Spice Market by the Family of Gulati - Since 1959 , not bad at all . Spicemarket is run by Chiquita and Sumit Gulati both trained at Les Roches, Switzerland. They have workled with Four Seasons UK and have been in the opening team of Hyatt Regency Denver. At Spicemarket Chiquita manages Kitchen who is a passionate Chef and also is the food director , Sumit manages the glamorous side of the business Sales .Marketing and the Front of House operations . Dunno who's role is more important - and secondly if the restaurant is having a bad hair day you know exactly whats wrong - the young couple has fought hahahahahaha. Hope thats not true .
Anyway the story goes like this - Sumit and i have been chatting on FB for a while - he has been reading my silly post on new restaurants ,my experiences at different new establishments , my take on food etc etc and i have been hassling him about Gulati food , his fame , the funda behind spice market etc .
He one day told me that Yes we are the Gulati Family and we initially launched the Spicemarket set up to make people experience different spices from all corners of India and then recently added some of the famous Gulati dishes on public demand . The concept of bringing together all spices together from our country is an amazing concept , we Punju's of North India think South India is only Dosa and Sambar , East India is Only Fish - we definitely need to expand our horizons and with the help of restaurants like Spicemarket im sure we will be able to soon .
After a good couple of months the turn of discovering Spicemarket arrived . There was such a hype on fB about it that i cudn take it anymore I had to visit ASAP.
Well three big foodies ventured to Spicemarket - Saket - great location , ample parking space around it .Surronded by offices and other good restaurants , behind Delhis most upmarket mall . There it was Spicemarket By Gulatis.
The entrance was a bit too plain for being a spicy restaurant , needs to be spruced up a bit from the marketing point of view , a lil bit more show sha around it to highlight Spicemarket - some colors , some vibrant colors of spices , just a bit of bling and a play of spicy colors will make it interesting .
Enter, climb up a couple of steps on the left is a wall with spices filled in Jars ,very interesting and bang opp is a manager smiling end to end waiting to greet you . We have reservations Yes , seated on the left of the entrance as the reserved section - was chilly with the aircon bang over us and the season changing -I loved it . On the the right were tables and a open kitchen - the place was actually packed with Office goers and no kitty party aunties - which was a sigh of relief . So the volumes were quite low and cud look forward to a enjoyable meal .
And the best was that both the owners were not present , so there was no pampering and we were treated like all other guest .
Shikanji Welcome Shot - loved it - ps had two of them .Nice flavor ,chilled refreshing.
Im a chutney man LOL - Awesome Green mint chutney and a Tomatoe based slightly spicy chutney - they both had a certain twist in them for sure but really didn go well witht he papads served along - amritsari spicy papad and a plain papad . And why two same same chutneys in four slots ... or was it a cover up for two chutneys not prepared lol - They were excellent.
We were in anticipation of sirke wala pyaz , and the sight of pyaz being sevred is like caviar - Rsd.80 a kilo -looks like a lot of paisa vasool hahahahahah. Anyways they had pyaz without msala and the other was the lacha pyaz with good chaat masala. The colored sticks were the pickled carrots- need more time in the jar for sure .
Assorted Kebab Platter - Burrah , Pathar Kebab,Kasundi Kebab , Nez Kebab - After much debating amongst the three of us and the manager - two wanted red meat one wanted chicken so the kind humble manager recommended this platter to us which gave us the best of both . The kasundi kebab is the one on the right plate , the one in front is the Nez chicken Kebab , the left is the famous burrah kebab and the one behind is the pathar kebab. Chicken Ruled .
Mutton Burrah and Pathar Kebab - well Burrah - great marination , definitely kept overnite to absorb the flavors - but but the pieces were not meaty at all was just bones unlike what you see in the menu and ads :( - nevertheless the flavor was outstanding . The Patthar ke Kebab - hmm a bit of a let down - doesn't really look as if its been done on stone - was hard and a bit tough to chew - was disappointed or maybe they were to be like this not very sure .
The Kasundi or mustard marinated chicken kebab was outstanding - simply the best , the Nez Kebab spicy and delicious - it was a tangri marinated in heavenly spices .
Overall ok ok - the presentation plating needs to be more attractive - maybe a new shade of color in the plates - more mud colored and yes temperature checked before serving . could be we were expecting too much out of the kebabs - wil go back again when chiquita is der to actually relish them .
Murg Lababdar - here also we get into a debate of mutton vs chicken i was for mutton the others said no lets stick to chicken for health reasons - chalo jee chicken ho jaye ... so while they debated with the manager on the main course order i quietly ordered a sampler of Laal maas yet another dish spoken about by almost everyone on FB . LOL My fellow foodies okayed that . So the final order for the main course was Mugh Lababdar , Mutton Biryani - sampler of Lall Maass and assorted rotis .
Murg Lababdar - i think has come from the original pandara road Gulati - to me it means extra khada masala and tomatoes - thick gravy ,litpita type . Was good but a very thin line between this and the butter chicken - purie the gravy and u have a perfect BC for you - actually i dont know how there BC taste like but i guess its similar. As a standalone dish Murg Lalbdar was fantastic with garam rotis.
Stirred Murg Lababdar see the color change .
Domphukt Ghost Biryani With Mirchi ka Salan and Raita - This was the Dish of the day after the chicken kebabs- The mirchi ka salan perfectly made went well with the Biryani, The Raita was amazing with garlic and a bit of sweetness - the biryani was classic for sure and lived upto its reputation . The biryani perfect temperature , good quality of rice ,super pieces of meat soft and succulent - lovely flavor - to tell u a truth i am actually scared eating biryani outside home becos of the kewra flavor people put into it - but this one was superbly DUM . will go back for more and also to see it being done .
The Combination of Biryani , Salan and Raita . Below the magic unfolds.
Perfectly cooked you could see strand of rice , lovely colors , the whiff of fresh biryani .Portion
Laal Maas Sampler - Seems this dish had a bad hair day - was not upto my expectations , wonder why was it a bit bitter and had the flavor of butterchicken. Have had the pleasure of meeting with the inventors of this dish from Udaipur and its totally different .Have to go back for this .
Moong Daal Cigar and Phirni (No Pic ) - We had ordered a phirni - which was loved by us and wanted to order another but the manager insisted that we try the Cigar Rolls and aint i glad we did - packed one for thee wife also who is a daal ka halwa freak .
Overall Tigers Experience:
Ambiance - Comfortable , good aromas, nice spanish feeling
Service - Excellent , good knowledge of food
Food - Ok OK need to go back . Everyone - restaurants , families have their own version of Authentic dishes ,so have to accept them as they are served .
Value for money - 1000 per head obliviously with pyaz at 90 a kilo LOL (80 when i started writing this blog and 90 when i ended LOL)
Overall Experience - Enjoyable for sure .
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