My never-ending quest for interesting food
took us to a small restaurant in the area within south Delhi where I have spent
a majority of my childhood - Alaknanda. Nestled in the colony's Aravali market
is a small Bengali restaurant called 'City of Joy'.
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| Diamond Fish Fry |
My exposure to Bengali food is limited to
Oh Calcutta. However, fine dining and eclectic as it is, it can not possibly
represent this state where people take their food (and most else) very
seriously. Thus, I am happy to announce another winner in this category.
Being novices in this department, we asked
the server for his recommendations. How Punjabi do I possibly look that he
rattled off the likes of Chicken Curry, kaali daal etc. Only with some help
from him did we finally manage to order. The menu has various options, for most
of which you can even order half plate.
We started off with the Diamond Fish Fry,
which the name really explains. Half plate has two fabulously crusted and fried
fillets of boneless Betki. Very moist, extremely well favoured and fresh fish!
We followed that up with Chingri Kalia (two tiger prawns in a rich tomato based
gravy) and Betki bhapa maach (also known as patter maach) which is fish steamed
in a banana leaf with a mustard paste. The latter was a unique taste to our pallete
yet it was something so perfectly balanced that we could have asked for
doubles. The mutton curry was nothing special but did have a different take to
it from the version familiar to North Indians.
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| The Spread |
My vegetarian friend seemed quite happy
with her Phool ghobi malai roast and Chanar kalia (paneer in a thick tomato
gravy). The cauliflower dish was actually quite tasty and I surprised myself by
taking more than just a bit!!
The total damage for 4 people was Rs.1600
and I do believe we had ordered lavishly. All in all, well worth the drive. If
you like Bengali food, and even if (especially if) you've never tried it, head
off to 'The City Of Joy', it won't leave you disappointed.
Rating: 3.5 on 5
Meal for 2: Rs.800
Alcohol: Not served
Home Delivery: Available within Alaknanda
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