Away from the city’s hustle-bustle is the India Habitat Centre that nestles a retro American 1950s reminiscent diner. Complete with red, faux-leather booth seating and posters of the Beatles, The All American Diner, will definitely remind you of Lou’s café in Back to the Future (1985). And now, along with quintessential American waffles, pancakes, burgers, malts, shakes and coffees, the diner has laid out a special summer menu called Cold Soups and Salads.
Curated by Executive Chef Pawan Uppal and Senior Sous Chef Ashok Sharma, the menu offers a twist to various seasonal ingredients including mango, lychee, watermelon and more. So, after a short walk from the main gate to the diner, I settled for the Lychee and Mango Soup garnished with mint. As the mint hits you strongly, the flavour of lychee slowly takes over and the sweet mango is a pleasant aftertaste. Once you recover, I assure you that the next time you raise your head; it will be for a refill. “Lychee and Mango Soup is one of the bestsellers as we sell more than ten portions of the soup daily,” said Chef Uppal.
For those who prefer other fruits, fear not, the menu has a lot to offer. Chilled Beetroot Soup (beetroot and cream), Watermelon Gazpacho (watermelon, cucumber and celery), Smoked Chicken Sausage Soup (chicken broth and smoked chicken sausage), and Chicken Mulligatawny Soup (curry-flavoured lentil and smoked chicken).
The menu demanded a lot of work. “We had a month-long trial, deciding what to mix, when to mix and how to mix,” shared Uppal, who popped out of his kitchen for a while during his busy hour, approximately 2:30 pm. His favourite is the low carb Fruit Couscous. If it’s the chef’s favourite, then I had to try it. The exotic fruit lineup in it, works – mango, watermelon, apple, lemon couscous, mint, feta and roasted quinoa. Balancing the sweetness was the chilli dressing that made it splendid.
However, my personal favourite is the Curried Chicken and Mango Salad – curry flavoured chicken smoothly blending with mango. One bite of the mango and one bite of the chicken, and together I felt like Emile from Ratatouille, as his brother Remy – the chef teaches him to relish the taste of food.
There are few aspects that the chef kept in mind while working on the menu. “Hygiene, the taste and what our guests prefer are the three main aspects that we kept in mind. Fruits are sourced fresh from the local market, while the bread is in-house,” said Uppal.
Other tempting options are Blackened Chicken Salad (herb spiced crusted chicken breast, lettuce, seasonal fruit and maple syrup vinaigrette) and Panzanella Salad (Italian bread, mozzarella and basil balsamic vinaigrette).