If you go out looking for a place to eat in the barely-a-complex of Malls in Rajouri Garden, without having done a research on google, chances are that you will probably never find this restaurant. We just happened to be at Shoppers' Stop on a Sunday, and we were dead tired and hungry after a morning full of shopping. Our first thought was that we should put the shopping bags in the car that was parked in the basement of Shoppers'Stop Mall and then walk all the way to City Square Mall. But as soon as someone vocalized this suggestion, we felt a sharp rebellian rise from somewhere deep inside our tired souls. We didn't want to go down into the basement and we definitely didn't want to drag our feet to the City Square Mall.
My brother-in-law came to our rescue when he mentioned that he remembered that there was a restaurant on the top floor of Shoppers' Stop Mall. We all thought that the place had closed down for good. But we decided to take our chances. And when we were ascending the last escalator that led to a door being held open by a well-groomed gentleman, it seemed like that fabled escalator to heaven. "Aanch" - the name of the place floated like the soothing melodies of a harp all around us.
As we sank into the comfortable seats we took in the ambiance. It was soothing, understated, and yet luxurious at a certain level. But we were nearing starvation with every passing minute, so we picked up the menu and started browsing. A dish name "Aanch-e-Murg" caught my eyes and when I asked the gentleman serving our table to explain the dish, he told us that it was a lemon flavoured chicken cooked in a spicy curry. That sounded delicious, but we chose to order Murg Tikka Lababdaar, because of that dreaded word "spicy". My little nephew isn't used to spices. And along with that we ordered Paneer Butter Masala. We ordered some butter naans, Roomali Rotis, and Tandoori Rotis along with it.
The chicken was tender, the paneer light and fresh, and the breads crispy. We had asked our server to suggest the portion sizes and we found that his judgement was almost exact. No food was wasted that day and our hunger was appeased. And then we found ourselves mulling over whether we should have dessert. We adults were trying to resist the temptation, but my nephew settled the argument. He wanted to have Gulab Jamun. So we also gave in and order two plates. The Gulab Jamuns were soft and it seemed that they had just come out of the karahi.
Overall, we found it difficult to find even a single fault with the food and the restaurant. May be it was because we had entered the place too hungry for words and the place had been our saviour. But whatever be the reason, we didn't mind settling a bill of about Rs. 2,800/ for 5 people that day. The experience was definitely worth it.
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