Malabar Taste Buds is a new entrant to the Gurgaon food scene and the name has been heard on the group a few times. Incidentally, it’s managed by the same people who operate the Malabar Hotel, opposite Medanta, albeit in a different brand name, so as to position it differently. So, a combination of curiosity and cravings culminated in an impromptu (almost) lunch plan with a few fellow foodies and ended with the curiosity and cravings, both satisfied.

 

 

The place is located in a narrow alley on your left, after crossing Baba Chicken on your left and Bikanerwala on your right, identifiable by a large La Pinoz board at the corner. The restaurant itself is housed in a residential building, though the insides look like any medium scale restaurant, housing about 40-50 covers. 

 

To begin with we ordered the Prawn, Mutton and Buff Fry and experienced mixed emotions after being served all 3. The prawns were done in a delicious masala, and cooked well. The buff was a tad dry to our liking.

 

  

                     Prawn Fry                                          Erachi Fry

 

The mutton fry was okay, with some of us liking it and some of thinking it was average. I personally thought both the buff and mutton could do with a little more spice and masalas. 

 

                                  Mutton fry

 

A Rasam was nice though with a pre-dominant flavour of 'heeng'. Kuttu roti was quite bland.

 

 

                        Rasam                                           Kothu Porotta

 

There was a special Duck Curry and Duck Roast on offer today, and we readily ordered a few portions of Duck Roast to go with our Malabar Buff Biryani, Mutton Curry, Chicken Stew, Prattas and Appams. The main course was definitely better than the starters, with the duck roast and mutton curry standing out.

 

                     Duck Roast                                       Mutton Curry

 

I was overjoyed to find that the Tenderloin biryani here had well-cooked pieces of buff, unlike Malabar Hotel, where they served undercooked buff the last few times I ordered it there. The flavour and juiciness though at Malabar Hotel is still unparalleled. I’ll try telling them to make my biryani more spicy and juicy next time I come here.

 

 

              Tenderloin Biryani                                 Chicken Stew

 

Prattas here are among the flakiest in town and the appams were amply fluffy, though the purists might say they needed to be thicker at the center. Personally, I have never understood what an authentic appam is supposed to look like, so I’m not complaining.

 

 

                          Appam                                   Kerala Porrotta

 

The vegetarians in our group ordered Vegetarian Thali which they were happy with.

 

 

 

They served us a round of payasams on the house to end the meal, which I did not think too much about, but since we weren’t paying for it, we lapped it without complain. All in all, a satisfying meal, and I can recommend it for main course.

 

 

 

Ratings (Out of 5)

Food: 3.5 | Ambience: 3.0 | Service: 3.0 | Value: 3.5 | Overall: 3.5

Meal for two: Rs. 1000 | Alcohol: No | Credit Card: Yes | Wheel chair friendly: No

Address: Plot 88 B, Saraswati Kunj, Sector 53, Gurgaon

Tel: 0124 6544454, +91 8750056272