Tigers Experience at Diggin - Anand Lok New Delhi

Location , Ambiance , Food a Good Combination in the heart  of South Delhi . 

Diggin Cafe - Anand Lok , Opp Gargi College , New Dehi

Stylish,Very modern , Very elegant , Colonial, colorful, Youthful, airy , loads of light , two floors , next to kamla Nehru and Gargi college a true hidden gem with great potential . Two floors - ground is seating with bakery and ice creams and a kofi bar - upstairs is alfresco seating cum indoors .A brain child of Digvijay singh Bedi also known as Diggy . So its Diggin by Diggy.  In the  front of the restaurant they have courtyard or the veranda there are two jhoolas and nice wooden benches and tables for the smokers specially , let the weather get better we al be hanging out outside. LOL .Perfect hangout place for the college goers and in the evening friends.

Check out the wooden draws , the stools at the Kofi Bar , never seen such high ceiling in a restaurant - adds so much bounce to the whole place .External lighting is so good there doesnt seem to be the need of any lights inside - I love naturally lit up places , they feel so airy and real - comfortable .

Tasteful done interiors- loved the cushions and i have this fetish for whote chairs with colored eats covers just love them . Truly gorgeously dione the whole place , Kudos Diggy . I am sure there is a lady behind the interiors of Diggin , so tastefully done , keepin gin mind all audiences.

Nice Cafe menu - Soups salads. ice creams , Burgers , Sandwiches, Mains , Pizza and deserts . Nicely designed basic menu - yellow color , btw the thingy on top of the menu is a coaster just letting u know lol . A very comfortable menu slightly over priced for the kids from the two colleges but then you have to pay for the ambiance also . The Menu carries just the right food not a over loaded type .. they have figured out what sells and are focusing on that only .

Strawberry Mojito and Ginger Fizz

Both very refreshing drinks , the smart server recommended the strawberry mojito to me - and yes it was so worth it , lovely sour and sweet flavor of the fruit and to all to it the mint leaf - very fresh , The Ginger Buzz - i think i have the name wrong but was equally good on the sweeter side tho .

Caesars Salad

BTW Caesars salad has nothing to do with  our child hood enemy in school wala Julius Caesar hehehehehehe it was invented by Caesar Cardini in the early 1920's and in Mexico - he was an Italian immigrant - the basic construct of any Caesars salad is lettuce and croutons dressed with Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, egg, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and black pepper and then you can add chicken bacon whatever u desire and olives too . Honesty speaking i wasn't that impressed with this one - the croutons were soft , it had too much dressing which make my salad soggy  and who puts dhania on it - the desi touch .... diggy please improve on this one and make it a killer , will be back for it soon.

Bacon Stuffed chicken Legs

Impressive - Fat chicken legs with grounded bacon  and cooked in a Agrodolce sauce which essentially means a sweet sour flavor - the sauce is reduce from vinegar and sugar .. beautiful bouncy sauce - the rocket leaves the olives - good crunch, the bacon had a nice salty flavor which is a bonus tot he bland mr chicken  . Very nice dish for a starter - the girls probably can make this their main dish also .

Carbonara

Creamy , Cheesy perfect herbs , good amount of bacon - u cant go wrong with a good Spagheti carbonara.. roll you fork and enjoy a hot delicious well cooked pasta in Grana Padona Cheese .. grainy and textured cheese . take a while to cook for sure dont be in a hurry .. i love my bacon nicely cooked in the pasta to give it a good salty meaty flavor along with the cheese . One of my most tried dishes globally ... just love the bacon and the cheese combo .

Lamb Shank with Seasonal Veggies

This came as a surprise to me .. Lamb Shank - perfect . Great marination , beautifully browned, well cooked in the jus  it was wonderful , the veggies went well with the gravy and the lamb ... my guess is its a 6 hr marination because the meat just fell apart. Good Dish ... the taste well meaty ,it has to be , salty , lovely tangy ness tot he gravy . I would love to do this dish again and recommend the same .Loved the herb infused potatoes, the baby carrots and the beans .

Lasagna

This is a real homey for me .. love w well made cheese lasagna , the meat was not the regular pounded keema it was a bit thicker pieces, Im hungry suddenly ..... a baked lasagna makes so much sense to me - seems simple to make but each element makes the dish - the cheese has be nice and guey and yet a hard cover , the meant has to be in a perfect gravy which blends nicely with the pasta , the dish has to be a perfect temp so that when it reaches the customer it is not boiling and is comfortable to eat .

Bacon and Onion Pizza

Pizzzzzaaaasssss ... and that too with bacon just the thot is a drool ... base ok , sauce ok , the bacon needs to be more crisp - it was a bit chewy ....

Four Cheese Special

This is my families all time favorite .... where we go we simply order this four cheese pizza without thinking twice ....  A mix of Emmnetal , Feta , Parmesan and English Cheddar -- wish the Gouda or the blue cheese was also ont he topping,e bas maza aa jata ..... love the way cheese melts and stretches when pulled ..... The base was not a 100% thin one but very doable.

Chocolate Walnut Brownie

No Comments it was SINFUL thats all i can say Lol .

Overall Tigers Experience : Wonderful , I just loved the place - A place where i wud not mind sitting for a couple of hours with my wife and chatting and eating heheheheheh  we both love cafe food and make it a point to go to one once a month .... Pizza's are our favorites , the other dish im going to try next time is the mushroom risotto. My suggestion to Diggy is that Increase your menu have a different menu for Breakfast Lunch and dinner - a slightly fine dinning element to the dinner menu , your location is demanding bro make use of it  - im sure the lights and the decor at night would be beautiful also ... the lunch menu shud be reasonable priced , more of fast food , easy to carry , youth style food , express counter for quick take away , and breakfast is essential due to its location centre of south delhi ... they wil find office goers , health freaks like me , or early morning daters coming in . Parking is a bit tough but manageable

. Playing on the location factor they need to pump up the volume to get the south delhi ites in .

Food : For a cafe its perfect food - can be better keeping in mind the ambiance of this beautiful cafe .Im going to go back for some more delicacies for sure , not happy as yet hehehehehehe.. I feel the chef needs to be challenged with more dishes , he is not using his ful capability as yet ... i didn try the ice creams but they looked awesome ,hope they are home made and not outsourced. The one dish im going back for is the Lamb  , i saw this man on the other table eating a All Pork Sandwich which looked very very inviting - wil leave it for next time .

Service : Great , attentive , good knowledge of the menu 

Ambiance - I have said enuf above Lol . Just go there once and You wil Pakka FALL IN LOVE - with the place .

Tigers Experience of Eggspectation

Enzo Renda Co-Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Eggspectation - The Man Behind the International Chain of Eggspectation .Enzo spent six years at IBM Corporation Ltd. His core marketing responsibilities helped him in developing his leadership, marketing and presentation skills, while learning to develop and apply tools like effective teamwork. ENzo trains his team like a true marketing man - he is hands on with the food , the culture , the ingredients availability in India and soon is joining the billionaire boys club .

Well read well traveled - follower of his mom's original recipes , a true Italian at heart ,who loves the family eating in the kitchen like all of us  - he is passionate about his recipes and is very choosy about the ingredients that go into making magical dishes . BTW when i showed his pic to my wife she went like "Tiger why didn you take me along"  hadd hai yaar , these Italians Studds have something about them .

Eggspectation - A franchise of the Canadian chain that has already made a mark in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto in Canada and South Portland and Ellicott City in the US... Jaypee is the first i have heard of who got a franchise of a International coffee shop  chain into India 12 years ago.  Sorry they call it the 24 hour Resto Cafe ,please excuse me hahahaha. Spacious , airy ,comfortable with loads of natural light -in short just my type  , just my idea of a Breakfast cum Brunch Place . 

The Lunch at Eggspectation  turned out into a major food construction , deconstruction afternoon  with the Italian Studd ENZO RENDA - we sat and discussed recipes, menus , dishes in depth - the man knows his stuff - being an Italian he has inherited  food passion 
as a legacy - its deep in his blood .
Enzo believes in Italian Italian food and not American Italian cuisine -  apparently his family also owns a old favorite in Venice where the locals eat out across the rialto  . We had gone for a simple coffee shop meal which turned out into a Proper New Menu tasting afternoon for the next 4 hours LOL  Kha Kha Ke pagal hogaye. 
The only promise I had to make was that NO EGGS just eat what i Give you today and you will go home happy - I did just that . To be honest i had eggs and more eggs in my mind keeping the name in mind and also after reading every review on the Net about eggspectaion - but the new menu was an eye opener - simple food done beautifully and tastefully . Enzo told me he has tried to experiment with street food , global food and a bit of Indianisation too . They have a great franchise model where out of 135 dishes globally most of the dishes are common to most of the restaurants they operate . We discussed how he translates his moms recipes to the chefs , he was a bit disappointed and said its a real tough one ,but yes they manage to turn the almost same dish out . Ingredients to them is a big challenge - it is a fight to get the same quality in every order - quite agree with  him and thats what leads to different tastes every time you visit. Enzo has fantastic sense of humor like all of us , he travels ten days every month exploring global cuisines. Love India and says India has taken hospitality to the next level , ahem ahem .

The New Menu

After a long time saw a eye pleasing menu card - visual appeal 100% - I respect restaurants which display pictures of dishes they serve - so much easier to understand what you are going to eat - You go anywhere in Thailand most of the places have a pictorial menu , so much easy to order and expect . Well the menu at Eggspectation was really nice well designed colorful - good readable font ,simple design as below - i must compliment them for this effort of being simple ,wonder who's influence was this Enzo or Jaypee . Very Ambitious Menu.

And The Tasting of the New Menu Begins - sorry the series of the dishes served is not the same , still learning how to lay with blog writing :)

BRIE & WALNUT CROSTINI Ciabatta slices broiled with Brie and

drizzled with honey. Garnished with

walnuts and fresh apple slices.

A little toast topped with Brie apples and walnut with a dash of honey - all the flavors kept coming as I bit deeper  and together made perfect Bite . Love it acid ,cheese , sweet and crunchy - a good combination .

VEGGIE RICE WRAP Delicate and light-tasting colourful rice

paper wraps filled with fresh vegetables,

served with a crunchy chilli peanut butter

sauce.

Hmmmmm Enzo was very enthu about this being his discovery lol and when he looked at my face he wondered where he went wrong hahahhah i was like what this dish doing here lol .  Fresh crunchy veggies wrapped in rice paper wraps - not to be dipped in the peanut sauce but dollops of the same to be put on top the full wrap and then bite to get the  chilly cum fresh flavor instruction by Enzo on how to eat this wrap . I loved the collection of rainbow  colors in the wrap . The accompanied peanut sauce had chilly init  which was nice and different .

NOVA SCOTIA POUTINE A mound of fries covered with shrimp,

smothered in mozzarella cheese and

special homemade sauce.

"Homey" A typical North American, Canadian Dish originated from Quebec , known to be served in Greasy spoon type diners - a fast food dish with french fries topped with brown gravy , Egg ,Cheese Curd and meat - they put beef , bacon , duck etc here they used shrimps - A very warm comforting dish - was dying to add ketchup the minute i heard french fries lol but with enzo sitting around killed the feeling instantly and enjoyed the Dish .Need to figure out why they called it Nova Scotia ??

FIRE ROASTED LEG OF LAMB Grain mustard marinated and herb crusted lamb served with oven roasted eggplant and baby potatoes

Brilliant Dish - Perfectly cooked Lamb , crusted with herbs . The Meat shredded on its own effortlessly,no struggle to cut deeply and fight .... Super flavors of Mustard and the crunch of herbs combined with the meaty taste  - served with beetroot beans and corn - i loved the oven baked baby potatoes and eggplants  . This was definitely the dish of the day . Not to miss the awesome presentation. If u r Lamb Lover go for it . A very Challenging Dish.

Flat Breads - Assortment

1.Seekh kebab, rarrha mince, onion, tomato, coriander and green chillies - hmmmmm not a fan off ready made seekh kebabs - those spicy ready made types , i avoided it .

2.New Delhi Tandoori : Tandoori paneer, peppers, onions and green chillies.- and yet again the indianisation effect but not bad at all ... great piece of flat bread for the veggies.

3.Greek Style :San Marzano spicy tomato sauce, roasted red peppers, black olives, grilled eggplant, Feta cheese and oregano. - loved this had everything Italian on it to be loved .

4.Tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and olive oil.- my favorite Magherita .. nothing beats this one for sure .
Total Crowd Pleaser

But can someone explain to me the difference between flat bread and a pizza - wiki says flat bread is made without yeast thats it .... couldn ask the Italian for sure , he would have laughed at Tiger the foodie LOL 

OVEN ROASTED FISH In parchment paper with white wine, spicy

tomato sauce, herb garlic butter, black

olives, capers, jalapeño peppers and green

beans.

Do i need to describe this experience - its all said above - steamed for health - wine for the acidity ,spicy tomato sauce , garlic butter olives pepper jalapeno for the TING , Delicious - superbly presented .. not being so fond of fish i always smell the fish first ,my good luck it had no fishy smell so went right ahead to taste the same - ek dum mast dish . Loved the presentation , packet style , open infront of you .. brilliant .

CHICKEN PARMIGIANA A lightly breaded chicken breast broiled with Provolone cheese and served with tomato sauce    with ancient grains served with asparagus.

The chicken was perfectly cooked topped with cheese and sauce , but what amazed me was the ancient grains - oats ,quinoa ,barley  and dressed in a sweet flavorful playful dressing for the buzz . Combined with cheese meat veggies  salad it was sure an healthy option .

Mushroom, Saffron,Spinach Risotto

Perfect Risotto with saffron, spinach, mushrooms and  Parmesan cheese. My benchmark of any restaurant serving Italian Food  is its Risotto and i told Enzo about it - he was like huh - try this you punjabi hahahahahahaha the color and mild taste of saffron , deep flavor of mushrooms with a twist of spinach .... perfectly cooked with just the right acidity in it . The resto cafe passed .

CREPE SHADRAS Stir- fried exotic vegetables flavoured with

Indian pickling spices.

Honestly speaking when i saw this dish i was like no man cant eat paranthas - sorry crepes with veggies , reluctantly took a small bite - achari veggies in a crepe perfect delite for a vegetarian . they served it with basil and Olive oil - i think mint sauce would have been better lol . kill me Enzo .

SCHEHERAZADE SALAD Ancient grains tossed with apricots, sliced almonds, fresh mint,

exotic spices and cinnamon, served with char-grilled cottage

cheese.

So persian and named after the persian queen too .... great fusion of Persia and India with the paneer tikka included in it . A complete meal on its own . A good vegetarian healthy option , soemthing unsual never seen or tasted before - fresh .

GREEK COUNTRY STYLE SALAD tomato, cucumber,

black olives, peppers, red onions, seared Feta cheese and

watermelon, tossed with our house vinaigrette made with extra

virgin olive oil and lemon.

YOU think i have had enuf hahahahahaha keep reading more coming up - mind you i just took a bite of each dish to grasp the flavors the textures thats it - but actually loved it all .

The Burgers

1. Bad Boy Tenderloin Burger - Grilled to perfection with slices of crispy bacon and Cheddar cheese, served with our special secret sauce, lettuce, tomato and caramelized onions. A Total Drool -perfect Bun , Perfect Patty .... i deconstructed tasted the patty on its own then reconstructed it and ate it up ... super burger ,one of the best i have had so far .

2.BBQ Burger - Chicken - Bacon, Cheddar cheese, onion rings and topped with our unique Memphis sauce.(Barbeque Sauce )  - did the same here too - found herbs in the patty spoke to enzo about it - he then explained that they have to put some herbs in the patty to give it the buzz otherwise it would be so bland - i agree with him chicken onits own is quite bland .

3. The Mushroom Melt Burger - tofu burger served with thyme-aioli sauce, sautéed mushrooms and melted Provolone cheese. A tough one to make for sure - mixing things in tofu is a mission impossible , well they have mastered it . Good choice .

PRAWNS MAC & CHEESE PASTA

Very classic dish .Basic Cheese Pasta with prawns an all time favorite . Playing it safe dish

MASALA MAC & CHEESE PASTA 

Totally Masala marke - i think it was something like a maggi masala put in it ... Ok Ok but veggies would love it . Very indianised Dish .

CHILLI GARLIC PRAWNS Served with garlic sautéed vegetables,

mashed potatoes and beurre blanc.

Just YUM and the portion was amazing Ten huge perfectly grilled prawns on a plate is a sea food eaters delight . Beurre Blanc - "white butter"— is a hot emulsified butter sauce made with a reduction of vinegar - great sauce not found everywhere . Enzo this dish was magic - a great combination . The prawns fresh and grilled perfectly , the accompaniments well matched.

The Desert Options - Waffles, Pancakes and French toast

Enough is Enough - guess everyone must be tired of eating like i was but this man Enzo refused to let me get up for a smoke also - insisted a quick palate wash in between and thats it - so painful eating can be na . Anyway the deserts were just all my favorites - French toast with marsh mallows and Nuttella a very american dish was the killer followed by the banana bread with maple syrup and waffles  . Just YUM !!! great portions pls share.

Tigers Favorite.

Tigers Overall Experience : 

A perfect Breakfast and Brunch Option - with this new menu a late night binge can also be done with the deserts . I feel they have certainly made or about to make a dent in the normal coffee shop culture . The food is actually to die for - home style cooked to perfection . Each recipe is simple yet exotic . 
My concern is on the consistency - will the desi Cooks be able to produce the same as drafted by he Italian food Guru ?? will go again and check and revert lol . 

Ambiance - Perfect as described above 
Pricing - Yes five star equivalent - but value for money with the quantity and quality . 
Food - Uffff need i say more m very authentic recipes with a slight twist to match the Indian Palate - the international standards have been kept in mind . A piece of advice , please dont serve the same garlic toast with pesto with every dish :(
Seating - Very comfortable 
Interaction - Chefs always around to explain the dishes , staff is getting used to the new menu 
Going Back Again : Yes , that reminds me Enzo and the chef asked me if i had been here before - i said yes in a drunkin state LOL . They fell down laughing .

Point of Jealousy : ENZO has invited me to Jaypee Greens for authentic taste of Italian cuisine, where one can also savor on Enzo’s mom’s special recipes as he conceptualized the Italian restaurant – La Brezza with Enoteca Bar at Jaypee Greens Golf and Spa Resort, Greater Noida ..lalalalalalalalala  promise i wont eat as much . 

To Conclude Eggspectation is definitely a place to visit Sooon and it is sure going to give stiff competition to other 5 star coffee shops . It is definitely better than it needs to be .

*Note from ENZO post reading my Blog "As I said on Thursday, while I was busting my core belief of my cooking philosophy, at Eggspectation we do not " Indianise " food but we "Fushionise" it!