Tuesday, June 17, 2008

samarkand

so this is the restaurant which i have heard a lot about in bangalore and what better way to eat there than getting treated by a friend :)
So based on the hype about the place i was excited to eat there..after multiple attempts of reconsiderations for changing the place from my dear friend I dint budge and we went to the place for our sunday lunch on the d day..

Well we went there on a two wheeler which is much faster than a four wheeler in a heaviy trafficked city like bangalore..
and there was no parking on the road for a two wheeler?!!!!
so we went down the basement and parked the bike in a seedy place!!
now what could be the reason for not having a decent space for a two wheeler???
Just usual i believe for a snobbish restaurant- two wheeler owners cant afford us..
but anyways the anticipation of the good food lying ahead made us forgo this disappointment..

Now the ambience, we eneterd this dark cave/ village/ dark set up litted by traditional lanterns..
we got a seat - decent one..(ofcourse my friend did reserve the table after continuos reconfirmations from my part)
the waiters had the traditional afghani dress on - just adding to the feel of the place and the waiter at our table was a tall guy making it all the more original afghani look..

first thing to come on table was a glass(yes like a vase) of complimentary snack sticks (1 feet long rectangular mathris) with a katori of cheese..
hmm very good ..
followed by water in copper glasses - so far so good.

The menu was a tabloid sized 4 page paper with dishes and stories intermixed- hmm innovative..not very comfortable though..
Only one option of tomato soup - which is generaly ketchup with water at most restaurants, so i dint order that.
We ordered some veg kebabs enclosed in vermicelli for starters..
it was good to taste (soft veg kebabs with fried vermicelli covering it all) and heavy to eat..
after a break of 10 minutes we decided that we can take the risk of having a main course without bursting ourselves..
so we ordered 1 naan/roti each and a veg- meloni tarkari-it was yummy .
we ordered kulfi as the dessert which was very small portion (thankfully)

and for the first time I ran a bill of 4 digits for two vegetarians without drinks..(ofcourse i am not a frequent visitor to dampukhts, taj etc)
oops i forgot there were drinks - mocktails -some hawaian surfer (basically just lassi) and something else that my friend ordered --


overall the place was okie dokie- not so much as the hype but music was a killer of the atmosphere.. it was nowhere near to the theme of the place..infact there was hiphop or pop beats in between to spoil it....
also i felt that the seats werent so clean ...

another good thing was the PAAN available(i dint try that though)..like a traditional indian after meal(am not sure about whether having paan is an afghani tradition too)

however I wudnt go gaga over the place.. but definitely worth a visit once or twice...
There are much better and much reasonable places with much better ambience even in chennai!!! which are those will tell some other time...

but the treat was really good..guess we orderedsome good dishes too... thanks boss!!

6 comments:

  1. Sounds fine.. will try it when I come there.. BTW in any place in Gurgaon you will run a bill of 4 digits only for drinks (2 glasses- cocktails) and one starter.

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  2. Anonymous11:37 PM

    Its Faunt...

    Bon appetite

    Nice blog.

    You are a voracious speaker. Arnt you?

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  3. @ bul: well u have 400 rs cover charge then u can do so very easily..
    @faunt: Thanks!!
    I dont think am a voracious speaker though!

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  4. Gud hai !!
    Reviews on food nd restaurants !!
    Innovative....
    Nd definitely helpful for tourists... wen dey cm down south !!

    hav a similar one here in bbay also.. matchin to da description u hav written... jst tht da music is Original... a guy sings whatever u request him to sing !!

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  5. good if it can help someone in not to choose a restaurant...helpful for strictly vegetarians though ! :)
    bombay is definitely ahead of b'lore in case of food etc..

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  6. Anonymous9:23 PM

    Ooops... sorry to bother.

    As far as food is concerned, Mumbai rocks... but not even one tenth as Ahmedabad does. Gujjus have a tremendous sense of cheap ingredients that taste great.

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