Ambrosia Bliss is situated right in the middle of New Delhi in Connaught Place. This property is barely 4 months old but has become famous for it’s food, interiors and fun filled events in this short period. It’s situated on outer circle of Connaught Place, just above Haldiram. The small entrance and a signboard give no indication about the lavish and huge restaurant inside.
There are three different sections, each one with a different purpose, design and unique charm. First one, Ambrosia is a fine dining place with a good amount of space, great decor, airy with good natural light. Bliss is a relaxing bar and lounge made more interesting with a huge screen, well stocked bar, Sufi rock live performance and other such events. The third one is a “small” private dining area for parties, conferences etc. which can comfortably accommodate 30 guests with space to spare. Each section has an outdoors seating area, it’s own unique design, ambiance and appeal for different audience.
Ambrosia is a great place for relaxed meals with friends and family. Bliss is the place where you can go to have a few drinks, listen to live music, smoke hookah and just chill. Guests in this section can order anything except main-course. The private dining area is for private small to mid-size gatherings or parties. As mentioned earlier, each section is designed to cater to a specific audience which is a fairly nice touch. When you combine all this, whole property is huge and one of the largest in the city. Ambrosia and Bliss sections by themselves are larger than most mid-sized restaurants .
FOOD & DRINKS
The food and drinks menu is just as expansive with huge amount of choices which are enough to leave anyone spoiled for choice. When we reached the place, a weak winter sun was still out and we decided to have a seat in the outdoors section of Ambrosia. As it was our first time in the restaurant, we requested the staff to suggest something. Drinks were first to arrive in form of On Style, a tequila based drink with caramalised orange and a Paan flavoured cocktail. On style had a slightly bitter taste while the other one was sweet but very unique and worth trying. Along came three different platters, Indian non-vegetarian, Indian vegetarian and one and International non-vegetarian.
Indian vegetarian platter had dahi kabas, mushroom galouti, haraa kabab and paneer tikka. Indian non-vegetarian platter had chicken tikka, afghan chicken, mutton seekh kabab and kasundi fish tikka. International one had chicken wings, lamb kabab wrap, garlic bread and fish florets. There were 4 different dips, chilli mayo, mustard, mint and tartar sauce to go with all this. Each platter by itself is enough to fill up 2-3 people quite comfortably, so we requested the staff to serve only the smallest portions possible. Everything in the platters was prepared well exactly like it should be.
It’s impossible to write about each dish in this article without making a book out of it. So this article will cover only the ones we liked the most. Among vegetarian dishes, dahi kabab, mushroom galouti stand out. Dahi kabab were crispy on outside and very tender on inside with different texture and flavours for both layers and it was easily our favourite. Among non-vegetarian, afghan chicken, chicken tikka and kasundi fish were the best. Of these Afghan chicken was the best because of it’s mild yet excellent flavour and nicely cooked tender meat. The sauces provided were excellent and did a perfect job of complimenting the flavours of all the kababs.
After finishing with platters, we were feeling slightly full, so we requested the staff to serve the main course after a while. We spent some time enjoying the view and drinks. When we felt that we were ready to eat more, the main course arrived. Vegetarian dishes included Stir Fried Greens, Chilli Garlic Noodle, Daal Makhni and Paneer Lababdaar. Non-vegetarian part included Tawa Chicken, Nalli Mutton and Fish with Lasca Sauce. For breads, we had delicious looking Mirchi Parantha and Butter Naans. We had finished our drinks and got Kiss Me Miss Me, a tangy vodka based drink with apple and fresh mint. We had liked the Paan based cocktail a lot, but this one was just as good.
Among vegetarian dishes, paneer was easily the best with right mix of spiciness and flavours of different ingredients.It tasted best with mildly hot chilly parantha. Chilli garlic noodle was ok with slightly crispy noodles . Daal makhani was good and looked tempting with a generous layer of cream on top. But we felt that it was too mild for Indian palette. Among non-vegetarian dishes, Nalli Mutton with it’s unique flavour, well cooked tender meat and excellent sauce was easily the best. Mostly we prefer to eat curry based non-veg dishes with a bread, but this one was good enough to be eaten just by itself. It was served with a thin silver foil on top, which was a nice touch. Fish was very good with almost no fish smell which a lot of people not used to sea food smell don’t like. Tawa chicken was just about average though. For breads, mirchi parantha with it’s generous use of ghee and chillis was among the best that we have eaten.
Dessert comprised of Phirni, Carrot & Walnut Cake, Ice cream with Sticky Toffee Pudding served with toffee sauce and vanilla ice-cream. By this time, we were absolutely stuffed and wondered if we had made a good decision. But first bite of the toffee pudding removed all doubts. The cake was excellent with great texture complemented very well by the toffee syrup and ice-cream. Phirni was OK. Carrot and walnut cake was good too, but toffee pudding won hands down.
SUMMARY & COMMENTS:
Ambrosia Bliss is a a great place for a number of things including meals with friends, family and even office colleagues. The three different sections ensure that you don’t run out of options. Bliss section is roomy, has great ambiance and is great for celebrating a night out with friends while enjoying drinks, hookah and music. Ambrosia is just as good for quieter meals inside as well as outside. Drinks are excellent with great variety. As far as food is concerned, the non-vegetarian fare is much better than the vegetarian one. Not that the latter was too bad, it just was not on the same level as former. The prices are slightly on the higher side, but considering the location, quality of service, interior design, huge space, number of servers and the overall experience, it’s well worth it.
