We went in at about 12:30 PM and we were promptly seated, the restaurant being relatively empty with only a couple of tables occupied. But it became crowded in the next hour. We were served a complimentary drink and they informed us that they would be serving the soups and starters on the table. No wonder they couldn't find space to keep starters in the buffet array(like I mentioned earlier that it was full and cramped). We asked for the murgh kali mirchi soup, which I didn't like at all. It felt like more of a hot turmeric water with a faint scent of pepper and bits of chicken. The turmeric was definitely prominent. The starters were quite good, the fish being tender and fresh, the chicken tikkas and sheekh kebabs being quite succulent and juicy. In veg starters, we really liked the Afgani tikki, which had chana dal as its main ingredient, and the Dilliwali tikki topped with a spoonful of curd and onion julienne.
The main course had only 3 non-veg dishes - mutton biryani, murgh lababdaar, ajwaini machli curry, as against about 5-6 veg dishes. I frankly didn't try most of the veg dishes. The mutton in the biryani was tender and optimally(or rather mildly) spiced, but I felt the biryani rice was a bit dry. The murgh lababdaar was quite good and the flavors of the gravy had infused into the chicken quite well. Ajwaini machli curry was low on spice level as well. Boneless fillets of fish(and I really like this as I hate picking out fish bones) had been cooked in a gravy having a distinct flavor of carom seeds. They did serve a bowl of basmati rice and naans on the table. The rice wasn't in the buffet line up - the explanation that they gave - it tends to become a bit cold and dry and loses flavor. They serve it fresh and piping hot on the table to retain its flavor. Good enough.
The desserts did strike a chord with me. Nothing was overly sweet. I really liked the caramel custard, the bread pudding and the moong dal halwa - a rarity for me as I never have moong dal halwa anywhere.
Coming to service, I found it to be abysmally slow. I was completely frustrated by the slowness with which they served the starters. We went in at about 12:30 PM and out first set of starters was served almost after 20 mins. Even after multiple requests, we waited quite long for our starters to be repeated. In fact there was a paneer rawalpindi in the menu which never made it to our table. Serving starters directly from the kitchen is a good idea, but I would never want to wait 15 mins for a refill or 2nd serving, especially when only 2-3 pieces are served each time.The staff however was courteous and friendly. But service definitely has to improve, no question about that. The bill was around 1100 or so for 2 persons(we paid for bottled water) which I think is quite decent enough for the food.
Food - 3.5/5
Ambiance - 3.5/5
Service - 1.5/5
VFM - 3.5/5
Wow Factor - starters
Thumbs down - service
Would like visit again to try their a la carte dishes.
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