Please note: This review was done on an invitation from the restaurant to taste their food, and no bill was presented to the author. While the author assures you of objectivity, the review may be influenced by the personalized attention the author got.

Nasir Andrabi was a private banker in Singapore. Being a proud Kashmiri and an ardent foodie, he listened to the call of his roots, and came back home and then decided to open an authentic Kashmiri restaurant at Crosspoint mall in Gurgaon. I am here at his invitation to taste his food.

It is relatively easy to know how good a Kashmiri restaurant is by tasting a few iconic dishes. I normally taste tabak maaz, rista and rajma. Here since rajma is not ready, I start by tasting the other two, and I must say, both of them are impressive. The pricing given here is for “only me” portions which are adequate to feed two people.

Tabakh Maaz (Rs 200), are shallow fried mutton ribs, served dry and crispy. A good tabak maaz has crispy fat outside and falling off the bones rib meat on the inside and that is exactly what I am served here. Rista (Rs 250) is spongy meatball, pounded & simmered in spicy saffron curry. The pounding of the meat for the right amount of time and with the right amount of force is critical for getting that delicious spongy taste in the middle. Also the gravy has to be full of tang and flavour.

                   Tabakh Maaz                                             Rista

Encouraged by these dishes, I go on to start with a couple of vegetarian preparations. Al-Yakhni (Rs 225) is bottle gourd cooked in curd based curry with dried mint. It is fresh and comforting. Palak Chaman (Rs 225) has palak cooked with traditional Kashmiri spices with fried paneer, and is addictive.

                     Al-Yakhni                                            Palak Chaman

Among other dishes, Seekh Kebab (Rs 200) is competent but not really remarkable. A popular dish, mutton kanti, marinated for long and prepared using green chillies, onions & tomatoes (Rs 200) has a popular taste. Lahabdaar Kebab is hand minced mutton kebab cooked in mild spices & curd based curry with cockscomb flavour (Rs 250) and is nice.

                   Mutton Kanti                                     Lahabdaar Kebab

Kashmiri rogan josh (Rs 250) is delicious. Another popular dish here, marchwangan korma (Rs 250) has mutton cooked with special Kashmiri red hot dried chillies and cumin seeds. I don’t really get to appreciate it, because the dish is way too oversalted and the mutton needs to be cooked further.

            Marchwangan korma                                     Chutneys

Doon (walnut chutney, Rs 100)  and mujh (radish chutney, Rs 20) enhance the taste of every bite. I end the meal with a traditional tasty saffron kehwa (Rs 100).

                              Saffron kehwa

I am going to order from Khyen Chyen, and I know what my order is going to be. Yes it wil be tabak maaz, rista, rogan josh and palak chaaman.

Ratings (Out of 5)

Food: 4.0 | Ambience: 3.0 | Service: 4.0 | Value: 4.0 | Overall: 3.5

Meal for two: Rs.1400 | Alcohol: No | Credit Card: Yes | Wheel chair friendly: Yes

Address: Shop 19, Ground Floor, Cross Point Mall, DLF Phase 4, Gurgaon. Tel: 0124 4231919, +91 8527739955