Anybody who has travelled in Northern India will recognize this QSR-format restaurant that serves hearty Punjabi fare, chaat, mithais and a splash of Chinese. The management at Murli acknowledges that they were inspired by the iconic brand that began in Nagpur and decided to recreate the concept in Bengaluru.
DÉCOR
The restaurant is brightly-lit, with a profusion of primary red, white and yellow colours. A series of temperature-controlled food display cabinets showcase the restaurant’s preparations.
The walls are stacked with attractively-designed takeaway and gift packs. The ground level offers mithais, fast foods, namkeens, drinks and snacks, while the upper level is designed to serve substantial meals with options of North Indian thalis and a small selection of Chinese and Italian dishes. “Kids today just love pasta,” we are told.
FOOD
The long drive on an April afternoon necessitated something chilled to begin with, so we ordered the cold Kesar Badam Milk, with slivers of almond and saffron threads on top. Feeling refreshed, we had to try Mumbai’s iconic Pav Bhaji — flattened bread with a spicy, tomato gravy-based bhaji, topped with generous amounts of butter. The bhaji had the perfect taste, but the bread was ‘Bangalored’ — sweet and too soft. Much to our surprise, the menu listed Matar Kulcha, something that we have never seen before in Benglauru. And it was genuine — a thick flattened round bread, served with coriander and spiked with a dried peas gravy. We will be coming back for this dish. The chaats here, like Bhalla Papdi Chaat, Aloo Tikki and Raj Kachori are worth trying out. These are fresh, with thick curd, and the sweet and spicy chutneys have the right chatpatta kick. Some excellent Shikanji-spiced lemonade did well to give us a brief pause and we were told that the restaurants sources the special masala from a speciality shop in Delhi.
The Chole Bhature here is possibly the best in the city, with hints of dried amla. Though we would have liked some extra sourness with the addition of dried mango/amchoor powder. Or you could simply opt for the North Indian Thali which has small portions of Kadhi Pakodi, Shahi Paneer, Mixed Vegetables, Dal Makhani, Papad, Jeera Rice, Laccha Paratha, Naan, sweet of the day and a Masala Chaas. Do try the South Indian Platter with a scaled-down version of Dosa, Uttapam and Vada. We ended this repast with a Kulfi Rabri — a pista kulfi accompanied by three kullads (clay pots) of reduced lactose-rich cream, collected by scraping off the sides of a kadhai after many hours of boiling milk till it reduces to an almost solid consistency. Sadly, we didn’t leave any room for their mithais. Maybe next time.
PLUS AND MINUS
The management is committed to maintaining the real flavour and the cooks are experienced from their past jobs. A quick look at the open-kitchen shows good hygiene standards. Avoid the Chinese food as it is nondescript and greasy.
Must Try: Matar Kulcha, Chola Bhatura, Kulfi Rabri and Thali
Meal for two: Rs 500
For more details: Murli on Timescity
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