This little café called Cafe Immigrant is located amongst the most busiest places in New Delhi, Connaught place. This cafe is basically made around the concept of diversity, which is in abundance here in the Indian capital and showcases many dishes from various Indian states like Maharashtra, Punjab and Kerala and other countries like Italy, Lebanon & Thailand. This restaurant celebrates the fact that Delhi has always been influenced by migrants from all over the world and our own country. I could totally see that in their menu- butter chicken with pizza, risotto and khichdi, once I got my hands onto the menu I did know that tonight was going to be one parade of some fascinating food. I was greeted by the manager Mr. Sushil & the Assistant manager Mr. Ajay. Moving onto what I ordered off their menu, the manager of the restaurant Mr. Sushil was really devoted and helpful to me with helping me order the food and suggesting whatever he thought was a must try.
So the first starter that I ordered was The Veg Sampler. The first item off the Veg Sampler was Mushroom stuffed with ratatouille mixture. This dish was all about mushroom stuffed with ratatouille mixture & covered with mozzarella cheese, very simple but still very picturesque. It was very soft & juicy. The second item off the veg sampler was the Baby Potatoes with Shri Raja Mayo. The sauce which is a speciality of this restaurant is a mixture of two sauces which are the raja sauce and mayonnaise. The baby potatoes are deep fried & the after taste of the dish was more on the sweeter side but the potatoes were really well cooked. The third item was the classic Mac n Cheese, but this Mac & Cheese was a little twisted. This had white sauce and macaroni pasta spread on a pav. I could totally feel something Italian and then something Indian in my mouth that very second; really cheesy and fresh. The last and the fourth item was the Italian Arancini. This dish consisted of some sticky rice, pesto sauce & jalapenos stuffed in it, coated with panko crumbs. Panko is a Japanese style breadcrumb which is used for coating deep fried dishes, served with the special Shri raja mayonnaise. The after taste was very crisp, crunchy and a little on the spicy side.
The second starter that I ordered was the alluring Meat Sampler. The first dish from the meat sampler was the Bukani Kebab. This kebab is made of mutton keema mixed with some Indian herbs. It was very soft, juicy and “masaledar”. The second item off the meat sampler was the Turkish Chicken. This was hand cut chicken marinated in turmeric, with sumac powder & lemon juice. This specific dish was heavenly. The aftertaste was very tangy and I could feel the lemon juice in my mouth. The third dish was the Pitty Fish, this fish was made from basa fish which was deep fried & coated with washed urad dal. The dish was very soft & crisp at the same time. The last dish was the classic- the very famous Hot Chicken Wings. This dish needs no introduction, chicken wings mixed with herbs & then served with thousand islands sauce. The chicken wings were a little on the spicier side.
For the mocktails, I ordered the Chawanprakash & Mint Smoothie. This luscious little drink was actually very thirst quenching. Its ingredients include Dabur’s Chawanprash, curd, mint, vanilla ice-cream & a few cubes of ice. Garnished with mint leaves, this drink was really thick and the taste was very sweet & sour at every other sip. I haven’t really come across such a drink ever, this is a must try!
After such a scrumptious encounter with the starters, I was just halfway through my parade of the fascinating food. I then ordered a salad, which was the Aam Papad Salad. It was recommended to me by the Main Chef over there, Chef Pravesh Sharma. The Aam papad salad contained Mango juice, mayonnaise, salt pepper, roasted jeera, two types of lettuce- iceberg and romaine & bellpeppers garnished with mango papad. The after taste was sweet & I loved the blend of aam papad in it.
Moving onto the main course I ordered the well suggested Sada Punjab Pizza (Chicken). This divinely thin crust pizza had chicken tikka on the top with butter chicken gravy underneath it covered by mozzarella cheese & garnished with Kasuri methi. The pizza was crispy & once you have a bite you really do get to know that you are having something straight out of Punjab. The gravy & the cheese just go hand in hand when they melt in your mouth, this pizza is one of a kind.
The other main course dish that I ordered was a special dish that Chef Pravesh suggested me called the Classic Immigrant Chicken Khichdi- a classic dish of this restaurant made from risotto rice, chopped masala (containing onions, tomatoes & chillies) garnished with ghee, coriander & julienne ginger. This dish was served with desi ghee. The after taste was really spicy & was the cherry on the top of my experience at the Cafe Immigrant for sure.
Every meal is incomplete without a dessert so while I was looking to order something sweet, Chef Pravesh Sharma came upto me and told that he has something in the works for me already. So as I was waiting on it, just a few moments later Chef Pravesh comes out with the dish & places it right in front of me. I had no idea what this dish was but the way it looked I knew that It was going to be a surprise for me. Well it did turn out that way, this attractive and yummy looking sweet dish was the Kalakand Cheese Cake. It had a kalakand base which was stuffed with cream, cheese & then steamed and roasted, garnished with lemon sauce. This was something really fancy and one of a kind, the after taste was soft, sweet and a little lemonish.
My experience at Cafe Immigrant was really magnificent, everything about this 80 seater restaurant was really special, from the phenomenal setup to the superlative food & staff. This restaurant is actually one of a kind. Every dish was better than the other one. I would love to come back and explore even more through their menu.
Review Credit: Uday Singh Dhanoa
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