside), and is as gregarious as they come.

All in all a great experience, they have a centralized kitchen and the food is supplied to all 4 outlets from same kitchen, so if you see one in your locality, do try it out.

Would right more about it as i try their other vegetarian offerings.

Rahim's Mughlai Food
6/1, West Patel Nagar, New Delhi - 08
Phone : 64702777, 64637888, 64690999

I guess I should also mention the numbers for other Branches as they are mentioned on the menu.

Dwarka - 64674111, 64702111, 64692111

Vasant Kunj - 64560777, 64569777, 65100193

Kalkaji - 65024978, 9268181231, 9268181232

PS : forgot to mention the lovely Mint-lemon tea that Tahir bhai generously shared with us.

Samosa from Karol Bagh..

2009-11-18T20:43:00.000-08:00

I heard about this Samosa walla in Karol Bagh area through EOiD (Eating out in Delhi) community, and was curious to try it out, since I live quite close to the area.

I was in the area yesterday evening and decided to give it a try, as per the direction reached the front gate or Jessa ram hospital and with your back towards Pusa Road, took right into the street opposite it (Technically the service lane of Pusa road, this shop is behind house no. 14 Pusa road), and spotting the shop was not a challenge then. As there are hardly 2-3 shops there, and spotting the halwai was an easy job.

The shop looks quite run down and old, I doubted the quality of the stuff after first glance. I was told that there were some really old guys managing it, however I saw couple of young guys manning the counter. They said that samosas were being fried and we have to wait for 10 minutes, decided to sink our teeth into a Ras Madhuri sitting on the counter in the meantime (cannot say much about it, as was too sweet and syrupy for me, but texture seemed nice). Later on we were told that even those guys were customers and and the famous old man was busy making samosa on the backside. This enjoys tremendous loyalty, so much so that peoeple actually patiently wait for 15 minutes, while the stuff is being made.

Now coming to the samosa, the main reason why it is famous is because they do not fill the mashed potatoes, but they cut them inot small pieces, roast them and then fill them. It was lovely to eat, the old man had taken his sweet time to fry them, this ensured that the crust was nice and crispy. The potatoes has subtle spices, nothing over powering the flavor, every bite and experience in itself.

We were qute satisfied with the samosa and started chatting with the old man (Mr. Dutt or popularly known as Pandit Ji)

, he said that shop was originally owned by his Mama Ji and he worked for them since beginning. it opened in 1942 and the owner was staunch follower of Nehru-Gandhi school. Infact Nehru has visited this shop on several occasions.

He also made us sample some Sandesh made from "Kajoor Ka Gud", which comes straight from Bengal and a type of Mathri.

The Menu

Sandesh

News Paper Article

Original Owner

Other Pictures

United Coffee House

2009-11-17T10:28:00.000-08:00

Have heard a lot about this place. This is like an institution in Delhi. Unfortunately was never able to visit the place till now, however got the opportunity today.

People have told me that food is nothing great, but its all about the ambiance. However I found the ambiance to be ordinary too, the place was just too loud for a restaurant in that price range. Have few things only, Paneer Tikka, Golden Fried corn and Salt pepper vegetables. All these things were in range of Rs.300 per dish, however nothing was good enough. Paneer Tikka was the worse that I have had anywhere. Salt and pepper vegetables were ordinary, and golden fried corns were corn pakoras.

All in all, my first experience was not good at all, though service was decent and polite.

Thackery Dudes

2009-11-15T23:17:00.000-08:00

What a nuisance. What do they want ? Another pakistan ??

Just heard about the article by Older Thackery in the Shiv Sena mouth piece, asking Sachin Tendulkar to mind his own business. Well, I am not sure what does he wanted to say, but I am sure he knew against who he was trying. He has tried to a balancing act in this article, not out and out criticizing the master. I guess he knows that popularity of Sachin far exceeds anything else in India, and anything negative said about him can be fatal for biggest of powers.

But still, just to get political mileage, Bal T. made a boo boo. !!

The Wave of Google !!

2009-11-13T20:14:00.000-08:00

Wave is creating lot of buzz these days, people are scrambling for invites, writing desperate facebook status, but I am not sure what the buzz is all about. I am on wave for a week or so, and I accept that I am not in a position to say weather this thing would be a success or not, but as of now its of not much use. Because not many people are not on it, and unless there are, there is nothing much I can think of doing with it. And this invite strategy seems to work well for Google, as it creates a huge buildup and curiosity.

So if you are not on Wave yet, and are literally desperate for an invite, I would say you can cool down, you are not missing anything yet.

Dilli Bund ???

2009-11-12T21:55:00.000-08:00

Well, today BJP has called for a strike or Dilli bund or whatever you want to call it. Its time for them to show some political clout and go out in hordes to force merchants and traders to close their shop for the day.

I guess they are protesting against the rising prices, but do they have any idea why the prices are rising ? Do they have a solution for the same ? I guess not. The only thing this is, is a Show of Power, to gain come political mileage.

Nothing specific to say

2009-11-12T20:37:00.001-08:00

Well, I am a very poor blogger, with nothing specific to say, but lot to say too. My writing skills are strictly pedestrian, but how does it matter. I hope to write about whatever I want to write about, some food, some movie, some news …anything and everything that I want to.