Deliciously Indian
A place dressed in Indian, smells like Indian, and feels like Indian has a buffet stacked up for the pure Indian-palates. After all, its theme is ‘Indian’ and if you haven’t guessed, it’s the ‘Chandni Chowk’. Oh, that restaurant can get your eyes bigger than your belly. Starting its service on 19th December 2014 and named after a market in Delhi ‘Chandni Chowk’, they have a bit of its touch felt through the way it is all set up. Aprons are folded neatly over the back of every chair, the traditional look given to it by actual Indian style objects hung up on walls like bangles, Morjiris and surprisingly an olden style telephone too! With a blend of modern and tradition, this place has newly been set up along the streets of Calangute where the crowds only keep coming. Right alongside the street, you’ll find an unusual door. The door serves as an entrance into a pure Indian world of dining. This experience has a touch of ‘unique’ along with it as you’ll realize you’ll be noticing a lot around you. One may admit that they haven’t felt home like they have at this restaurant. That is because one can experience a more ‘North Indian’ nature through their food and ambience. More of Punjab and Delhi is also felt in their music as you sit to enjoy the warmth that the place gives.
On the other hand, one of the things that highlight the blend of ‘unique’ is their service. You won’t help but notice that everything is set in a very unusual manner. But that only adds to its uniqueness. Everything about the restaurant is meant to suit the style of the traditional and local Indians. This restaurant was set up with a purpose of giving the locals what is much hard to find, especially in a place like Calangute, where more of the restaurants are continental-styled! ‘Savio’, the man who has set up this dining experience has specially created it for the real taste of India more so from the North that is, Delhi and Punjab. The deliciously dressed restaurant boasts of getting a check on all the boxes when it comes to balance of flavors with spices. Entering into this amazingly dressed ambience, they give your dining experience a good start. In a cooking spoon-styled vessel, they serve ‘Bhindi Kurkure’. Oh and it’s free! Taste their generosity through it as you crunch on its crispy texture. Not very salty. Just perfect and crispy! For a meal, a must try is their Kebabs and Tandooris. The Chef has that menu giving you the choicest options. ‘Murgh Tikka’, ‘Murgh Malai Tikka’ (more of a ‘non-spicy’ dish), ‘Paneer Tikka’, ‘Reshmi Kebab’, ‘Seekh Kebab’ while still more their ‘Naan’, ‘Dahi Ka Pyaaz’ (Curd/Onions) and plenty more. Nothing taste better than real food that’s never been tasted before! And that’s exactly what Chef Karan Chandra has you experiencing. Flavored perfectly and served in a yet unusual manner, the food is just palate-lovable. You’re food which is cooked hot comes at your table just as hot! With a small burner under a pot shaped vessel with a slightly curved plate on top, your food is served on that plate with the burner continuously keeping it hot steaming through sand and coal. Everything you order will come to you in a particularly unusual style but that’s what makes this restaurant more interesting. Nothing feels better than munching through everything you order. Every dish is seasoned perfectly to ooze up your taste buds more. In fact, this restaurant claims that you won’t find any better true Indian restaurant anywhere else. Just because the restaurant is Indian-styled, it doesn’t mean that only the Indian or locals can dine. In fact, it serves as an equally good opportunity for the foreign tourists who really want to know what Indian cuisines taste like, to find out! Whether it be ‘Dal and ‘Rice’ (Dal Makhni – as they’d serve it) or any grilled Kebabs and Tikkas, their claim that, no other restaurant really serves true Indian dishes is proved! Some of the variety of food includes the ‘Roti’, ‘Paratha’, ‘Roomali roti’ also ‘a Roti with Onions all over it’. The ‘Onion-smeared’ roti called ‘Kulcha’ indeed looks presentable and the taste, is just for you to go ‘Mmm!’ To give such a dining experience a smooth finish, they have ‘Gajjar Ka Halwa’, the Indian sweet which is made of ‘carrots’, thus giving it the title. They also serve ‘Jeelebis’ and both the Indian deserts come to you warm. It’s just right to add a light delicacy to a deliciously heavy meal. What more can one expect? Well, they can only expect themselves to be paying daily visits after they’ve had one! Still more, they’ve got their bars ready with the cocktails and mocktails to liven up your day. They even run ‘Chandni Chowk Express’ which is right outside their restaurant and more visible to passerby’s. The express serves for those who really just want a grab of their grilled kebabs and Tandoori’s. So if you can’t really pull out a chair, and time gets you entangled up, just drop by at their express, order what you want and in an ‘express’ they’ll have it ready for you. Don’t be too late though!
If you haven’t paid your visit, do drop by at this deliciously styled and an even deliciously tasty dining experience that is right at the side of the busy roads with an entrance, perhaps too unusual but let your curiousness lead you. Experience the Indian culture through its food. Feel its aliveness through the ambience. It’s not just any dining experience. It’s the real Indian dining experience! An experience that will leave you coming back every time!
Timings:
Lunch and Dinner
12:00p.m. to 11:00p.m.
Tandoor Express timings:
12:00p.m. to 12.00a.m.
Chandni Chowk, Umta Vaddo, Baga Road, Opposite Tibet Market Calangute, Goa.
