Our first thought when we decided to visit the new Chor Bizarre at the enormous colonial-era mansion, Bikaner House was, “Hope the music isn’t too loud?” With only a handful of restaurants left in the city that don’t play outrageously blaring music, we found that the restaurant was a pleasant exception. Beautifully complementing it’s new home in the heritage building, it leant as well has gained from it’s glorious history.
The first Chor Bizarre restaurant in Hotel Broadway completed 25 years recently. Celebrating that landmark, a new one has embarked on a journey at this princely house.
Capturing the essence of the concept of Chor Bizarre—the name is inspired from ‘thieves market’—the decor comprises artefacts, furniture, furnishings, art works and more. Designed by Rashmi Khattar, the place resembles a museum with bric-à-bracs representing India’s cultural repository.
The erstwhile four-poster bed from Kashmir has been turned into a table for six, a large wood crafted door has been incorporated in one of the tables, just like traditional Kashmiri ornaments have been placed in another. You’ll also see a line of miniature dressing tables with coloured bottles of attar. Don’t miss the mis-matched but aesthetically synchronised chairs, antique clocks, mirrors, etc used as decoratives across the space.
Not just decor, the restaurant also has a collection of recipes from from across the country. Seamlessly compiling them into a single thread of flavourful ensembles is Rajiv Kumar Malhotra, the Corporate Chef. “I am a compulsive thinker and there is not a day when I don’t carry work back home,” he says.
He meets and greets guests at every table as though he has known them forever. It’s the time when he lets his boisterous Punjabi self come out. In the kitchen too, he cooks like a large-hearted Punjabi cooking a lavish meal for his famished family. “Food cannot be made just with your hands. It has to be made with your heart, and to do that is in our Punjabi DNA,” he says.
The menu includes specials from Kerala to Kashmir, but two of his best preparations are Aloo Bukhara Mirchi Korma. Between them are dishes that we enjoyed a lot, such as the Kashmiri Trami, a hearty meal comprising Seekh Kabab, Tabak Maaz, Goshtaba, Chicken Roganjosh, Aloo Bukhara Korma, Nadru Yakhni, Haaq and Nadru Choorma.
Some of the other things that the restaurant puts out really well are Purani Dilli Ki Papri Chaat, Dahi Batata Puri and Prawn Koliwada. We ended our meal the traditional Kashmiri way, with a warm cup of kahwa with aromas of cinnamon and cardamom enveloping our senses. The afternoon couldn’t have gotten any better.