Cinnamon, Jai Mahal Palace, Jaipur

Cinnamon,
Jai Mahal Palace,
Jacob Road,
Civil Lines
Jaipur
0141 2223636

 

Cinnamon at the Jai Mahal Palace Jaipur is situated on the mezzanine level, accessible from the Marigold Bar. It was supposed to be the private dining room of the Prime Minister. Its well decorated and normally much quieter than the Marble Arch and cosier than the Frangipani - Grills & Barbecue in the garden.

Cinnamon offers a variety of "Royal" cuisines - Rajasthani, Awadhi, Hyderabadi and Kashmiri with about 5 starters and 5 main course options from each cuisine. We ate here twice when we last visited Jaipur. The first time was just the 2 of us on a quiet evening and the service was excellent. The second time was a group of 12 in the afternoon. And they took over an hour to get us our lunch. Even then, the serving and the arrival of dishes was pretty chaotic, starters, rotis, dhal, rice - everything arrived together, but 3 biryanis appeared and the 4th didn't make an appearance for another half an hour.

The restaurant is beautiful. Very romantic for an evening dinner. While most of the tables are the proper sit down variety, you can choose to book a little nook with floor seating. However, do note that Cinnamon overlooks the Marble Arch Coffee shop (its the mezzanine level), so you may want to choose your table away from the windows. The decor is beautiful with old Rajasthani tribal jewelry and rich fabrics on the seats and tables.

The standard complimentary starters of Poppadums and green salad, came in a beautiful arrangement. It looked so pretty, we didn't feel like breaking it up and devouring it.

The food was excellent. We did get to sample lots of different things (given the size of our group) Portion size is on the smaller side, but the taste is lovely. We loved the Dum Biryani (both chicken 1100/- and lamb 1200/- variants were excellent).

On the Servers recommendation, we ordered the  Kashmiri Lahabi kebabs (850/) - minced lamb kebabs poached in tomato and Kashmiri spices. It was outstanding. In comparison, the Galawat kebabs (850/-) were extremely mild and delicate in flavour. While it was good, no 5 Star has yet got the art of making the perfect Galaouti kebabs that are sold on the streets of Lucknow. The Gushtaba was again very mildly spiced, but still quite flavourful, however it wasn't as good as the gushtaba you get from an authentic Kashmiri house / restaurant / chef.

They do serve an excellent selection of vegetarian food too. The Shekhawati Ker Sangri (750/-) and the dals - Lasooni Tadka (750/-) and Dal Cinnamon (750/-) and gatte ki sabji were all excellent.

We were on a no sugar phase, when we visited this restaurant, so I can't comment on the desserts.

All in all, it is an expensive dining option, but perfect for a Romantic evening, when you don't want to shell out for the Ram Bagh.


Rating : 4 / 5

The Great Kabab Factory - Radisson, Ahmedabad

The Great Kabab Factory - Radisson Blu,
Near Panchvati Cross Roads,
Off CG Road,
Ambavadi,
Ahmedabad
079 40501234

This Version of the Kebab Factory is not as good as the Kebab Factory in Delhi / Noida / Dubai / Pune, but its still one of the best places for authentic North Indian style kebabs in Ahmedabad.

As of now, they are only open for dinner in Ahmedabad (from 6pm-11pm), but on Sundays, they do serve lunch too (noon to 11pm).

As with most of the TGKF's, as a diner, you should focus on the kebabs and the accompanying rotis, the dhal makhni and the desserts. The rice, gravies and biryani are ok, but the kebabs and desserts are the best part of the menu.

If you are new to the concept, TGKF operates like a buffet with unlimited portions, but you are served at your seat. You can choose from the veg (949/-) or non-veg (999/-) options. The variety of kebabs and curries changes daily, so you can never be sure what you will have on offer, unless you call and check.

Their galoutis with ulte tawe ka paratha are the best part of the meal. Melt in your mouth galoutis served with slightly crispy and fragrant mini parathas.

The desserts normally have 4 different options to choose from, or you can have all four.

Be sure to take your appetite with you, to justify the price of the meal (quite expensive for Ahmedabad standards)


Rating : 4 / 5

Awadhpuri, Ahmedabad

Awadhpuri,
First Floor, Pushpak Complex,
Opposite Prahlad Nagar Garden,
Anand Nagar Road
Ahmedabad
079 64503044, 079 31202220

I'd been to Awadhpuri a couple of months ago and service was very very slow and at that time I had mentioned that it was preferable to go for their home delivery option rather than dine-in. We had been ordering delivery from them on & off, so I hadn't realised that they had moved.

Awadhpuri has now moved to a new location - in the same building, but on the 1st floor where Punjab di Galli used to be. They have maintained the same seating and done up the walls with paintings and all. But this is definitely a much better location. It is brighter, more spacious, tables are spaced out more comfortably, seating is more luxurious and hence overall, its been a huge improvement.

We reached around 2:40 and they had a buffet offer. I asked them if it was still open and they willingly obliged. It was a sit down buffet, unlimited portions made fresh each time, but served in your seat - no running up & down to the buffet table and balancing plates). The vegetarian option is about 425Rs and the non-veg option is 500Rs. The selection was so good, that I did not even bother to ask for the a la carte menu.

The buffet started with a soup, which was paya for non veg and tomato dhaniiya for veg. I told them we wanted 3 non-veg buffet, but for 1 person we wanted tomato dhaniya rather than paya soup. although we were the only 3 people in the restaurant at this time, they willingly obliged. The tomato dhaniya shorba was outstanding. Nice and spicy Indian style.

This was followed by unlimited freshly made kebabs served like Barbecue Nation and The Great Kebab Factory, but so much tastier than BBQ Nation and on par with TGKF(Ahmedabad, not Noida). There was mutton Galouti which was mildly spiced, but pounded flat, mutton chops, chicken pasandey, fish mahi abi hayat and Lahori chicken tikkas. My favourites were the galaouti, chops and pasandey. My mum loved the tikkas. We ordered repeats of all these items and they were served with a smile.

By the time we were done with the starters, it was past 3pm and a lot of the serving staff had left, but some of them stayed back to take care of us and never once made us feel like we were wasting their time or that we should hurry up and I think this deserves 5 on 5 for service standards.

At both BBQ Nation and TGKF, the mains are quite weak compared to their kebabs (except TGKF's kaali dhal), but here is where Awadhpuri overtook both these chains in quality and taste. We were served a brilliant mutton curry - Baluchi Ghosht and boneless chicken curry - Begum ki pasandgi and some yellow dhal. A bread basket with warqi paratha, sheermaal & dhaniya naan was also served. The chicken biryani that they served later, was a little average compared to the rest of the superlative food, but easily overlooked.

Desserts brought out a platter of mirchi ka halwa (simla mirch/capsicum), sevaiyyan, gulab jamuns, zafrani kheer and kulfi! Again, each of the desserts was amazing.

The food was so good, that we stuffed ourselves so much. . . None of us ate dinner that day.

I can't recommend this place enough. the veg buffet has equal number of dishes which also sounded interesting. Prices mentioned above are inclusive of tax. The buffet is slightly more expensive over the weekend.

We have also ordered home delivery from them. However, this menu too has changed. They offer a platter of assorted kebabs for about 800/-. It comes in a square earthen dish. Initially I was quite surprised at how heavy the parcel was, it felt like a kilo and a half of kebabs. Since the dish was lined with foil, the earthen dish is now an unusual holder in my garden. Compared to their regular bufffet, obviously the home delivery kebabs are expensive, but almost as tasty.


Rating : 5 / 5

Tunde Kebabs, Lucknow

Tunde Kebabs
Lucknow

Tunde Kebabs has 2 main (original) outlets in Lucknow. The original location in Chowk is a hole in the wall serving only 3 items: tunde ke kebabs, parathas & special parathas.

It is a testament to the quality of these kebabs that foodies from across the world treat a visit to the Chowk outlet as a pilgrimage and millions of others stop at the Aminabad outlet which has many more protein and kebab options to choose from. Tunde ke kebab has expanded into a chain - while we were quite disappointed with the Delhi outlet in Daryagang, the outlet in the food court of Rave Moti in Kanpur is quite an acceptable substitute, if you can't reach Lucknow for the real deal.

To reach the original Chowk outlet, you need to leave behind any prejudices you may have against the location/setting of a restaurant. This outlet is bang in the middle of the warren; that is the ancient Chowk market. Be ready to bump into 2 wheelers and cattle along the path. No way can a car get anywhere closer than 500 meters of this location. You know you are headed in the right direction when you see this gate.

The outlet is a further 100 metres past this gateway. The kitchen is between the seating area and the road the original "open kitchen". When you see plenty of bikes stopping right outside a window with chefs busy at work on the window - you know you have reached the right place.

There is one main chef who works on the ulthe tawa ke parathe (parathas cooked on an upside down frying pan) who just keeps roasting off hundreds of parathas each hour.

The kebab pan has a lot more activity and chefs around it. There is one main chef who actually fries the delicate kebabs and two apprentice chefs who shape the kebabs and keep dropping them into the pan.

Tunde Kebabs (a version of the famous Awadhi - Galaouti kebabs) supposedly got their name from the one armed chef who created them over a 100 years ago - Chef Murad Ali - nickname - Tunde.

The original recipe for these kebabs is a closely guarded secret and supposedly there are more than 160 spices mixed into the finely beaten choice cuts of meat. The meat is hand pounded so fine, that the texture is even softer and smoother than mashed potatoes or baby food. But combined with the potent spices, it definitely is adult food. The final kebab is so delicate, its impossible to pick up with your fingers and you definitely need the aid of the parathas to scoop it up.

The interiors are extremely basic, but seating is constantly in high demand. Plastic chairs, formica tables and ancient whirring ceiling fans which haven't yet decided whether their purpose is to keep the smoke away from your eyes, or waft the tantalising aromas towards you.

While the servings may look meagre when a plate is plonked in front of you, its actually quite filling when scooped up with the accompanying parathas and sliced onions (for texture)

Taking the preceding and following pictures was so tortuous on our tongues and tummies, that there are unfortunately absolutely no pictures of the cooked parathas.

Chilled soft drinks (500ml PET) and water were instantly sourced from a neighbouring shop and served at our table by the helpful staff on pre-payment. Between the 5 of us, we polished off (in the true sense of the word) at least 25 plates of kebabs and 15 parathas (we lost count after 5). The bill was a humongous 325Rs. (nope, not missing any digits there)

There's plenty of supervisory and substitute staff around and the whole set up works like clockwork, even when it looks chaotic.

Eating at the Original Tunde kebab in Lucknow is an experience, no true blue foodie should miss.

Fine Print : This outlet only serves bade ke kebab (code for beef), the Ameenabad outlet serves bade ke kebab (code for beef), chhote ke kebab (code for mutton) and chicken kebabs too. Most of the chain outlets only serve mutton and chicken, although if I remember right the Sharjah outlet used to also serve beef.