Connaught Place’s Farzi Café is a good option to relax with some good bites and drink after a long hard week

ONE OF the many bar-cum-restaurants in Connaught Place, is Farzi Café, situated strategically in the inner circle. Of their many ways to pull in customers, one of them consists of introducing new items to their menu every three to four months.

We visited the restaurant on a Friday — jam packed with tipsy people, swinging to a live performance. Keeping up with the crowd, we started with two of their signature drinks, Chai Pani and Bottle Ka Gin.

Served interestingly in a teapot, Masala chai lovers will love Chai Pani. With the intoxicating smell of cardamom and clove, this Earl Grey tea concoction is a bit overwhelmingly tea-like. Also one must note the alcohol content is On the lower side.

Another drink served in a fascinating way is Bottle Ka Gin,which comes in an Eiffel Tower like bottle. With gin concoction with ginger ale, elderflower syrup and lemon juice, this one has a strong aftertaste.

The food kept coming along with the drinks, and we started it off with the chef’s recommendation — the Kolkata Mushroom Skewers. Served with mini paranthas, it complimented the mushrooms when we rolled them up and gulped them down together.

Another mushroom dish that turned out to be our favourite of the night was Mushroom Bun Tikka. The mushroom puree was the showstopper, and we simply couldn’t get enough of it. It went well with the baked pav, which is marinated in curd before being put into the tandoor.

Moving on to their non-vegetarian menu, we first opted for the Chicken Dhokla, one of their bestselling dishes. While we thought that the dhokla itself would be made of chicken, it wasn’t. Instead it was more like a sandwich with the creamy chicken as a filling. The chutney along with it was sweet and gave it just the touch required to be a dhokla.

Another chicken starter we tried was the Tandoori Malai Lollipop, and this too is one of their best sellers. One can see why, as it goes well with alcohol. Its cheesy creaminess makes it very much like Afghani chicken, but creamier.

Talking about drinks, we tried their ‘Bantas’, but a fair warning — they are sour, somewhat spicy and of course sweet. As the name suggests, it is served in banta bottles. The first we tried was Kala Jamun, a vodka-based drink with a distinct taste of the jamun. The spicy one of the lot was Shikhanji. In fact, it reminded us of the water in pani puri. The best of the lot was Kolaveri, a sweet cola-based drink with vanilla flavour.

Next, we moved on to the mains, although we were quite full. We ordered the Kerala Biriyani as we were very keen to see how they make it. Take note that one of us being a Malayali, we knew what should be served. Well, it was not quite up to our expectation; however, the flavour and spiciness was a little close to how it should be. The meat was perfectly cooked unlike the rice itself.

We also tried the Lamb Shank Nihari with garlic naan. The lamb was beautifully cooked and so tender that it was falling off the bone. The curry was quite light but the softness of the meat made up for it.

With no more space to eat anything else, we asked the Chef to recommend some desserts. First, we tried the Chocolate Dirt Pile. Quite literally named, our server poured chocolate sauce into a bowl of what looked like chocolate cake mix along with chocolate and vanilla ice cream, mixing it till it turned into what looked like gooey, yummy dirt pile.

We ended our meal with Malai Mawa Bun, another recommendation from the chef. A simple cream bun reminiscent of one enjoyed in our childhood served with cherries.

(Review on invitation)

Address: Block E, Inner Circle, Connaught Place