I enter a large space that has bright sunlight streaming in via a huge glass wall. Beyond, I see treetops with pink and yellow summer flowers, blooming in all their glory. A few green feathered and red beaked parrots fly past making me sigh happily. Oozing panache, an expanse showcases paintings that are for sale. Another wall has embroidered The Yellow Chilli logos on colourful silk fabric squares.
Right in the middle of the restaurant, a huge amethyst table occupies pride of place. It lights up from within, bringing the whole regal structure alive. At night, that table, surrounded by velvet chairs is visual treat.
Beginning with a fresh orange mocktail, I was served with one surprise after another. While most of the ingredients are sourced locally, the paneer comes from Delhi, chicken from Bangalore and lamb from Andhra. My tomato basil shorba comes in a tiny cup placed on a black granite slab and has a cheese roll to go with it instead of the normal bread stick. It’s very Indian because of the little spikes of jeera in the cheese.
santri murgh chaat is a cold offering of chicken, with a blend of pepper and orange. The citric flavours make it a perfect summer treat. From the starter platter, I recommend you go for prawn kurkure. It’s crisp, succulent and has powerful south Indian flavours, complete with the tamarind tang.
For my main course, I dip my roti straight into the aloo palak. My next bit of roti surrounds some kumbh do pyaz — mushroom and onion — not too bad. I prefer the murgh Noor Mahal biryani to the Nizaami tarkari biryani. But it’s the gulab-e-gulkand that melts my heart. It’s a large brown orb sitting on a disc of watermelon and surrounded by gulkand(sweetened rose petal leaves).