PESHAWRI — Restaurant in Jaipur Municipal Corporation

I will keep this review very honest. We visited this place on 16th August 2021. We did not book a table at Peshawari but since it was a Monday evening and we were early at the restaurant for dinner, we decided to go directly. We reached at the reception of the restaurant and asked for a table for two, the lady there took our number and said they will call us back because there are a lot of reservations while the restaurant looked barely 20% full. I said you can accommodate 2 people in your empty restaurant to which she said we always give priority to hotel guests. We waited in the lobby of the hotel for 50 long minutes and still nobody called us. We then called the restaurant again and they said yes yes there is a table and you can come. They did not even bother to call us if a table was available. We were greeted by not so friendly staff who took the order and brought the food to table as if it was a favour or a low budget package deal (while this is one of the most expensive restaurants in Jaipur). Finally the food came after some wait. I asked for bowls for the dal bukhara to which the server said this food is eaten like this only in Peshawar! To which I said that we still need the bowls for the Dal and then reluctantly he brought us the bowls. Nobody came to the table to ask if we needed anything, maybe extra breads, and imagine this level of service on a not so busy Monday! Cannot imagine their service on the weekends. The food was pretty average except the Dal which is the only food item worth paying so much for. There was no water served and it came on second request. There were no spoons. They do not even serve food, which is ok. Amidst such pathetic service when we finished our meal we called for the check not even bothering to look at their dessert options, after three requests for bill to three different waiters they brought us the check, it surely shows that while there were a dozen people waiting outside for their turn they weren’t willing to quickly clear our table and bring us our bill so that they can accommodate them this means they did not care for us as well and made us wait in the lobby for an hour while in reality the restaurant was empty. This place is only worth it for its Dal Bukhara and absolutely nothing else, just get it delivered or taken away. A bristo or a cafe or a regular restaurant will surely work much harder to give you better food and experience for 1/10th of the price. I wonder what ITC group is doing about their extremely unfriendly and untrained staff. PS: I have done my hotel management from Europe and have worked with numerous hotel chains globally before starting my own global brand, hence I know a thing or two about...

Peshawri at ITC Rajputana Jaipur, Dinner on 23rd July. We thankfully had prior reservations and got a good table in 5 min . By the time we were ready to order the restaurant was packed and buzzing, actually due to the design and confined space it became extremely noisy. Now we come to the good parts, the Burra kabab as a starter was excellent, well marinated , chunky and fall off the bone. Then arrived the Dal Bukhara, Malai tikka, naan and pudina paratha . Dal is a staple for every single order that is placed every day in any Peshawari restaurant. It also hides the flaws there may be with any other food items. We had one, the Malai tikka, it’s supposed to be soft and scuttle, but ours was tough, requiring a knife and fork to cut though in an Indian restaurant, not any Indian restaurant, one of the best replicated restaurant brands in the country. The restaurant wanted to redo it, but we had almost finished our meal when it arrived again. We asked for it to be packed reluctantly. Then arrived the bill which we promptly paid , however we were told the wrong bill was presented and a new bill was shared and we paid the difference and left. Approach to the restaurant from the lobby is very unimpressive as if one is approaching a cave. It doesn’t command the respect or weight that it should for its legacy . This restaurant when you arrive looks small and scattered. We were celebrating a birthday, and I had mentioned to the restaurant on arrival, but it was all forgotten. I have eaten at the OG and at other outposts namely Chola in Chennai and always love the food and the experience. But on this occasion didn’t feel the same as most of the experience and some of the food disappointed….. but the Dal is what makes everything work. So let it not be your hiding place as an average meal without alcohol costs 10k for 2 so make everything...

So this was the meal I was looking forward the most. Just to clarify Bukhara is one of my all time favorite restaurant and when I came to know ITC in Jaipur had Peshawri , we had to have one meal there.

Ambience – The place is a miniature version of Bukhara. You get the same vibe here, same kind of plates, glasses etc., you even get the apron in place of table napkins and no cutlery until u ask for it specifically.

Staff - The staff is outstanding. They serve with a smile on their face and give good inputs while ordering. We were planning to order the Naan Bukhara but our server told us that it will be too much for us.

Food : So I maybe a little biased here but the food is excellent. We ordered

Tandoori Aloo – Stuffed aloo baked to perfection in the tandoor. The stuffing is of paneer and dry fruits. Iliked it but found the aloo and stuffing to be a little sweet for my taste. Maybe making the stuffing a little spicy would be a great idea

Dal Bukhara - No visit to peshawri would be possible without ordering the Dal. The Dal was thick, decadent and delicious.

Murgh Makhani – Went with the tried and tested one here. The dish was again delicious no faults to point out. Generally in other place u get a lot of gravy with some pieces of chicken in it, but here the quantity if chicken was very good and the gravy was on the thicker side.

Assorted Bread : The Tandoori roti was a little hard , but other than that everything which we ordered be it the bharvan kulcha, pudina paratha , butter naam were soft fully and exquisite tasting

A definite must visit if you are in Jaipur and it doesn’t hurt that the pricing of the place is half of Bukhara will the same quality...