Went to the malviya nagar swagath branch tonight on the occasion of my parents anniversary; its located right next to the dominos pizza in main market of malviya nagar, in the same complex as sagar ratna which is also their subsidiary. The restaurant was absolutely empty when we got there at 8pm, but then the crowd poured in. They also have a hotel upstairs for some reason and a party hall downstairs. So here’s the review/ my experience.
The menu was extensive and almost exhausting to look at; they have Chinese, mughlai, mangalorian etc. categories with each having about 50-60 items to look at. We decided to order pretty much from the south indian seafood menu as that is their speciality. I saw in other reviews that people didn’t like the food so much but thats because they wanted a good punjabi style food which is the last thing you want to order at swagath.
We started with jumbo prawn in butter garlic sauce (absolutely delicious), fish fry (pomfret), tandoori mushroom and panner tikka. The prawns were the best item there with a great garlicky sauce; the fish was cooked in a tamarind paste but we ordered with bone and so it had tiny spines that kinda seem like a hassle; the mushrooms were stuffed with mooli/raddish, and cooked in tandoor, a first I have ever seen, and I loved this item; it is perfect for a cocktail party or something to go with cold beer. The paneer tikka was.....well paneer tikka, you cant really screw this up, and it wasn’t too extraordinary.
The main course we got was chicken chettinad, their house delicacy, kadhai chicken (i know I said you shouldnt order punjabi food here but my mom wanted it), dal makhani with missi rotis and appams. The chicken chettinad is the best item there; its cooked in a green gravy unlike something I have ever eaten, not the usual tomato/onion curry you get in north india. The kadhai chicken was also pretty good. The appams were definitely worth a try and a rather unsual drift from the usual roti and chawal. They are pretty much a dosa like creation but like a roti, and one per person is more than enough. The raita and salad were alright as well, although the onions looked very old and so we had them bring us fresh cut onions.
The bill totaled about 2.5k, and as it wasnt my money to be paid, it was worth it I guess, although there probably are much better restaurants to spend that kind of money. It was however in the end well worth a try, and to discover new dishes of chicken, prawns and mushrooms!! So might end up there sometime down the road. The waiters werent bad at all, and we didnt really care for, and never do, for the ambiance.