The other day I got an excited phone call from my foodie friend Vikram Dutt. On second thoughts, I should say that was an ‘eggcited' call, for he was going quite gaga about a place that he had come across in Lajpat Nagar. And its speciality was eggs. Not surprisingly, it was called Eggriculture.
So a day or two later I set out for this place that had my friend in raptures. I was told that it was in Lajpat Nagar. I went there — and got totally lost. A phone call and some elaborate directions later, I found it. Let me give you simpler directions. If you are on the Defence Colony flyover, going towards Moolchand, turn left into Lajpat Nagar — at the crossing that eventually takes you down to the Central Market. But you don't have to go that far. Soon after you have turned into Lajpat Nagar, you'll find a board that says Roxy on your left. Turn right — in local parlance this is known as Nalewallah Road. Eggriculture is on the first floor of the first building on the right, above an Udipi restaurant that also, surprise surprise, serves Chinese. The address is A 91 B Lajpat Nagar II, 1st floor.
I met one of the partners, a gentleman called Rajeev Bhushan, but missed the other, Vikash Dixit, who is also the chef (earlier with the Taj in London). They do free home delivery to anywhere up to three kilometres (phone numbers: 29841333 and 9582207352).
It's a cheerful little place with sunny, yolky colours all around. I saw the menu card and found that the owners had gone to town with eggs. I like eggs myself, so was very happy with all that was on offer — omelettes, snacks, full meals, international egg dishes, desserts, smoothies and even low-fat egg options! And then, for those who want more, there is quite a comprehensive section of eggless dishes.
Wonderfully light
I asked for an egg croissant BLT — an omelette with bacon, lettuce and tomatoes (Rs.69), a baida kheema pav (minced mutton with egg bhurji, with two pav breads — Rs.69), a chutney bhurji with maska pav (eggs served with mint chutney and two pav breads — Rs.39) and penne with sun-dried tomatoes and pesto sauce, served with garlic bread (Rs.55). I liked each and every dish. The penne was wonderfully light and flavourful. The BLT was full of chunks of bacon and the baida kheema pav was suitably spicy. The mint chutney egg bhurji (which is some kind of a well cooked scrambled egg) had a nice minty flavour, and I had a good time dipping my pavs into the eggs.
But this is a place you have to keep going back to, for the menu is full of items you'd like to try out. If you want to eat a meal there you can ask for a muttai roast with Malabar parathas, a Kerala dish of egg and paranthas ((Rs.57), or an ande ki kadhi with pulao and aloo bhujia — eggs stuffed with fresh fenugreek and dry fruits in a yoghurt gravy, served with a ghee pilaf and potatoes (Rs.50). You can eat a spinach and mushroom frittata with garlic bread (Rs.55) or lasagna with eggs and mushroom (Rs.55). And the dessert list, as expected, is full of wonderful egg dishes. There's a lot more — so go and explore. Or do I mean eggsplore?
