Old Delhi Food Trail - A Photo Essay (Part I)

Every once in a while I have this urge to try the real street food of Delhi and that is when I make my trip to Chandni Chowk. Over my last few trips, many of my friends have joined me to walk through the always crowded by lanes of Chandni Chowk, Chawri bazaar and nearby areas to savor some of the tastiest food available. The choices on display blow your mind and it is impossible to miss the food stalls and little shops as they cater to a thronging crowd of hungry visitors daily.

These are some of the images that I captured in between digging into tasty chaat and searching for some legendary food outlets.

Chandni Chowk - the mere mention brings up memories of some tasty chaat vendors and the best chaat in Delhi.

Bishan Swaroop

Sultan Kulle Wala

Ashok Chat Corner

Not just chaat, the area is brimming with snacks and food from everywhere.

Bombay Sandwich in Delhi

Panna standing at Nai Sarak has some tasty Moth Kachori..try it if you havent till now.

Incase regular kachoris are what you crave then make way to Jung Bahadurs Kachori shop

And how can you be in Delhi and not try Matra Kulcha. 

And talking of Matra, Rameshji in Kinari Bazaar serves the best Matra Kulcha in town.

A trip to Chandni Chowk will be incomplete without a mention of Parathewalli Galli. The atmosphere and the crowd eating there at any time is to be seen even if oily fried parathas are not your choice of food.

And it is impossible to roam the area and not catch the countless hawkers selling nankhatai.

Going to the old Delhi area and not making a trip to Karim's is totally unpardonable, unless you are a vegetarian. Famed for its mutton preparations, the lamb Nihari and tandoori roti for breakfast are a must do, though they even serve it in evenings for a few hours.

M in front of Karims entrance - should I order the Nihari, Paya, Qorma or all three ?

The Tandoori Roti and Nihari are a perfect couple :). Try it at Karims or Al-Jawahar. Which one is better? Well, the jury has been undecided for all these years.

This happens to be the breakfast crowd at Shyam Sweets. Try out their Bedmi Pooris.

 Enough of oily and calorie filled food...try the fresh fruit instead.

There is also a lot to satisfy your sweet tooth

Rabarhi

And how can one forget Daulat ki Chaat. Only available for a few months of winter, I cant wait for it this year. Another few weeks to go I guess.

And the Khurchan at Hazarilal Jain...yum!

And the best way to finish off everything you ate is by way of a thick lassi at Amritsari Lassiwaale near Fatehpuri gate.

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Yeti - Restaurant Review

OVERALL RATING - 

Address- 50A, 2nd Floor, Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi-110016
Tel - 011-406 786 49
Credit Cards-Yes
Average Price - 900/- (Without Alcohol) plus taxes (VAT, Service Tax) and 10% Service charge
Alcohol - Yes (Beverage Menu attached below)

Try asking many a seasoned foodie about Nepalese, Bhutanese or Tibetan food in Delhi and chances are you will only hear them say Momos or maybe Thukpa, thanks to an overflow of eateries and roadside stalls selling these. But the cuisine from the Himalayan states is much more than Momos and much, much tastier. And it took me a visit to Yeti, the Himalayan restaurant in Hauz Khas village complex to discover it.

Now this visit to Yeti almost didn't happen. Personally, my experience with the Hauz Khas complex hadn't been to great before Yeti. Till last year, I had never been to the Hauz Khas Village side and my friend and ex-colleague Mojo (yup that's what we call him) got me to visit the Complex for the first time. Mojo is a foodie when it comes to eating out and knowing the best places to grab a bite in Delhi or having a nice drink. So, when Mojo volunteered to take me to this great restaurant that he knew, I jumped and grabbed on this opportunity. We went to this shack of a place on the rooftop and I ended up having the spiciest of food at prices I wouldn't call Value for Money. Apparently the place was a big hit with the expat population and as I roamed around Hauz Khas Village, I found that the entire place was full of the snooty so called chic crowd looking for ethnic pieces which had driven almost everything sky high on price. Burnt Tongues and a bad stomach made me vow never to step inside the complex again. A few months and one Old Delhi Nihari visit later, Mojo and I decided to go to Hauz Khas Village complex again. This time we decided on Yeti. I expected the worst and how wrong I was. This 50 cover restaurant is an experience waiting to unfold and take you on a journey to the Himalayan Kingdoms via the culinary route. Last Sunday, I took my better half, kids and my old college buddy Abhineet and his family. We had a blast stuffing ourselves with food and each dish elicited more oohs! and aahs! than the previous one.

Yes, they do have momos on the menu (Thukpa too) and much more. As you are seated, your steward serves you with a complimentary starter of fried chickpeas tossed in spices and also places two bowls of chutney, one absolutely fiery red one full of chillies and an orange one which is less spicy but spicy for sure.

We ordered the veg snacks platter (300/-) which consists of Wai Wai Sadeko  (dry wai wai noodles- a brand of noodles, tossed with onion, tomato, green chillies and lemon) , Aloo Sadeko (sauteed potatoes marinated in tangy Nepali spices) and Bhuteko Chana (Stir fried chickpeas in Nepalese spices). This is served with Tingmo (steamed Tibetan Bread) and chutney. If you want you can order these starters separately, but I just order the platter as I loved each one of them and the Tingmo has been a revelation. Apparently, they serve Tingmo with everything, and it goes just great with the spicy food.

For us meat lovers, we ordered the Shapta (300/-) which is thinly sliced buff (buffalo for the uninitiated) sauteed with onion, garlic and spices served with tomato and greens and a plate of Gyuma - Tibetan Sausages (350/-). Gyuma are the finest things I have tasted in a while now. Buff sausages wrapped in membrane and fried till they are crispy and yet retain their solid bite, they are the perfect accompaniment to cold beer. They were perhaps the reason Abhi and I had a few pints extra. And oh yes! we did order chicken momos (250/-) too, which I found a little tough and below standard. All these starters except the momos come with tingmo, so you can stuff yourself with more bread.

Our main course consisted of Kokra Ko Ledo - Chicken curry (350/-). We ordered plain rice (100/-) with it and this aromatic and delicate curry goes so well with plain rice. We also ordered crispy fried spinach (250/-) and it was heavenly, melt-in-your-mouth, like no one has ever done before preparation. Now please be sure to order "crispy" fried spinach and not fried spinach. We ordered fried spinach (thinking it to be crispy) and all we got  was a blanched tossed spinach preparation that tasted bitter. We pointed this out to our server and he promptly replaced it with the heavenly dish I wrote about a few lines earlier.

The service was good and the setting neat. The portion sizes are huge and considering the cost per dish it is not only a value for money but a steal. Be sure to book in advance, if you plan to visit during the weekend as this place has a huge waiting, especially during Lunch hours on weekends. We booked an hour in advance and we still had to wait for 15 odd minutes. Luckily the place is open throughout the day, so you can always land up for brunch or late lunch. Believe me you will not be disappointed ... I haven't been on three occasions...and going by Abhineet and Suparva's look, they weren't either :)

FOOD - 

SERVICE - 

AMBIENCE - 

Note: They have apparently also opened an outlet in Malviya Nagar, I haven't gone there so I cannot comment on how much their standards are compared to the Hauz Khas outlet and this review shouldn't be taken as a blanket review for all Yeti outlets.

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