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750 Greystone Park Shopping Centre
Borrowdale
885358/883178/0772 417212/0772 385264

 

A Delicious Dinner at Dehli Palace 2011
Having discovered the delights of Indian cuisine some years ago, my husband and I have been very lucky to eat at Indian restaurants in the UK, South Africa and even in New Dehli, so a great Indian meal is something that we both really appreciate.  It also means that we had very high expectations of the popular and award winning Dehli Palace, now re-opened.  We were not disappointed.

Booking was a quick and easy telephone call.  We arrived a little later than our reservation, but this posed no problem as it wasn’t a particularly busy night.  Parking was ample and guarded.  On entering the restaurant we were pleased to note that it was elegantly and tastefully decorated with lovely wooden furniture, all the tables were laid, despite the quiet evening and rich gold voiles hung in front of open windows, giving a fresh and upmarket feel, no tacky artwork or garish colours here.  Quiet Indian music played in the background.

We were welcomed by one of the front of house manageresses (there were two in evidence) and given the option of drinks in the bar or immediate seating.  We opted for the bar and were shown through to a comfortable bar with an assortment of seating arrangements and areas.  A number of diners had congregated here to wait for members of their parties and although quite busy, we were immediately offered drinks and a plate of complimentary popadums with a lovely garlicky dip.  The bar is well stocked with both local and imported spirits and liqueurs, cordials and soft drinks, juices and beer or cider.  Prices are comparable with other Harare establishments.  Wine does not feature prominently; we asked about a wine list and were told that there were 3 white and 3 red varieties available, all imported.  We also noticed bottles of red and white sparkling wine on display.  Disappointingly, there were no Indian beers available; the addition of these would be a bonus.

Menus were brought for our perusal.  No prices were indicated by the meals, and I thought that it might be an “old school” scenario where only the men get to see the prices, but my husband’s menu didn’t have them either.  However, we did locate the prices at the back of the menu.  We were taken aback by the cost of a main course in comparison with a starter.  There is a minimum charge of $16 per head.  Starters are in the region of $5 and mains average about $25.  Desserts are not included on the menu.  The menu offers a good variety of dishes, well described and catering to all tastes and temperatures, including several vegetarian options.  We noticed during dinner that the chef approached a nearby party and offered to create a special vegetarian selection for them.  We ordered starters and mains from the bar and the manageress called us to our table when the first course was ready to serve.  

Now, onto the food.  The starters of Beef Mishka and Chicken Tikka were completely delicious and elegantly served.  One of our waiters brought our bottle of Graça with a wine cooler and our glasses were regularly topped up.  We requested iced water and this was promptly brought to the table and again, our glasses were kept full throughout the meal.  Fresh cutlery was brought, with piping hot plates for our main course, quickly followed by a good sized bowl of rice, roti and plain naan bread along with our mains in sizzling cast iron serving dishes.  My husband, who firmly believes in “the hotter the better” had chosen Beef Boona.  We had not noticed on the menu that we could specify the heat of the dish and consequently, it wasn’t quite hot enough for his taste, but very tasty nonetheless and even I was able to enjoy it, without breaking a sweat and needing a lassi to put out the flames!  The Murgh Kasalan I had chosen was wonderfully tasty, the chicken was succulent and the sauce divine.  We argued a little over which one of the dishes was nicest and eventually agreed that each was very, very good and left it at that.  The dishes were accompanied by sambals, we both love mango and lime pickle so asked for a refill. 

Having shared food and eaten our fill, we were barely able to consider the idea of a sweet but one of our waiters did his best to tempt us with a choice of ice-cream, with or without chocolate sauce, fresh strawberries, with our without ice-cream or Kulfi (Indian ice-cream).  Having declined all of these, he mentioned a range of Dom Pedro’s and we had to end the evening with a Kahlua Dom, not strictly Indian, but still a yummy way to end a meal.

The service and number of staff at Dehli Palace definitely requires comment.  Waiters are very “old school”, well dressed, polite and efficient; we were attended to by no less than three waiters and all of them were very good indeed.  Management checked that we were enjoying our meal.  None of the staff were intrusive.

The general atmosphere was relaxed and enjoyable, allowing us to savour the evening at our own pace and in our own way.  The restaurant is well laid out and carefully managed to ensure diner enjoyment.  All facilities were clean and in good repair.  It would have been nice to have hot water in the cloakroom for hand washing but aside from that we couldn’t find anything to fault.

All in all, a most enjoyable evening out, good food, good company and a lovely venue.  We’ll definitely be telling friends that “Dehli Palace is back!”
Speciality Restaurant
5 Plates
Expect to spend $35 – $45
Greystone Park Shopping Centre