Purana Villa promises to serve heritage cuisines from all over the country. Do you really get these?
Frankly, I had no plans of writing a review for this one. After all, what can you say about what essentially is—or should be—strictly a “neighbourhood Indian restaurant”? Unless, it is superlative, of course, which is when one can safely claim to have made a “discovery”. Alas, no siuch claim for me. Purana Villa, the new restaurant in Jor Bagh market, is yet another case of marketing overriding quality. And the reason that I am now putting up a review here is because What’s Hot, the Times of India pull-out, carried a gushing piece on this place today. Anyone going with blinkers on thanks to that deserves a word of warning.
The most interesting part about the restaurant is that the owners are Free Masons and have invited me over to witness some of their (not-so-secret ceremonies anymore) at their respective Masonic lodges. I am yet to take up that offer. But as far as food goes, despite the affability of the owners—one was an Army caterer of sorts — there can be no denying the fact that this is mostly your regular Indian, Punjabi khana. The spin doctors call it “old recipes” that have been painstakingly researched and collected from all over the country. Even the name of the restaurant—supposedly arising from old homes of the district collectors during the Raj—suggests that. But probe a little and you’ll realize how little substance there is to any claim of this showcasing “heritage cuisines“.
A special quail menu was on offer when I visited the restaurant (and as did the What’s Hot team) but while, you may want to sample that, there’s nothing heritage about “tandoori quail”. Thankfully, old recipes of stuffed or dum bater have not even been attempted by the novice kitchen hands, who serve you extra onion-garlic-tomatoe encrusted seekh kebab in the name of a gilafi kebabs (which, as the name suggests, should have a “gilaf” or “pillow cover” of egg covering the seekhs). Much of the menu includes the same old mahi (fish) tikkas, and dishes prefixed with Malabari or Nilgiri tags with a smattering of coconut in their masalas to prove south-Indian origins. There’s even a Nilgiri tangri kebab (!), whose provenance is obviously not explained. And when questioned closely as to the “research” undertaken, the owner, rather cagely, blurts out the name of “that recent book”—by which I infer, Salma Husain’s “Cuisine of the Mughals”. The sole contribution even of this recent tome is by way of a lamb soup (with rice in it; in which the quantity of rice has been lessened to make it more palatable).
Spice levels are low. And in some cases, the servings totally bland, which leads you to conclude that the target audience is meant to be that ignoramus foreign traveler or expat who frequents these parts. The owner refutes this. He points out that even his wife now serves him less spicy and less fatty meals at home – which I suppose is fair enough, if the rest of us who like our dose of masala and solid Indian meals don’t have to be subjected to the same dietary codes.
The high point of the meal is the dal. (Not called Makhani, but Shahjahani or Sultanpuri or something else, which I forget.) The owner takes pride in the fact that this rivals, even surpasses the fabled Dal Bukhara—which is not a tough thing to do, at all. I is certainly quite flavourful here. It’s an old family recipe where more dal, less cream or tomatoe puree have been added, we are told. That’s really as far as this “historic” research goes.
Sorry, Team What’s Hot, but this is not a “fine Indian trail”, at all.
Purana Villa
Jorbagh Market
Price: Under Rs 1,300 for two
Ratings:
Food: 2.5 (on 5)
Service: 3 (on 5)
Ambience: 2.5 (on 5)
Must Avoid: The gimmicky promise. Treat it like your average neighbourhood eatery and you’ll come back more satisfied!
