Singh Sahib Restaurant located in Eros Hotel, Nehru Place makes me go into nostalgia because it has brought the concept of Delhi 6 से 19. Delhi 6 से 19 is a Street food festival wherein they have brought the street food from Delhi 6 (Old Delhi) to Delhi 19 (Nehru Place).
The verandah area is nicely done with bright posters of purani Dilli monuments & food which tempts you to try the street delicacies & savour the taste of Chandni Chowk chabutras like the famous Mutton Biryani from the handi without the rush & sweat within the cozy confines of Singh Sahib. The ambience is delightfully & artfully done with some beautiful spreads & artifacts on the wall along with coloured lamps & glasses on the tables which added to the old world charm. Another interesting thing is that they had a live band singing ghazals which made the atmosphere more relaxed & calm.
Now to start with we were given Papdi Chaat wherein the papdi was crisp & fresh with lots of chutney & curd. It was not really spicy to burn the tongue. I found it okay.
Next on my table was Golgappa (Delhi 6 ke special masaledaar golgappe). They were pre-made with meetha (tamarind chutney) in them with the spicy tangy pudina water given. The golgappas were really delicious reminding me of Old Delhi. It was fun to have the golgappas this way with the lovely music & the restaurants amazing ambience & hospitality.
The Veg Platter had Paneer Tikka, Tandoori Mushrooms & Tandoori Aloo. The Paneer Tikka was nice, soft & not oily at all. Tandoori Mushrooms were a little bland for my taste buds. I loved the Tandoori Aloo. They were hot, soft, spicy & lovely to taste.
Non-veg platter had Jhinga Masala, Murgh Tikka & Seekh Kebab. The Jhinga Masala were prawns which were soft, mushy, moist, & not too spicy. I am not too fond of sea food but the prawns were well cooked & had a really nice flavour. Murgh Tikka was delicious, hot & juicy. I loved the spicy flavour. The Mutton Seekh Kebab were warm, tasty & well cooked.
The platters were served with lettuce, vinegar onions & coriander. The mint chutney served was nice. Totally Punjabi & spicy!
The next item on the menu is sure to get your hunger pangs on a high as we got the famous Delhi 6 ke parathe. They had Aloo-pyaaz & gobhi parathas served with white makhan & some yummy chilli garlic pickle on the plate & a salad of carrot, radish & cucumber. The parathas were well cooked in very little oil unlike the oil & fried stuff you get in Chandni Chowk. They were soft, crispy to bite with appropriate stuffing & lovely in taste. I liked the Aloo one better than gobhi. The stuffing was very finely chopped so it was a delight to have it with makhan & pickle. The lovely purani dilli taste minus the oil was brought live here.
Then we ordered the special Banta gola drink which was very tangy, spicy & masaledar (very Punjabi style).
The next item was Chole Bhature which all Indians love & being a resident of South Delhi, it’s my favourite. To talk about it, the bhatura was very crisp & fluffy with not much oil laden, warm, tasty & good to fill the stomach with. It was served with chola (chickpeas) which had paneer & tomato chunks to add to the rich experience of tasting & eating good street food. They were also accompanied with onions & green chilli pickle. The taste was very sinful with less oil.
Next, the Masala omelette had a bread slice between the omelette & the stuffing of the omelette was made with green chillies, coriander, tomatoes & bell peppers. The omelette was nice, soft, fluffy, warm & yummy prepared by Chef Pradeep Rawat who also prepares masala omelette & egg rolls at the live counter.
Coming to the main course, I started with their Chicken Biryani. The aroma of chicken was nice, hot & warm for my senses. It was definitely nicely made & well cooked by experts in the kitchen as it was rich in nice flavours & blend and smelt very nice. The pot was full with warm flavours of purani dilli.
The Veg biryani was lovely, not very spicy, warm & well cooked. It consisted of onions, cauliflower, carrot & beans all mixed together with love & lots of spices which did not sting on my tongue but the taste was tempting.
The quality of the basmati rice used was excellent (long grained rice) & the mince of flavours was perfect.
The Punjabi Kadhi was tangy, spicy & good with lots of coriander & green chillies. The consistency & texture was just perfect. It also had pakodas in them which were soft, fresh & tasty with hing on it and I loved them. The kadhi was just amazing.
The Dal Makhani was again too good with the aroma of the spices, the taste & the flavour. It was yummy, buttery & delicious. I had it with white rice & completely relished its after taste. One should try it (Most recommended!).
The Butter chicken was soft, juicy, tender & its gravy was creamy, buttery, tasty with the lovely blend of richness. It was little sweet but I liked it that way.
Now to speak about the breads- the garlic naan, butter naan & the Laccha parantha all were very soft & layered with generous coatings of ghee & softness. They were hot, soft & layered well by Chef Pradeep Bisht. It was awesomeness combined with experience & expertness.
For the dessert, we had Suji Halwa with fried parantha. The Suji Hawla was full of warm ghee & the parantha was crisp & soft. It was a superb combination. I have never had such a thing before so it’s a must try.
They also had assorted mithais like chocolate burfi, milk cake & Motichoor ladoo. The chocolate burfi was so soft laden with the goodness of all the soft & mushy freshly made khoya & chocolate flavour. The milk cake & motichoor ladoo were also good but the chocolate burfi was the best.
The Jalebi with Rabri was terrific. I feel the combo of piping hot Jalebi with the cool rabri is killer. It was one of the most amazing things I had there.
I liked the Teela Kulfi also as it was full of elaichi & pista flavour. It was sweet to taste & nice to end the evening.
Now to talk about the restaurant, we met Chef Suprabhat Roy who is the executive chef here and spoke to us about the festival. The name Delhi 6 se 19 was his idea.
The restaurant serves Biryani daily in the festival with kebabs changing in flavours. The kebabs have been cooked on live fire i.e. Sigri (koyla & rods on which you cook tikka & kebabs). Then they have the tadka counters with Chole, Rajma & Matar Kulcha. They also have the kulfis out of the ice chilled moulds set & freezed for people to eat & enjoy the Purani Dilli flavour. The flavours melt here with the service & ambience of Singh Sahib making it more live & colourful.
Amidst the dim lighting & the old Bollywood memorable songs toppled with the tadka, spice and of course love for food, we got a chance to speak to Rahul Bhatt, senior sous chef incharge who told us that there are 7 chefs in their team. The dishes are their team work & collective effort.
All in all, the restaurant is a nice place to enjoy & relax. The live music makes it a place worth cherishing & the ambience and mainly the lovely hospitality & the cooperative staff who you are all praises for the food which makes you go to Chandni Chowk without the traffic & crowd in the comfort zone. So anybody who loves the Old Delhi food should not miss the place. It’s the love for food and my quest for knowing more & experimenting on cuisines that made me come to Singh Sahib & what more it was a lovely moment when the night ended in shining armour with the band singing my favourite old number Yeh Raat Bheegi Bheegi.
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