We channelled our inner ’90s cafeteria nostalgia and tried two sizzler-at-home kits brands. The instant joy and smoke was real
Chinese Sizzler
There’s something about a sizzler that feels instantly nostalgic. The smoke. The hiss. The way every table turns to stare when it arrives at a restaurant, like it’s a celebrity making an entrance. The mix of aromas — pepper, butter, charred veggies — that feel like special meals from childhood. We tried the new trend of sizzler at-home kits to see if they delivered the drama, minus the restaurant wait time.
Sizzling on the cloud
Sometimes the most unexpected ideas begin with something as ordinary as cooking for family. For Wadala residents Namita and Hemal Khambatta, a playful home experiment turned into a full-blown culinary venture.
SIZZLING BROWNIE
Let’s Sizzle It! was born in 2022, when lockdown evenings stretched endlessly and their parents were craving a sizzler. So the couple decided to recreate one at home ensuring there was all the smoke, sauce, crackle and drama. “That one meal made us think, why should a sizzler demand a restaurant outing when a restaurant-quality sizzler can arrive — assembled and ready to sizzle — at your door?
The answer became a cloud kitchen, and the spark became a brand with a distinct identity. The couple’s advertising background helped scale. They began testing, and reimagining classic formats for a wider audience, serving neighbours and close friends. Word spread quickly and soon they were catering to families, private gatherings, and celebrity homes across Mumbai, serving more than 15,000 sizzlers so far. The menu features sizzlers with fresh ingredients and sauces, catering to veg, vegan, and Jain options.
Namita and Hemal Khambatta’s Let’s Sizzle It! started in 2022
For the Khambattas, this journey has been about more than business. It’s about good food, shared joy, and their core belief of adding a little drama to every plate. The brand’s recent recognition as Best Upcoming Cloud Kitchen (Innovative Concept – C Category) in the Food Connoisseurs India Awards 2025 only reinforces its growing impact.
The ordering process is simple. We tried the Cutlet Shashlik (Rs 500, small). The thrill of keeping the assembled plate on the flame, adding butter and hearing the sharp hiss as the black pepper sauce hits the hot plate is exciting. The corn–coriander rice had warmed through without losing its freshness. The Manchurian Madness (Rs 675) brought that familiar soy–garlic aroma the moment the sauce touched the skillet. The hakka noodles softened into it as it sizzled, while the fries turned sticky-crisp around the edges. This was nostalgia on a sizzling plate.
Shashlik Sizzler
We weren’t sure of The Fusilli Pasta (Rs 550, small) at first but the pink Italian sauce settled into a steady sizzle, coating the pasta evenly. The jacket potato picked up a toasted skin, and the fries absorbed enough sauce to taste great. The Croquette Thai (Rs 600, small) delivered another surprises with the red Thai curry, releasing warm coconut and chilli notes. The fragrant rice soaked it up quickly, and the honey chilli fries caramelised slightly as the sauce tightened. The icing on the cake was obviously the Sizzling Brownie (Rs 600). It did exactly what it promised — a fast crackle, melting ice cream (not included), and a thin trail of chocolate smoke rising off the plate was everything you could ask for to end a delicious meal.
TO ORDER: letssizzleit.com
Back on public demand
Last year, during a trip to Singapore, chef Aditi Limaye ordered a hot pot at home and was blown away with the precision of the delivery. “I was amazed at how professionally everything arrived: cooked, packed, neatly portioned,” she recalls.
Back home, another memory had resurfaced, that of childhood trips with her grandparents to Kobe for sizzlers, a ritual that shaped her palate. So when her aaji (grandmother), who was homebound due to an illness, was craving a sizzler, Limaye connected the dots and made her a lipsmacking one. She then put together a DIY Sizzler Kit and sent a few out to friends. “They loved it,” she says.
Limaye had earlier run Sizzle House in Shivaji Park (2016–2020), a restaurant dedicated to all things sizzling. Even after it shut down during the pandemic, regulars kept asking when it would return. Instead, she decided to revamp it and add it to the menu at her restaurant, Home Chef in Dadar, and also, make it home-delivery-ready. The old Mahim Junction sizzler, for instance, evolved into The Park Junction, reflecting Home Chef’s roots in Shivaji Park.
The sizzler kit (herbed chicken sizzler shown here) comes neatly organised in a bento box, complete with the sauce portioned separately for pouring. PICS/SHADAB KHAN
Jeetendra Thackeray, her business partner and co-founder, Square One Hospitality, drove the shift in format. “He suggested turning the big sharing sizzler into a single-portion ones — no wastage, less sharing, and better pricing,” she adds.
Limaye’s menu blends Western comfort with desi flair — think seekh kebab makhani sizzler served on a bed of kasuri methi aglio olio spaghetti. She also offers low-carb and high-protein versions on request, a format that’s gained real traction. “Our sauces are our strength,” she says. There’s another first: serving lamb. “My husband, Vishal, loves the roast lamb I make at home, so we added it to the sizzler with a rosemary sauce.”
VEG CRISPY SIZZLER
When we tried it at home, all ingredients arrive neatly packed in a bento-style box, ready to heat, assemble, and sizzle. The Panko Fish (Rs 999), had a clean crunch, topped with hot-garlic sauce, a soft cheese melt, and a hit of grilled pineapple. The Crispy Veg Cutlet (Rs 999) featured a classic railway-style cutlet with manchurian sauce.
ADITI LIMAYE
Two comfort favourites sharing a plate, The Peri Peri Chicken (Rs 899) had chargrilled chicken in a bright, tangy peri peri sauce with roasted peppers. We liked the Herbed Grilled Chicken (Rs 899), which featured herb-marinated grilled chicken atop a peppery black-pepper sauce. The Park Junction (Rs 1099) is a meat lovers’ paradise with a mixed grill spread of lamb chunks, chicken skewers, sausages, seekh — big flavours, varied textures.
TO ORDER: 9004689378
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