At a time when more and more people are moving towards chic food, Indian cuisine brands such as Dhaba By Claridges hold on to their roots strong enough to present something desi and traditional on the plate. This time, Chef Ravi Saxena of Dhaba has come up with a concept of evening teatime with a street food menu from 4 to 7 p.m. at its outlet in DLF Place, Saket. I should say it’s an attempt to take the highway food a step further.
A selective menu with five options each in the vegetarian and non-vegetarian section was good enough to fill me up along with the cutting chai. As it is a pre-plated menu with set portions, the chef was quick enough to start rolling out the dishes. Keema pao, one of the most delicious of the lot, was served first. Steaming hot keema with pao impressed me from the first bite. The soft and fresh pao really complemented the spicy keema made perfectly in dhaba style.
Bun omelette, another street-side classic, was again a winner, a masala omelette sandwiched inside the bun. The consistency of the omelette was thick, just like a patty inside a bun. The next egg dish to follow was the anda toast, one of the basic preparations at every North Indian house. Compared to the other two dishes, it was average.
Those who like spicy roadside flavours should definitely try the masaledar murgh which comes on skewers. Tender chicken cubes char-grilled on a tawa make it a special preparation. Glazed with a mild chicken curry, the tikka was moist and juicy. The last non-vegetarian dish from the menu was the boti pao, though it was no way near the masaledar murgh or keema pao. I found the quantity of the stuffing a tad small. Even the boti was dry and just couldn’t tickle my taste buds. A sip of cutting chai in between was a booster. The ginger infused tea served as a perfect antidote for my cold.
Done with the first five, it was time to dig into the next. What could be better than having a vada pao with tea? A decent attempt at the vada but it still had scope for improvement. I followed the vada pao up with another signature street-side dish from Mumbai, the pao bhaji. The chef worked magic with this dish. One of the best pao bhajis I have had in recent times.
Non-vegetarian dish : Rs. 275 plus taxes
Vegetarian dish: Rs. 225 plus taxes
