Blurb: serious food in a fun atmosphere
Cuisine: Multi cuisine
Atmospherics: Conrad Hilton famously said that the secret of a good hotel (and by extension, restaurant) is location, location, location. He would beam with approval at the building that houses World Art Dining: on the crossroads at the traffic light that leads from Ring Road, and goes to the Punjabi Bagh Club or to Paschim Vihar, you cannot pass the buzz of this market with its restaurants, bars and health clubs without passing World Art Dining. Whether you’re in your own car (valet parking within the premises) or in an Uber, it is surprisingly easy inspite of the chaotic traffic. The building itself houses two banquet halls, a bar, and on the top floor, a restaurant with open kitchens and colourful seats. There is South East Asian, Indian and a pizza section with minimal western selection; the South East Asian section is the most impressive by far.
Table talk: How the restaurant is able to maintain a menu that is the size of a telephone directory (seriously!) I will never figure out, but there is something for everybody in this cheerful place where the waitstaff is extremely well-trained, yet informal. However, if you don’t want to plough through the menu, do order the Frontier dal (Rs 399) blindly. Possibly the best in the city: creamy-textured, each grain is tender yet whole and the flavour of dal rather than tomato is the topnote: it is, more or less, what maa ki dal used to be in the 1960s. The other unique offering is the Thai Chicken Golgappa (Rs 299). As its name suggests, it contains well-made golgappa shells filled with chopped chicken napped in red curry. I rather missed the tang of tamarind (a bona fide Thai ingredient), chopped onions and cilantro, but as attempts go, it was a fun dish. Jalapeno loaded nature potatoes (Rs 399) must sell a great deal because the sheer effort needed to wash tiny potatoes, make a depression in the middle, fill it with a creamy mixture, coat it with a crisp, tangy layer and then deep fry is painstaking. However, no gain without pain and it has become the top-selling snack in the restaurant.
Plus and minus: the pizzas are the weakest link in the menu, and the entire western section is not much better.
Must try: Hawkers’ Parcel with cheese and peppers; pakchoy wrapped chicken dimsum; fish ajwaini tikka.
Food: 3.50; Service: 3.50; Décor: 3.50
1 Club Road, Punjabi Bagh
Ph: 25227786, 25222786
Open from 12 noon to 12 midnight
Meal for two: Rs 1700
Alcohol served; credit cards
