Sunday, January 15, 2012

Dum Pukht

Hello friends and readers. Apologies for the lack of updated restaurant stories on this blog. I have a good excuse; I’ve been busy getting married and now I’m back and eating!

I have to admit that recently, it’s been challenging to find foods and restaurants that are worth writing about. That’s up until last night when we went to Dum Pukht Jolly Nabobs. No, it’s not slang for Dumb F*cked and it’s definitely not a dive bar in an old part of town. It’s a very good Indian restaurant that serves Lucknowi food and dare I say, the very best biryani I’ve ever eaten! The restaurant is tucked away in the corner of the newer wing of the Windsor Manor hotel, a side that I never knew existed and if I did, I must’ve thought that's where the guest rooms were located.

The old interior of the restaurant complements the rest of Victorian-stlye décor of the hotel and if it wasn’t for the occasional Caucasian men in bermuda shorts and polo shirts who were walking around to grab a beer or two, I would’ve been lost in my olden-Anglo-Indian-palace fantasy. It’s easy to be lost; the crystal wine glasses, life-sized paintings of Indian ladies in fancy sarees and prints of photographs taken in the 1800s all hung on the wooden walls, chandeliers, chinaware and middle-aged servers in black suits with names like Hamilton added to the charm.

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The dining room.

Here’s what we ate (sorry, the meal was very meat-centric because "A" did the ordering.)


Murg Chandi Tikka (left) and Kakori (right). This must have been the most "royal" tikka I've ever eaten. Tender thighs with smokey tandoor taste. That is not leftover aluminum foils from cooking, it's actually eatable (I hope) silver foils that were added on purpose I'm unsure why (do you?). And kakori was super finely minced mutton blended with cloves, cinnamon and saffron that melted in my mouth!


Can't remember the name of this roti, but it was served with my kakori and it was delicious!

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Murgh Rezala. Pieces of chicken morsels cooked in creamy oinon and almond gravy and eaten with  steamy hot roti tasted like freshly baked whole wheat bread that just came out of the oven! This was meant to be our "second" course but I think we could've done without because it took up space for our precious...

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... Dumpukht biryani. Have I mentioned, the best biryani ever? Every spoonful had so many layers of flavor and with the oh-so-tender mutton pieces and the side of "burrani" - a type of raita but tasted and looked more like spicy aioli, was the most expensive but totally-worth-it Rs1500 I've spent on biryani. 

Overall Ratings:
Po's: 9/10
"A"'s: 9/10

Would we return? 
Yes, when we want to splurge on a very good meal.

Address
ITC Windsor Manor, Golf Course Road, Bangalore

4 comments:

  1. How much did the entire meal come to ?

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    Replies
    1. A bit on the expensive side - a total of over Rs6000 for 4 of us.

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  2. Nice photographs and some appetite-enhancing descriptions!..would have still better if it was full-legth restaurant review

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