Arif Miyan Ki Rasoi: An Awadhi Affair at JW Marriott, Aerocity, New Delhi

K3, the all-day multicuisine restaurant at JW Marriott, New Delhi, is known as a food theatre with multiple cuisines on display such as North Indian, Cantonese and Italian. It is a big and spacious restaurant with various counters, each serving something different like cold cuts, varieties of cheese, tandoor dishes, pizzas and many more. K3 has a separate dessert counter too for all food lovers with a sweet tooth and a crêpes station.

Amidst these stations is a small but noticeable counter of Chef Arif named "Arif Miyan Ki Rasoi". Aptly named, the rasoi serves rich delicacies from the Mughal, Nawabi and Nizami is a part of a Food Festival, which launched on 28th August and will go on till 6th September.

Arif Miyan Ki Rasoi

Chef Arif, popularly known as Arif Miyan, has an inspiring life story. Chef Girish, Executive Chef of K3, told me about how Chef Arif used to be a streetside chef in Hyderabad and from there how he has grown to this level. It seems Chef Arif knows the art of bringing out the actual flavor of meat in his dishes and is not being overly reliant on spices, oil and herbs.

Chef Arif

Invited for a review, I started off with their Keema and Gosht Nihari with some Sheermal, an Awadhi sweetish bread made of maida.  Most of the Awadhi dishes have an onion base with very less tomato and spices and cooked slowly in a dum pukht style. Dum pukht style of cooking is extremely popular in India, where the vegetables and meat are cooked on a slow heat for a long time in a sealed utensil to get the flavor out of the meat.

Keema prepared here has a very distinctive taste and is cooked with caramelized onion and tomatoes. It is delicious with the aroma of the meat tingling the tastebuds. Sheermal is a small perfectly round bread with a hint of sweetness mostly used in Lucknowi cuisine. It is the perfect companion for both the gravy dishes. The Gosht(Lamb) Nihari which is dum pukht stew along with the bone marrow was quite different from the Nihari we get in Delhi. The meat came off the bone with little or no effort and the subtle flavors were packed right in the meat and the stew.

Keema (left), Ghost Nihari(right), Shreemaal(top)

Next I tried the Chicken Stew, which had similar spice levels as the Keema and Nihari.  Chef Arif knows how to work with meat dishes and bring out the subtlety of its flavors. The chicken has a very different taste than of the Keema and Nihari but was enjoyable nonetheless.

Chicken Stew

I took off to a different counter to taste Chef Arif’s Murgh Tikka Biryani.  Biryani has evolved a lot from its early Persian days, and a lot of regions have their own style of preparing a biryani. Here Chef Arif uses an achaari flavor to add a twist to the perfectly cooked rice. The biryani is simply divine and as you bite into the Murg Tikka, hiding under the bed of rice, you will be taken to whole new level and will not be able to stop yourself from polishing off the plate.

Murgh Tikka Biryani

It was time for dessert and we were offered the Seviyaan Muzaffar as one of the rasoi's special preparations. Muzaffar is the flavor which comes when we use saffron and lots of nuts to slowly cook the main ingredients of the dessert. The dessert was to die for, with mild sweetness and lots of nuts and khoya for garnishing it ends the dinner on a very high note and adds a smile of satisfaction on your face.

Seviyaan Muzzafar

I would definitely recommend all the meat lovers not to miss Chef Arif Miyan ki Rasoi. Although the price is a little on the expensive side, you can additionally try out dishes from the entire range of cuisines K3 has to offer along with the Awadhi delights that Arif Miyan Ki Rasoi provides. Also the menu changes and the rasoi offers new dishes each day. It is available as a dinner buffet from 28th August to 6th September, with timings from 7:30 PM to 11:00 PM.

Address:
K3,
JW Marriott,
Near AeroCity, New Delhi

Price for buffet: INR 2350++

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Zamozza: A fine dining pleasure at Janpath, New Delhi

Zamozza, just behind Shiv Sagar in Janpath, offers a choice of delectable cuisines namely Italian, Mexican, Lebanese and Thai. Upon its arrival it has created quite a buzz in town with its cleverly thought out menu and lavish ambience.  The place is very spacious with ample seating area. The entrance door will lead you to a pathway of mirrors on both the side and light bulbs occupying the whole ceiling. It also has an open bar and a huge screen to telecast matches. The color tones of the furniture soothes your eyes and elevates your dining experience.

Zamozza Interiors

We started off the evening with some boiled Japanese Edamame Beans with some rock salt sprinkled on top. These beans are immature and raw soya beans in the pod and hence are very rich in protein. The beans have a very strong flavor by itself, so they can be savoured without hardly any additional spices. You have to pull the seeds out of the green pods and have it with a pinch of rock salt.

Edamame Beans

Next, we had the Litchi Wontons, a seasonal dish. These are fried wontons stuffed with litchi and garnished with lots of cilantro,bean sprouts and litchi strips. As you take a bite of this marvelous creation, there will be a flood of flavourful juices inside your mouth which will compel you to grab another piece.The wontons are very refreshing and are a must have. The presentation of a dish was also wonderful.

Litchi Wontons

Next on our plates were potato skins.  The potato skin is evenly cooked with the core comprising of mushroom, corn, cheese and Italian herbs. It is great snack to go with some beer, and with Zamozza getting their liquor license, this pairing is a must try.

Potato Skins

Next, we tried the Prawns in Sweet Chilli and Black Pepper Sauce. The prawns were tender and well cooked. The Sweet Chilli sauce was just the traditional sauce with hint of sweetness along with the spices and a strong garlic flavor. I personally liked the black pepper sauce as it has more flavors. The prawns were initially fried in the tempura batter and then tossed with the some veggies and black peppers.

Prawns in Black Pepper and Sweet Chilli Sauce.

The dish to follow the sinful prawn preparation was the Grilled Fish, which is served on skewers. It was mustard and chilli lime-infused with little bit of paprika and parmesan cheese sprinkled on the top. The fish has a very good texture and pleases you with every bite . This was by-far one of the best grilled fish dishes I ever had. It is served with Garlic Aioli, which went well with the fish.

Grilled Fish

After all these majestic dishes, we were full to the core, so we had just the chocolate mousse for dessert. It is creamy and has a great silky texture and feel to it. It has the perfect sweetness with chocolate overload, which for me was divine. I would recommend this to all the dessert lovers.

Chocolate Mousse

Zamozza is a nice place for a date or drinks with your friends. The chef has done an excellent job in creating this menu which will make sure that you never leave this place disappointed.


Price for 2: 1700/-

Address: 
52, Janpath
New Delhi.

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The Ancient Barbeque, Gurgaon: A BBQ Joint for a Big Appetite

The Ancient Barbeque, popularly known as TAB, had established itself quite well in Noida before setting up shop in Gurgaon. Chef Nikhil Chopra, a Delhi-ite, knows how to surprise his customers with his exquisite culinary skills. Apart from the items listed on the menu, Chef Nikhil also prepares new innovative items to give variety in the barbeque menu to the regular customers.

Open Barbecue at TAB

Their Gurgaon restaurant is much bigger than their Noida, Sector 63 outlet, as is true for most of the other restaurants which set up shop in that part of Delhi NCR. There is ample space for you to move around if you feel stuffed and also has an outside seating which you can book for parties and function. The biggest difference, however lies in the fact that the Gurgaon outlet has a liquor license; a fantastic wish come true for all the office going crowd who can visit TAB for an evening hangout, for some beers and barbeque.

Outside Seating

First on the list was Murgh Tikka Karachi, which had extremely tender pieces of chicken marinated in a non-spicy masala making it a delightful option for kids. The highlight of the murgh tikka was the aroma of spices that comes from the barbeque after letting it roast for a minute or so. No matter how full I was, the fragrance of the marinating tikkas always pulled me back for another bite. Served with the customary mint chutney, the starter laid out the platform for the rest of the dishes to come.

The Murgh Tikka was served with the Jalandhari Fish Tikka, which literally melted in the mouth. The fish, like the chicken was tender and wasn't spicy. Of the array of sauces kept on the table, we found that it went best with the tartar sauce and the butter garlic sauce.

Murgh Tikka Karachi (middle) and Jalandhari Fish Tikka (rightmost and leftmost)

Next on the list is Keema Tart which isn't part of the menu, but if possible, is a must try for the carnivores. It is a sweet crispy tart filled with not so spicy keema, both going well with each other and confusing your taste buds.

Another dish which scintillated our palette was the Salsa Potato, deep fried potato discs in salsa mayo dip. Though the dish doesn't score points in innovation as there is a similar version of the dish in many restaurants, the TAB one just edges out on the quality. Unlike most other restaurants, it is not overloaded with mayo but has just the right amount of everything for customers to go nuts for it.

Salsa Potato, Mutton Seekh Kebab and Keema Tart (from left to right) 

Crispy Spinach was another dish which caught our tongue. The spinach, as with the other leaves, is very difficult to fry and if left for a little bit longer than necessary, can get burnt and thus has to be prepared with utmost diligence and expertise. The concept of the dish is very simple yet interesting; it has fried spinach with sesame seeds and paprika with a hint of sweetness enhancing the taste.

Crispy Spinach

After this we headed towards the buffet for the main course. The main course fare was quite decent with the exception of Dumpling in Hoy Garlic Sauce which I felt should have been more fluffy and easy to chew. The Chilli Garlic Noodles went very well with the Hoy Garlic Sauce which has a predominant flavor of garlic along with ketchup.

The Lipta Khumb, with just the right amount of spices, was the star of the fare. The mushroom is cooked to the core and the spiciness of the coating took it to another dimension. The pasta was also cooked evenly, but the Florentine sauce was less creamy than expected.

(Clockwise) Chilli Garlic Noodles, Herb Tossed Vegetables Lipta Khumb,
Corn Salad, Pasta in Florentine Sauce, Hummus and Dumpling in Hoy Garlic Sauce,

To end our lovely lunch, we went to the desserts sections and filled our plates with Beetroot Halwa, Death By Chocolate, Gulabi Kheer, Profiterole and some Vanilla Ice Cream Topped with Chocolate Syrup. Beetroot Halwa has somewhat become a trademark of TAB, and seldom disappoints the customers. It is not too sweet, and goes very well with the Vanilla Ice Cream.

The Death By Chocolate would be better renamed as a chocolate halwa as it doesn't truly emulate the pastry. However, for a chocolate lover, it is bliss, heaven, divine or whatever you want to name it. Profiterole, a french dessert, is an interesting addition, a choux pastry ball filled with cream and topped with chocolate and caramelized threads. The Gulabi Kheer has rose petals in it for the flavors and has a mild sweetness.

(clockwise) Beetroot Halwa, Death By Chocolate,  Profiterole,
Gulabi Kheer, and some Vanilla Ice Cream Topped with Chocolate Syrup

As with most of us, main course and desserts are often not the reason why people visit the barbeque joints as they are mostly stuffed due to the excellent choices and infinite supply of the kebabs. TAB is a great place for barbeque and with the addition of liquor license, can surely be a paradise for many bachelors looking to chill after a heavy day of work at the office.

Price:

Lunch: 499 + tax (Veg), 589 + tax (Non-Veg)
Dinner: 619 + tax (Veg), 699 + tax (Non-Veg)

The Ancient Barbeque
223 & 223 A,

Good Earth City Centre, 

Sector 50, Gurgaon

Also Read The Ancient Barbeque, Noida

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The California Boulevard, Gurgaon: World on a Platter.

The California Boulevard has definitely cheered up the Gurgaon food lovers by opening its recent outlet in Sector 29, Gurgaon. From a compact restaurant in Rajouri Garden, it has raised its capacity to a huge two floored restaurant with a big façade that is brightly lit up at night.

California Boulevard, Gurgaon

The restaurant will welcome you with its iconic Harley placed just outside the restaurant, tempting you to have a picture clicked with it. The bar in the restaurant too resembles a train coach in all its adulation with different types of cocktail glasses adorning the shelves. The restaurant also has an outdoor seating which I simply loved.

California Boulevard Bar

Apart from the stylish interiors and lavish restaurant design, the chef has made innovative changes to the menu, adding The World On A Platter, which consists of small quantity of 8 different dishes from around the world, making you relish the gastronomic journeys from Turkey to Thailand, from China to Canada, from Italy to India, and from Japan to Jamaica. The platter is available both in Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian versions.

Restaurant Interiors

We started off with Beer Batter Fish. It is river sole fish fried in a beer batter and is crispy on the outside and soft and melt in your mouth from the inside. Accompanied with tartar sauce, this makes a perfect finger food to have with drinks and cocktails, which in our case were Long Island Iced Tea and Easy Rider (Beer, Bourbon and Cola).

Beer Batter Fish

Next, we tried Prawns Spring Roll, from the Thai cuisine. The plating is similar to their Gandheri Kebab and does justice to the dish. The rolls, which are perfectly fried are served inside a shot glass, resting along the sides of the glass wall with absolutely no traces of oil. The stuffing is of prawns, glass noodles, shiitake mushrooms, pepper and carrot and are served with a sweet and spicy sauce in the bottom which go hand in hand with the fried rolls.

Prawns Spring Roll

The Spring Rolls were followed by the Peri Peri Crispy Chicken, from Portuguese Cuisine. While the looks of the dish is quite plain and doesn't stand out much, the juicy and perfectly cooked chicken is quite spicy with all the flavors creating a riot inside your mouth, adding to the already delightful gastronomic experience. Although it was accompanied with Chipotle Mayo dip, it is quite delicious even when eaten standalone.

Peri Peri Crispy Chicken

The Crab Sushi, Japanese vinegared rice rolls, served here is a Makizushi, which essentially translates to being a nori (seaweed) rolled sushi. The crab meat is surrounded with white rice prepared in and wrapped in a sea weed, accompanied by wasabi kikkoman soy sauce and some pickled ginger scrapes.

Crab Sushi

The Barbecue Pork Ribs served here is really juicy, coming of the bone. Served on a bed of mashed potatoes, it is served with some extra barbecue sauce. It is divine and is a must have here.

Barbecue Pork Ribs

For desserts, we ordered their famous TCB Gazzak Kulfi which as usual is out of this world. Wishing to try a bit more from their menu this time, we also ordered a Chocolate Nutella Torte which is heaven for all the sweet tooth out there. It is a multilayered cake with chocolate cookie crust and nutella ganache. Even though I was full I was not able to resist myself from having a spoon after another.

Chocolate Nutella Torte

The California Boulevard, with nice ambience and great music, is a place to spend special occasions with family and friends with a huge lavish menu spread of the world cuisine.

Price for 2: Rs. 2800/-

Address : 

The California Boulevard

Sector 29, Gurgaon

5 min away from IFFCO metro station.

Also read: The California Boulevard, Rajouri Garden

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Shiv Sagar, Janpath : A Glimpse of Mumbai's Chaat in Delhi

Though most of the chaats have originated in the northern belt of UP - Bihar, the tasty Western Indian experimentation on them with pav, bhel and sev cannot be undermined. The arrival of Mumbai's Shiv Sagar in Delhi has brought the best of the both worlds to the Indian capital; a joyous news for the street food fanatics.

Started in 1982, by late Shankar Poojari in Vile Parle, Mumbai, the Shiv Sagar legacy has continued throughout with the quality of food served just getting better. Being a pure vegetarian restaurant, it is widely known across the country for giving amazing dishes using freshest ingredients.

Chinese Bhel

Now it has spread its wings and has come to our very own Delhi, in Janpath, which is within walking distance to the most happening place and home to a number of restaurants, Connaught Place.
A perfectly lit, two floored restaurant, it is a bit congested but that doesn't hamper your dining experience. The waiters are friendly and knowledgeable, and the service is quite fast.

We started off with the Sev Puri; mashed potatoes on a papri with three types of chutneys: mint, tamarind and garlic and garnished with sev. The dish on the whole is a riot of different flavors with the chutneys giving bursts of spicy, sweet and sour taste on each bite.

Sev Puri

Next on our table was Bhel Puri, made of puffed rice, papri, sev and potato pieces drenched in tamarind sauce and little bit of the mint chutney. It has the crunch and spice that every chaat lover demands of.

Bhel Puri

The next dish was kept as a surprise, one which looked like the traditional Chilli Paneer but was fried idli sauteed with onion in a chinese sauce with spring onion on top for garnishing. The sweet and spicy flavor combined with the idli’s texture is simply delicious.

Chilli Idli

Next, we were served the famous Mumbai Vada Paav, which is a staple street food of Mumbai. Shiv Sagar imports majority of the masalas and paav from Mumbai to maintain the taste. The Paav is heavenly and has a little sour taste compared to the sweet flavor we find here in Delhi. It was served with hot vada sandwiched in between and mint chutney and tamarind chutney on both sides of the paav. The dish came along with fried chili coated with garlic powder for those who like an extra kick on their vada paav.

Vada Paav

After the hot and sizzling vada paav, we had Paav Bhaaji, the paavs used here are the same paavs used in Vada Paav but this time they were soaked in butter. The bhaaji has a good texture and an overall satisfying taste. The manager asked us to take both the parts of the paav, top and bottom in a single bite, as they have their own distinguishing tastes and when consumed together they are a match made in heaven.

Paav Bhaaji

Now it was time for desserts,we had Paan flavored Kulfi which had a whole pan stuffed right in the core, and a rose flavored kulfi with pieces of rose petals coming in each spoon. Both these kulfis are flavorful and a good way of ending the gastronomic journey at Shiv Sagar.

Paan Kulfi

Rose Kulfi

The restaurant is a must visit for all chaat lovers, especially the ones who think that Delhi Chaat is better. The restaurant provides a different view point which will be appreciated by most foodies.

Cost for two: 700/-

Shiv Sagar
52, Janpath,
New Delhi

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Harry's, Saket: Chef Vicky Ratnani's new menu

Harry’s, Singapore’s favourite bar, has made its name in Mumbai as well as in Delhi, and Chef Vicky Ratnani has made sure with his exquisite preparations that it remains in the top ranks in the list of every person, who wants to try something new in Asian, Mediterranean and American cuisine .

The place is well known for its cocktails, and as soon as you enter the Saket outlet, you will see the bar with two/three bartenders working hard to prepare your drinks. The place has a low light ambiance, which makes it a place where a tired you will want to go after a day of work.

Harry's Bar

We went there for tasting Chef Vicky Ratnani’s new menu, which came out to be quite flavorsome and delectable. First on the table was Wasabi Cottage Cheese, it was paneer marinated in chilis and wrapped with spinach and coated out with tempura batter and then fried. It was placed on a small circles of wasabi flavored mayo and garnished with mustard radish, and garlic leaves. It was a perfect dish for vegetarians, crispy on the outside with the soft and tender paneer just waiting for you to dig your teeth in it. This went very well with the Red Wine Sangria.

Wasabi Cottage Cheese

Red Wine Sangria 

Next we were served with Ratatouille Stuffed Mushroom Caps. On the first look the dish looked like a simple stuffed mushroom dish that we get in each and every restaurant, but after the first bite you are proved wrong. Ratatouille is basically a vegetable dish consisting of onions, tomatoes, peppers, aubergines etc, this was the stuffing of our mushroom caps and was topped with cheese and then grilled. It was evenly spiced dish to go well with your drinks. As Harry’s is famous for its cocktails, Chef Vicky Ratnani made sure that his starters go well with the drinks that are served at Harry’s.

Ratatouille Stuffed Mushroom Caps

After this simple yet flavorful dish, we were served with a gem of a cocktail, named Dirty Harry.
It is vodka poured on an ice mist, flavored and canned litchis for the presentation. The drink was brilliant and we ordered like 4 refills of the same.

Dirty Harry

Watermelon and Feta Salad, which was a good combination of cubed watermelons and chunks of feta cheese with vinaigrette dressing and olives that were soaked in brine. This dish was a battle between sweet and salty, on one hand the watermelon was trying to add the sweetness but on the other hand feta cheese and olives made sure that you don’t forget the saltiness.

Watermelon and Feta Salad

After this royal rumble of sweet and salty, came the Pataya Fish Goujons. The fish was fried and sautéed in a sweet chili sauce along with some onions, peppers etc. It was cooked perfectly and was breaking as soon as you put it in your mouth, a sign of a good fish and of a good preparation.

Pataya Fish Goujons

For the main course we were served with Thai Curry and Rice. Like any typical Green Thai Curry, this had the coconut cream base, with the green curry along with some vegetables. This went well with the steamed rice that were served with the curry, and thus marking the end of our great dinner.

Thai Curry and Rice

It is a place for people who are looking for a dimly lit and quiet place for a quite get-together with friends on a couple of beers or cocktails.


Price for 2: 1800/- (Including Liquor)

Harry's Bar + Cafe
S4, 2nd Floor,
Select Citywalk, Saket,
New Delhi

Also See: Harry's, Khan Market

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The New York style Pizzas at Sbarro

Sbarro was founded by Gennaro and Carmela Sbarro, when they emigrated from Naples to New York in 1956. Today, Sbarro has over 800 outlets serving New York style Pizzas in more than 40 countries. Other than pizzas it also specializes in pastas, stromboli, and other Italian­ American cuisine. Announcing its arrival at Gurgaon, India in 2014, it has followed up with its recent outlet in Connaught Place.

Pepperoni Pizza

For a pizzeria, it is a big place, two floored with a live pasta and pizza station just at the entry.The spread here is quite huge, one can never taste all the pizzas in one seating, however we tried to achieve the impossible. Each pizza and pasta is served with a garlic bread and tomato basil sauce. We were told by the chef to not use fork and knife, but rather eat it New York style i.e. fold from the middle of the crust and eat.

Sbarro's Hand Stretched Pizza Dough

We started off with the Pepperoni Pizza, which is loaded with lots of thin sliced pepperoni, mozzarella and Sbarro's own savory tomato sauce. As Sbarro also uses its own hand-stretched dough, the base of every pizza is very soft and has an even flavor.

New York Cheese Pizza

Then came the classic New York Cheese Pizza, a simple yet one of the most popular ones of Sbarro, it is served with their signature sauce made with tomato, fresh basil, olive oil and spices, topped with 100% mozzarella cheese.

White Pizza

The highlight of the afternoon was the White Pizza made of ricotta cheese and mozzarella. The chef told us that once you bite through their white pizza you will never put the slice down, and this is indeed true. What makes this pizza so good was the fact that the cheese they use are 100% dairy cheese, giving the taste a whole new dimension.

Sausages and Pepperoni Stuffed Pizza

Next, we were introduced to a new addition to the pizza line­up, a Stuffed Pizza. Amazed by the pepperoni pizza and the fennel flavoured sausage in stromboli, we ordered the Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza, which is a visual delight. Looking more like a pressed sandwich this preparation is a unique addition to their range of regular pizzas. One slice of this pizza is a meal in itself, but this doesn't stop you from grabbing another slice.

An interesting preparation of a pizza, Stromboli, was served next. It is a rolled pizza, with fennel flavored sausages and mozzarella cheese stuffing. It is quite filling and is a masterpiece with less ingredients used.

Stromboli

After so many pizzas, we were served with the Bolognese Pasta, the spaghetti and the meat are cooked to perfection, they use their in house tomato basil sauce which gives the pasta that authentic italian flavour, with optimum amount of seasoning.

Bolognese Pasta

Sbarro is famous for its Frosted Carrot Cake, which is a three layered moist carrot cake studded
with raisins and nuts and covered with fresh cream cheese frosting and walnuts.

Frosted Carrot Cake

Sbarro is an innovative pizzeria which focuses on customer satisfaction by bringing out the best in their dishes. This place is a must go for pizza lovers.

Price for 2: 800/­

Address:  N-4, N Block,
Connaught Place,
New Delhi

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