I was home a couple of months ago and I had been wanting to try out food at my friend’s restaurant. What intrigued me the most, was the fact that, Adhiraj Agarwal (previously known as Ankush Agarwal) had no prior experience in the hotel biz and yet he boldly made the move to pursue his passion in running a restaurant that surprisingly serves really good vegetarian food, despite the lack of authenticity, in this small town named Siliguri.
The menu at Grizzzly’s which is situated at the commercial hub- Sevoke Road, has been made comprising a ton of interesting elements, some reinvention of Cantonese Chinese to suit the large Marwari community (obviously not just them) that lives in Siliguri and thrives on vegetarian food. We started off with a couple of shakes. My friend Alison, tried the regular cold coffee and I, seeing that there was Kiwi Shake on their menu could not really think of anything else.
Al’s cold coffee
My Kiwi Shake
Having to select from a mix of South Indian, North Indian, street food, Chinese and Fast Food was a little difficult but knowing that there are very few places serving good fast food, we had to stick with the quickies.
We ordered the Szechwan Vada Pav, a street popular in Maharashtra that has spread its wings everywhere in the country due to its versatility and similarity to a burger, only few times spicier.
We were quite satisfied with what was served to us, the vada tasted refreshingly good and the Sichuan sauce was mild enough to exempt one from crying. Jumbo King must take notes.
Alison, loved pakodas for some reason, I haven’t been able to fathom, so she picked out onion and aloo bhajias, which were also really good but the only setback was their liberal use of “Chaat masala” which made the dish unusually salty and gave it a burst of way too many flavours.
The Cheese burger that came next was our favorite. Now, be warned, don’t compare it with an American Cheeseburger but for its vegetarian counterpart, it deserved brownie points. The potato patty and oodles of cheese and mayonnaise made up for everything else. We were particularly impressed by the French fries though and also the “chaat masala” that was drizzled on it. But on the upside, there were also potato wafers- win win!
The last of the dishes was the Chinatown. A very well reinvented Manchurian dish that had crispy corn and potato fritters tossed in spicy manchurian and sichuan sauce and garnished with green onions.
The last bit of our experience was definitely the best at Grizzzly’s, they have partnered up with Amore ice creams that are quite famous in some parts of the country for serving decadent gelatos. I tried out the minty and refreshing Pan flavor and Alison decided to try the cookies and cream. Both of these were extremely good and I sighed in relief that someone has finally taken over the food scene in Siliguri and people can get a taste of what real food looks like.
The experience of meeting and friend and almost dining like a grizzly bear, that epitomizes their restaurant was frolicking. While I am not sure when I can set my foot there again, I do want to make sure that everyone who live there must make this place their regular hang out zone, for its not everyday that fun place spur up in my small little hometown.