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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United Coffee House

Address:
E-15, Inner Circle,
Connaught Place, New Delhi
Tel - 011-2341 6075 /2341 1697 / 98106 66044

Credit Cards - Yes
Average Price - 2500/- for 2 people
Alcohol - Yes


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Connaught Place used to be the ultimate shopping mecca, before the mall craze took over New Delhi and most of India. A weekend well spent meant going to Connaught  Place and roaming around from one block to another, eating some good food and then making your way towards India Gate for a lazy late evening by the garden enjoying Limchoo (Lime Ice Lolly). Every visit to Connaught Place made me pass the United Coffee House, but I never made it pass its entry doors (I never even gave it a second glance). I was always looking for one fast food joint or another when I was a kid, and then in my college days and younger days at work, I always made it to the most happening watering hole or sports bar. 

It was the same idea a couple of months back, as my good ol' college friend and I met up at Connaught Place. It was the mid-point for both of us, as he was coming from Dwarka and I from Noida. Post our customary Hi-Hellos, we set about to walk down to the nearest urban watering hole, it was then that we crossed the United Coffee House and decided to walk in. This Sunday, I did the same thing by taking my better half and kids to this Culinary Landmark in New Delhi. 

As you make it through the doors, it feels as if you have just gone through a time warp and been transported many decades back. This 2 storeyed, 138 cover restaurant, high Ceilings with gilded work and Viennese Chandeliers preserve the old world charm and the Staff, in colonial club steward uniform complete the experience. 

The Menu is a story in itself - a story of how this establishment, opened in 1942, as an outlet, selling tea and coffee in the evenings with some snacks has changed over the years (just as Delhi has). They offer an Indian section, an Oriental Section (with Chinese, some Thai and Japanese delicacies thrown in) and a European, Continental and Mediterranean section. They also have a section for Tea and Coffee snacks complete with a pakoda platter, chicken cutlets, Keema/Regular  Samosa and South Indian tifiin items (Idli/Vada/Dosa) and a section devoted to Omelettes and one for sandwiches. All the sections have traditional favorites and it made me extremely happy to go through the continental section and find old 1950's & 1960's classics such as Mushroom Stroganoff(445/-), Chicken A'La Kiev(545/-), Poulet Alexander(545/-) and hold your breath Lobster Thermidor (1595/-). 

Today we ordered the Cheese Balls (175/-)which is listed as their signature favorite and their claim to have sold over a million and counting and Baluchi Aloo (295/-) for starters. The Baluchi Aloo were one of the best stuffed tandoori aloo in the Capital stuffed with a host of different nuts, raisins and the occasional pomegranate seeds, which my son excitedly pointed out. The Cheese balls elicited exclamations of surprise from all of us, given the huge size of the balls, but they left us a little disappointed. We were all expecting them to be gooey and stringy from inside but these were dry doughy balls and strangely had an after taste of egg. 

Next for the main course was Chicken A'La Kiev (545/-) and Hampstead Fish n' Chips (545/-). The chicken looked great when it arrived, on a bed of mashed potatoes with an assortment blanched fresh vegetables and french fries neatly arranged around it. We loved the cheesy buttery taste of the chicken and the vegetables tasted wonderful. But the real winner of the day was the fish n' chips. Served with Tartar Sauce,  a bread basket and herb butter, the fish was firm and flavorful. It tasted so fresh that one would think that this restaurant was on the banks of a water body. 

The portion sizes are huge and by the time we finished the fish n'chips, we had no place for a dessert, even though the apple pie with cinnamon ice cream on the next table looked extremely inviting. Our bill with taxes came to a little over 2400/- (colas and mineral water thrown in ...no alcohol ) of which 400/- were only taxes and we felt that it was worth the experience. 

During my last visit, we enjoyed the chicken cutlets (which were more of an escalope) and Chicken Salt n'pepper (425/-). We could have done without the bbq chicken wings (345/-) which had a funny sauce coating and a generous sprinkling of sesame seeds. Interestingly during both my visits the place was crowded, and things moved in slow motion (service is a little slow)- just so you can savor each and every moment. Even the lighting, especially on the 1st floor, makes you feel as you if you are seeing things in Eastman Color. I will personally recommend sitting on the ground level - more spacious and good natural sunlight.

This was my second visit in as many months and I look forward to many more visits, just to go back in time and enjoy the classic culinary gems and an era gone by.

Note: This restaurant is a culinary landmark and I have restrained myself from rating the place.

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The Queens Head - Some photos

The Queens Head - A pub situated near the Basingstoke Canal just outside Fleet, Hampshire.
The Address - Pilcot Lane, Dogmersfield, Fleet, Hook, Hampshire, RG27 8SY.
Tel - 01252 613 531
Click here to Get Directions.

The Queen's Head

Entrance

A table to seat 4

The Black Pudding Tower (Black Pudding & Pancetta, in English Mustard Sauce, topped with poached egg)

Fish & Chips

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