A college friend of mine suggested a restaurant in Delhi called Gunpowder. When I asked about it at Hotel Thikana, Sheetal told me that it’s located in a very chilled-out part of the city called Hauz Khas where there is a lake and walking trails and artsy people and great restaurants and bars where you can spend hours and hours enjoying the company of strangers. Enough said.
We wanted to book a table for twelve, which was a tall order considering Gunpowder is a teeny tiny place with limited indoor seating and even more limited outdoor seating overlooking the lake from its 3rd story patio. Initially we had to change our plans because the restaurant is closed on Mondays, so we booked a reservation for the next day with no problem. The restaurant opens at 7:30 and we pretty much had the place to ourselves when we showed up a little after that. I’ve noticed that most of the locals come out to eat much later, like around 9 or 10 at night.
I ordered the Toddy Shop Meen Curry, which is tender fish on the bone in a delectable coconut curry with a fair amount of fire added, but certainly not overpowering. I like it spicy. Gary had what might have been my favorite main, a spicy barbecued pork, the hottest dish on the table; the flavors were spot on leaving a slightly sweet aftertaste and damn-near dragon breath on the exhale. The breads were awesome and just plain fun to eat. I thought I knew everything about roti from my ventures out to DFW-area Indian restaurants, but at Gunpowder I discovered some new hits like the flaky melt-in-your-mouth parottas and the bubbly fun-to-tear-and-dunk appams. Our waiter was exceptionally kind in helping us choose the best dishes with the proper accompaniments in just the right serving. He even let me, in my rare but unfortunate tourist mode, take a picture with him. And he shakily attempted to take a picture of us. See below…
Special thanks to Brian O’Grady who suggested this wonderful restaurant in my favorite neighborhood of Delhi so far. Hope to dine with you here one day, my friend.
Me and the dude. This guy was so patient with us, and the whole staff was always smiling.
Toast to Brian, who was given full credit for the idea. Dhanyavad!
Sharing is always the best way to go.
Read a review from Time:
http://www.time.com/time/travel/article/0,31542,1930354,00.html
Also, read this review that some fool wrote. Check out the response he got from a certain ‘pamela timms’ whom he cross-referenced in his articulate lambaste of what could possibly be the all-round best restaurant in Delhi:
http://chefatlarge.in/reviews/gunpowder-hauz-khas-village-new-delhi.html
Craig's Indian Summer 