Malcha Marg is a nice, quiet place for spending a lazy day doing nothing away from deafening traffic and crowd of New Delhi. The opening of Schengen- Deli, Bistro, Pub in the area has added one more place to relax and have some good food and drinks. The property commands a nice, green view of the area from it’s small but well designed outdoor seating. Upon entering, the place looks small, but there are 3 floors and one basement, each with a different decor and ambiance including one outdoor section. We were particularly impressed by the wall art and innovative use of furniture and space.
Interiors are an amalgam of different styles and are tastefully done. The designers have done a great job of getting the best out of small area on each floor and it doesn’t feel cramped or congested even with a fairly large number of guests. According to management, the basement will have a European themed deli soon. Our time of visit was late afternoon with a weak sun and we decided to sit on the balcony outdoors. Both food and drinks menu are fairly detailed and have a number of generic as well as special items. We were hungry and wanted to taste as many dishes as possible. We requested Chef Piyush to suggest a few dishes of his choice and after asking us about our preferences, he suggested a few which went on perfectly well with our palettes. To begin with, we were served Roast Pumpkin and Scamorza Soup with cinnamon. It was thick, mildly flavoured and had great aroma. Addition of a small cinnamon stick was a nice touch. Bread basket had 4 different breads and bread sticks. Each one was soft and freshly baked. Next serving was that of Rocket, Apple and Walnut salad along with Mushroom and Haloumi Kebabs. Not everyone is a big fan of salads, but this one with glazed walnuts, green apple slices and fragrant rocket leaves was a pleasant surprise. The flavours were quite good with no extras like olive oil, vinegar etc to mask the taste.
The kebabs were made of shiitake mushrooms, button mushrooms, haloumi cheese, tomatoes and bell peppers served on a wooden skewer. Cheese and mushrooms were cooked to perfection while tomatoes and bell peppers were fresh and juicy.
While we were tasting these, Gaurav the bartender of place served Monk’s Habit, a white rum based cocktail with cardamom, hazel nut and pineapple. The drink was slightly on the sweeter side with a mild alcohol kick. Next item on the serving menu was pasta cooked in red Arrabiata sauce. Normally it’s supposed to be spicy, but the most dominating flavour was that of ripe tomatoes which was slightly disappointing. By this time, we had finished Monk’s Habit and asked Gaurav for his specialty drinks. He came back with Raz Matazz and Garoth.
Former is a vodka and cointreau drink mixed with grape juice and lime leaves. It comes with a nice refreshing fruity flavour and is a great drink for warm days. Garoth on the other hand was served warm as a winter drink and it was our unanimous favourite. It was a blend of brandy, cognac served with ginger, lemon slices, star anise. This is one thing that one should absolutely try. We requested Piyush to suggest something again for main course and he brought a delicious looking Braised Lamb Shanks on Ratatouille. If there is a benchmark for it, we’ll have to give full marks for the way of presentation. The lamb shank was served along with mashed potatoes and a mix of different vegetables like pumpkin, tomatoes etc. The meat was well cooked, soft and came off easily from the bone. We had it with a small helping of tabasco sauce.
The dessert was a mouth watering double chocolate mousse which tasted as good as it looked with a strawberry topping. It had a thick texture, multiple chocolate layers and felt great in mouth.
SUMMARY & COMMENTS:
Overall it’s a beautiful place with great interior, peaceful location, good drinks and food menu with well trained and attentive staff. Food is cooked according to western palettes and is great choice for expatriates who live nearby as well as locals who want to taste good European cuisine. During the time we were there, there were 4-5 tables occupied by foreigners including families. The food is very good and only thing that we didn’t like that much was the pasta. Everything else including the salad, kebabs and lamb were cooked well and worth checking out. Cocktails are excellent and you can trust the staff to bring you the best according to your preferences. Prices are reasonable considering the quality of service, location and ambiance of the place. The bar is a nice place for hanging out with friends after work. Other two floors including the terrace are perfect for almost everything including long, leisurely meals and quick business lunches.