Bored of driving downtown to the regular destinations in the city?
Drive down just about 50kilometres and you will reach Murthal – the place where Dilliwallahs escape to gorge on mouth watering paranthas and dhaba food. Located just a few plots further from the famous Amrik Sukhdev Dhaba is this fine dine restaurant that transports you to an authentic Punjabi village amalgamated with the luxuries of fine dining.
The ambiance is exquisite – the structure stands tall like a beautiful Haveli – fountains welcome you, a vintage car here, an elephant perched there and along the periphery are chaat wallahs – gol gappas and pav bhaji and badam milk to warm your insides in the harsh winter mornings.
The restaurant is lined with ancient artifacts – old dressers,typewrites, transistors and gramophones. Smartly dressed servers to ensure a rich experience.
What is most striking on the tables apart from the heavy bottom plates is a glass full of green chilly that amusingly sit on the table like an adored piece.
A chilly day like that, we started our meal with hot tea and ram laddoos. The soft and crispy laddoos arrived topped with mint chutney and shredded radish. The snack was not among the best but made for a good enough chai time snack.
This place is especially famous for its stuffed paranthas – we ordered portions of paneer, aloo, gobhi and chilly parantha; dal makhni, paneer adraki, choley and also delved into some winter delicacies – makke ki roti and sarson ka saag. The paranthas were all were savory – a hearty stuffing and served with dollops of butter. The dal and paneer were both cooked to creamy perfection – the paneer could have been softer though. The choley were quite a disappointment, we expected a spicy, thick preparation and instead the quite running gravy didn’t impress us. The makke ki roti and sarson ka saag was a rich, creamy, buttery affair but I definitely would have enjoyed some jaggery to go along with it.
Head to Haveli for a hearty Punjabi meal and compliment the meal with the chill of winters and the almost smooth drive!
PS : Visit them a little before 1PM for lunch to ensure a table of your choice!
Find them here.