A lot of effort has been put in to bring this festival together, and you can witness that from the moment you step in. An actual truck inside the hotel, with all those dingy lights that give you the typical highway feel. This truck houses hookahs and bottles of alcohol. Bamboo sticks and charpoy, cane furniture to give that village look, grains like bajra and jowar kept for presentation to show you the aesthetics of a village, a huge kadhai with boiling hot badam milk like you find in Punjab, and all this is just the look and feel. You haven't even started eating yet, and you immediately immerse yourself in the experience and fetch the perfect photo-op!
The server hands you some Desi Tharra when you enter. Served in small chai glasses, tasting freshly sweet. Had a sip of this and moved on to see how the kebabs were being marinated and cooked in the tandoor, how the chicken was grilled, and how the lamb was griddled on the kadhai. A complete open kitchen experience which you can dwell upon and gape at in awe (specially the griddling of the lamb- griddling with gravy right in front of my eyes has an unmatched effect on the foodie in me). Two different kadhais were being used for the veg and non veg appetizers to be fried, there was a lavish spread of main course items right adjacent to that, and you had the entire course-by-course experience laid in front of your eyes. Though we all know there is no course-by-course when it comes to eating Indian. We pair appetizers with main course and we sometimes (okay, almost all the time) eat dessert before main course and appetizer. 
The non veg appetizers were all stellar! Tried two types of Roasted Chicken. The flavours of both the roasted chicken really stood out for me- so well marinated, infused with flavours and so juicy in taste. The seekh kebab was a little hard for my liking but. Pop the
Atta Chicken in you rmouth the moment it comes out of the frying kadhai and you will experience deliciousness of another level! Crisp, perfectly salted, juicy chicken, not too thick a coating, just wow! Makhan ki Machhi was another fried variant we had in the starters, and I don't give 'fried food' all the credit, but this was genuinely so good in taste! Soft, melt-in-the-mouth fish with that crisp coating, deef fried and served hot. Tried Lawrence Road Ka Paneer Tikka and Sarhadi Bharwan Aloo and I simply loved the bharwan aloo! Stuffed with bits of cashews and raisins, some paneer, and so beautifully flavoured.
The best best best part of the festival is Telephone Exchange Ki Mutton Chaap, which is the griddling I was talking about. Mutton chaap which was also served as an appetizer and tasted superb, was griddled and mixed with a curry made of onions, tomatoes and chillies. This was together cooked on the kadhai and made to thicken, then served with Khamiri Roti which was heated in the leftover masala of the mutton chaap. You cannot imagine how divine this tasted! Bangs and bangs of flavour, food that touches your heart. The soft khamiri rotis were the perfectttt accompaniment to the mutton chaap gravy!
They do an impeccable Paya Shorba, and the moment you pour it in a cup, you can instantly smell the aroma, and it draws you towards it. Thin in consistency, it's as paya as paya can get. Beautiful stuff! Main course was an equally complete delight for me. I indulge only in the vegetarian fare even though they had Beere Ka Butter Chicken, and I'm so glad I stuck to eating vegetarian, because the variety was so much! Malai Kofta in a thick tomato gravy with soft balls of paneer, Palak Paneer Ambale Wala with palak that I cannot describe- you don't get palak paneer like that in Delhi, Kadhi Fry with a gorgeous sour taste and masaledar pakodas to die for, and Bhrawan Ke Chhole better than most places in Delhi do. It cannot get better than this. Really. And the mouth-watering aloo pyaz kulchas that I devoured with the food complemented my main course really well, though the kulchas could be better (less thicker). The only problem was that the food laid in the buffet was not hot. In fact it wasn't even lukewarm. Dampened my experience only by a per cent. Communicated this to the team and they promptly rectified it.
A great end to my meal with Kadhai Doodh with pistachios and almonds served in kulhads, and Sharmaji ki Special Jalebi (it was pretty damn special- thin crisp and so good!). A very interesting dessert was Gur Sorbet with a crisp flaky parantha. The flavours of the sorbet were simply superb!
One of the best festivals Eros has ever done. Their previous food festival Jashn-e-Fateh was a great one too, and this just shows how the hotel is doing some kickass work! Must try the food festival till it's on, i.e. 12th of February. You will love the food and the entire spread is great value for money too.
Address: Eros Hotel, Nehru Place
Contact: 01141223344Timings: 12 Noon to 2:45PM, 7:45PM to 11PM
Disclaimer: The review was done on an invitation from the restaurant. All views expressed are unbiased in nature but readers are advised to exercise their own discretion.
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