Andy D.
Yelp
Authentic and flavorful DELHI style PUNJABI and NORTH-INDIAN cuisine at the 'DELHI 6 INDIAN KITCHEN & BAR' in Highland Village, TX...Check it out and let me know your thoughts!
PUNJAB is a state in Northern India that derives its name from the five rivers that flowed thru the region making it the 'the bread basket of India', with the largest production of wheat, sugarcane, lentils, pulses, fruits and vegetables. In 1947 when India attained independence, Punjab like Bengal, was split into two with 2 of the 5 rivers in India, and the other 3 in Pakistan.
PUNJABIs are industrious yet fun-loving folks who truly "work hard and party hard"! They are also incorrigible, insufferable foodies, whose passion for all things gastronomical would rival that of their compatriots from Bengal, Odisha, Lucknow and Hyderabad!
While 'Daal-Roti' (lentils and wheat flat bread) is the staple diet for the hoi-polloi, Punjabi Cuisine has delivered an extravagant array of kababs and flat breads from its TANDOOR ("Clay Oven") including the NAAN, KULCHAS, BHATURAS, PARATHAS, especially the LACCHA PARATHA, the TANDOORI, ROOMALI, & MISSI ROTI which have no peers in any other cuisine across the Planet, period! Did you know that virtually every MICHELIN starred CHEF of Indian origin is a PUNJABI, which is hardly a surprise?!
The traditional PUNJABI cuisine has acquired a distinct character with nuanced variations of the PUNJABI CHAAT, KEBABS, CHOLE BHATURE, PARATHAS, BIRYANI, SAMOSAs and especially the iconic BUTTER CHICKEN, CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA and DAL MAKHANI which can be traced to MOTI MAHAL in Delhi in the 1940s, and has been raised to fine art by other iconic establishments like KAREEM's, KWALITY, CHOR BIZARRE and LAZEEZ AFFAIRE!
Given our recent culinary experiences in NEW DELHI on our sojourn across INDIA and JAPAN, we were excited to check out 'DELHI 6' in the Highland Village, this evening! While getting a table on a Saturday evening was a bit of an adventure, AJ and VJ, the affable and hard-working owner-restauranteurs personally looked after us and even ordered their finest offerings for us to savor.
For the hors-d'oeuvres, we loved the delectable MAHARAJA TANDOORI PLATTER served with an assortment of CHICKEN and SHRIMP KABABS and LAMB CHOPS fresh off the tandoor, which was followed by the amazing TANDOOR POMPANO (POMFRET) that delighted us as sea food aficionados! We will return just to have the TANDOORI PLATTER and the TANDOORI POMFRET on our next adventure!
For the entrees, we had their MUTTON ROGAN JOSH (origins in KASHMIR), the DHABA STYLE BUTTER CHICKEN, the DAL MAKHANI and the BAINGAN-KA-BHARTA (spiced, mashed eggplant) with their GARLIC JALAPENO NAAN, ONION KULCHAS and the CHICKEN DUM BIRYANI which left us in a serious "Food Coma", with hardly any appetite for Desserts, except for the ANGOORI GULAB JAMUM which we liked. Please see the annotated photos below.
DELHI-6 is a modest sized restaurant so I suggest that you go there from Monday-Thursday for your debut experience, since it is a bit of insanity on Friday and Saturday evenings especially since they do not take any advance reservations.
Please call 30-45 minutes before you get to DELHI-6 to get on the waiting list and carry lots of patience since you will likely need to wait 30-50 minutes on a Friday or Saturday evening. They serve an all day buffet on Sundays which we would like to check out!
Net net, a chaotic experience getting a table on weekends which morphs into an awesome culinary experience lit up with authentic and flavorful DELHI style PUNJABI/ NORTH-INDIAN cuisine, offered with a smile! Our waitress FIORELLA from PERU was exceptional and took great care attending to all our needs with the owners AJ and VJ, to ensure a fantastic experience!
Check it out: DELHI 6 INDIAN KITCHEN and BAR 1700 Cottonwood Creek # 110, Highland Village, TX 75077. Tel # (469) 559-3559.