In the 80s, a family outing was a budgeted and restrictive monthly affair, usually revolving around a car ride and ice cream later at the India Gate. The restaurants were mostly Indian, specialising in Mughlai food (although I’d be damned if I were to be given to believe that Shah Jahan supervised the construction of the TajMahal on a stable diet of Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani). They also had an extensive section dedicated to ‘Chinese’ (which comprised the same vegetables and meat as above but served here in soya sauce thickened with uncooked cornflour or starch). The ‘really serious’ ones also indulged in a spot of the Continental, which was anything that could be served bland and buried under layers of au gratin cheese.
These were the classic, and today nostalgic Indian-Mughlai-Chinese (IMC)-combo restaurants, walking the fine line between the then-non-existent fast food chains and the lesser affordable fine dining establishments in five star hotels. The idea perhaps thrived from the coffee shops in hotels which often served a vast array of food, displayed lavishly on a buffet, not very different from the ones found today in most north Indian weddings.
The food was edible, and in context, even tasty. What it definitely wasn’t was authentic. As highlighted above, the first earning generation of independent India was cautious about expenditure and yet curious about and desirous of the good life. These restaurants plugged this gap, and so successful was this formula that they didn’t even need to look too different. Uniformity was a good thing. The 90s saw these places fall from grace, as also did the coffee shops in hotels, being replaced by ‘all-day dining’ concepts and speciality restaurants, that served only one type of cuisine.
Recently, I have noticed signs that herald the comeback of the age-old IMC, only this time, they have taken pain to hash out the concept and incorporate the more intricate details. The variety persists but isn’t as extensive; instead focus has conscientiously shifted to authenticity and veracity of each cuisine type being offered. Show kitchens, expat chefs, pre-plated service with the conspicuous absence of large buffets, all these may seem to be new approaches, but they are all centred around the same idea of variety under one roof. Not counting hotel coffee-shops (oops! all-day dining I meant), allow me to mention a few others in Delhi. Setz (I do think it is a crappy name) is a popular one, as also Diva Caffe, which is largely Italian but with some quirky isolated entrants on the menu. I have had some good meals at Fio (which is Italian and Indian), and my favourite, so much so that even though I am not listing other hotel outlets, this one makes the cut: Spectra. And last but not least, and a bit more fine-dining than other non-hotel properties, there is ChaoBella (Italian and Chinese) at Crowne Plaza (but again, what’s with the names really!?)
I guess, food, like fashion, too follows a cyclic trend. In other words, no need to reminisce about a particular dish or cuisine; chances are it will be back before you know it.