Tourist drew a lot of attention when it opened recently in CP. The iconic team of Dinesh Arora is slowly but steadily putting his stamp on various regions throughout Delhi’s culinary map. The interiors are laden with pictures portraying the journey of a tourist, the floors all have elements related to the life of a Wanderlust. The rooftop at Tourist impressed us the most, the view and the elaborate space is perfect for spending an evening overlooking the Central Park. The floor with the bunk beds and live kitchen houses a mini library with books that are sure to attract any book lover.
Coming to the food, Tourist is all about the street food from all corners of the world. The food menu is divided into four passport menu cards by region; South Asia, Europe, Far West & Far East.
We started of with the Minestrone Soup which was just about decent. Along with that we had Aranchini, Dragon Chicken, and Coney Dog. All three were delicious preparations The coney dog and the dragon chicken was my favorite. The dragon chicken is a must order as it’s a version of chilli chicken with dragon Chilli.
Next up were the Brown Sugar Chicken Strips, Gallurese Gratin, Bites by Bombay, PTC (Punjabi Tikka Chicken), Shimla Bhaji Bomb. This lot had disappointments, the brown sugar chicken strips were the only thing that was worth having. The PTC tikka while presented uniquely lacked the flavors it should have had.
The Shimla Bhaji Bomb also lacked the strong Indian flavors that makes up a street food.
Hassleback Potatoes Khao Suey, Sole Muniere were tried for the International Mains.
Hassleback Potatoes were a decent preparation stirred together with butter, olive oil and some salt and pepper and baked, but the standards were falling as we were digging into the other mains. Sole Muniere wasnt as soft as expected and the lemon butter sauce didn’t enough flavor.
The Indian Mains were better than International, Assorted Bread Basket was presented amazingly well inside a box and it was piping hot. The Labra and Taka Tak Paneer were satisfying but the delay in the service was a bust.
Final verdict is that while Tourist boasts an ambience and a rooftop that is unmatched by any other outlet in Delhi, the food needs fine tuning.
PS: Do try their Hookah’s which are really great.