Venue: Jama Masjid
Date: 19 June 2016

This is that time of the year when every other foodie worth his carnivore instinct is doing the food trail in old Delhi. The online food world is abuzz with Ramzan food walks in the Jama Masjid area at a fancy price if you please. Karim’s, Jama Masjid is the most renowned destination here and we have queued up in front of this eatery during many a trips.

For Ramadan 2016, there was however one deviation. This year we stopped at Al Jawahar adjacent to Karim’s. The queue was relatively shorter here and we were seated in about 10 minutes. The place was more spacious and better ventilated than Karim’s.

What we ordered at Al Jawahar

Chicken Jehangiri, Chicken Biriyani, Khamiri Roti and Sheermal. Chicken Jehangiri was chilli hot but tasty and was a great combo with Sheermal, the slightly sweetened bread. In fact the Sheermal was very well baked and among the best that we have had.

Biriyani unfortunately was a huge let down. It was just some coloured rice with half cooked pieces of chicken. Tasteless and devoid of any flavours, we were quite stumped with this dish. It made us miss having great Biryani at Shiraz in Kolkata or even at Kolkata Biryani House in Sushant Lok, Gurgaon. Even our recent discovery in Biryani from London Street Kitchen was miles ahead of this.

Still, we do not write off this place. We do intend to visit again and order other dishes since this could be an alternative to Karim’s in the Jama Masjid area.