Butter Chicken Pasta & Paan Ice Cream: Here's What We Dug Into @ Gol Chakkar Cafe, Kalkaji

A new trend of naming the café/lounge after the location where it is situated is gaining momentum in the market these days. A new entry in the list of such places is The Gol Chakkar Café! An eccentric name, yet doing full justice to the place.

Located at the second roundabout of Kalkaji, TGC stands tall with two and a half floors. The first floor being reserved for indoor seating, they have the second floor as the terrace area with a newly constructed rooftop, forming the remaining half floor. Quite a judicious decision has been taken while choosing the location of the place, considering the space constraint in the neighbourhood. The indoor area has a bar counter on the right and a beautifully laid-out design to regale both small and large groups of people. We loved the rustic look given to the walls inside the café!

The staircase leads the way to the terrace area and upon entering, there is an old jeep, which is hung in such a manner that half of it is protruding outside the balcony and the remaining half is inside, acting as a small bar to serve drinks for the guests seated on the terrace. Scary yet fascinating! The terrace area is also done-up excellently with a picturesque view. The concept of using peculiar furniture with a rustic ambience gives an edge to the café.

They have recently added a rooftop to the terrace, making it a premier place in the locality to offer a nice view while dining. The use of lighting in the rooftop area also makes it easy to locate from far off. Mesmerized by the view, we devoured the following:

Spiced Guava

One of the most sought-after drink of TGC - this! Guava juice mixed with several spices and a dash of lemon juice results in this astounding fluid. The sweetness of guava is felt with every sip when the spirit of spices kicks in, complementing it to every drop. No wonder people are crazy about this drink!

Dahi Ke Kebab

Hung curd formed the main ingredient of these kebabs, which was supplemented by paneer and bread crumbs for volume and shape. This trio was perked up with herbs, spices and cashew nuts. An irresistible crunch and intense flavour was suffused with the addition of deep-fried onions to the kebabs (yum yum!). These kebabs had a unique texture, which was crisp on the outside and soft and creamy with the mild crunch of onions in between from the inside. Served with a mint dip and spiced onions, it formed a delectable dish to be gorged upon!

Spring Rolls

Presentation is the USP of this place, and all our doubts vanished the moment this dish arrived. Spring rolls diced into equal portions, placed over soup spoons and served with fried bhel looked startling. The rolls, despite being deep fried hardly left any traces of oil (thankfully!). The rolls were perfectly crisp on the outside and had a filling of pan fried cabbage, onions and paneer on the inside. The oomph of spices were easily felt and the taste lingered on!

Butter Chicken Pasta

Bizarre as it sounds, this dish is definitely worth splurging on. Now imagine boiled penne pasta and sizeable pieces of succulent chicken infused in the luscious gravy of butter chicken! The chicken pieces were tender and had aptly absorbed the essence of the gravy. The pasta was evenly boiled and was passably stirred along with the chicken pieces in the spicy gravy that possessed a sweet and sour flavour, rejuvenating our senses to the core!

Grilled Chicken Peri Peri

Chicken breast with a filling of minced spinach, mushrooms and cheese, grilled to perfection, served in peri peri sauce with a portion of mashed potatoes and sautéed vegetables would best sum up this dish. The chicken was ample and very beautifully cooked so as to maintain its character. The peri peri sauce was spicy and ambrosial and the veggies were evenly boiled and cooked decently. The essence of this dish was the filling used while cooking the chicken. Defo try this out folks!

Chocolate Brownie Shake

Two fudge-style chocolate brownies when blended with milk and a small amount of sugar syrup results in this masterpiece! Paired with chocolate syrup and served with brownie crumbs on top, this drink hit all the right notes leaving us completely satiated.

Tiramisu

Served in small 30 ml glasses is this dessert which has a coffee liqueur base with a small piece of rum-soaked ladyfinger topped with whipped cream and garnished with chocolate shavings. The true essence of the dessert can be felt only when all the three ingredients are scooped in at once!

Paan Ice Cream

The ice creams at TGC are a must try! Why, we hear you asking? Firstly, because they are made in-house and secondly, that instead of using paan-flavoured syrup, they use actual paan leaves and gulkand as the raw ingredients in preparing this dessert. The fibres of leaves and gulkand coupled with cardamom could be easily felt. Needless to say, we were totally surfeited by it!

Oreo Ice Cream

What happens when you’re filled up to the brim and someone says Oreo? You take up the challenge and end up squeezing every bit into already-stuffed bellies. We were no different when Oreo Ice Cream was presented to us. Homemade ice cream blended with actual Oreos sums up this sensation. Bliss just found a new meaning (sigh)!

On a collective basis, TGC is a one-of-a-kind café in Kalkaji where one will find exquisite ambience, lip smacking, scrumptious food and definitely an urge to visit this café often. Take your special one to a rooftop dinner and thank us later (wink wink)!

Meal For Two | Rs 1,200
Location | F-1, 2nd & 3rd Floor, Kalkaji