The ELF Cafe & Bar is located close to the entrance of the Hauz Khas Village but you might just miss it among the more prominent glow boards on that building. It’s a spacious lounge area and seating arrangements are also available on the balcony. One can have a bird’s eye view of the busy HKV gully from here. The food is just about OK. If you are in that area and can’t find a footing at the other places, you may give this place a shot.
Kebab Gali as the name suggests serves Mughlai food at their outlet at Vasant Square Mall. They have some dining space but one can make out they mostly survive on takeaways and delivery. Their Dahi Kebabs are delicate and delicious. The other items that we had – biriyani – chicken tikka etc. were decent but spicy. We were redeeming a voucher gifted by Zomato but the Kebab Gali guys were not very forthcoming on this.
The huge New Delhi Palate Fest was organised at PSOI Cub, Nehru Park, Chanakyapuri. The event comprised a huge agglomeration of stalls by almost all big names in the hospitality industry. The visitors were terribly spoilt for choice in terms of quality and variety of food. The program was peppered with sessions by celebrity chefs and music by live bands. The turnout was stupendous and the Traffic Police had a trying time in handling the cars in that area. The Festival establishes that Delhi is still unarguably the food capital of the country.
Chaayos has opened quite a few branches in Delhi NCR and had a kiosk at the Trade Fair. They serve a longish list of teas, other beverages and snacks. The snacks are ok. But chai is their star. A tad expensive, it is still an experience that is mostly reserved for coffee shops. Moreover, the store guys at the Hauz Khas Village are super hospitable and their warmth most definitely adds to the reasons of coming back here.
Sakley’s The Mountain Café, M Block market, GK outlet tries too tries to hard to be upscale. The décor is artificial and the food and beverages that we tried were just about average. Probably the effect of trying to bring something from the mountains to the dry and dusty plains of an ostentatious locality of Delhi. The place lacks soul.
We tried the dinner thali at the canteen inside Rajasthan House on Prithvi Raj Road, Near Khan Market. They served home style roti, rice, salad and quite a few side dishes. The dinner ended with sewaiyaan in milk as dessert. The food, while high on chillies, was simple and palatable otherwise. Plus the unlimited servings ensured that no one left hungry. They only serve vegetarian food and thankfully this place is open to outsiders.
We visited The Grub Fest (23-25 October 2015) on a Sunday afternoon that happened to be the last day. The organisers had assembled popular eateries, food, drinks, and some live performances under a single event. In fact, we saw the popular comedian Vir Das performing and singing as well! Given the myriad eating options, we tried bits of a lot of things and liked whatever we had.
We visited the daylong street food festival Zaika-E-Dilli at Nehru Park, Chanakyapuri where the organisers Thelewala brought together brought an assortment of street food mostly from Old Delhi. Consequently, got to have some simple but hidden pleasures like the fruit kuliey and the Rabri waali Kulfi in Rose flavour. While there is room for more variety, this was a great starting initiative by the Thelewala.
The Potbelly is a restaurant serving Bihari cuisine in their outlets at Shahpur Jat and Bihar Bhavan in Chanakyapuri. The Chanakyapuri outlet opens out to a lawn and greets one with pleasant artistic décor. They take Bihari cuisine out of the litti-chokha zone and the stylised cooking alongwith the aesthetic plating makes a visit to this place a fine dining experience . But without burning a hole in one’s pocket.
Delhi NCR foodies have a reason to rejoice. A number of food festivals are happening in Delhi Gurgaon back to back and the festivals have a lot to offer more than just food. The organisers have included live performances, games, music etc along with already promised gastronomical delight that is provided by several restaurants, new start ups and theme based food joints.
B Bar at Select Citywalk mall, Saket, serve Asian food from Japanese, Chinese, Malay to Thai cuisine. It is an impressive looking place and the food is nice. We were particularly impressed with Maki Rolls and prawn dimsums. It may be a little over-the-top for regular meals but is apt for celebrations.
QD’s Restaurant at South Campus is a popular food joint. Their most celebrated dish perhaps is the tandoori momos. These are grilled dumplings with chicken / vegetable filling. The filling is spicy and the dish should be had hot. Try this if you are up for experimenting with food.
The Maharashtra Food Stall at Dilli Haat (INA) is one of the most popular state food stalls. They serve a variety of snack, meal and sweet dishes. The snack and the meals are high on the chilly factor. However their Puran Poli is something to die for.
The Contemporary Arts Week is an yearly arts festival organised by Friends of Art. Their programs cover music, theatre, paintings and other visual arts etc.) It is on from 3rd to 10th October at various venues across Delhi. The inaugural evenings were at Nehru Park and had a moderate entrance fee.
Cafe Lota serves a variety of common as well as off beat dishes from various states in India. They cover the whole gamut of starters – main course – dessert. The cooking style is creative and everything that we had tasted awesome. The serving size is however small and parking can be an absolute torture over weekends / peak dining hours.
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