North Indians are known to be foodies to the core! And after moving in to Bangalore, I have been disappointed (Big APologies to my Kannadiga Reader friends) with the north indian food that was served here!!
There are several joints (which I dont even want to name), where the food is horrendous to say the least. ANd nobody even comes close to authentic north indian khana!!
I have been visiting Forum Mall for quite a while now and have been seeing this Restaurant on an inconspicuous corner of the 2nd Floor. Sahib Singh Sultan....
Well the initial perception about this place was that it would probably be an insanely expensive place. And it is perception that kept me away from heavenly food!!!! and amazing ambiance!
But then as they say perceptions may always be mistaken. Once day in February this year, I mustered the courage to walk past the automated gates and lo and behold! I was inside Sahib Sindh Sultan (S3). The colonial style ambiance was something which took me by surprise, although the name made me expect something on those lines. It was simply amazing. And there were separate smoking and non-smoking sections.
I, being a non-smoker, opted for the obvious choice. And hey, another surprise, the non-smoking section was designed like a Train coach!! Stepped in and the entire layout of the dining area was a colonial style, Palace on Wheels type rail ka dabba, all complete with the railway type fans and luggage compartments on the ceiling.
Even the waiter who took our order was dressed like a ticket checker from the pages of history!!
The whole feeling was one of deja vu. It had a strange old world charm about the place! As the saying goes, the first impression is the last impression, i;d say that the first impression of S3 was a very positive one.
Now what was to be seen was how the food fares. Is it authentic north indian flavor food or andhra style north indian food with lots of food color. (actually most of the food joints that I have visited in Bangalore, put so much food color in their tnadoori items that Your hands get a crazy ’’RED’’ color, as if you have put mehendi on the hand - that increases the risk of cancer if used in excess, because most of these are chemicals and they contain carcinogens - very very mild use is acceptable)..
Chalo chuck the gory part.
I ordered chicken tikka masala and some naans, the naans were soft and crisp - the way they are relished in the north. And the chicken item’s gravy had.........hold your breath!......the perfect flavor...
After a long while I had finally discovered a place which makes gravy with the authentic northindian swad... Man S3 is definitely a place which will be revisited.
And the reason for my initial intimidation (the price) was also false. The place is very reasonably priced and I feel only the liquor price is slightly on the higher side. SO an average meal for 2 without drinks would cost somewhere 500-600 rupees - which is great considering the ambiance...
The service, as in most of the places here in Karnataka, is slow (i wouldnt use extreeemly slow, because it was still better than most places - but still a little more agile service would be desirable).
But the taste and texture of food makes one forgive these small things.. Definitely a worthwhile place to go.
Being a hard core foodie - I whole heartedly endorse and recommend S3 to all readers of this site!!
P.S. The only one thing that I did not like was that the mouth fresheners (sounf, etc) are kept on the way out near the door. That sort of spoils the peace of the place, when a bunch of people finish their meals and leave.
Instead they could use smaller containers and present it (conventional style) along with the cheque.