Jaawaid's Kebabs and Kurries

We (two of us) were scouting around for a place to eat last Friday night and as we were driving down Wallace gardens, we spotted a place calling itself Jaawaids kebabs and kurries. We walked into an empty restaurant and were told that they had just opened up last week and they specialize in kebabs from north India, especially Kashmir. So we went in an made small talk with the promoters of the place and the chef and we were suggested a platter like thing called some wazi something, which apparently has kebabs, two curries, a starter and a dessert and is fit for four people. We were told that a half platter will be served for us.

We decided to try it out and a platter being a good way to try out a place's variety, we went with it. The starter that came out was exquisite. I think it had cheese on it, but the chef would not give away even a whiff of his recipe and for good reason, the kebab was super. Then we saw the platter and it was by no means for two people. When a couple of friends driving by called me to see if I could join for dinner, I called them over and so we were three, yes, you read right, one guy turned vegetarian that night. And we set out to eat the kebabs in the platter. The first one, a lamb chop was pathetic. It was flavorless and very poorly done, but I was informed that this was their hot selling item on the menu. Wonder what happened to my taste buds. The next set of three lamb kebabs were very average. We left over half the food on the platter, except for the chicken kebab which was very juicy. A humongous quantity of rice was served on the platter with two gravies, both of which were decent, but somehow so much of rice with gravy was not very enticing, I would have preferred indian breads.

The desserts were amazing. The phirni was very nice, the badam kheer was super and the Khubani meeta was equally nice. We were the only ones in the restaurant and the promoters were there, so I cannot comment on the service, ambiance was decent. I told them that the lambs ( which constituted more than half of the platter) was certainly not enjoyed by us. The bill shocked us even more. The platter was priced at Rs. 3000, so if you are offered something that is not on the menu, please ask for the price. I made the big mistake of not asking the price but to put things in perspective, I was given a platter of 20 kebabs at marriott, which was not on the menu and was charged Rs. 2499. The menu price of desserts were priced at rs. 110, the kebabs at around rs. 300, and curries at rs. 300, whichever way you add up, it will not reach 3 grand. So...even the wonderful dessert we had started to feel sour in the stomach and we went out not having enjoyed the meal and feeling ripped off especially after we left more than half of the food not because we could not finish it but because we did not like it. We went to subway and got ourselves a sub to fill it up the void that the evening created. The two friends said they were not planning to come back here.

The place has potential and let us hope we get good Kashmir cuisine sooner than later.  In an area in Chennai where the likes of Tuscana have set shop and Tuscana will not charge you for a pizza if you do not like it and if you leave the pizza behind, Jaawaids has a long way to go in making sure that the customers come back. They probably need to learn to price things right when it is off the menu and learn to take feedback at their cost. I really think that the prices on the menu were alright, but off the menu, it was a rip off! Totally!   

Food 5/10, 8/10 for the starter and desserts.
Ambiance 7/10
Price 5/10

Jaawaids kebabs and Kurries is opp the Subway, Nungambakkam.