By Rajyasree Sen
Now Gurgaon isn’t known for its new and happening restaurants. There are an old handful, but all the new ones seem to always be mushrooming in our answer to Soho - Hauz Khas Village, or in GK 1 Market. So the oddly named Café Delhi Heights caught my attention ever since it opened in Gurgaon. Despite its name harking back to the really bad Hindi film of the same name, its bright signage, colourful exterior and a smattering of quite complimentary reviews have been pulling me in its direction. Its strange location though, in the middle of a building opposite Hamilton Court, kept me from visiting it. Now it’s opened up at Ambience Mall, Gurgaon as well, much to my joy. So the other day after watching The Iron Lady, I trooped in with my mother for a meal and was happy to see that it lived up to my expectations, as such.
Best time | The restaurant has a fabulous breakfast menu, one of the best that I’ve seen outside a hotel. From eggs Benedict to French toast, eggs cooked any style to muesli, it seems to have the works. And if you can’t make it for breakfast, drop in for lunch or dinner. It’s got very few tables though, maybe 25 seats at best, with only 12 or 15 of those being proper high tables and the rest sofas with low seating. So it’s best to reach as early as possible to ensure you get a table.
Go with | When we went for lunch on a Saturday, it was full of families and couples. No real teeny-boppers in sight. The music {80's classics} isn’t too loud for you to stop trying to have a conversation. So if you want to catch up with friends over a meal, it’s the perfect place. If you want to go with boring people whose conversation you'd want to ignore – this is best avoided.
Eat | The menu is multi-cuisine or as us Bengali's say, multi-cousin, which always makes me wary. But at least the food that we tried was all spot-on. We started with shrimp in sriracha mayo, which was lovely. The prawns were perfectly cooked and fresh-tasting, and the sriracha mayo was creamy and tangy and didn’t drown the prawns, just coating them lightly. We followed it up with a Scarmoza pizza, thin-crust and tasty. And fish and chips, which was thankfully crumb-fried and not batter-fried, and the fish was of very good quality. While we skipped dessert, we did have two drinks. They have a large fresh juices menu, which they serve in old-fashioned glass milk bottles. Quaint, but before you know it, you would have finished a litre of juice. The juices are freshly squeezed though. As of now, they aren’t serving any alcohol.
Pay | A meal for two without alcohol came to Rs 1700. Slightly steep when you think about it, but the food definitely didn’t disappoint.
What/Where | Café Delhi Heights, First Floor, Galleria 2, Crosspoint Mall, Gurgaon AND Ambience Mall, Gurgaon
About the Author | We're super excited to have Rajyasree Sen sharing her thoughts on one of Gurgaon's culinary offerings- Café Delhi Heights. Rajyasree Sen is a foodie, an occasional elitist and has an opinion on everything that's worth having an opinion on. She used to run the restaurant Brown Sahib, but now much of her time is devoted to being a pop culture expert. In case you want more from her than her opinions, head to www.foodforthoughtindia.blogspot.com and order some delicious food from her catering outfit. If you want more of her opinions than you see here, follow her at @rajyasree.