Belly Centric

Smoke House Room

I’ve been wanting to visit Smoke House Room ever since I heard of its existence. The restaurant and bar is one of the first in Delhi that does Molecular Gastronomy — a series of techniques harnessing the power of science and chemistry to play with and deconstruct food.

Some of the key techniques used in Molecular Gastronomy include the use of foams, sprays, food spherification and vacuum cooking (sous vide). Having read literature on the subject as well as seeing some of the techniques on cooking shows, I was eager to see if it lived up to the buzz or whether it was just a gimmick to get your food to look better than it tasted.

Luckily, the organizers of Restaurant Week had included Smoke House Room in its selection, offering a 3 course set meal for Rs 1000 + taxes — a big discount on what is otherwise a pricey meal. What was even more heartening is that the restaurant did not give a ‘second class’ experience regarding the selection of menu items for the set meal; nor in terms of the service and overall ambiance.

Before we get to the food, I must mention the styling and theme of the restaurant itself. Smoke House Room shortens itself to Shroom and maintains a mushroom theme in both the décor and the menu. The atmosphere and lighting is quirky, and the interiors give you the impression that you’ve entered a very large button mushroom. Even the toilet doors have mushrooms on them, but it wasn’t exactly obvious which was ‘male’ and which ‘female’. The waiting area had tables with small lego sculptures on them just to drive home the point that this was a place where they like to play around with things.

The mushroom theme did not end with the décor. Our meal started with bread and parmesan crackers served with butter that was shaped like a mushroom, complete with burnt butter powder to give the impression of spores. This was also served with two flavoured olive oils, of which the orange and thyme was particularly excellent. This was a great way to whet your appetite for the meal ahead.

Our first course was soup and starters. I had a Chicken Noodle Soup, where the noodle was made of chicken. While innovative, I found this more gimmicky than anything else I would have later that night as the chicken-noodle wasn’t my favorite thing in the dish. Luckily, the soup was in some of the best lemongrass broth I have ever had, and there were enough mushrooms in the soup to leave you feeling satisfied with the umami goodness.

My fellow diners had a Burnt Asparagus Soup and a Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese Salad, both of which were fantastic. It was probably the best plated dish of the day, and even convinced me to have a few bites of beetroot, which I would normally never take.

Charred Asparagus Soup

My main course was a Citrus Cured Salmon with Kohlrabi and Potatoes. This dish was a joy to eat. It has so many elements that each bite kept your tongue entertained. The fish was cooked perfectly, and had a wonderful butter sauce to go with it. On the side was lemon foam which I expected to be gimmicky but left me absolutely delighted. The flavor was deliciously lemony and the texture made you feel like you were eating air. It was both delicious and fun to eat. Alongside were also orange spheres that looked like caviar but tasted like mandarins. Again, this added a playful, fun element to my main all while maintaining a great citrus flavor that went very well with the salmon.

Citrus Cured Salmon with Kohlrabi and Potatoes

Other items in the main course that were ordered were a Mushroom Risotto with a Soya Sauce Gel and Maize Five ways which was very corny. My fellow diners had no complaints, though I feel I easily had the best dish of the lot.

Mushroom Risotto with a Soya Sauce Gel

The final course was by far our favourite of the meal. The three desserts we ordered were all exceptional. First up was a Caramelized Banana with Rum and Coke Ice Cream. The ice cream was a triumph and was fairly rich in rum itself. If available en-masse it would probably become my preferred way to get high: delicious, creamy, melt in the mouth and leaving next to no milky aftertaste that ice cream often does. The caramelized banana went well with it and had a nice crunchy bitter caramel crust around it. Absolutely perfect.

Caramelized Banana with Rum and Coke Ice Cream

Next up was a Hazelnut Mousse with Philadelphia Cheese Cake Ice Cream (that is, ice cream with Philly cheese cake flavor). Again, the ice cream was flawless and tasted like one of the best cheese cakes you’ll ever have. The mousse was rich and just the right amount of sweet. The only critique one could have of this is that there just wasn’t enough of it.

Finally, there was a Lime Parfait which was plated beautifully and tasted great. On any other day I would have raved about it, but it was a good dessert that followed two fantastic ones.

Lime Parfait

Our meal ended with complimentary Chocolate Truffles from the chef. True to form, they looked and more incredibly felt like mushrooms right up to the point you bit into them and were overwhelmed by the rich, delicious chocolatey interior.

Smoke House Room was an experience that was well worth the money. The food was quirky, playful and most importantly tasted fantastic. The presentation was top class and the ambience quirky and casual. If you’re in to celebrity spotting, you might even run in to Virender Sehwag, who seemed to be enjoying his meal as well.

Guest post by @bhavyakhanna. Bhavya makes rubber conveyor belts for mines and teaches kids logic. No, really.

Closest Metro Station: Saket

Singapore Hawkers Food Festival, Eros

Singapore, in spite of being a tiny island, is inhabited by various cultures — the native Malays, the Chinese, Indonesians, Indians, Peranakan… the list goes on. Inevitably, such ethnic diversity has a direct influence on its cuisine and food selection. Due to its close proximity it happens to be a popular tourist destination for Indians and many have come to believe their food to be quite expensive. However, @lokallobaat points out that Singapore has plenty of food courts (hawker centres) where the food is quite economical as they’re prepared and sold by small families. The Eros Hotel — Managed By Hilton has brought in Chef Kelvin and Chef Azmi from Hilton Singapore to offer their food in Delhi until 25th March— The Singapore Hawkers Food Festival. Thanks to Sid, I got invited to the inaugural dinner alongside other food bloggers.

The façade of Blooms had turned into a lively Hawker Centre, cleverly adapted according to the space constraints of the hotel. Hawker Centres in Singapore usually consist of several stalls, each serving a different cuisine. A similar setting is found here - 6 stalls (Chinese Barbecue Stall, Seafood Grill, Noodle, Muslim Favourites, Singapore Specials and Ais Kacang Dessert Station) and a small spread of Malay food. My first glance at the setup was enough to convince me that food options would far exceed my appetite (which, by the way, is a very rare occurrence). Most stalls are live counters and the chefs are happy to abide by your preferences. Place your order, take your seat, sip into the unlimited beer and Singapore Sling, relish the food, repeat.

Chicken Satay

I kicked off with some Chicken and Lamb Satay from the Muslim station — perfectly grilled, succulent and accompanied with some sweet peanut butter sauce. Next up were the Chilly Crab and the Oyster Omelette. I have often had crabs (at home and outside) but never as big as these ones with such a good proportion of meat. Thankfully the servings were not overwhelmingly large. By this time two assorted platters arrived at the table — one each from the Chinese BBQ and the Seafood stall. I sampled some Char Siew Chicken and Lamb, Jumbo Prawns, Seabass and Stingray. I enjoyed the meat more than the seafood, primarily due to my personal preference for river fishes over sea fishes. The chef at the Noodle stall made me some good Mee Goreng, medium spicy with prawns and squid. Having tried most of the stalls I headed for some Roti Jala. It is a bread made with flour, egg and turmeric and uses a special perforated ladle to make it look like a fish net. I decided to have the Roti Jala with Rendang Chicken, Rendang Lamb and some Malay Coconut Chicken Curry. Having had a lot of food already, I had a tough time searching for the smaller pieces of meat in all three of them.

Chilly Crab and Oyster Omelette

Honey Glazed Pork Belly and Hainanese Chicken

By this time I was quite full but I pushed myself for some Honey Glazed Pork Belly and Hainanese Chicken (served with rice and soup) — a decision I did not repent. The Pork Belly was exceptional. The fat marginally outshining the meat (which is the way I like), grilled and slightly sweet. This turned out to be my favourite for the night. The dessert, Ais Kacang (essentially a bowl of assorted cut fruits, jellies topped with crushed ice and syrups), did not appeal to me. I would much prefer our local chuskis over that. However the array of desserts at the standard Blooms buffet more than made up for it.

It was a carnivorous rampage (did I mention the red snapper, the squid, the mackerel, the pomfret, or the roast duck?), one that I will remember for a long time. It was quite hard to choose from such an extensive offering, but to make your life a little easier, don’t miss the Pork Belly, Satays, Roti Jala, Chilly Crab and Oyster Omelettes. For a long time Eros has kept surprising me with their vegetarian offerings, but at this Singapore Hawkers Food Festival the vegetarians were left yearning for options. Quite understandable.

Closest Metro Station: Nehru Place
Damages: Rs 2000 per person (approx.)

Oye Bittoo! Bittoo Oye!

Aloo Tikki, a popular chaat variant, can be found on the menu of almost every eatery today. It is prepared by mixing mashed potatoes with spices and subsequently deep fried in oil. The tikki (or croquette, if you eat your food with a fork and knife) is then served with mint chutney, tamarind sauce and curd. Most places today garnish the aloo tikki with other things including (and unfortunately not limited to) - cabbage, paneer, tomatoes, pomegranate, etc.

The texture of the tikki can vary from soft to crisp, depending on how long you deep fry it. And this, in my opinion, is the deal-breaker. Very few can claim to have perfected the art of making aloo tikkis. One place that stands a clear winner amongst all the contenders is Bittoo Tikki Wala, or more fondly known as BTW.

Their aloo tikki is unconventionally large, uniformly crisp and deep-fried in olive oil. The amount of curd then poured on top is just right. Finally, it is garnished with a cubes of paneer, slices of tomato and few strands of cabbage. Although I am the first to push the garnishing aside, you don’t really mind it once you’ve had a bite of their aloo tikki.

BTW has gained considerable popularity and you’ll find their name on almost any best-street-food-in-Delhi list. They have 6 outlets across Delhi and we’ve been to two of them - Rani Bagh and Netaji Subhash Palace (Pitampura). We are happy to report that the aloo tikki was equally good at both places, probably owing to a stream-lined process.

Most outlets now serve a some other items as well. We tried the dahi bhalla & rasmalai but found them to be strictly average. One doesn’t mind the mediocrity of the other new items on the menu, as long as they keep churning out those delectable aloo tikkis.

When you discover a place like BTW, which has been around for a long time, one gets curious as to the whereabouts of the original outlet. So we took it upon us to find the original and oldest outlet at Rani Bagh. There are two BTW outlets very close to each other at Ranibagh. The one right outside Chunmun Store is easier to locate and is a new restaurant that serves Indian, Continental and South Indian food, other than the chaats. The original outlet is a 5-minute walk from this place, opposite M2K Cinemas.

Other honorable mentions: Aloo Tikki at Natraj Bhalle Wala
Must-try hatke variant: Hare Mattar ki Tikki at Eatopia

Interesting bits of trivia, courtesy @rasagy — BTW started off by selling aloo tikkis on a रेड़ी (push cart) opposite the Gurudwara in Rani Bagh. They were also early proponents of technology, evidenced by their tissue papers at the time which mentioned their website!

Closest Metro Station: Kohat Enclave

Damages: Rs. 60 for a plate of Aloo Tikki (2pcs)

Diva Piccola

Diva Piccola is celebrity chef Ritu Dalmia’s latest in her chain of ‘Diva’ Italian restaurants in Delhi, and yet another addition to a burgeoning Hauz Khas Village. It is also the first I’ve had the pleasure of dining at and I came back exceptionally impressed at the quality of the food and service there.

The restaurant itself is a cosy place, with not too many covers. The ambience and décor is warm and welcoming, and lives up to its stated ambition of being a comfortable ‘home-style’ restaurant. This is definitely a nice place to go for a date, especially if you, like me, are not particularly fond of dressing for the occasion.

The menu is also a slimmed down version of what I’m told the main ‘Diva’ has to offer—but still offers enough variety in anti-pasti, pasta and wood fired pizzas. What is a little lacking is menu options for ‘main course’, if you’re not in the mood for pasta, pizza or risotto. However, given that this covers the lion’s share of what most people expect at an Italian restaurant, it should not be a problem for most.

The service was excellent, with a very enthusiastic, if at times pushy manager guiding your dining experience there. Personally, I am wholly comfortable letting an experienced hand guide my order, so I quite appreciated my food being decided for me. However, for those who are decided in their ways, I’d recommend taking a firmer stance before you’re bullied into ordering something you’re not keen on.

What was ordered for me, I must say, was excellent. We started with a winter soup of mushrooms, onions and leeks; which was full of flavour and generously doused with olive oil. The portioning was just right for a soup to be split for two people and both have enough to enjoy it but not too much to leave one too full for the main course to come. It’s easy to make a mushroom soup taste of nothing but cream, so it was great to have a rich soup with flavours of the mushroom, onions and leeks all shining through.

Our next course was a strawberry gorgonzola risotto, which was the special of the day. Normally, I’m not a fan of risotto but this seemed too interesting to not give a shot. My main grouse with the Italian rice is that whenever I’ve had the same it has been a creamy, heavy mess. This was different—despite being cooked in Gorgonzola cheese the rice was light, airy and delicious. The texture was also there and had not devolved to a gooey glop—which bad risotto has a habit of resembling. Finally, the strawberries added a tart, sweet contrast to the creamy rice, and played incredibly well together. This was an excellent dish.

Next in line was the wood-fired pizza. The crust here is not as thin as one is accustomed to with wood fired pizza; and resembles more a Turkish pide. This works for me, as I enjoy a slightly thicker crust; but for those looking for a thinner base perhaps this is something you can make a prior request to the waiter for.

The thicker crust was, however, airy and almost pillow-like. The cheese on top was excellent, as was the Italian salami and meat mince. The meat mince for me was the highlight of the pizza: juicy, flavourful and well spiced.

Classic margharita with extra black olives and sun-dried tomatoes

We couldn’t leave without giving at least one dessert a shot, and it was well worth the extra calories. We had a blueberry cheesecake, which was one of the finest I’ve had in a long time. Blueberries were present on top and inside the cake; with a very light, almost mousse-like cheese. This was contrasted against a very fresh, crunchy biscuit layer at the bottom of the cake, and a fresh blueberry glaze over the top. Props for keeping the biscuit layer nice and crunchy, as often this element in a cheesecake has a habit of being a little too moist or even at times soggy.

We wished we had space for another dessert, but that was about all we could handle for the evening. The only thing one could find fault with was the bill, but at least you get what you pay for. This is not for a regular excursion (unless you’re filthy rich), but do treat yourself once in a while. It’s well worth it.

Guest post by @bhavyakhanna. Bhavya makes rubber conveyor belts for mines and teaches kids logic. No, really.

Photos courtesy Diva Piccola.

Closest Metro Station: Green Park, though it’s a bit of a walk from there. The Aurobindo Marg / Hauz Khas bus stop in front of Aurobindo market is slightly closer.

Damages: Dinner for two comes up at just under Rs. 2000 for a soup, main course and dessert.

Sri Lankan Food Festival at Blooms, Eros

Even though over the years cuisines from all over have stormed into Delhi, there remain quite a few that are little known to the capital city. Coastal food is one such example, with Swagath and Gunpowder perhaps the only two worthy contenders we can think of that serve this cuisine. Rarer still is the coastal food of Sri Lanka. However, thanks to an initiative by Eros Hotel (Managed by Hilton) to have Chef Ajith Hewabandula and Chef Ravindra Pushpakumara (from Hilton Hotel in Colombo) visit the city and further thanks to the invitation by Sid, we got to sample the Sri Lankan food on the inaugural night.

To celebrate this Sri Lankan food festival (13^th—22^nd January), the hotel has arranged for a special setup in the open section of Blooms with some Sri Lankan decor and few live counters. Also coal and gas burners try to make the chilly outdoor a little more cosy. As we walked along the neatly arranged buffet, the first thing we noticed was that the vegetarian items far outnumbered the non-veg options. This was quite unexpected, for we thought coastal food would majorly consist of seafood. The head chef quite rightly pointed out that this was, unlike buffets at other places, done so that vegetarians do not feel left out at such an occasion. Going by our previous experience at Eros, where everyone (including hardcore non-vegetarians) unanimously loved the vegetarian offerings, the sole non-vegetarian in our group was not complaining.

Rice-flour Battered Prawns and Spicy Chicken

Our meal started with an array of deep-fried starters (Tapioca, Batter Fried Crispy Mushroom, Rice-flour Battered Cuttle Fish to name a few) served right off the frying pan accompanied with a spicy sauce. We followed it by tasting few salads and then quickly moved on to the main courses. Of the vegetarian selection, their preparations of Brinjol, Lady Finger, and raw Mango were clear standouts. The sweet Brinjol Pehil complemented the coarse rice-flour based Pol Roti quite well, and the spicy Lady Finger Tempered with the Mango Ambula made for a very tangy combination. Along with the coconut sprinkled dry Green Gram Melluma and the Potato White Curry, this meal evoked fond memories of school dinners from @rungta’s time at a boarding school in Tamil Nadu.

Among the non-veg dishes Chicken Black Curry and the Mutton Stew were done in a typical coastal food style with a strong flavour of coconut milk. Sea-fish lovers would certainly enjoy the hot Tuna Red Curry. More than the Yellow Rice, we liked the Sri Lankan hoppers which they call Appa — a less-fluffy-more-crispy variety of Appams of Kerala.

The meal ended with a round of coconut and rice-flour based dry desserts.

Sri Lankan cuisine is very similar to Keralite food. As a general observation, most dishes by and large made use of coconut and some strong spices. Rice is their principle cereal and interestingly all the courses from starters to desserts made use of rice-flour. Wikipedia says “many spicy Sri Lankan preparations are believed to be among the world’s hottest in terms of chilli content”. While we did come across some hot chutneys, we were perhaps not offered such preparations (or maybe, being Indians, we have grown immune to hot and spicy food). Whenever we asked the Sri Lankan chef about any of the recipes, his answer always had some mysterious “Sri Lankan Spices”. No wonder Sri Lanka is known as ‘Spice Island’.

Closest Metro Station: Nehru Place

The Rooftop Kitchens of Chanakyapuri

Long before momos turned into a popular Delhi street food, Dilli Haat and Yashwant Place were the two major hot spots to savour these steaming delights. This time around we headed to the latter. There is a string of about 10-12 food outlets at Yashwant Place Shopping Complex (Chanakyapuri) and most of them offer a similar menu — primarily a mix of Indian, Mughlai, Chinese (Indian Chinese) and Thai food. The similarity is not just restricted to the menus, but extends to the entire setup with all having their seating area at the ground level, the kitchen on the roof and using a microphone system to announce the order to the cooks from downstairs. With each vendor constantly calling out to you, the scene is, in the words of our resident comedian Issmael Bhai, “very much like a brothel”.

We have had a hard time choosing any particular outlet and thus ended up sampling few of the places over multiple visits. While there is very little to differentiate between them, the one that we found to be consistently satisfactory is Chinese Bite. Not to say that they are the best of the lot, but we found their offerings to be consistent in quality thus reducing the chances of a disappointing meal.

We have tried their momos, mushroom chilly, soups, chowmein and thupka. Everything ranges from decent to good (except mushroom chilly which we did not like). The servings, at their prices, are generous. The succulent momos (accompanied by a spicy chilly sauce) were pretty well done. They are willing to accommodate your preferences for a dish and we had our chowmein cooked with garlic and mushroom — the result was quite tasty.

This place, being located at a prime diplomatic area of the city and in the vicinity of the once popular (and now missed) Chanakya cinema, is always bustling with a mix of people — families, bachelors, groups of friends or employees from nearby offices. While it would be unfair to expect authentic food from places like these, they do offer a satisfactory meal and a delightful experience. The seating areas are usually sparsely occupied, and with the worst of the winters yet to come, we think this is a good place to enjoy some hot soup and steaming momos.

Oh, and we made a short video.

Closest Metro Station: None very close, but the best option would be to get off at Race Course and then take DTC bus route 781 towards Chanakyapuri.

Damages: Rs 100-200 depending on your appetite. Momos (8 pieces a plate) range from Rs 70 (veg)/Rs 90 (cheese/chicken/mutton) to Rs 180 (prawn).

Gol Gappe Ahoy!

Love makes the world go round. So do Gol Gappe.~ Issmael Bhai

चाट — just the sound of it can divert your attention instantly. Whether it’s papri chaat, aloo tikki, gol gappe or bhelpuri — everyone has a favorite. They’re light on the wallet and you don’t really need a partner to order one. And more often than not you will find popular chaat places in every Indian city.

We’ve scouted around for good chaat vendors all around Delhi. Some of the best ones can be found in Old Delhi, with Natraj Bhalle Wala & Ashok Chaat Bhandar leading the pack. However, not all can take a trip down that road very often. So the hunt for a good chaat place closer to home was on.

One fine day (as with most magical discoveries), a tweet showed us the way. An alley extending off Shahjahan Road brings you to UPSC Lane (adjoining UPSC office). Right there, in all its glory, is the abode of Shri Prabhu Chaat Bhandar. This establishment has been around for nearly 80 years and they claim to prepare each of their offerings entirely by themselves. Over these years it has been manned by four generations of the same family.

I’ve visited this place four times in the last month and each time I’ve found their gol gappe to be consistently good. I’ve always preferred the atta ones (over the suji ones) as they’re crispier and lighter allowing you to have more of them. In addition, the atta ones here are surprisingly big in size — more fun! The suji ones are slightly smaller but are equally good. The gols are stuffed with generous quantities of potato and the paani is chilled along with the right composition of spices. With all this priced pretty nominally, we’re left with no option but to declare their gol gappe to be the best we’ve had in Delhi.

It is easy to be tempted to try the bhalla papri chaat and aloo tikki owing to their popularity among the crowd. However we’d rate them to be average. If you happen to try the former, we suggest avoiding the black coloured masala owing to its weird after-taste. We already have a favourite for these two things and it will be tough to find a good match for them - Ashok Chaat Bhandaar for chaats and Bittoo Tikki Wala for aloo tikkis.

Finally, a recent addition to their offering is the kulfi-falooda. The kulfi is low on sweet and has a pale flavour of pista. However the final dash of flavouring syrups (Kewra water and Rooh Afza - rosewater) does the trick and makes an otherwise ordinary kulfi taste a lot better.

So next time you’re in Central Delhi, do drop by and do a few rounds of these lip-smacking water balls!

Closest Metro Station: Khan Market
Timings: 12 noon — 8:30pm during summers (7pm during winters). Avoid going too late as they usually run out of stock and the quality degrades.

Damages: Rs 50-100 depending on your appetite. Gol gappe are priced Rs 15/- for 5 pieces.