Bhut Jolokia, Guwahati

Bhut Jolokia
Zoo Road
Guwahati

The 3rd restaurant to be opened in the city by Chef Atul Lakhar, after King Chilly & Khorikaa both of which I loved.

Bhut Jolokia just opened earlier this week (9th Feb 2012) above Baskin Robbins on Zoo Road, at the same location that earlier housed Subway.

As long as you can get past the stench emanating from the open sewer in front of the restaurant, you can be assured that the 2 minutes of holding your breath will be worth it.

The interiors are completely cane and bamboo. There are a lovely set of photographs ling both walls and they capture women cooking and eating in rural Assam. They have been beautifully shot and are so appropriate for a restaurant of this kind.

The menu is a long one and has a lot of items similar to that at Khorika's, but a shorter list of Khorika variations. Prices are similar to Khorikaa and much cheaper than King Chilly.

Since we visited very close to the opening date, the kitchen wasn't completely equipped and a lot of items that were on the menu weren't available at the restaurant, like the Khorikaa, roast pork etc

We ordered 2 veg akhaj (thali for 60Rs each)  that came with unlimited rice. Khar, Yellow & black dhals, Aloo pitika (bhartha), 2 fresh vegetables which were a cauliflower carrot mix and cabbage on the day we visited and kheer. Kharoli (mustard paste), bamboo shoot pickle and jalphai (Indian olives) pickle, were on the table and we were also served slices of gondhoraj (the fragrant lemons of this part of the country) and green chillies.

The panitenga (rasam like dish) which I was very eagerly awaiting, since I first tasted it at Khorikaa last week was missing from the thali when it arrived. When I quizzed the waiter, he said that Assamese only have panitenga during lunch and never during dinner.

The thali itself was so good, for the first time, I actually ate up all my vegetables before I even looked at the non-vegetarian sides that I had ordered. The Ari fish fry (80Rs) was soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. For the first time in an Assamese restaurant, I was actually able to eat the skin of Ari fish (I normally find it undercooked and smelly, so I tend to discard it, but here it was nicely crisped without being burnt). The fried chicken (100Rs) was succulent and definitely not dried out like some variietes that I've eaten here. Lightly fried with just onion, green chilli, ginger, garlic and turmeric.

The crowning glory however was the pork and Naga Chilly (Bhut Jolokia) curry. We had steam coming out of our ears, water running down our eyes, tissues stuffed halfway up our noses and we just couldn't stop eating!

The husband is not a great fan of Assamese food as he tends to find it underspiced (and the lack of rotis makes him feel his meal is incomplete), but he's quite happy with Bhut Jolokia and if we weren't moving, we would have been eating here quite frequently given how close it is to our home here in Guwahati.

Yes, I got so busy licking my fingers and feasting on my last few jalphais, I couldn't be bothered to take out even my phone to click a picture of the non-vegetarian sides. Quantities were more than sufficient for both of us and we actually had to get the leftover chicken packed.

The bill? - A princely 420Rs.

I am going to miss North Eastern food when we move and I'll have to keep bugging my friends here for recipes and to courier some local ingredients to me :)

Rating : 4 / 5

Khorikaa, Guwahati

Khorikaa
1st Floor - Kamal C Plaza
Ullubari
Guwahati
+91 9864982948, +91 9864157454

I'd been wanting to try out Khorikaa for a long time. The first time we went here, it was a Sunday. The line was so long there was a 1 hour waiting period. We left to eat elsewhere and for some strange reason I never went back. But now that its time to leave Guwahati and I'm ticking items off my lists, I HAD to eat at Khorikaa.

Chef Atul Lakhar has a wonderful menu of traditional foods, but the specialty of this restaurant is the khorikaa (BBQ'ed dishes)

I ordered the non veg akhaj (150/-) opting for the chicken khorikaa and the pork curry. The akhaj (thali) also came with yellow dhal, black dhal, paani tenga (like a rasam), aloo pitika aka bharta, tomato chutney, kheer, dry veggies - knol khol & peas, khar - an alkaline curry that the Assamese start a meal with.  It was also served with gondhoraj - local lemons, chillies, jalphai pickle (Indian olives) and kharoli - mustard paste.

I also ordered a Pork dry fry (130/-) on the side. Completely unnecessary, but oh so tasty!. The waiter saw me enjoying my meal so much that he very kindly brought me a complimentary dish of small fish khorikaa.


I'd love to try their specialties of Chicken/pork/fish cooked in Bamboo hollows, boiled fish with colocasia leaves, smoked pork/duck with bamboo shoot pickle and the grilled pork ribs with hot chutney. But these dishes need at least 2 hours notice and since they use slightly hard to find ingredients, its better to order thema a couple of days in advance.


They have vegetarian akhaj's (80/-) and paneer khorikaa (4pieces 70/-) too, but for a vegetarian who can't handle the smell of meat, the BBQing in the open kitchen may be too much to handle.


With a soft drink and taxes, my bill came up to 314/- which is very reasonable considering the vast spread of food I had sampled.


I really wish I had tried Khorikaa out earlier. Its replaced Delicacy as my favourite Assamese restaurant in Guwahati. (My all time favourite is Bhaatbaan in Kaziranga.)

Rating : 4.5 / 5

Le Chocolat, Guwahati

Le Chocolat
M C Road
Barowari
Opp Navarang Cultural Club
Guwahati

I first tasted a cake from Le Chocolat and a friends kids birthday party. I immediately HAD to find out where it was from, as the cake was so creamy and tasty without being heavy on the tongue.

She told me it was from Le Chocolat and hence I found myself heading there within a week.

The exterior was simple, clean and neat and the interor was colourful and smelt lovely.

Le Chocolat has a single counter split into two. The left holds sweet items and the right has savoury items. Among the savoury items, vegetarian and non-vegetarian (chicken) occupy seperate rows. I tried the herbed chicken sandwich and the lemon chicken sandwich which were both very good, but I'm more partial to the lemon variant. There were chicken puffs and pies. Most savoury items are in the 35-50Rs range. We loved the chicken, mushroom, corn pie.

The sweet items have a range of cakes. I tried the praline cake and the mud pie. the praline cake had crunchy bits on the exterior that contrasted with the creamy cake and icing. The mocha mud pie was a bit of heaven. I'm headed there to pick up more of this as soon as I can. These single serve pastries are also in the 35-50Rs range.

She also makes a range of chocolates from Lindt. Non alcoholic chocolates are 15rs and alcohol centered ones are 25 per piece. I loved the Irish cream center chocolates. Most alcohol chocolates we buy from abroad tend to melt before they reach home in India. It was great to be able to eat these chocolates tempered to suit Indian temperatures.


Le Chocolat has plenty of pound cakes, chocolate cakes, fruit cakes and breads (milk, brown) available. The only daunting part is that the bread isn't sliced.

Le Chocolat is definitely one of my 2 favourite bakeries in Guwahati, the other being Loyans.

Bawarchi Kolkata, Agartala

Bawarchi Kolkata
4 Mantribari Road
Agartala
Tripura
Ph: 94361 2322

Bawarchi is a small restaurant that specialises in Calcutta style street food. The entry way was piled with mountains of onions, so I was a little wary about entering the unseen restaurant alone, but the moment I entered, I knew I had no need to worry.

The decor is faded and peeling, but the staff is very courteous and helpful. On discussion with the waiter, I ordered a mutton biryani (140/-)and chicken handi masala (160/-) for lunch. The food arrived hotter than anything I have been served recently.

The biryani was fragrant and tasty, but the mutton was just a piece of meat that had been boiled in a broth. The potato in the biryani was much tastier. Coupled with the boiled egg served atop the rice, the mutton was completely irrelevant to the biryani. It would have been better if it hadn't been inserted into the plate at all. The Biryani was Calcutta style and hence no masala in the actual biryani.

The boneless handi masala chicken had a thick gravy with a melange of spices that complimented the biryani perfectly.

With a bottle of water and a soft drink, the total bill was just 340/-

Bawarchi serves all the Bengali street food staples like kathi rolls and chops and I'd have liked to try some of them, but I was already too stuffed. They have a street food type counter on the outside, which was the long onion and dough filled corridor that I had walked through. It seems that in the evenings, they do brisk business selling rolls & other Calcutta style street food snacks.

This is a place I'd definitely recommend if you are visiting Tripura.

Gouri Hotel, Udaipur, Tripura

Gouri Hotel,
Central Road
Udaipur,
Tripura
 Ph: 03821 222 419

Some of the more interesting sites of Tripura are in the Udaipur region including the Tripura Sundari / Matabari temple which is supposed to be a Shaktipeeth.

Our local driver told us that Gouri Hotel was the best place to eat. After our bad experience at Shankars the previous day, we weren't too sure, but decided to just grab a bite to refuel before eploring the region some more.

The meal for the day was rice, dhal and baigun bhaja (fried brinjal). Food was served piping hot which was a huge point in their favour. We then noticed some other things getting served, so we requested a katori of cabbage each, which was extremely tasty. We also added on a fish fry and a chicken curry, which were home style soul food.

The driver too ate his meal with some fish and we ordered 2 bottles of mineral water. The bill for 3 meals + 3 extra vegetables + 2 fish + 1 chicken + 2 bottles water came upto 340/- Which reinforced our belief that Shankars hotel in Agartala had simply doubled our bill before presenting it to us.

I'd definitely recommed Gouri for a meal, if you are headed to this region.Don't let the unassuming entry and interiors deter you. The food is light, healthy and tasty.

Hotel Shankar, Agartala

Hotel Shankar
Netaji Subhash Road
Agartala
Tripura
Ph: 238 5195, 94361 20457

Hotel Shankar is a small 6 table restuarant on Netaji Subhash Road in Agartala. Given that the hotel has been recommended in the Lonely Planet, 2 more restaurants have set up shop next door with similar sounding names. The original is the left most hotel (as of Feb 2012)

We had read and heard good things about Shankars, which was why we headed here. We were served the standard meal which for the day was rice, dhal and aloo laccha. Unfortunately the aloo laccha was stone cold and the dhal and rice weren't very hot either. Hence they weren't very tasty either. (cold rice tastes like glue)

We asked for a side dish of chicken which came in a small bowl, this however was served hot and had some spices in it, which made it more edible.

When it was time for our bill, there was a long discussion at the billing counter and we were finally presented a bill for 230Rs. While this may not seem like a lot, given the rates in Guwahati and Tripura, it was double what we expected. Since they did not have an English menu, we did not argue with them, but just quietly paid up and left.

We were later told that what we shold have eaten there was the Hilsa fish that comes in fresh from Bangladesh daily. But given our bad experience the first time, we just did not feel like returning.

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.