I love food. And everything about
it. And so does the world I think. Once my Facebook status read “Life is all
about good food” and it got about 20 ‘likes’ within a minute. So ya well, i’m
sure you get the point. Food is something everyone is fond of. And I thought
why not write about it! I mean i’ve been planning to write about my great quest
for Burgers in Delhi for a while. So I thought I’d just get to it.
I didn’t think much of a ‘Burger’
when I first chomped into one at Nirula’s as a 6 year old something. I don’t
remember much of it. But the fact that I preferred to eat the equally
non-dynamic plain cheese pizza of Nirula’s in the early 90’s must’ve have meant
that the Burger didn’t ride too high on taste back then.
Neither did I think much of
‘Hamburgers’ when I digged into Big Mac’s and Whoppers as a teenager.
Only when I moved back to India,
did I realise what I was missing. We had burgers alright. Only the choice of meat
between the bun would either be a) Chicken b) Aaloo (Potato). Since the
inclusion of pork or beef in our meals is usually considered blasphemous to us ‘religiously
emotionally sentimentally touchy’ Indians, no one dared serve a nice juicy ground
beef patty with bacon on top.
Even when McDonalds marched into
the market with great pomp akin to Ajay Devgan’s entry in ‘Phool aur Kaatein’ in
post liberalization India, they didn’t dare serve their heroic ‘Big Mac’ in
fear of alienating their mass customers. Heck, I don’t blame them. KFC had been
bashed a couple o years before by extremist bums who didn’t get toffees as
kids. So in a bid to play safe (which they still do) they decided to stick to
Aaloo, Paneer and Chicken. They even converted the Maharaja Mac from Lamb to
Chicken to remove any ambiguity regarding meat.
Anyway, for me, it was more about
food than faith. And thus began my quest for the ultimate burger in Delhi.
Though, I have to say my quest did start at quite a time because I saw an
explosion of food chains making their entry. TGIF, Beningans, Ruby Tuesday and
the likes all opened shop which typically served all American Food. Boy I was
happy! But boy was I in for a disappointment! Even these guys played safe. Only
chicken! Ultimate ho hum!
I chose to stick to McDonald’s
McChicken. It’s their only decent fair along with the Fillet-o-Fish and now
exterminated Veg Surprise. Although I’d like to make a special mention to Wimpy’s.
This now almost run down burger chain in Delhi serves pretty good spicy chicken
and lamb burgers. Trust me. It better than half the nonsense that’s served in
town on account of Burgers.
Then entered Hard Rock Cafe. And
in bla-zing style!! In their awesome menu with the SOB, BBQ Bacon, Legendary 10
oz burgers they had em all. Good ol Angus Beef with choice of a million toppings
including Bacon! Woohoo! Dunno how they did it. But here was finally someone
who had the stones to serve a Burger like it should be.
Suddenly everything changed. All
those playing safe earlier suddenly had the choice of Beef patty available in
their menu’s. Boy was I a kid in Disneyland! Now the burger choices we
ultimate!
Hardrock’s burgers are pretty
cool if you can chomp in a mouthful. The ingredients are fresh and loaded and
you get a million flavours if you’re having something like the Legendary
Burger. TGIF does a pretty decent job too only I feel their patty is sorta
thick which makes it an inconvenience to munch. But if you’re looking bang for
buck, then I would definitely suggest going to Chilli’s. You don’t have to
ponder much, just go in for their classic cheeseburger and you’ll be blessed!
:P
Now, finally Delhi - the food
capital of India truly deserves its title. I can get a decent burger.
Having said that, despite the
complexities and varieties of taste and ingredients in multiple outlets, you’ll
still find me happily munching away on a McDonalds McChicken burger with fries.
Burp!
Hmmm.....Drooooool...
