Ananda's, the new restaurant from Nathu's, is worth giving a shot, that is if you can do without alcohol

WHEN a 70-year-old chain, famous for sweets and pastries, suddenly decides to get into fine-dining, it does raise an eyebrow. But as I climbed up the stairs into Ananda's, the fine dining restaurant newly opened by Nathu's, the arched eyebrow did show signs of returning towards normalcy.


The interiors are a mix of Indian and Southeast Asian styles

For one, there's something warm and vibrant about Ananda's. One reason could be that you have to walk right past the Nathu's outlet and its gleaming stacks of sweets, cakes and pastries to go up to the restaurant.

MIXED DECOR, ANYONE?
Once upstairs, it took me quite some time to soak in the place. The restaurant has a mixed decor. So on one side there are Rajasthani artefacts, the other side has things which are distinctly Chinese, a la Buddha figurines, complete with mood lighting etc. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that the restaurant serves both Indian and Chinese cuisine. However, the idea definitely deserves a thumbs down.

WORTH ITS WAIT?
Nevertheless, I sat down, bracing myself for what's coming, while a specially noisy bunch of guests carried on with some kind of party, bang in the middle of the restaurant, killing the ambience.

Shocker number two came when I was informed that the bar license hasn't come yet. Great, I thought! An evening without alcohol, not exactly what I had bargained for. Anyway, I settled for a strawberry daiquiri from the mocktail menu. Good, but it could have done with less crushed ice.

Though the menu has both Indian and Chinese fare, I chose to play safe and went patriotic. The wait for the food, though, seemed endless as I nibbled on papads. Finally, after quite a long wait, came the starters. I quite liked mirchi bhajiya, a whole chilli coated with besan and flour. And though good, there was nothing cheesy about the murgh cheese cream. The reshmi kebab needed some prodding with the knife.

OFF TO THE MAINS, THEN
The main course, though, made up for the initial disappointment. On the platter was ralli milli sabzi (mixed vegetables, in other words) which was very tasty, dal churchure which looked like khichdi but tasted awesome with the rotis, some really delicious Peshawari paneer pasinda. The mutton sadgi korma, like its name suggests, was low on masalas. But good. The palak paneer kofta came in the form of small balls of paneer. I was told that this is always freshly made, post an order and so takes time to arrive.
I ended the meal with the sweet zaukeshahi, somewhat like kheer with small what looked like gulab jamuns thrown in. Not bad, I say.

Ananda's
Food: Tasty
Service: Okay
Ambience: Pleasant
Where: 2, Sunder Nagar Market
Timings: 12.30pm to 4pm (lunch) and 7.30pm to 11pm
Ring: 9868570473/74
Meal for two: Rs 600