Suruchee...

I guess it was Tony who sometime quipped that good food is most often the simple food. Turns out, Chittoda, the undisputed kingpin of Dacres Lane, lived off that axiom all his life without ever having to hear of Bourdain or his riveting exploits. And, made streetfood as coveted as mom-food. No wonder his is the name the ambulatory crowd of Dalhousie counts with a respect strictly dispensed to demigods. #uncookedwords

I woke up to the yumminess of Suruchee’s [Chittoda’s restaurant on Dacres Lane] Chicken Bharta rather late, by when my city had already used up all the praises I could consider using. That said, I feel the word 'lingering' couches it best. Hefty chicken slices swimming in the richness of a flavorous gravy I felt no guilt in polishing off rapaciously with my restless index. I was told it draws its oomph from the cream [butter-fat]. Asking to dig through and find heaven. The Roomali fared exceedingly well in ferrying the umami to mouth and beyond. It’s true that until a few months ago Amber served the finest Chicken Bharta of Northern hemisphere. Always leaving an aftertaste too hard to overcome. But Suruchee drew the game without a hitch. Now, if Bharta haunts me, I know where to fly.

Diamond Fish-fry at Suruchee is abundance laid on a plate - a whale of a crisp fillet of Bhekti thinly crumbed and cut into an imperfect rectangle. So be it! Its thickness in the middle was in the neighbourhood of one and a half inches – a voyeur’s delight, too curvaceous to behold and bite into. If JP Snack’s is what I call the Ashley Graham of Fish-fries, this is a J-Lo with the delicious mass more appealingly spread. Savouring it was falling slow from grace. Unapologetically. Kosha Mutton, the next order, proved too banal to write home about. Though I hold having two good things on the trot leaves the latter in the shade.

What exactly this breed of eateries leaves a foodie with is hard to phrase. Perhaps an amorphous longing that keeps growing until halted by dullness. By the way, I had my next meal at Suruchee already pictured before I stepped out of the joint.