To celebrate Mother’s Day, I took the family to Khansama, the Indian fine dining restaurant run by the BJN group. I pretty much know what to expect from a BJN group restaurant – good food, good ambience, and not too high a price.
Khansama (which means Royal Indian Master Chef) does not disappoint. Being a Sunday and Mother’s Day, the place was crowded as hell, and even though we had booked a table, we were told to come back after 20 mins. We spent the time window shopping in the UB City mall oohing and aahing and pretending to be serious customers in all the swanky boutiques !
However, as soon as we came back, a table was found for us and we were seated immediately.
The ambience was as expected. The seats at the table look very uncomfortable, but in actuality are quite nice.
Kalyan opted to go for the buffet, which costs about Rs. 340/-. My mom and myself decided to go a-la-carte and decided to order the following:
- Jaisuni naan – a very thin naan with olives
- Paneer parcha – paneer with black-pepper gravy
We also ordered some drinks – a beer for Kalyan, a Planter’s Punch for my mom, fruit punch for the snubnose, and a Kahlua with vanilla ice cream for me.
The food and drinks were universally good. My Kahlua was a little disappointing – more of a vanilla milk shake than a Kahlua, but overall everything was good.
The service was excellent. Our waiter served the dishes quickly, and attended to our needs efficiently, even though he was quite overworked taking care of several tables at a time.
What I liked about the place:
- The staff did not make a noise about the snubnose sampling the pulau and the soup, which was actually not paid for (being part of the buffet). She did not really care to try the a-la-carte food.
- I had requested the left-over paneer to be parcelled. However, our waiter forgot and junked it. When I reminded him that we were still waiting for the parcel, he apologized and said that he had junked it. However, he could give us some paneer from the buffet to make up for the mistake. I was pleasantly surprised by the offer and accepted :).
- The service was efficient inspite of the crowd.
- The restaurant tables are spaced far enough so that even though the restaurant was crowded, it was not stuffy or uncomfortable.
- And last but not the least, the food was awesome…just out of this world. The naan and the paneer were extremely tasty. I also sampled the Kashmiri pulao and the maa ki dal from the buffet, and they also rocked!
What I did not like about the place:
- The desserts were not too tempting or imaginative.
- No gajar halwa in the buffet, which was a surprise.
- When you order a-la-carte, the prices are on the higher side.
All in all, a good family dining joint. Gave a new perspective to north-indian food, which can so often be very standard fare.
