Yellow Chilli, Pacific Mall, Ghaziabad

By
Sid Khullar
– February 26, 2009Posted in: Reviews

[Rating:2/5]
Yellow Chilli started off with a big bang a few years back, when everyone expected restaurants with the Sanjeev Kapoor name to be benchmarks of quality, ambience, service and customer satisfaction. A few years on, this chain is one of the many ‘has beens’, which cannot really differentiate itself in any manner.

Yellow Chilli Restaurant We happened to visit the Yellow Chilli in the Pacific Mall, Ghaziabad. It is located right on the Delhi-Ghaziabad border, opposite the Anand Vihar bus terminus. I’ve visited the Yellow Chilli Jallandhar, where the was ordinary but nice, Yellow Chilli NOIDA a couple of years later, where the was passable and definitely not even nice and recently the Yellow Chilli Ghaziabad, (didn’t have a choice that day), which is the subject of this post.

Entering the restaurant, we were met by a tall, snooty character who tried his best to look down his nose at me. He could probably do that for most guests, but at 6 feet 5 it’s kind of difficult for me to receive the same treatment. Anyhow, after acquainting himself with my rather wide waist, which is all he could see down his nose, and deciding to look me in the eye instead, he led us into the hallowed premises of ‘The Restaurant’. You’re struck by the very downmarket look of the interiors, replete with crumpled tablecloths, unkempt waiters, drying bowls of green chutney and dehydrated pickles languishing on every table. The Yellow Chilli also doesn’t see it’s diners fit to receive quarter plates, cutlery or napkins, unless asked for. To be fair, they probably did spend a fair packet on the interiors sometime in the past, but its quite a different story now. The service here is sloppy and slow… with a big smile. Thank God for small mercies.

I was handed a fraying piece of cardboard, the use of which I had to ponder for a moment, before realising it was the menu. “Ah, the menu! Thank you kind sir.” For a moment, I thought I was going to be regaled with a list – “dal fry, dal makhani, dal dal, aloo , aloo , aloo palak, …”, as they do in those lovely dhabas you encounter all along the highways in North India. I’m especially impressed by the Dhabas at Murthal, near Sonepat. A nice tandoori stuffed parantha topped with a dollop of white , accompanied by a glass of hot tea on a cold winter morning – excellent! Ah well, back to reality – that sad piece of lanimated cardboard was the Yellow Chilli Menu. So be it. There’s nothing spectacular about the menu – just as everyday as you can get. We ended up ordering a Railway Mutton , Bhindi Kurkuri, Boondi Raita, Kolhapuri Mutton and a mixed basket of rotis.

We had earlier asked for Nalli Ka Rogan Josh, which is supposed to be that famous Kashmiri mutton curry, cooked only with bones. The waiter took the order and then came back to tell me that they can serve the dish, but there’s no ‘Nalli’ or bones!! We settled for the Kolhapuri Mutton instead.

In the meantime, noticing they had a special on something called Ballantines, I ordered a shot. I usually do not drink whiskey, but am trying to understand the liquor and try some every once in a while. This stuff was bad… and I do mean bad. If you’re there and they still have the special… resist.

The food took a while to arrive. The wait was alright really, since we expected the length of the wait to be directly proportional to the quality of the food. We were mistaken as you will find out shortly. At Yellow Chilli they serve the food in normal size dishes inserted into vertically oriented food warmers, so the portions seem gargantuan. Coincidence or design, I’m not sure. Having said that, the portions are fairly large.

The Railway Mutton Curry was described as mutton curry with and that’s what it was – a thick, non descript, over spiced and under seasoned mutton curry with . The Kolhapuri Mutton was supposed to be a mutton cooked in an onion and coconut gravy. What was served clearly had never, ever met a coconut… probably not even seen one from afar. It was the same gravy as the Railway Mutton Curry, with a hint of yogurt added. Clever chef huh? Both also clearly shared the same type of meat, which hinted that they probably boil the meat in and add them to generic gravies just before serving. The Kurkuri Bhindi was kurkuri (crisp) alright, but also highly over salted and therefore uneatable. The Boondi Raita was obviously a much ordered item, because the Boondi (gram flour batter drizzled over hot oil to produce small crisp droplets) was added and left in the Raita (yogurt) for quite a while. By the time it came to us, it had absorbed the moisture from the yogurt, expanded and we therefore had a thick, gluey, boondi and yogurt pudding.

Don’t bother.

Check out the menu here | Check out all restaurant locations for this brand here

- Sid

Photo Courtesy: Davide. See more of his photos here.



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About Sid Khullar

Sid is the primary contributor to and editor of Chef at Large. A self confessed food addict who likes cooking, writing and photography... and travel, if it gets him closer to a good book and interesting food. He's spent 17 years in varying functions of technology including research & development, training, sales, marketing and mentoring technology startups. He now applies himself to learning more about food and building food and beverage brands online for Brands at Large clients.Sid covers Delhi/NCR for Chef at Large and can be reached at editor@chefatlarge.in