Opulent Dining At The California Boulevard...

The California Boulevard situated in the bustling B.K. Dutt Market in Rajouri Garden stands out of the crowd and has an eye-catching appeal thanks to the multiple elements working in their favor.

Coming from the house of Bright Hospitality, The California Boulevard presents themed fine-dining in all its grandeur and with unmatched panache. As the name suggests, the theme concentrates on emulating California, taking a cue from all things Hollywood, be it English classics playing in the background or rustic street lamps, or trivia relating to mainstream artists, or a life-size Harley Davidson at the entrance, or even the iconic Hollywood Walk Of Fame. The Boulevard, on the other hand, emulates the thoroughfare running across.

The outlet is spread over two floors, with the third floor and rooftop in the same building being occupied by AMPM Cafe & Bar, which also comes under the umbrella of Bright Hospitality.

Amidst the glitz and glamor of Hollywood, and with their Menu designed as a Coffee Table Book, something at The California Boulevard instantly hit, making it known to me, that this place is going to be counted in my Hall of Fame, for sure.

Be it their attentive, courteous, on-fleek service, or the entire look and feel of the place, or minute details in catering to their patrons being taken care of, The California Boulevard swept me off my feet, so as to say, in the form of a complete experience.

Patrons here, are bound to be spoilt for choice (imagine a collection of around 300 delicacies from across 30 countries being presented on your plate!) - thus making Tourist, Janpath seem like a baby to me - and it would take a complete evening, I feel, if I were to decide the dishes I would love to have, thanks to the extensive variety that The California Boulevard offers. For my meal here then, I went ahead with Executive Chef Satish Kumar's curated menu, suiting my palate, with Sous Chef Sansar Saklani keeping a close eye, may I be in need of anything.

First things first, wet tissues were presented before commencing the meal. Hygiene is addressed in a fine manner here at TCB, as these tissues were not only presented after the completion of the meal but also before beginning it.

We went ahead with notifying the staff about Mocktails of our choice and in the meanwhile, an assortment of Bread with Garlic Butter Sauce was presented to us.

Meanwhile, the mood for relaxing conversations was created in the backdrop of light music and a soft-lit premises. Take my word for it, each dish was par excellence.


We tried the following Beverages...

Summer Beach

Mango Mock-o-lada

Frozen Cappuccino

Hollywood Shake

Chamomile and Passion Fruit Iced Tea

To mark a great beginning to the meal, the following Appetizers were presented...

Tangy Button Mushrooms

Dilli Ki Chaat

Patra Ni Machchi, which was presented with three sauces - Mint, Onion Jam, Garlic Jam - and reminded me of Chef Anahita Dhondy's signature dish at SodaBottleOpenerWala.

Prawn Spring Rolls

Sushi Paneer

Chicken Dimsums

Gandheri Kebab which came dipped in sugarcane and was an authentic preparation from Punjab.

While the Main Course was being prepared, we tried some of the Soups as suggested by Chef.

Sicilian Minestrone was served with a portion of Bread.

Mushroom Cappuccino

For Mains, we had the following two dishes...

Chicken Maggie's Farm

Cottage Cheese & Mushroom Fajitas served with Tortillas

To draw such a fantastic meal to an even splendid conclusion, we had two aesthetically presented Desserts in the form of the following...

Chocolate Bomb had the most awesome plating and you have to witness it first-hand to agree with me. :)

White Chocolate Delight was served with crushed praline.

Paired these with California Special Coffee served along with an assortment of cookies on Chef's recommendation.

The accolades that adorn their walls from various prestigious jury consistently over the past many years stand testimony to the fact that it succeeds in presenting all the elements that form for a perfect meal.

All in all, The California Boulevard is an experience in itself, and a pleasant, unforgettable one at that, and perhaps can give tough competition to even some of the five-star properties out there. :)

#DoTheNew At SodaBottleOpenerWala

SodaBottleOpenerWala has introduced Maja Ni Life to us Delhi folks who are too engrossed in our monotonic routine affairs that we've forgotten to appreciate the goodness of nicely done food, good company, and some banter.

It comes as a breeze of fresh air when you're acquainted with the legacy of a quintessential Bombay Irani Cafe, for SodaBottleOpenerWala that is the brainchild of Olive Group presents the heart-warming typical Parsi cuisine, some Irani specialties, and a lot of Bombay street food.

Being at SodaBottleOpenerWala is like being teleported to the era of late 60's and early 70's, and you'd preferably feel like you're visiting a Parsi Bhonu's well-to-do cafe with that vintage rotary dial telephone, glass-paintings adorning walls and a rainbow jukebox.

It was my date with authentic Parsi Cuisine where Bambaiyya and Parsi dishes were taken to the next level with a #DoTheNew 'Reloaded Menu' launched recently at SBOW. With Chef Anahita Dhondy spear-heading the kitchen, nothing less than excellence was to be presented to patrons, after all.

The newest entrant to the Menu is a series of 'Daily Specials'. The thought behind is that one takes a unique flavorful byte of Parsi Cuisine with oneself each day. You'll have no lack of variety to complain of. :)

When an invite was extended to me to #DoTheNew, I was excited for sure, because it would be the first experience with Parsi Cuisine. An evening date at the Cyber Hub outlet was set.

We began the meal with Chicken Soup For The Bambaiyya Soul which was mildly spiced with chicken chunks and some veggies in a steaming hot broth.

Crispy Corn Bhel draws inspiration from Bambaiyya Bhel that is a popular item across all Chowpatis in Mumbai, while the quintessential Vada Pav is a must-try when at SBOW.

Tareli Machchi and Tarela Himalayan Rainbow Trout were exceptionally well-prepared fish dishes, while the former was boneless, the latter was whole and one has to be careful with the bones, as is always the case with bony fish,

Patra Ni Machchi, which is SBOW's signature was a whole steamed Red Snapper layered in mint and wrapped in a banana leaf. A modern take on this classic dish was presented by Chef Anahita Dhondy herself when she was invited to the recently concluded season of MasterChef India as a guest.

Cafreal Salad was prepared with classic Goan Cafreal Masala and the cottage cheese chunks in it were layered with mint dip.

Bambaiyya Chicken Biryani here at Soda Bottle Opener Wala beats hands-down, even the one I had at Paradise, which is literally, the paradise for Biryani in Hyderabad. Long-grain rice cooked to perfection, with succulent chicken chunks topped with egg halves and served with accompanying Raita.

Jumbo King Prawns were served whole and even though they were the kings in the grand presentation, there was less of the meat which was actually edible. It was served alongside steamed rice and thus it parallels a hearty main course.

Malai Na Parantha was cooked lightly and was quite smooth on the palate. We paired it with Paneer Sanju Baba, the recipe for which was supposedly given by Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt himself.

Their classic Raspberry Soda was a beauty in red with berry chunks being incorporated into each sip, while Sekanje Bin had a nice jaggery flavor lent to it.

Mrs. SodaBottleOpenerWala's Special Cold Coffee was thick, creamy and smooth on the palate, while the Irani Falooda was so good that it is fit for a queen. :)

The entire range of desserts and their in-house baked cookies, biscuits, and Nankhatais are enticing, though I decided to go with the famous trademark traditional Lagan Nu Custard, which is a regular at Parsi wedding ceremonies and their White Chocolate Orange Brownie (served along with a scoop of Vanilla ice-cream) which was uniquely set apart from the league of run-of-the-mill desserts.

We rounded up the hearty Parsi meal with a round of authentic Parsi Choy.

I absolutely loved my time at SodaBottleOpenerWala, more so because they aim to preserve and present the rich legacy of a gracious community that upholds the thought of Maja Ni Life with their traditions, mannerisms and feasts, of course. :)