Eating Out : Jalpaan, Chennai

FOOD Jalpaan, a new vegetarian restaurant in the city, offers an unusual combination of North Indian and Italian food

Iam not sure if the Moulin Rouge in Paris is as crowded. Elbowing our way through a flight of steps we reach a waiting area that’s swamped with people. “Table for two please,” we ask sweetly, only to be drowned out by three other women who shake their fists. 

Soon we are ushered in and seated. 

We are at Jalpaan, a new vegetarian restaurant in the city. It’s a week night, but the place is packed. 

All the noise levels and the brightly lit up interiors can make you feel as if you are part of a chaotic stage production — children squealing, waiters trying to keep pace with the flurry of orders, impatient diners making numerous trips to the mocktail counter...

Jalpaan offers a mix of North Indian and Italian cuisine. 

For starters, we order a karara paalak chaat, a cheese fondue, and a baadam thandai that has crushed almond, cardamom and saffron but tastes much like the instant badam mix that comes out of packets. The chaat has a large crunchy chunk of paalak fried in besan and immersed in a pool of sweet curd. This is probably one of those rare occurrences when greens make us reach out for second helpings. 

The cheese fondue on its arrival causes many a head to turn in our direction. It takes two waiters to put the fondue set and its many accompaniments on our table. Croutons, potato wedges, salad, olives and a piping hot pot of molten gruyere, emmental and cream cheese — this is a filling meal by itself.

Time to flip through the menu again. It’s cleverly designed with tempting food shots on every page. We order the lazeez kumbh (mushrooms stuffed with spinach and cheese) based on its photo, along with sarson ka saag, butter naan and their speciality potli biriyani.

 Unfortunately, the lazeez kumbh is a disaster. The glistening butter naan is fine and as for the saag, well, for someone used to sarson ka saag fresh from the farms in Punjab, this comes as a disappointment. 

Doused in butter, it’s fine taste-wise, but lacks rich flavour.

The potli biriyani comes sealed within something that resembles a bhatura. The waiter dramatically slashes it open and serves us the mixed vegetable biriyani. Spicy, tasty but the amount of oil in it is worrisome. 

We offset the spicy meal with litchi ki teheri. Finely shredded bits of litchi in rabri — this dessert is divine and doesn’t let you put your spoons down easily... just don’t let your trainer know about this meal.

Jalpaan is located on 21, Greams Road. For details, call 2829-1181

PRIYADARSHINI PAITANDY :The Hindu:22 June 2013