Batlivala and Khanabhoy

A new cuisine in a city is a challenge and very few places are ready for something like that! Parsi cuisine is one such! An empty restaurant on a Sunday evening is not a great sign for any place, but when a new cuisine is been around for a while, I guess, there needs a lot more work to educate people about the cuisine, especially if you are opening a restaurant without having a ready market. Take the Korean and Japanese restaurants, for example! There is an abundance of expat crowd from the respective countries who would be happy to be customers, but Parsi? I'm not so sure.

My experience was one where I had to tell people to keep an open mind. 3 couples were out for dinner and 5 of the 6 of us wanted to walk out at various stages. The odd one out was me! Different people had different opinions about the food and the most common was, "it is so bland."

The slightly funny tasting spicy papads were a hit among everybody. No complaints.

The starters passed the test too. The Kheema Pav was an instant hit! Nice and soft breads, fantastic kheema and yummy! Boti Soti, a nice goat meat kebab on skewers were also a hit! All of them were over and gulped down. Savour cupcakes! Well, I liked it. A lot of different opinions, but ultimately, the plates were washed down. Lamb Kebabs and Chicken patties were all nice! Some dishes were two thumbs up by most of the crowd!

Simply one dish. I think one dish spoilt it for most of the group. The Dhansak with rice and onions. The waiter said, it is like biriyani! Which is a bad thing to say, I guess because the group then expected a biriyani. A slightly sweetish rice with a slightly sweetish gravy didn't go down well with them! Only one friend of mine and me washed it down and burped, but the words biriyani and the dish not being a biriyani left the table numb. They wanted to step out for dessert!

We paid about Rs. 3500 for the above! I would probably eat out in more Parsi places and then give this place another shot!