The changing face of this city called Delhi never fails to amaze me. If, like Rip Van Winkle, you’ve been asleep for 20 years – actually even five years will do – you’ll wake up to see a city that you just can’t recognise. Flyovers criss-cross the city, skyscrapers touch the sky, hotels and restaurants are everywhere, and the parks have disappeared.
So, in this sea of change, I like to occasionally raise a toast to all that has not changed. Food-wise, the Pandara Road Market has almost the same restaurants that were popular in the seventies. In Connaught Place, scores of new eateries have opened up, but a few of the old favourites still remain.
I went to one such restaurant the other day. This is called The Embassy, and it is in the inner circle. If you are walking towards the inner circle from Odeon, turn left. It’s at the corner (11-D. Phone nos: 011-23416434 and 9311085132).
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There was a time when going out for a meal meant a trip to The Embassy. It was quite popular with local politicians, too, who used to host a great many informal press conferences there. The restaurant has now been done up again, and many new items added to its menu. The younger members of the Malhotra family have now taken it forward. The old colonial columns – symbolising Lutyens’ Delhi – are still there, but the décor is very modern now, swathed in shadows of orange.
I went there after 35 years or so, and was most impressed. After I had made myself comfortable, a sampler tandoori platter was placed in front of me, consisting of tandoori paneer, corn seekhs, fish tikka, tandoori prawns, chicken wings and chicken tikka. It was all nice and spicy, though the prawn and fish had too much salt in it. I particularly enjoyed the fried onion rings, coated with beer batter and dusted with Cajun spices.
The place used to be known for its chicken a la Kiev, but I had some of its other specialities. I ate their tomato fish – sole fillet cooked in a thick tomato sauce – and loved it. Another speciality, dal meat, is as good as ever – a delicious mix of lentils and soft pieces of meat. This is different from the dalcha, which is also a dal-meat dish. The dal at The Embassy is thick and dry and not runny as in the dalcha. Their dal embassy is a creamy kaali dal.
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I think what I enjoyed the most was the chicken masala – which, contrary to what the name suggests, was a very lightly spiced dish of chicken in an almond and cream sauce gravy.
The restaurant has a vast cold section – with dishes such as chicken chaat, chicken mayonnaise, fish mayo and so on. The breakfast fare looks appetising, too – with everything from fried, scrambled and poached eggs to channa bhatura. The owners believe their channa bhatura is better than the one at Kwality’s – but I was too full by then to try it out.
As we welcome all the new restaurants that now dot the city, I think we should raise a toast to old favourites such as The Embassy (and speaking of a toast, it does have a nice bar). Let the old flourish with the new, I say.