Nukkadwala, Gurgaon
Being a fauji kid ensures that you have lived across the country and enjoyed the local cuisines of each city that you have lived in. More often than not, whenever you move, you miss a lot of things about the city you left. This does not include only the memories of the city but also the taste of the local food which is really hard to find in a new city.
It has always been the same- when we moved from the South, we missed the filter coffee, dosa and the chettinad chicken, when we moved from Mumbai we missed the Vada Pav, Bhajiyas, Parsi food and the Dabeli and when we moved from the North ,we missed the samosas, chats, paranthas, lassi and shikanji. In any new city, we would always try and look for a restaurant or a joint where we could just eat some dishes from another city- like look for a place that serves a dabeli in Delhi, or one which serves Chettinad chicken in Mumbai.
The 5 star hotels obviously always had the option, but we were trying to look for something more local, some place that we could just walk into any day and some place that was easy on the pocket. So when we heard of Nukkadwala, which had just opened up close by and which serves similar snacks , we just had to visit.
Nukkadwala is located at the Vatika Triangle on Sohna Road and is the brain child of the Vatika Group itself. As the name suggests, it is one of the places that represents a Nukkad in terms of food and prices but is hygenic with clean and neat interiors. The art on the walls is mostly made up of small things that one would see at a nukkad- a rickshaw wala, a shot of the ingredients of the food it serves and much more.
The company invested in a food expert who travelled around the country and chose a number of dishes that could be a part of the menu at Nukkadwala. After a lot of discussion and debates, the management short listed 400 dishes out of which around 40 are on the menu today.
We started with the refreshing , flavoursome and fragrant Meerut Shikanji. One sip of it took us back to our childhood when we would drink shikanji at home after playing in the sun all day. The taste was spot on - tangy and fresh with a hint of mint and perfectly balanced in taste. Oh yum!
The next we tried was the Mango and Saffron Lassi. It was made of fresh mango (and not the ready made pulp you get) and the taste of saffron kicked in at the end. Since the management believes in using fresh fruits, once summer season is over, they will replace this drink with a Strawberry Lassi for the winters.
Having lived in Mumbai and Pune for a major part of our lives, we got accustomed to a certain taste of the Vada pav and the Dabeli which was impossible to find once we moved to Delhi. Nukkadwala has managed to capture the essence of each of these snack items and exceeded our expectations.
The Vada Pav was exactly like the ones served in Mumbai/Pune with the red garlic chutney and the green chilli. The Dabeli, unlike the Pune/Mumbai version was not sweet and did not have the pomegranate kernels, but the masala, chutney and peanuts remained the same. Both of them brought back many memories of the times we used to binge on these snacks in college.
Next on the menu was the Benne Dosa (Butter Dosa) served with gunpowder and coconut chutney. Usually when you eat butter dosa at a restaurant, it is thin, crisp and served with a topping of butter. The Benne dosa at Nukkadwala was different - the dosa itself was slightly thick and dense but extremely soft with oodles of butter on the inside. Definitely a treat for anyone!
The Andhra Mutton Golmaal and the Paneer Golmaal was what we ate next. The rolls were stuffed with vegetables Paneer/Mutton and rice. An Indian version of the Burrito but definitely more tasty and with a lot more spices. The mutton was cooked really well.
The Keema Samosa was something I wanted to try as it is not something you usually find easily. Even if you do find it, it barely has any filling and is a rip off. The Keema Samosa at Nukkadwala was a pleasant change. It was crispy on the outside and stuffed with well cooked juicy keema on the inside. The outer layer/pastry was slightly thick and the samosa maybe would've tasted better if the outer layer/pastry was thinner. But the filling totally made me a happy baby.
It has always been the same- when we moved from the South, we missed the filter coffee, dosa and the chettinad chicken, when we moved from Mumbai we missed the Vada Pav, Bhajiyas, Parsi food and the Dabeli and when we moved from the North ,we missed the samosas, chats, paranthas, lassi and shikanji. In any new city, we would always try and look for a restaurant or a joint where we could just eat some dishes from another city- like look for a place that serves a dabeli in Delhi, or one which serves Chettinad chicken in Mumbai.
The 5 star hotels obviously always had the option, but we were trying to look for something more local, some place that we could just walk into any day and some place that was easy on the pocket. So when we heard of Nukkadwala, which had just opened up close by and which serves similar snacks , we just had to visit.
Nukkadwala is located at the Vatika Triangle on Sohna Road and is the brain child of the Vatika Group itself. As the name suggests, it is one of the places that represents a Nukkad in terms of food and prices but is hygenic with clean and neat interiors. The art on the walls is mostly made up of small things that one would see at a nukkad- a rickshaw wala, a shot of the ingredients of the food it serves and much more.
The company invested in a food expert who travelled around the country and chose a number of dishes that could be a part of the menu at Nukkadwala. After a lot of discussion and debates, the management short listed 400 dishes out of which around 40 are on the menu today.
We started with the refreshing , flavoursome and fragrant Meerut Shikanji. One sip of it took us back to our childhood when we would drink shikanji at home after playing in the sun all day. The taste was spot on - tangy and fresh with a hint of mint and perfectly balanced in taste. Oh yum!
The next we tried was the Mango and Saffron Lassi. It was made of fresh mango (and not the ready made pulp you get) and the taste of saffron kicked in at the end. Since the management believes in using fresh fruits, once summer season is over, they will replace this drink with a Strawberry Lassi for the winters.
The Vada Pav was exactly like the ones served in Mumbai/Pune with the red garlic chutney and the green chilli. The Dabeli, unlike the Pune/Mumbai version was not sweet and did not have the pomegranate kernels, but the masala, chutney and peanuts remained the same. Both of them brought back many memories of the times we used to binge on these snacks in college.
Next on the menu was the Benne Dosa (Butter Dosa) served with gunpowder and coconut chutney. Usually when you eat butter dosa at a restaurant, it is thin, crisp and served with a topping of butter. The Benne dosa at Nukkadwala was different - the dosa itself was slightly thick and dense but extremely soft with oodles of butter on the inside. Definitely a treat for anyone!
The Andhra Mutton Golmaal and the Paneer Golmaal was what we ate next. The rolls were stuffed with vegetables Paneer/Mutton and rice. An Indian version of the Burrito but definitely more tasty and with a lot more spices. The mutton was cooked really well.
The Keema Samosa was something I wanted to try as it is not something you usually find easily. Even if you do find it, it barely has any filling and is a rip off. The Keema Samosa at Nukkadwala was a pleasant change. It was crispy on the outside and stuffed with well cooked juicy keema on the inside. The outer layer/pastry was slightly thick and the samosa maybe would've tasted better if the outer layer/pastry was thinner. But the filling totally made me a happy baby.
The next dish - Panki,which is a Gujarati dish made of rice pancakes cooked in Banana leaves was served next. The pancakes were cooked perfectly. True to its original version, the Panki was not too spicy or bland and the banana leaves added aroma and visual appeal to the dish. Gautam, who is a gujju, used to eat Panki's at home when he was a little boy and this refreshed his memories as it tasted just the same.
After eating so much, we were obviously stuffed, But there's always some room for dessert. We tried the Lagan Nu Custard which is a popular Parsi sweet dish served at weddings. It is a baked milk and egg custard and is usually served in small dishes. It kinda tastes like the caramel custard without the caramel and is slightly more dense. The Lagan Nu custard was the perfect end to an amazing meal- soft, creamy and luscious. We couldn't have asked for more.
In case you are not looking to eat much and just want to pick up some Chai, you can select one of the lighter snacks which you can just pick up from containers at the counter - Mattri (or Matthi) , Rusk and twisties.
They plan to open up more outlets in the city. Try and visit if you are in the vicinity and we assure you that you will not be disappointed.
Rating
Ambience - 4/5 |Service - 5/5 |Variety - 3/5 |Taste - 5/5 |Price - 1/5
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