Nagaland house

One of the few things i like about Delhi is the fact that it is the capital city. Awesome roads, the metro, highways, freeways, cleanliness, great infrastructure, space (for someone coming from bbay), ministerial roads and houses, foreign embassies and my latest attraction - the state bhawans! Every state has a state house or a bhawan which has offices, rooms to stay and a canteen where they serve that states cuisine. Some of these canteens are open to outsiders, and the food cooked is subsidized. For example, Andhra bhawan is a hot favorite and awesome for spicy andhra food. 

Recently we decided to start sampling food from other states and in the process try and visit every state bhawan. Giving me company in this task was Rahela Khorakiwala. We had tried Tamilnadu bhawan a while back, and decided to try out some newer cuisines. The first one on our list was Nagaland house.

Nagaland house is very close to the Jor Bagh metro station, on Aurangzeb road right next to Jodhpur house. The canteen is a small, quaint place. They dont really have a menu or a buffet system. Its more like whats cooking in the kitchen today? All the excitement to try out some naga food kinda went for a toss as little did we know that Nagaland was known for dog meat and dont have veg food! Excerpts from our conversation.

Me - Khane mein kya hai ?
Man from Naga canteen - Pork hai
Rahela - Pork ke alawa ?
Man - Chicken curry, mutton curry, fish curry
Rahela - Veg mein kya hai ? pointing towards me, yeh sirf veg khati hai
Man - Veg mein kuch nahi hai
Me - Veg mein kuch nahi hai ?
Man - Hum apke ke liye dal ya kuch sabsi bana sakte hain (really sweet of him!)
Me - Naga style veg mein banayege na?
Man - Nahi, regular style
Rahela - Nagaland mein veg mein kya ban ta hai?
Man - kuch nahi, sirf non veg hai.
Me - Sirf non veg?
Man - Haan
Me - To breakfast mein kya khate hain?
Man - Ande khate hain

So that was it, only non veg! a lesson well learnt, next time call up the bhawan and check if they have veg options! anyways after convincing rahela that I will manage with the non veg gravy and rice we decided to stay back and eat at Nagaland house.

The guys there were damn sweet. They got us a plate of chicken gravy and rice. Knowing that I was veg, they also bought in some veg dal, boiled cabbage and a yummy veg soup. There was the naga mirch chatni to go with the rice. I however had the chicken gravy(without the chicken pieces) with the rice and the chutni and it was yummy! A little spicy, but good food. The soup was fresh, perfect, one could even mix the soup and the rice and eat it.
The best part of the evening was the bill, it came upto 120 bucks per head, a freaking steal for so much khana!

Tulsi Chai & Samosa

Tulsi Chai & Samosa, Delhi
Vasant Vihar, South Delhi
Yummy green chutni

A Chai stall in South Delhi, in Vasant Vihar! never thought il see one, never mind the number of visits that are made to Tulsi. Tulsi is the famous chai / samosa / cigaratte walla who is situated right next to our office. There are a few other chai wallahs in the vicinity, but Tulsi always is the 'popular' one. On a regular day (when its not less than 8 degrees and not more than 38 degrees), Tulsi is our solution to the following.

the day your maid decides to bunk and you have not had breakfast
all day chai breaks (far far away from that machine chai which other wise is your only other option)
5pm freshly made, soaked in oil, 500 calories samosa times - where the green chutni is ten times better than the samosa. Dont think I know of anyone who does not like his samosas/ the green chutni.
Maggi & Aloo bread times - where you are convincing yourself that the maggi/ aloo bread is way less fattening than the samosa

There are samosa parties, chutnis get parcelled home, chai & mathari sessions, masala maggi, Tulsi has often been our savior ;)

Sardars Pav Bhaji, Mumbai

Sardars Pav Bhaji
Tardeo, Mumbai
Pav Bhaji & floating Amul Butter
Recommendation - Try their Mango Milkshake

So enough has been said and written about their pav bhaji and the amul butter :). In fact, the menu itself has listings of Pav Bhaji with amul butter. Good branding I say! Anyways if you are in Tardeo, and you are hungry, you should go to Sardars. Every cab wallah knows it, its somewhere close to the Sobo Mall. 

Well its the summer season, and the next time you go to sardars, try out their mango milkshake. I dont know if they still have it that way, where they make the milkshake in front of you. He cuts the mangoes, grinds it and there the milkshake is fresh, heavenly with cut mangoes on the top. Trust me you forget the pav bhaji. Its filling and so freaking good. It costs about 50 bucks back then, now i am not sure.

Pizza Hut - Meal for One

Pizza Hut
Where - All outlets (Only Dine In, on weekdays)
Rupaiya - Rs 130/-
Suggestions - A lot of food and totally worth it!


Well Neither Pizza Hut nor its menu needs any introduction, so will go straight to the VFM segment.

A regular at Pizza hut, and for the first time came across their meal for one offering -

This Meal offers you the following -

1 starter - an option of 2 slices of Garlic bread or potato wedges
Main Course - 1 Personal Pan Pizza (5 Options for Veggies/ 3 for Non Veggie) Or a Pasta. The pizza slices are small and are 4 in number which is more than enough for one person.
1 beverage - choice of masala lemonade

So basically you and just you eat 2 portions of Garlic bread, 4 slices of Personal Pan Pizzas and 1 glass of the beverage. And you are sorted for the day, so filling and as always so yumm! All this for just about Rs 130/- (Taxes included). This honestly was my cheapest meal at Pizza Hut but with absolutely no compromise on the quality or the quantity. The Meal for one offer is only for Dine in and for weekdays. So on days you want to go easy on the pocket and stuff yourself, this is a must!

Andhra Bhawan

Andhra Bhawan
Where - Ashoka Road, Central Delhi
Cuisine - well the name says it (duh)!
Rupaiya - Rs 80 for a veg thali
Suggestions - Totally awesome for some andhra food, can be spicy for some!

okay for all those who love southindian/ andhra food, this place is a must. Its actually the mess of the bhawan and its always full. we went on a weekend and we were glad it was just the two of us as we got a table faster. but its amazing to see hordes and hordes of people. squeezing in, trying to get to the counter and placing their orders. foreigners, andhraites, non andhraites, children, everyones theres at andhra bhawan.

The manager/ursherer is the most powerful person there, as he dictates when you get a table and get to eat that yum yum food. so each table has an existing set of pickle, powders, salt available. You place an order at the counter, you get a coupon and when you get the table you hand over the coupon to the manager.

Being a vegetarian, i ordered for a veg thali and i swear to god, i could go to heaven after eating that thali. the sweet dish, 1 papad, and dahi come only in one serving, so if you want extra, you need to pay for them. There are 3 vegetables, roti, rice, dal, rasam and sambhar in the thali. In true style, the food is pure pure andhraite. The rasam is just the way it should be, perfect, sambhar flawless. The dal too lives upto its standards. One cant stop eating the papad and the mixture of pickle, vegetables, rice makes up for a perfect meal.

One may be a little put off by the ambiance, but you cant complain, its a mess where the thali costs you just 80bucks. Gives stiff competition to the sarvana bhawan in CP but again, they all serve different cuisines. A must go, one of my favorites in Delhi!