It’s astonishing to see how our palate craves for different cuisines and food experiences. I have always been keen on trying out different food. The moment I go to a new place, I look for the authentic regional cuisine. Luckily, these days we don’t have to go to a particular location to taste the food; especially in Delhi. There are so many new restaurants that can help you virtually travel to any place through food.
Londoners, situated in Greater Kailash 1 in Delhi, is a restaurant cum pub that specialises in British cuisine. They also serve Chinese and Italian with a few changes to suit the Indian palate. The moment you enter the place, you see the British influence in the decor. From the phone booths that remind you of Harry Potter to tanks & trunks; everything is in sync. They’ve got three floors – two restaurant cum pub areas and one rooftop area. It’s a fairly big place where you can go for office parties, kitty parties or just snuggle up in a corner with your date.
Food at Londoners GK1
Starters
Oreo & Dark Chocolate Shake
I began my food journey with a cold Oreo & Dark Chocolate shake. After bearing the scorching heat of Delhi, this shake acted like an entirely refreshing drink. I liked the presentation – it was served in a Mason Jar (yes!), and the intense chocolate & Oreo flavor were just in right proportion. The shake was thick but smooth. It’s a must-try in this place as I have tried the same shake at some different places and I found this one as the best.
Scotch Eggs
Scotch Eggs are a British favorite since the 18th century. These are hard-boiled eggs served with a thick coating of meat. At Londoners, the hard boiled eggs were coated with a thick layer of mutton and fried. The dish was served with a cocktail sauce that consisted of mayonnaise, tomato ketchup, and brandy.
Even though the dish was fried, I was glad to see that there was hardly any oil to turn me off. The taste was a bit bland, as suitable to the British palate, and I feel it makes a superb breakfast dish.
The Ploughman’s Platter
This English cold meal is available in two variants – a veg platter (specially created for Indians) and a non-veg platter. The latter one consists of chicken ham, black and green olives, cucumber, apples, boiled eggs, dried apricots and toasted bread. The chicken ham has been replaced by lightly grilled paneer in the veg platter. I loved the thin coating of the paneer, and it tasted even better than paneer tikka (I’m not a fan of Paneer Tikka :P). This was the first time I tried this British dish & while I did have to suppress my Indian desire of eating heavily cooked food, I liked the entire dish for its authenticity.
Irish Spring Rolls
WARNING: Two of my most favorite dishes at Londoners GK1 are coming up. These are must try! Like you shouldn’t miss these even if you don’t plan to go to this restaurant. Just go and grab these!
These are a version of spring rolls that have been filled with cheese and corn. The coating was kept bland while the filling just wooed me. The cheesy filling tasted exceptionally well and the sweet chilli sauce served went very well with the spring rolls.
Butter Chicken Pie
With the very spicy butter chicken filling inside, this baked pie is one dish I want to eat over and over again at Londoners. It was so good. The dish was served with fries and salad. I found the salad a bit too salty and sharp. It didn’t go well with the entire dish. But who cares!
I dare you to eat this dish and say you don’t want to eat it again. It’s so good. The crunchy pie filled with spicy and scrumptious butter chicken is just out of the world.
Main Course
Crispy Konjee Lamb
If you’re a fan of crunchy food, you’ll love this dish. With a twisted flavor of lamb and lightly tossed veggies dipped in a delicious sauce, this dish is again a favorite of mine at that place. For all the fans of Asian honey chilli potato and likewise dishes, this is a must-try dish. You’ll certainly rate it better than those.
Penne Arrabiata With Paneer Makhani
In the main course, I wanted pasta. But instead of the usual ones, I went for Penne pasta in an Indian gravy – paneer makhani. The experiment didn’t go well. The seasoning was missing, and the paneer makhani was too sweet. I couldn’t enjoy this dish as much as other dishes in this place.
Keema Naan With Gravy
The keema naan was massive but yum! It was a bit spicy, but the gravy tones it down a bit. Overall, this dish had that brilliant flavor which people look for in Keema Naan and is delicious.
Claypot Chicken
The dish had a thick layer of noodles at the bottom. And on the top, there were chicken chunks with radish, lotus stems, mushrooms, potatoes and root vegetables that are slowly cooked with garlic, ginger, sesame oil, star anise and finished with rice wine. I believe the slow cooking method imparted a delicious flavor to this. Patience always brings out the best in food, and that’s what it did to this one.
Desserts
Wall of Chocolate
With a thick and hard chocolate and lots of cashews, this dish was different. I wouldn’t say it was soft, but it wasn’t supposed to be. It was served with a chocolate dip and overall, it tasted splendid.
Bread & Butter Pudding
Now this dish required a real effort to destroy the excellent presentation. But I must urge you to dig into the whole thing, go deep and take a big bite and that’s when it hits – a delicious taste of butter and bread that not only pleases your taste buds but also delights your sense of smell.
These were all the dishes I tried at Londoners. Before you move on to some other address on the internet, here are a few important things I want to tell you.
- Quantity per serving: I am amazed by how small servings are there at some restaurants. It’s as they serve you peanuts. But this isn’t so in this place. The food is served in a very good quantity.
- Value for Money: The prices per dish at this place are just fine. It’s not exorbitantly cheap, but it’s not too high. It is worth paying every penny.
- Service: The service was very quick. The food was served hot and even faster than they claimed. I liked it.
Best dishes to try at Londoners GK1
- Oreo and Dark Chocolate Shake
- Butter Chicken Pie
- Irish Spring Rolls
- Claypot Chicken
- Crispy Konjee Lamb
