Lutyens Cocktail House - New Kid on The Block

 Shakespeare once said “What is in the name? Wondering on why am I referring to Shakespeare, instead of talking about food?. Well you are right I am here to talk about the latest restro cum bar in town called Lutyens Cocktail House.
As the name suggest Lutyens is named after the most famous British architect Edwin Luytens who was responsible for most of the architectural design in Delhi during British Empire. It is also known in Delhi as Lutyens Bungalow Zone(LBZ).
First ImpressionWhen I entered – It’s more like a drawing room of a British Officer with walls filled with nostalgic picture of Delhi - India gate, under construction and president house. This also has small section of library where you can sit and relax and check out some really good books. We decided to settle down on the side overlooking Le Meridien. Seating was high chair on one side and sofa on the other. I found it very uncomfortable and then moved towards the high chair which was even more uncomfortable.
A Great Day – A Great Conversation:I always prefer to discuss with Chef to get his point of view on food and concept. Chef shared that food is inspired from Britain as the name suggests and also selective dishes from western countries. Chef has worked at Sevilla at The Claridges as well and as usual I followed his recommendation.
The Gusto food and My Take:I generally prefer to follow chef’s recommendations as the chef being the creator can aptly take me through the gastronomical journey, where I can not only enjoy great food, but equally share the passion as well as the churning of and thought process behind the incredible menu. It isn’t possible to try every dish from a-la-carte and hence relying completely on chef’s recommendation is always a treat in itself! Wild Mushroom biterballen with truffle aioli – combination of 5 different kind of mushrooms including shitake and button mushrooms mixed with cheese and deep fried in the shape of balls and served with truffle aioli (French sauce similar to mayonnaise). It was delicious, excellent flavour, crisp from outside and melts in your mouth. The first dish was bang on and I was really excited and looking forward to my afternoon. Harissa cottage cheese Brochette – Grilled cottage cheese in skewers served with harissa( which is made of Tunisian hot chilli pepper) sauce, was dry and had no flavourWasabi prawn with mango salsa – I always love prawn served with wasabi as it gives a strong pungent flavor. But unfortunately it lacked the punch of wasabi and the mango salsa was sour because of poor selection of mangoes. When you cook prawns with wasabi, it loses its flavors -This dish was disappointing. Paprika Chicken with roast garlic mayo – This was better! Well cooked chicken with decent amount of paprika that gives it unique earthy flavor.Beef Burger – The first thought that came to my mind – If you grill the bread\bun – it is panini and not burger. I love beef burgers and I am very choosy with my burgers and hence my search of a good burger is still on. The burger was messy -sunny side was dry – while holding the burger - the upper crust  broke while trying to take a bite. Not impressive. Patty was undercooked, chewy and bland.
Red Snapper  - After a disappointing burger I was looking forward for my red snapper as I specially ordered it. 2 big size bones turned me off! The fish didn’t have it’s freshness and was totally bland. They should have used some seasoning before putting it into pan. Chocolate box – We finished our meal with chocolate box which was mix of macaroons, masala tea ganache, opera cake, fudge browne, parfait, cremeux and chantily and none of them is worth mentioning. Macaroon were very hard from outside and was dry from inside.
VerdictAccording to the name I was expecting dishes from Britain – however we just had 2. Cocktails weren’t exciting as well I would like to visit them may be after couple of months to see if they have added some more dishes and some exciting cocktails.
Disclaimer - This review was done on an invitation from the establishment. Views expressed in the review is entirely ours and without any bias. Pictures of the dishes are not the standard portions, they are sample portions.
Quick Facts
Lutyens Cocktail House
Phone - 011 33107884
22, Janpath, New Delhi

Meal for two 1200(approx)