Venue: Sector 29, behind IFFCO Chowk Metro Station
Date: 31 Jan 2016

Theme based restaurants are not new to Delhi NCR. There is a surge of restaurants with either cuisine or decor or both geared towards a specific concept. Towing this line, The California Boulevard emulates the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and has garnered popularity and carved a niche for itself as an upscale casual dining place. They have restaurants in Gurgaon and Rajouri Garden. We recently visited their Gurgaon outlet.

The decor is very contemporary and easy on eyes. Rotating banners of Hollywood’s who’s who, a red tram shaped bar, dim lights and water curtains in a separate enclosure – all add to the charm of this place.

They also have an extensive menu that comprises world cuisine along with a mile high list of drinks and desserts.

We started with shots of liquors – Baileys cream and Malibu along with Beer Batter Fish, Lime Chicken Tikka and Sushi Rolls. On recommendation we also had Ganderi Kebab, Kakori Kebab and Dilli ki Chaat to go with their signature cocktails – Knucklehead and Yellow jacket.

We loved Ganderi kebabs – absolute delight to look and sumptuous to eat. From cocktails we loved Cucumber and Basil Caprioska the most. This was refreshing and had cucumber juice in a concoction with vodka, sprite and basil.

For main course we had Herb Roasted Chicken, Seafood Thermidor and a Spanish Fiesta Salad. The herb roasted chicken was well cooked, super tender and was served with some mashed potato and sautéed vegetables. Seafood Thermidor overshadowed everything else as far as presentation is concerned.

Tailor-made for Instagram, seafood thermidor can make even non food bloggers take out their cameras. Seafood cooked in white wine and served with veggies inside a lobster shell, this tasted as good as it looked.

Spanish Fiesta salad was a bit of a let down. We are huge salad fans but this was flat and somewhat boring.

Though we are not big on fusion food, we had the TCB Kulfi Gajak on the chef’s recommendation along with Baked Apple Pie.

The Kulfi Gajak came in a thin chocolate dome that broke apart after flambéing. We liked the theatrics of it and were amazed by what all these chefs are doing with food. Taste wise it was good and since the Gazak was just used as a hint, this fusion dish didn’t go wrong.

Apple Pie Meringue was also top notch. We also had our all time favorite desserts Classic Tiramisu and Baked New York Cheese Cake. Simple and delicious these made our tastebuds dance.

We ended the dinner with coffee and green tea.

As bloggers we get to sample various food places. Each place has its own high. What counts to us is the holistic experience.  The California Boulevard scores high on that and we shall remember the pleasant evening that we had.

We are definitely coming back here for celebrating our special occasions.