Enjoy Delhi

Karims is a very famous restaurant, with the one near the Jama Masjid being the most famous. It rates very high for its non-vegetarian food, and people travel long distances to get there. However, Karim has not opened so many branches as you would expect such a famous restaurant to do, with only a few branches having been opened.
A couple of years back, a new branch of the restaurant was opened in a slightly shady location, inbetween Indirapuram and the Ghazipur chowk (closed to Indirapuram), just next to NH24. It is actually located in Khoda Colony so most people I know get food from there on order rather than going there to eat.
The food is good, serving a mixture of Vegetarian, Non-vegetarian, Chinese cuisines. Good range of Indian, South Indian, Chinese and Mughlai. The insides of the restaurant are similar to what you would expect, although the outside would leave a lot to be desired. Average meal for 2 would cost something like Rs. 700-800. Some of the delicacies are: Tandoori Bakra (need to place an order previously), butter chicken, rogan josh, Brain Curry, and many other great non-vegetarian dishes. Accompanies by some great parathas, keema naan, butter naan

Address: Makanpur Check Post, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, 201012., Near Wine Shop
Phones – (0120) – 6490716, 6490717, 6490718

This is a restaurant set up by the founders after some of their previous efforts ran into legal issues one after the other; however, they seem to have got it right with this one. This restaurant gives you a great view of the Qutab Minar, having been launched in 2009 November. The restaurant is open for lunch, high tea and dinner. This is a restaurant with a great decor, with the first view being of a courtyard with palm trees. The glass is separated by white columns. The insides are much more colorful, with the interior decor being painted in bright shades of gold and purple.
The restaurant is spread over 2 levels, with the upper level providing a plush tent based location combined with a special grill menu. The restaurant overall offers a Pan Asian menu, with a focus on Oriental Thai & Chinese) with an extensive Dim Sum menu. Some of the dishes that are found here are Chicken kungpao, traditional Thai curries, an array of dimsums and one would also find Chengdu spiced lamb, chicken coconut chilli and crispy vegetable salad with a coriander dressing. And to top it off, desserts such as bitter chocolate cake, crème brulee’s and lemon grass mousse.
This is a Fine Dining restaurant, with an average meal for 2 costing between Rs. 1500-2000. Some of the features are Large Group Friendly, Late Night Eats, Notable Wine List, Private Area.

Contact details:
1, Qutab 1501, Mehrauli
Delhi-110030, India
Phone : 011-26642600, 26642601
Email : mail@emperorskitchen.in

Toast restaurant is also a Grill, offering a variety of international cuisine, such as Mediterranean, American, European and Lebanese. And of course, if you have a well stocked bar, what more could you want. After 11 PM, it converts into a nightclub, with an ash wooden floor that can be used for dancing. The restaurant has 2 private areas as well, with a private lounge, if you want to hold parties or celebrations. The lighting is soft and diffused, giving an overall great ambience.
The food here focuses on more of grilled and roasted stuff, and in today’s world where we worry about too much fat and high calorie, these are better dishes, with the food being light and easy on the stomach. However, the place is a bit expensive, with a dinner for two without drinks being around Rs. 900-1000. The bar has a big selection, and you can get a huge varieties of drinks and cocktails over here.

Contact details:

Shop no. 43,44, 3rd Floor,
West Gate Mall, Ring Rd,
Tagore Garden Extension, New Delhi, 110027,
Phone number : India? – 9971990644, 9971990643, 011-43513773, 43513776

Happy Hours: 3:30 PM TO 8:00 PM, Restaurant open from 12:00 Noon TO 1:00 AM

Toast restaurant (Bar and Grill) located in West Gate Mall, Rajouri Garden – Location on Google Maps

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The West Gate Mall is one of the larger malls in the area of West Delhi, being one of the 5 malls located in the general area of Shivaji Place District Centre, Rajouri Garden, West Delhi (and located very close to an important road, Ring Road). The other malls located nearby are City Square, TDI Mall, TDI Paragon, Shopper’s Stop. The Rajouri Garden metro station is also nearby. This mall serves as one of the destination points for the localities nearby, such as Punjabi Bagh, Rajouri Garden, Tilak Nagar,Mansarovar Garden, Kirti Nagar, Paschim Vihar and Patel Nagar.
West Gate Mall is pretty large, having 2 levels of basement parking (although there is a huge open air parking just next to the mall that is preferred by most people), and also has 6-7 movie halls located on the top floor. In between the basement and the top floor, there are a large number of shops and eating joints that draw a number of people.

Clothing / accesories shops: United Colors of Benetton, Lacoste, Next, Guess, Adidas, Reebok, Nike, Van Heusen, Levi’s, Jockey, Franco Leene, Urban 10, Taniya Khanuja, BE ME, Leela’s Studio, Lyallpur Instyle, Art Karat, Etam, Max Fashion Retail, Allen Solly, Lee, Straps, Freiburg, Shaw Brothers, Just She, G & B Fashion Pvt. Ltd, Bossini, Arrow, Latin Quarters, Planet Retail Holdings Pvt. Ltd, Lacoste, Puma, Kipling, Portland, GFO, Dremz, Mark and Spencer, Kazo, Pepe, Satya Paul, Pantaloon,

Restaurants: Food Court, TGIF, Ambrosia, Freeze (a luxury bar with the temperature at -10 Celsius), Papa Johns, Golden Dragon, Toast, Moti Mahal, American Hot, Quik Bites

Miscellaneous: Elvy Lifestyle Private Limited, World of Titan, Aryan Lifestyle Private Limited, Ambience, Gelato Vittorio, The Mobile Store, Food Bazaar, The Body Shop

Location of West Gate Mall, Rajouri Garden, West Delhi on Google Maps:

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Address: Plot No 4,5,6, Shivaji Palace dist Center Rajauri Garden, New Delhi, 110027.

It was a relatively free Saturday today, after few last weekends, when we decided to have breakfast outside. We have thought about having breakfast out of home earlier as well but there were not enough (read good) options for that in Noida. In Dehli, there are better breakfast and brunch options for the weekends but traveling to them and that too empty-stomach is not a good thing to do for me:)

But I have read about this place in Sector 18 Noida, where they have good breakfast menu. So, we decided to check it today. The place is near Superstars and called ‘Café Style’. It is a new joint but has received good reviews wherever I have read about it. It is quite laid-back, spacious and ‘stylish’. The first thing that you notice on entering the place is the whole concept. The sofas are comfortable and the chairs are more than spacious. The place is spread in two floors and they have some outside sitting as well. They have some old artifacts (mostly from UK of 50s and 60s) spread across these sitting area – a 1954 scooter, a 1962 car and more.

Since we were there for breakfast, we decided to stick to their breakfast menu only. The breakfast menu is available from 8 AM to noon and has well thought variety. There is a Punjabi style breakfast (Alloo parantha along with curd, pickle, butter and tea), a Mumbai style breakfast (Pao Bhaji along with tea), an English style breakfast (three egg omelette of choice – masala, mushroom, cheese, toast, salad), an Obama style breakfast (bowl of cereals with milk, fruit salad, sausages, croissant and choice of juice) or just plain old cornflakes.

We order one Punjabi style breakfast and one English style breakfast. All the preparations were well done – paranthas were not oily at all and appropriately stuff, toast were properly ‘toasted’, omelette was also wonderful. And this all topped with masala tea was wonderful. Overall, we had a good experience. We did not go further than the breakfast menu – something left for next time.

Contact Information:-
Café Style
K-1, Dharam Palace,
Sector 18,
Noida
Ph. 0120-4548472

I have always been fond of Tex-Mex cuisine mostly due to lots of cheese in it:). I liked going to Ruby Tuesdays earlier but they just got their menu all wrong and when I saw that they have removed Chimichanga from their menu, I stopped going there. I recent times, TGIF Noida has been my favorite place to eat food and have beer.

TGIF is a chain of restaurants worldwide and the whole concept of having old artifacts, different assorted items, bar and sitting setup is more or less same at all outlets. The overall feel is like of a relaxed Friday’s evening when the work has finished for the week and you want to start weekend with some food and drinks. I really like the setup. The music is also not very much loud – one more thing which I like in an eating place. Overall, for me, a good place to go either with family or with colleagues. They have recently changes their menu – and Chimichanga is here now

Since I have been there a lot of time, I have nearly tried most of the stuff. My recommendation would be

For vegetarians – try ‘Grilled Pita Dipper’, ‘Fried Mac & Cheese’ or ‘Dynabites’ in appetizers. Try ‘Broken Noodles’ pasta or ‘Quesdillas’ or ‘Chimichanga’ as the main dish. Top it up with ‘Fridays Sundae’ – Vanilla ice cream topped with hot fudge, caramel sauce, nuts and cream. Yummy :)

For non-vegetarians – try ‘Chicken Fajita Nachos’ or ‘Three-For-All’ scheme where you get three appetizers in one serving. For main dish, try ‘Sizzling Chicken and Cheese’ or ‘Fridays Shrimp’.

The menu keeps changing and there would always be some offer at the Noida outlet since they are new and want to establish themselves. For example, they are currently having buy one and get one free offer on food and drinks both.

Contact Information
T.G.I. Friday’s
319-320 (3rd Floor),
Great India Place, Sector 38A
Noida – 201301
Tel: 120-4221 000
Email: t2238@fridaysindia.com

For the citizens living in East Delhi, starved of some good restaurants, there is a new one that has opened up and promises to improve the overall cuisine standard. Till now, there were the restaurants that were open in the various malls, and now you have a Pind Baluchi that has opened up in the Karkardooma market on the main road (not the best of locations, but it’s okay). The restaurant is small compared to the other Pind Balluchi’s in other parts of the city. It is spread over 2 floors, but overall seating must not be more than 60 people (a guess).
The restaurant has similar interiors such as the other Pind Balluchi’s. Our experience was mixed. We had ordered some Shammi kababas, along with Malai Kofta, Khumb Pyaaz Bhujiya, and rotis (along with raita and onions). The other stuff was all great, except for the Malai Kofta which was pretty much declared uneatable by my companions. We got the waiter over and told him the issue; he was pretty much discomfited, and eventually offered us another dish. We had done with the mail, and did not want another dish, and eventually, after a lot of confabulation with his other staff, he offered us some free deserts, which were superb.
Overall, except for the malai kofta, the rest of the meal was great. The restaurant offeres non-veg and veg, with dishes such as various Kababs, Tikka, Tandoori items, Paneer dishes, spring roll, various north Indian meat dishes, and a good sampling of veg dishes. The Gulab Jamun was superb. No liqour.

Contact details:
Karkardooma Village (next to the Metro station),
Vikas Marg, East Delhi
Phone: 011-22378686, 011-22378787, 9999777881/2/3
They do home delivery.

If you desire some great vegetarian food, then probably one of the best (and not very expensive place) is a place called Govindas. The food here is great, with the focus on serving vegetarian, healthy food (the food is cooked as per principles, with no garlic or onion in it). How does food taste without any onion or garlic ? Well, my experience was that at a minimum, portions of the food were palatable, and some of the food items were great. How would I rate the overall food experience ? Well, rate it as above average. The gentry was good, with families sitting there carefully in a well decorated interior (the eating tables are at a slight depression to the buffet tables). We had actually booked a party at the same restaurant (and they had given us a small ante-room that was good enough to seat around 40 people). The food at the party level was good enough that the guests liked the good (even the people fond of non-vegetarian food enjoyed the vegetarian food laid out).
A plus point was that the restaurant is located within the premises of the ISKCON temple in East of Kailash.
Address: ISKCOM Temple Complex, Sant Nagar Main Road, East of Kailash, New Delhi – 110065.
Timings: Noon-3.30 p.m. & 7.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m

Khan Market (near Lodhi Estate) in New Delhi is one of the swankiest market locations in Delhi, and also one of the most expensive. It is frequented by the classy people of Delhi (including diplomats from the nearby posh colonies of Golf Links, and Jor Bagh).
One of the famous restaurants located over there is called Blanco, and is almost like a world cuisine (well, it serves multi cuisine food with European, Japanese, Indonesian, Thai, and so on). Sounds good, doesen’t it ? A lot of regular patrons agree, and people liking the place frequent it regularly. It can be expensive though, with a food for 2 with drinks coming to Rs. 1500 – 2000. For that cost, you better feel very good at the end of the meal, and enjoy it a lot.
The seating is interesting and experimental, with wooden tables (in a somwhat unfinished look). The look is different from the conventional look, and an interesting look on the walls (a lot of sunglasses, although there is no reason as to why sunglasses were chosen. If you watch the video below, you will know what the reasoning behind the restaurant people were on putting these sunglasses).
Here’s a sampling on some of the food available at the restaurant – Asparagus and wasabi cheese wraps, Grilled feta and herbed polenta on skewers, Sushi platter, Vietnamese crisp prawn rolls, Carribean salads, Crispy red snapper, various tomato soups, Peppered chicken and mushroom broth, various steaks, Hawaiin pork chops, Australian lamb rack, Zuccini rolls, Grilled jumbo prawns, King fish steak, Cajun grilled vegetables, and Grilled vegetables steak.
They have a small selection of drinks, and a separate smoking section.

Map of Blanco:

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Here’s a video on Youtube of Blanco:

Contact details and address:

The restaurant is spread over 2 levels and can seat 50 people. It is open from 11 AM to 11 PM.
62, Khan Market, New Delhi 110003
011-43597155, 43597166

The number of good restaurants in Delhi and the NCR region has kept on increasing over the past few years. As the number of malls have increased and a larger number of people have got into the habit of spending time in malls, the urge to eat out (especially at good places has increased tremendously). One example of this was this restaurant called Sahib Sindh Sultan (located inside the Ambience Mall in Gurgaon). We had to meet some friends after a period of a year, and owing to some locational issues, we went to Gurgaon to meet our friends. Finding the Mall and the restaurant was incredibly easy, if you are coming from the Delhi side, then as soon as you cross the Toll gate, the mall is located on the left side (you need to get off the highway as soon as you see a proper opening).
The restaurant is apparently part of a group called the BJN group that also runs other restaurants right next to SSS, and is located on the 3rd floor of the mall, close to the ground parking side (the side furthest away from the entrance to the mall; parking to the mall costs Rs. 30).
As you enter the restaurant, the initial look was that it seemed richly decorated, but a trifle dark. However, as you move in, you quickly spot a section of the restaurant where a train seems to be standing, and when you climb in, there are tables inside the train. A nice touch, and made all of us seem a bit happy (and of course the kid was very happy to be stepping inside a train). The seats were comfortable, and we thought that we were in a right place. Then the menu arrived, and it seemed to be a bit high, but this was a classy place (so went the reasoning) so we continued in that place.
And then the starters arrived followed by the food. The place offers a mix of Anglo-Indian, Gujarati, and Frontier food (a mish-mash of different styles). The starters (2 veg, one was a sort of vegetable seekh kabab, the other was a mushroom and other parts dish (and both were tasty); and then we had the non-veg started which was an excellent 5 pieces of fish fry (very tasty)). It was the main course that was even more incredible, the veg palak malai kofts and dal were great. Non-veg chicken biryani was in a good quantity and probably the best biryani I had ever eaten. Overall, the food was very great. If I do not recommend to everyone, it is because for 4 of us, the overall bill came to Rs. 3400 which is high by any standard (consider than 12.5 % was VAT, and 10% was a service charge).

Contact:
Site (link)
Ambience Mall, Level 3,
National Highway 8,
Gurgaon – 122 002
Delhi: +91 0124 3058802