Omer Khushro has inherited his mother’s catering business. Like the best food anywhere, the late Mrs. Khusro did it strictly as a hobby, rather than out of economic necessity. The family is originally from Hyderabad and it is the food of that city that Iram prepares. There is a bunch of cooks, one or two…
It would appear that Connaught Place is the latest address to be getting a makeover. A slew of new restaurants are making their appearance, the latest (and most glitzy) of which is Side Wok, of Khan Market and Malcha Marg fame. The good news is that the Madras Hotel block is now filled to bursting…
It doesn’t look particularly Indian, and that is precisely the intention. Amaranta (amaranth or Ram dana) has an intensely desi soul, but its outer garb is international. Look at the neutral interiors, and you won’t know whether you are in an Indian or a western restaurant. That’s why you will be thrown off balance when…
It doesn’t rain but pours. To have two high profile hotels opening in the same week is a windfall indeed. Who is going to win the food sweepstakes? Let’s wait and watch: the Leela Palace hasn’t yet opened its two restaurants that boast international tie ups. The Oberoi Gurgaon has two restaurants, both of which…
Who makes the best cheesecake in town? Foodaholics. And who makes the deadliest Mexican food in the city? Foodaholics again. Foodaholics (www.foodaholics.in) is run by young Kishi Arora, a 20-something bundle of energy and initiative who has passed out from the Culinary Institute of America after a two year programme. Rather than work for a…
A wave of nostalgia washed over me when I visited Earthen Oven. Here is a restaurant (inside a Fortune Hotel, a sub brand of the ITC Welcomgroup) that is not trying to reinvent the wheel. It serves Punjabi food, it has an open kitchen and it even has a wood board with a modest-sized menu…
Eest in Westin Gurgaon embodies the eternal dilemma of international hotel chains in India. Whether to have expatriate chefs or Indian for their Chinese/oriental restaurant. And if the former, whether to take the cuisine to stratospheric levels or keep it suitably dumbed down for the local palate. Eest has not one but five expatriate chefs…
Zune Hilton Janakpuri has a brand new Indian restaurant, Zune. The colours in Zune (which means moon in Kashmiri) include turquoise and copper, and the combination is an extremely refreshing one: it is a pleasure just being in the restaurant. It is entirely a bonus that the food is as good as it is. The…
Every time a new hotel opens in the city, it raises the bar for excellence. With the Westin Gurgaon, the bar has been raised sky-high. So far, the brand new hotel only has a coffee shop open, and if you always thought that the 24 hour coffee shop of a hotel is where the most…
Radisson Blu sits in an island, together with a shopping mall, in much the same way that Leela Gurgaon does next to Ambience Mall on the other side of the NCR. Besides a bar and an all-day diner, there is an Indian restaurant that packs quite a punch. Now that it has been established that…