This is one of those long overdue reviews which I finally got down to. The photos are not as good as I want them to be (these were before the DSLR joined our family). Also I fell prey to tardiness and seemed to have misplaced the names of the dishes, though with the help of the online world, I have managed to piece together what we ate. I do remember though exactly how we felt here. Ok. So Samarkand is one of those iconic places for Bangalore - want good Indian food head here, want good biryani go here or so it is often repeated. And we finally made our trip to the place.
Our favorite BJN outlet has always been Sahib Sindh Sultan and so the expectations were for a similar experience. One of us got there early and managed to get a corner table for all. What I instantly felt was that the tables were placed a little too close for comfort. There were times I found myself invariably trying to answer a question that was being asked at the next table. And since our food arrived a bit later, I had an aroma based lunch courtesy the neighboring laden table.
What first came to the table were these long cheese/bread /I-am-not-too-sure-what-they-were sticks. They came with the standard dipping sauces that come at an Indian restaurant. All of them were pleasant without being one that you want to constantly dip your finger in. The novelty was in the fact that the sticks were really long, resembled a drywood tree and held Anoushka's fascination for quite a while. It was like "eating a tree" for the little one. They were a nice time pass though since the food took a while coming.
Cheese/bread sticks thingi
The chutneys - green, red and yogurt based
Barra Kebab Lazeez
Since it was mutton for starters, we went for chicken in the main course and ordered the Murgh Peshawari. This was a heavy duty dish which sat pretty on the tummy for most of the evening. But taste-wise we liked it a lot - the onion/tomato/garlic/spice base gave it all the flavoring it needed and it went well with the Khameeri roti and naan that we ordered. The Khameeri was well fermented and really nice and soft as were the naans.
Murgh Peshwari
Khameeri roti and naan
And of course you cannot walk out of Samarkand without tasting their biryani. And here is where I was the unsatisfied customer. The earthen pot with the cover was brought to the table when we were half way through our rotis and gravy. It came along with a few other pots and reminded me of the waiters doling out dosas in darshini. When we told the staff member serving that it would go cold if kept for so long, a blank look and an about-turn-march is what we got. And so we went on with the meal and when it was time for the biryani, the guy cracks the seal open and there was a hiccup of steam that came through. I was so disappointed that I forgot to take the after photo. Taste wise, being really hot would have raised the scale a bit for it, the biryani was moist, the masalas used minimal and pleasant, but it was certainly nothing I would go back for. The salan and the raita (with a minuscule helping of onions/tomatoes/chillies) did not do much to help the taste.
Mutton Dum Biryani cooling at our table
Salan and raita
Overall I feel its the service that brought things do for us - there were plenty of them in attendance, it was getting their attention that was the trouble. More than once we were a step away from doing a jig on the table to get attention. Service was always with a sullen face. Am guessing Samarkand is now on its way to being a has been. Possibly complacency has set in where you know people are going to walk in for the name, so anything you do goes. The meal almost touched the Rs 2000 mark and I didn't really feel I got my money's worth. The loo somewhere in the depths of the restaurant is clean.
Address: Gem Plaza, Infantry Road, Bangalore.
Phone: 41113366
Cuisine: North Indian
Wallet factor: Rs 1500 for 2
Wallet factor: Rs 1500 for 2
Parking: Valet
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