Smoke on a plate

I live high on the hog. I couldn’t agree more with John Walters who once said: “I just don’t want to look back and think I could’ve eaten that.” Good food is good mood for me. Life is just a bowl of cherries.

There is something about the word "sizzlers" that instantly instills a sense of exhilaration in me. Places that inflame gusto always end up earning few extra brownie points with me. Sizzlers that speak for themselves is what’s an offer at Gola Sizzlers, Rajouri.

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The reasons to fall in love with this place are countless and the romance begins as soon as you enter this place. An extensive property greets you in the heart of Delhi where most people fight to get one small room, they have gone all out and gotten themselves two floors to maximise your experience and set in the theme into self as much as possible.

This is the ambiance at Gola Sizzlers which serves Continental, Indian, and Chinese Sizzlers in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian variants. They made sure the place was in apple-pie order.

I was as hungry as a bear.

The food journey began with something that I personally liked a lot. While ordering a salad for a healthy start to a meal has been much in trend nowadays, I am not much fan of having one restrain my appetite as I prefer to satisfy it with the sinful dishes instead. They served Caesar Salad, America’s favourite salad before the start of the meal which when arrived at my table looked like someone has actually read my mind and presented on a plate to me.

I tucked into my food when I sat down at the table.

That burnt aroma, that sizzling sound, and the ideal sauces and side dishes to accompany. This is perhaps a sizzler summed up best. Grilled, fried, or roasted and served on a hot metal plate, I was full of beans.

The sizzlers were of the first waters. That appetizing smell was making my mouth water. They are definitely not the old chestnut. Needless to say, the smell of sizzlers would make you drool over it.

While all the dishes were amazing, one dish stole the limelight and made it it's own like Sachin Tendulkar does in an All-Stars team and that dish was Cheese Cutlet and Cottage Cheese Shaslik Sizzler which was a stellar bowl.

Other than this, I really loved the Manchow Soup, Two for One Sizzler (grilled breast chicken steak topped with mushroom sauce and served with accompaniments), and Chicken Shashlik Sizzler.

The fascination for trying out new cocktails reached its peak. I ordered Almond Martini, a sweet creamy cocktail with a shot of vodka which made it a delicious drink, it was smooth and delicate.

Experience tells me that when any place serves absolutely smashing starters, then prepare for the worst as your meal experience might all of a sudden head southwards as most outlets focus on starters.

I don’t know whether that’s the case here or not. Though I wanted to try almost everything from soup to nuts, it just couldn’t happen.

But it was time to try Red & Blue Caprioska. With sugar, Vodka, strawberry, mint, and lime, the Caprioska was ready to be served. It satisfied my thirsty soul.

Weight gain is a serious issue. But as they say, you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. That’s the way cookie crumbles. As the saying goes ‘cream rises to the top’. They insisted on trying ice-cream sizzler in deserts. It was filled with chocolate syrup and brownies and vanilla ice-cream. I grab a bite to eat. And it melted in my mouth.

This place is nutty as a fruitcake. The ambiance, interiors are so mesmerising. I was fully content; it was a fancy restaurant, just the place where I got myself a square meal. I’m as keen as mustard to visit this restaurant again.

From the November-December 2017 issue of FHM India.