One of our favourite meals out during our trip to Delhi in January, 2023 was at Matamaal, the Kashmiri restaurant that opened a few years ago at the City Court mall in Gurgaon. Actually, that’s wrong: two of our favourite meals out on that trip were eaten at Matamaal. We liked the first meal so much that we went back again. In my review of both I noted that we’d be back for sure on our next trip and that this time we’d bring our boys with us. And so it came to pass last month. On our last day in Delhi we went to Matamaal for lunch. And it was another fine meal, and a highlight of our eating out on this trip as well. Here are the details.
Both our meals at Matamaal in January 2023 were dinners. The restaurant had not been over-crowded on those occasions (both on weeknights) but was entirely empty for our weekday lunch this March. Granted we were eating very early by Delhi standards but no one had showed up by the time we left either. I assume that like a lot of restaurants they do a lot of business on the food delivery apps. Anyway, the restaurant itself remains charming and you are likely to see their food in the best light if you eat in.
It was just the four of us—and as we were leaving that night, did not have the capacity to generate massive leftovers to take home. What I’m saying is that we ordered with more restraint than you might expect from me at a restaurant I like a lot. And as it was the boys’ first visit, we wanted to order some of the dishes we’d liked a lot and wanted them to try as well. As such, we didn’t eat very much that was new to the missus and me at this meal. We began with the Kabargah—mutton ribs that are poached in milk and then pan-fried. The boys made these disappear before we got more than a bite each. The larger dishes showed up soon after: Mutton Roganjosh, Chicken Yakhni and Palak Nadur. All were as excellent as they had been last year. The boys enjoyed the roganjosh and the yakhni—the palak nadur (spinach with lotus stems) was really for the two of us.
We mopped all of the above up with rice and some breads: very good lachha parathas and garlic naan. While eating the mains we decided to order a few things from a special Street Food menu we had not noticed while placing our main order. Unfortunately, they didn’t have a few of the things listed on it that caught our eye but we very much enjoyed both the Haeder Tuj (skewered and charcoal-grilled stuffed mushrooms) and the Kakur Tuj (skewererd and charcoal-grilled chicken cubes). Both were served atop small naans, a welcome sight to our boys, whose capacity to eat Indian breads is almost limitless.
The mooli/radish and onion chutneys that were served with the food were once again very good—especially the mooli chutney (which most North Indians would probably think of more as raita). We also decided to get an order of the anardana/pomegranate seed chutney and this we didn’t care for as much. Well, I liked the bracing sour flavour a lot but the texture was just a bit too gritty for my liking.
To close, just one order of phirni for the two adults to share. Also as excellent as last time.
For a look at the restaurant, the menu and what we ate, launch the slideshow below. Scroll down to see how much it all cost and to see what’s coming next.
Service was very good: friendly, knowledgeable and present when needed. Price? I’d noted that last year’s meals were very reasonably priced. That continues to be the case. Our total before tip was Rs. 3405 or just about $40. Not quite Mizo Diner cheap but the food there is almost criminally underpriced. It’s safe to say that as long as Matamaal is around—a very long time, I hope—it will remain a standby for us on trips to Delhi. It helps, of course, that it’s less than a 10-minute drive from my parents’ place.
One thing I didn’t do on this visit that I’d hoped to, however, is purchase more Kashmiri items from the little shop attached to the restaurant. Last year I’d picked up excellent Kashmiri chillies and Kashmiri chilli powder and I’d hoped to both re-up on those and get even more the next time around. But, alas, on account of our three month-long travel preceding arrival in Delhi, our bags were at capacity and there was no way to stuff anything else in. Next time.
Alright, for the next restaurant report we’ll go back to Seoul. That’ll be this weekend. And I’ll try to add another market report on as well (though one not featuring fish).