beingdesh

Tag: Restaurant review

  • Thali Memoirs and A Visit to Rajdhani

    Honestly, I have slightly moved away from the Thali format (by Thali I mean the Unlimited Thali formats, representative of the scores of Marwari-Rajasthani-Gujarati style platters). My initial indulgence in Thalis was a result of petty bets on hogging more rather than any particular interest food. We took so much interest in wiping clean watis of aam-ras, popping those mini-puris and puran–polis, or having more servings of Khichdi-Kadhi than each other, that we hardly noticed the freakishly amazing array of flavors on offer.

    But it helped that in the prime of my hogging days I was based in Ahmedabad, the capital of thalis in India. Slowly I was getting educated about a culinary tradition basic to Indian cooking and eating, the Thali. It took different meanings- from the thali eateries outside Baroda station which were a simple and affordable replacement for home cooked food, to the luxurious experiential dining at Vishala in Ahmedabad. One of my favorites was Pakvaan at Ahmedabad (Near Ellis Bridge), for me it stood for affordable luxury, especially in the cash-strapped days of engineering.

    But then there was what most consider to be the Holy Grail of all Thalis, Govardhan Thaal, at SG Road, Ahmedabad. I remember sneaking past its 56 dish-written whiteboard on multiple occasions, just to be turned-off by the Rs. 120 price tag. I recall when Dad came to visit me and asked for a place where we could go out for Dinner, Govardhan was the place I chose. And I still remember that meal, from the rose-petal-water handwash, right to the rasmalai.

    Times changed and once I came to Mumbai, Rajdhani at InOrbit, Malad gave me an opportunity to relive those Thali memories. Sometimes I feel Thali eating is more about an interesting company, you don’t get time to talk between that quick serving, but you can easily talk with your gestures, eye movements (about to pop-out in case you have had more than enough) and more often than not, a Burrp.

    But then offlate my eating capacity has taken a dip, and the more I have explored food, the more I have started resisting thali. It has become very difficult for me to consume in high quantities, and also I need time and space to absorb a dish, both aesthetically and through my digestive system. Needless to say sometimes the Thali restaurants do come across as slightly intrusive, with their hands popping out of all directions with food, allowing little peace of mind.

    So initially when I received this invite for Rajdhani, I was slightly tentative to go. But then I thought, let’s go, for all the great memories…

    The Visit to Rajdhani

    I will not talk much about the food on offer, because there are few people (Gaurav, Shirin, and Krytie) who have already talked about it. To be short I loved the starters (Patra and Vatana Pattice), then I was lost in the middle with lot of servings, and then regained some ground with the Kheer, a piece of Jalebi, and some Kadhi-Khichdi, and ending it all with a gorgeous Paan-Shot (I like the one served at Punjab Grill much more, guess they use an actual Paan). It’s not like I didn’t like the food, but somehow as I mentioned above I have moved away from the format. But that’s my perspective, a lot of people do love this format (like almost all the members in my entire family).

    I think it is much more important to highlight the processes straight from sourcing to cooking, from serving fresh to developing a signature serving style, from expanding the concept from a single restaurant to a chain, and above all for serving fresh food, daily. So here are two things which stood out for me during my visit:

    Serving FRESH food, daily: Most of the successful players in the business tend to be experts in minimizing wastage, reusing stuff and taking pains to source good quality stuff at minimizing wastage. And yes these are traits more important than having a wide menu, or a great ambience. If you are not getting what I am trying to explain, read something about the restaurant business like Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, its all about minimizing wastage and keeping your costs in control. So a lot of places you go to actually don’t end up serving “FRESH” food, because it doesn’t make business sense (remember the times when you had so much Garlic in your Daal Tadka, or on a Sunday Brunch you had 2-3 types of Shredded Chicken Salads).

    I love Rajdhani because it serves FRESHLY COOKED FOOD. You visit the kitchens and see limited quantities of a standardized menu being prepared, and you notice the limited cold storage, you know you are eating fresh stuff. And given the tough Industry this is, it is a big USP. And believe me it is a USP. It is one thing which makes Rajdhani food similar to food at home, along with the service which is full of Love (or as we do in India, with Ghee).

    Check out this video of our Kitchen tour (and you can take one anytime during your visit to Rajdhani). Mr. Nair, the VP of Khandani Rajdhani, guides us through the cooking process, the techniques, and the history of Rajdhani.

    Speaking the Language of Food: Goto any restaurant and you see people from all over India working as part of serving staff. But go to a Rajdhani and you will only see people from Rajasthan. Why? Simple, these are people who have grown on Daal Baati or a Gatte ka Sabzi, they will serve what they know. Plus these guys have developed their own code-language of communicating to cut down on service time. We got this small demo at Rajdhani.

    The effort which the staff puts in serving is something unachievable in any other format, they know about the food, they contribute to its creation, and also create a new affectionate language around the same, and the feeling is communicated to its customers. I was reminded of this quote from the Italian movie Life is Beautiful.

    You’re here serving, you’re not a servant. Serving is the supreme art. God is the first of servants. God serves men, but he’s not a servant to men.

    Serving really is a supreme art at Rajdhani. (Although as I mentioned above I have moved away a bit from this format, still I appreciate the effort they put in their service).

    The things which is commendable is that apart from achieving the above two, they have been able to replicate the model, and scale it to create a sustainable and a profitable business model out of it. On the sidelines of the visit when I was chatting with Mr. Nair, I recognized his love for Thali format and the cuisine, heard stories of his early days in business running Thali formats in Gujarat, and realized where all this love and affection in the staff comes from.

    And he too like me, loves Govardhan Thaal and rates it as the best Thali Restaurant in India Smile

    I believe that if you are fond of Thalis, Rajdhani is a must visit place, for all its good service, and freshly prepared food. For people like me, I believe there is space in the market for a slightly slow-paced Thali restaurant.

    Featured Image by Gaurav

    Disclosure: Restaurant’s Public Relations agency covered all the expenses associated with the food tastings mentioned above. For more details refer my disclosure page.

  • Mini food-sammelan at Out of the Blue, Powai

    Few weeks back, I joined a bunch of interesting people for an extremely engaging and mazedaar discussion on food. The discussion was accompanied by a lovely dinner served at Out of the Blue, Powai. Before I start I would like to thank Reema (my afternoon post-lunch-food-discussion-buddy on Twitter) who made sure Shirin sent me an invite for the meet. Also thanks to Kunal and Shirin for organizing this.

    Out of the Blue is amongst one of my most frequently visited places in Mumbai, and the visits have increased since they have opened closer to home at Powai. I have visited the Bandra one many times quite memorably after losing a drinking bet in Bandra; once with a pretty girl, once with a dumb girl (I think both of them were the same, maybe); with friends and with family. The visits to Powai have been mostly with my colleagues. But this time I got a chance to meetup with few foodies at a food bloggers meet organized by Burrp.

     From right: A retired chef, a baker, and a big bhookad

    The bloggers included:

    • Shirin, works with Burrp, eats and writes for a living, what an awesome life!!!
    • CaramelWings, a commercial pilot, looks-Punjabi-is-Marathi kind of rare girl, loves KRK, makes lovely brownies which she doesn’t share with everyone and writes about food at Caramel Wings.
    • Krytie Saxena, ex-Marriott Chef currently working for a production house, and reinstated my belief in Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential. She writes at Foodietryingstein.
    • Reema , is a Bong-Mumbaikar who is married to a Tam and is a converted vegetarian. She ensures that I feel hungry post-lunch by posting tweets about Gulabjamuns and Jalebis. She writes at Sumthinz Cooking
    • Adarsh, works with Zapak, used to work with Zomato, and possibly created that chik-chik feature (shake for recommendations feature) on their app. He has promised to take me for an Andhra meal. He reviews restaurants at The Big Bhookad.
    • TheBlackSakura, works with Zapak again, loves baking, knows a lot about seafood, is quite fit for a big-time foodie, and blogs at Thoughts on a Plate.
    • BellyfirstTweet is a Capoeira dancer and a well-traveled photographer. I am sure Bhagyashree (of Maine Pyaar Kiya) hates her as she ate off a Pigeon once. She writes at Belly First. And her photographs are brilliant.
    • Kunal, works with Out of the Blue and leads their marketing efforts. I need to ensure that he too starts blogging.

    We started with Chicken and Ham Fondue and my favorite dish at Out of the Blue, Desi Fondue. More than the striking similarity with my name, I like it because it gives me a feel of a creamy Dal Makhni, but with a lighter seasoning and a decent helping of cheese. When I asked Chef Juliano (Exec Chef, Out of the Blue) about its origins, he replied that it was an accidental innovation, with its recipe being a closely guarded secret. To be honest I have tried something similar myself at home and it hasn’t turned out to be half as good as the Desi Fondue at Out of the Blue. That’s one reason I will keep coming back to this place.

    During this period we had a lengthy round of introduction with topics switching between humble origins of the Fondue, street food in Indore, how to check freshness of fish, abuses and awws for the Britannia uncle, great old-time restaurants in Mumbai losing their charm, cupcakes, traveling to China, Brazilian martial arts, how to clean and cook a pigeon, roadtrips in Punjab and many more.

    Switching back to food, for the main course I ordered a Grilled Rawas which was served with Lemon Butter sauce. I loved the dish for its simplicity. The fillet was grilled with a simple parsley-dominated marinate which as the Chef described allowed the one to enjoy the natural flavors of fish. I like my fish to be simple and not over-influenced by masalas, and I got exactly what I wanted. I tasted lemon butter sauce for the first time that day, and I think it will go as well with Aloo Parathas as it went with the fish. Contrary to what I had assumed the lemon butter sauce requires much more effort than simply mixing the core ingredients. Chef uses two different utensils (ceramic and steel), melts the butter in steel, shifts it to ceramic and mixes fresh lime juice (as citrus doesn’t go well with metal). Talking to a Chef always throws up so many interesting insights, these guys do put in a lot of effort in every dish!

    On the other plates I noticed Grilled Basa served with Caper sauce, Lamb Shanks which looked really bulky but equally yummy (and got Salonee extremely excited)  and a four meat sizzler. Somehow I didn’t want to complicate the simple flavors of my fish that day, and I didn’t play around a lot with other items.

    All dishes were accompanied by a Caesar salad which gave an extremely fresh feeling in the mouth, lettuce and cherry tomatoes were topped with a creamy dressing and just the right amount of croutons.

    After this I had to run out for a late night office meeting and I missed out on the fun everyone had at the dessert counter. It was an evening where I realized that there is no better appetizer than talking about food itself and nothing better than meeting people who think and eat like you.

    Featured image by Salonee

    Disclosure: Restaurant’s Public Relations agency covered all the expenses associated with the food tastings mentioned above. For more details refer my disclosure page.