OUR DINING EXPERIENCE: CHOKHI DHANI , JAIPUR, RAJASTHAN

 OUR DINING EXPERIENCE: CHOKHI DHANI, JAIPUR, RAJASTHAN

Friends told us that no trip to Jaipur was complete without dining at the Chokhi Dhani. Over the years,  Chokhi Dhani has come to represent Rajasthani culture and heritage primarily for tourists from India and abroad.  Naturally we were keen to try this as it was presented to us as an option to experience traditional Rajasthani food and culture in the ambience of a typical village.

The resort is on the highway towards Tonk and you would need a car to get there and bring you back. If you wish to visit for lunch that's not possible. They are open only for dinner- which means you need to plan an evening here. Their timings are from 5.00 pm to 11 pm. 

We went there one evening during our stay at Jaipur. Getting the tickets was no hassle. There are different options available. We chose the basic Rajasthani meal for 900/-. Let me explain that Chokhi Dhani is like a re-created village so you have stalls selling different types of handicrafts. There are also other shows by magicians, puppeteers, a guy who brought flames out of his mouth etc. One can take a ride on a camel too. 

As we entered we were given a welcome drink  that was piping hot. This was made of Buttermilk and Bajra. We then entered the ethnic styled dining hall, for dinner. We had to sit on the floor and ate the food served on a thali with many "donas" (katoras) made of leaves.

The people serving the food- dressed in their colourful gear- were a most enthusiastic bunch. They encouraged us to eat much more than we would have! 

Being a typical Rajasthani meal, it had rice and Rotlas (Rotis) of different kinds including those made with bajra (millet), and makai ( maize), and jowar. Of course we had the famous Dal Batti Choorma, Gatte ki Subzi,  Rajasthani Dal, Mirchi Vada, Kadhi, a dish made with legumes, Moong Dal Kachori, an Aloo Subzi, fresh cabbage and onion salad, and a yummy Lahsuni (garlic) chutney. A cooling glass of chaas ( buttermilk) was served with the meal. 

The meal was served using some very old world utensils! At the end of the meal, we were fed with a stream of piping hot jalebis which were delicious. We enjoyed the meal very much. 

After such a heavy meal, we had to stroll around the complex for some time. We had a look at some of the shops with their multi coloured clothes on offer and some of the entertainment shows. Especially enthralling was the "Ghoomar" dance. 

All in all, I feel Chokhi Dhani is a nice place to visit. What you will find there is very predictable given its positioning but well worth the experience! It does embody typical Rajasthani culture. Jai Sri Ram! 

OUR DINING EXPERIENCE: THE ROYAL CORNER @PAI VICEROY

 OUR DINING EXPERIENCE: THE ROYAL CORNER @PAI VICEROY

Yesterday we went to Jayanagar in South Bengaluru for some shopping. It was nearly 1.30 pm when we were through, so we decided to have lunch before heading home. We were close to Hotel Pai Viceroy ( part of the Pai Group of Hotels). We could pull out the phone and search for possible lunching options or walk into the hotel near by. We decided to do this and ended up lunching at their multi-cuisine vegetarian restaurant: The Royal Corner. 

We hadn't made any reservation but found a table quite easily and set about discussing what we should order. Yeshwant Prabhu is a courteous and well-informed member of the restaurant staff. He made sure we were quite comfortable. 

The restaurant had listed their recommendations by way of starters, main course and desserts. 

From amongst the choice of mocktails, we chose the Black Currant  (speciality of the house) and the Virgin Pinacola ( made with pineapple, coconut water, and fresh cream). Both the cocktails were excellent but we would vote the Black Currant to be the better of the two. 

We chose to have the Chole Biryani ( Chole being chickpeas in Hindi) served with raita ( a curd-based salad)  paired with the spicy Baby Corn Satay. The Chole Biryani was aromatic with a subtle flavour and we enjoyed this. Although this dish is marked as being spicy, we felt it wasn't that spicy at all.

In fact, we had ordered the more spicy Baby Corn Satay to complement the biryani and that turned out to be an inspired choice! The Baby Corn Satay (called Saute here) was probably the best dish of the lunch and came highly recommended as being one of the signature dishes of this restaurant. It lived up to this billing! 

For dessert, we chose the Nuttie Sundae ( made with nuts, dry fruits, tutti fruit, and ice cream). and the Fried Ice Cream. To look at -the Nuttie Sundae looked too much to eat at one go! However, we discovered the quantity was not that much and the optical illusion was created by the shape of the ice cream cup! 

The Fried Ice Cream is not available everywhere so we chose to have this. This favourite is ice cream inside a crunchy outer shell. The crisp outside-soft inside composition of the ice cream gives it its distinctive taste. 

So, at the end of the description of our lunch, we must say we enjoyed it very much.  The ambience of the restaurant was quite good. We found the staff  to be pretty efficient. Overall,  we would recommend The Royal Corner at Hotel Pai Viceroy, managed by Restaurant Manager T J Rajashekar,  for anyone looking for a variety of tasty vegetarian fare.