The California Boulevard : A Taste of Hollywood

A two floored restaurant, next to the Rajouri Garden metro station, The California Boulevard welcomes you with open arms in a grand style with red carpets and the Walk of Fame. Set after the iconic American landmark of Hollywood, they have a Harley Davidson put on display at the entrance, which has become a great photo spot for all the restaurant goers. Invited to taste their wonderful menu, Chef Karen prepared select dishes from the 11 different cuisines that they serve.

The California Boulevard Interiors
Photo Courtesy - The California Boulevard

We started off with their speciality, the Dilli ki Chaat, which is better known as the Palak Patte ki Chaat. The spinach leaves were fried in besan and then topped with whipped yoghurt, mint chutney, sev and tamarind chutney to give a wonderful taste to the dish. Unlike most places where the dish often becomes soggy, they had managed to put the optimum amount of yoghurt such that the crispiness of the spinach leaves were retained while still giving the chatpata sweetish taste.

Dilli ki Chaat at The California Boulevard

Kaffir Lime Tikka

Served with mint chutney, onion and garlic jam, the Kakori kebab and the Kaffir Lime Tikka were the next to come. The orangish hued soft lamb kebabs were extremely well marinated and just melted in the mouth. The Kaffir Lime Tikka went particularly well with the mint chutney and was basically cheese marinated chicken kebabs with a hint of kaffir lime essence.

Kakori Kebabs

The Buffalo Chicken Wings had a rich cayenne pepper and BBQ sauce marination which made it sweet but with a spicy aftertaste. Among the other starters, Steamed Fish and Ganderi kebab were pretty interesting preparations. Though the steamed fish was simple, the butter garlic flavour was inch perfect and really brought out the sweet creamy taste.

Buffalo Chicken Wings

Steamed Fish

Served in shot glasses, the Ganderi kebabs were basically chicken wrapped in sugarcane sticks. While the outside was crispy, the insides provided a sweeter taste which might not be liked by few.

Ganderi Kebab

Moving on to the main course - Chef Karen selected some of the best items from the different cuisines of the menu, each one of them delicately prepared - Gosht Nihari, Chicken Peri Peri Pizza, Honey Chilli Red Snapper and to end it all the Pork Chops.

Pork Chops

Served with the Cheese and Olive Kulcha, the Gosht Nihari was a bit of a let down. Though the meat was soft, succulent and cooked to perfection, it wasn't cooked in its own juice, something which I look forward to every time I try the Nihari. However, if this dish was to be served as a curry instead of nihari, it would be a definite hit owing to the wonderful combo that it forms with the kulcha.

The Chicken Peri Peri Pizza was the best of the lot. The smokey flavour, characteristic of every wood-fired pizza, along with cheese and the peri peri sauce made a heavenly combination, worthy to die for.

Chicken Peri Peri Pizza

For desserts, we were served the Kulfi Gazzak Ferrous, which is one of the specialities here. The dessert combines the goodness of gajjak with kesar kulfi and then tops it with molten chocolate. The taste is undoubtedly one of the best, but what was more impressive was the presentation - the waiter brings a blowtorch and slowly melts the frozen chocolate atop the kulfi to give it a wonderful mixed flavour.

Kulfi Gazzak Ferrous

The restaurant also has a Chef's Corner, a table for 8 where a personal chef and butler gives a tour of their world cuisine menu for a fee. The biggest plus point about dining at The California Boulevard is that the quality of the food is at the top and irrespective of the cuisine from which the dish is chosen, they managed to make a good job.

Meal for two persons – Rs 2000/-

Address : J -2/5, 1st and 2nd Floor,
B.K. Dutt Market,Rajouri Garden,
New Delhi

Telephone : 011 33036451

Also read: The California Boulevard, Gurgaon - The world on a platter