Delhi is mushrooming with restaurants and turning out to be the Capital of food as well. The trend is such that the standalone restaurants are challenging the ambience and services of five stars. Markets such as Greater Kailash, Hauz Khas, Meharchand Market and a couple more are considered to be the food markets. But one thing which most of these standalone outlets lack is the natural ambience which can’t be created. The area which scores on natural scenery is definitely the Garden of Five Senses which has some really good set-ups right in the midst of lush green trees. Among them is Jacpot, a nice lounge and bar. Located next to the popular Magique, Jacpot offers the best of world cuisines.
As it was very cold outside sitting in the al fresco area was a real challenge. I lost the challenge after 15 minutes and went inside the cosy, classy lounge. A bowl of piping hot pumpkin soup was just the thing to start with to keep the chill at bay. The soup was smooth and the texture was good. A bit of seasoning, though, would have lifted the flavours. To follow it up was a cold Caesar salad which was really refreshing. Deep fried chunks of bread gave the salad a nice crunch.
Well, the weather was perfect to taste the delicacies from the live grills. The mutton seekh was surprisingly very good. Scoring full marks on succulence, the kabab was close to perfection — just missing the earthen aroma. The paneer tikka was worth a try but the spring roll was very ordinary. It had a nice crunch but the stuffing was almost flavourless.
Lovers of Italian cuisine have some tempting options in the form of pastas, pizza and risottos. Well, biased towards Mughlai, I opted for a desi main course. Rogan josh, chicken curry, dal makhni, butter chicken and biryani set my expectations soaring. But after tasting them I was at a loss to choose an outright winner. The roghan josh lacked the texture and spiciness, while the butter chicken missed out on the mandatory smoky aroma. The chicken curry again had scope for improvement. The rotis here need special mention as they seemed to be straight from a roadside dhaba.
Giving up on the main course I ordered a brownie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Thankfully the brownie was gooey and tasty. Other dessert options include delicacies such as baklava and gulab jamun.
Meal for two: Rs.1500
