The Delhi trip was long due and a hurried tour covering the food and architectural monuments was what I landed up with. I was lucky enough to have a very close friend, who is also a voracious food lover to accompany me. So a series of write ups coming up on that.
We started with Town Hall Khan Market. I haven’t been to Delhi for sometime now and honestly, have never explored Delhi much as a food lover and looking for stories. The interest grew when in the recently concluded Eazydiner foodie awards, where Townhall, Khan Market had won Mr. Vir Sanghvi’s choice of awards for the best standalone Oriental restaurant.
Won’t waste words in trying to explain the significance of Khan Market as a preferred destination for not only shopping but also for food. Some of the big names like Mamagoto, The Chatter House for the quick bites, Big Chill whose Blueberry cheese cake is blissful (although we gave it a miss), Smoke House Deli (It’s still a mystery why the it did not work out in Kolkata), Khan Chacha, Wok in the clouds, Soda Bottle Opener Wala (blogpost coming up later) and more, bedazzle the place.
Situated in the middle lane of Khan market and erstwhile the office for a Bank, I am told that this place with Chef Augusto Crabera at helm, is one of the most sought after places.We started with Summer Garden and Dark Mulberry as the recommended cocktails. Dark Mulberry had Dark rum infused and the figs presented almost as toffee had rum infused in them and a time and again bite in them will only balance out the slightly sweet drink but this is a cocktail was definitely worth checking out. Summer Garden was not that impressive as being a beer based cocktail with peeled orange skins thrown in and overall citrus flavour did not work for me. Other than some special Sangria, the rest all Bar Menu is standard with Indigenous and foreign liquors in abundance.
Since my friend D is a regular here at Town Hall Khan Market, so I left the option of ordering for the entree as well as the mains with her. In the mean time, a quick catch up with the manager and the server makes me learn that Town Hall Khan Market is more than 3 years old and they have opened up a place in Gurugram also. There are different mazes/layers where one can be seated. The huge Bar area when you enter and adjoining surrounding places, the rows of seats with large glass panes at the back, the open air at the top, leaves you with various options for all seasons.
We started with Prawn and chives dimsums and a combination ( called as Kombination) platter for salmon and tuna with spring onion in spicy togarashi (Japanese word for Red chili, I didn’t know and had to ask) sauce. There is an element of DIY involved in the Sushis and the steps to be followed with the Soy Sauce, Wasabi and pickled ginger and the symphony of flavours which is created in the taste buds always reminds me of a roller coaster ride.
Did you know that there are 4 types of Sushi – Maki, Nigiri, Sashimi and Temaki?
Salmon and Tuna are both my favourite and each morsel, each bite made me close my eyes in satisfaction. This is a must try here if you are a Sushi fan. I must mention a hidden secret here. When they serve the condiments, don’t forget to check out the one with the small black beans, garlic, onion, dry chili and the black beans slightly fried in oil. This is an in-house condiment and I bet, you are going to keep going at it.
There was hardly any space left after the wonderful beginning and as the conversations kept pouring in, we could not resist but order a plate of herb crusted grilled chicken with garlic rice. As I described it in my Insta feed it went like this …
The plan of visiting Big chill had to be dropped as we were presented with this as dessert. D explained this better than me.
As I relive the memories of the place, I realise that it will take multiple visits to even to attempt to review the food and its also for the vast spread Chef Augusto has to offer. The new age industrial look, contemporary menu which leaves a lot to explore and shouts for a revisit, great food and made with love and care – Town Hall Khan Market perhaps ticks off all the boxes that one can ask for including my litmus test of great conversations inspired by sumptuous food – I had all my boxes ticked. While the cocktails can be improved in my opinion, if you are a beginner, intermediate, expert or advanced level of Sushi eater, this is a must visit. They have pizzas, sandwiches and burgers, pasta and risotto too but leave them for another day perhaps.
In case you have visited Town Hall Khan Market – what all did you like? What are your recommendations? Let me know?
P.S. – Much to the contrary belief, as a food blogger and food lover first and as a photographer later ( or vice versa) there are are days and moments I dont want to touch the camera rather live the moment . This has happened this time also just like a month back when I was taking D on a tour of Kolkata although both the times I carried the camera with me. It happens. So the excellent pics have been gladly taken by D and she has been kind enough to share the same.