Qla — Restaurant in Delhi

Too many words to describe my experience, fortunately there is a number: 54.4% (2.72 out of 5).

Simply put: the high end ambience over promises while the food and service under delivers. The menu requires a rethink, the service is hit-or-miss, and pricing can be justified when they evolve from the slapdashery that was my experience.

/tldr

While travelling in Delhi, I tried this Sunday afternoon brunch in Qutab Minar just north west of Mehrauli. Here, I’ll unpack my experience.

Being a visitor to Delhi, I had to hail a ride on Uber. When my driver suggested we had arrived, it took a while to confirm that the location was right as the signage offered room for improvement. You might want to look around for the Q-La sign with a small gated entrance on the North western side of the street.

Upon walking in, I was greeted by the absent grin of a near-startled host. I appreciated that she made sure to advise me that their a la carte menu was abandoned for a buffet service on Sundays. When I confirmed that I understood, a greeter walked me to a table inside and away from the sun. There I was advised, once again, of the INR 3300 price tag without liquor. No worries! I nodded to establish acceptance before she walked away. I requested to be seated outside.

First round: I walked around to see what food options were offered. I was first drawn to the Sweets table: a lonely pancake laying in the pan in the company of an untouched chocolate fountain. Move on, I must, so move on I did. I took a lap past the rest of the treats and was pleasantly surprised with the assortment. Fortunately, I found the grace to escape past the narrow counter that was the inside bar, exit and access to the outside seating. I found a plate and loaded up with lamb chops, spicy chopped chicken, shrimp, and some regular-degular roast chicken (my guess is this was a take at rotisserie chicken). I also ordered some pasta in white sauce. While my palette was not educated enough to analyze the symphony of spices in the chopped chicken, I found the lamb chops closer to acceptable (a little overcooked, but tasty still).

To the chef: Lamb chops should taste rich and savoury, & tender with a mild touch of gamey flavour. Lamb chops MUST not be overcooked.

Another waiter noticed my dissatisfaction and offered me some chicken skewers and fish tarts. The chicken tasted slightly better than the earlier option and the fish tarts touted a handsome flavour profile, rewarding the chef’s bravery to include some apparently local herbs and spices. Personally, I would rank this higher than the lamb chops in my books.

After nearly consuming the most of my first round, I was greeted by a much kinder waiter. He introduced himself, and offered to help me. I traded my still water for sparkling in a bottle, to manage my fragile gut. After reminding him of my prior request to be seated outside, he apologized and suggested that outside seating was by reservation only. When I clarified that I had, in fact, had a prior reservation, he recanted and suggested that seating was on a first-come-first-served basis. Although I had seen vacant spots and continued to watch other people get seated outside after my arrival, I ignored this as merely coincidental. This was not much of an issue, as I did not mind my table within the air conditioned indoor setting.

Second round: After convincing me that the water used for producing their ice was filtered, the kind waiter offered me a mango, lychee, cafe and lime cocktail dubbed the “Indian Summer”. To my surprise, this hit all the right spots. I strongly recommend.

Music:

The music swayed from a live one-man band (playing a wide range of hits from Ed Sheeran, to CCR, All American, etc.) to some Akon (hey ladies), through jazz, back to Akon and then to the one-man band playing “Last Christmas I gave you my heart”.

Ambience:

Walking in, you are greeted by some souvenirs shops. Notably was one with readymade Indian attire.

I finished my meal with a taste of their tiramisu and could not escape the temptation to try...

Sitting in our bucket list for long was this super amazing place in Mehrauli going by the name of Qla. We recently managed to visit this gem of a beauty and try out their luxurious dining. The best time to visit Qla is after sunset but if you go in the daytime, choose outdoor sitting. After dawn, it does not matter whether you dine inside or outside, the vibe is unanimous throughout.  A unique blend of contemporary and atmospheric restaurant with wooden floors and a menu of pan-European cuisine easily sums up Qla.

The aura and the vibe of the place reeks of luxury and counted as one of the most romantic fine dining restaurants, the stature given to it was being completely justified. The structure of the place is no less than an actual quila with a plush garden and comfortable sitting outside and a decent capacity inside. We loved their bar too and would definitely like to try out their cocktails sometime soon. We went there for dinner and started our meal with tiger prawns moving on to spaghetti, classic cheese pizza and ending grilled chicken breast with sauteed veggies with a bottle of chardonnay on the side.

The prawns were amazingly cooked and the sauce in which they were submerged had a distinct flavour of its own whose essence remained on the palate for long leaving us unsatiated and wanting for more. The highlight of the evening was the grilled chicken breast where they were cooked beautifully and had the perfect zing, flavour and texture to it and was served in the most professional manner we have seen till date. It is a must-have dish off their menu for sure. The pizza was again a fresh pizza cooked well and tasted good along with the wine. The spaghetti was, however, not up to the mark. The dish was technically perfect but as far as the taste goes, we have had better than this one. Nevertheless, the decor and the essence of the place helps you keep your vibe in check and the staff ensures that their patrons have a wonderful time when dining here.

The portion size is decent, in sync with its peers. The place is a tad pricey but yes if it is a special occasion, it is difficult to find a better place than this. All in all, we loved the place and our dining experience and will definitely come back soon. Due to the pandemic the terrace area was not operational. However, we wish to dine there too next time probably. After all, you get the perfect view of Qutub Minar from...

Edit as reply to revert: Thank you for acknowledging the review. If you understood the review, it's not about portion but overall experience, including taste.

A place we went with high expectations for an exclusive, high end fine dining but it didn't meet the expectation.

The setup is definitely good, we went for lunch with table booking from zomato. The restaurant itself is inside & not on road as it appears from outside. After some minor confusion was able to locate it.

Parking was easy with valet & setup looked great. We reached the Courtyard crossing some exclusive designer shops hinting at place we are heading for.

Unfortunately the girls at entry were more eagaged in self talking than to see if some new guests arriving needs help. Had to interfere to get attention and check status of table booked. They had no clue about table booking but fortunately as table was available we got the seating. We checked the inside seating but preferred the outside one.

Sitting was comfortable & some welcome food arrived, which was nice. We ordered food which started arriving in reasonable time.

The wild mushroom (soup) with sides arrived first, the sides were supper tasty but mushroom soup initially tasted great but was slightly higher on salt.

Of all the food items ordered, the only one which lived to expectation was pulled lamb frete. The duck was good but could have been better.

Sushi, sticky rice not upto the mark and fillings inside much less (Japanese restaurants serving much better). Salmon far below expectation, was not soft as it should be. Flavours were missing but the sauce was good (which is less relevant). The kabab platter was the worse, very small portions (just 2 small pc each of fish, chicken & lamb). The pita bread and humus was ok, nothing remarkable. The mocktail drinks were OK, nothing spl.

Overall it was avg (pulled down by food experience vs cost). Portions size as expected but it was mostly below the expected taste. outside sitting in winters is good (but...