In his weekly column that appeared in Newsband, Food columnist of Newsband, Nitin Kamat, thanks Editor of Newsband, Dinesh Kamath, for his compliment

(Above) Dinesh Kamath and Nitin Kamat
Saturday Round and Around

By Natkhat Bee (Nitin Kamat)

And after the authentic Chinese meal we had to our tummy’s delite, back home when sitting and savouring the Mishty Doi from Sweet Bengal Natkhat instead of the idiot box dug into the intelligent box. Yes, the computer. Churning the mail, I was connected to a Blog by the name www.dkamath.blogspot.com I must thank the owner of the site, the editor of daily Newsband Dinesh Kamath. On the blog dated 28^th of September 2013, Dinesh, you have rated me above the erstwhile Busybee. And that is placing Natkhat Bee on Cloud 9. Well, Behram Contractor is undoubtedly the best journalistic brains of his times, Dinesh, he is a legend. And in this segment i.e. food in particular, Behram happens to be my GURU. With that compliment of yours you have placed me in worthy company. But Busy Bee still happens to be Busy bee as Natkhat bee. The Bee family profusely thank you Shri Dinesh Kamath a lot! It has come from the desk of a daily newspaper. It does carry weight.

And here, once again, on another Saturday, another eat out, one more genuine look into the best of the available kitchens in and around our very own Navi Mumbai with a promise to have a real magnified look at that particular peep in. Believe you me, it is all Natkhat’s very own work!

Natkhat, along with the bee family, tries their level best to give you a well oiled peep into every new menu, selecting the best, making it easier to find the way to an eatery to suit the palate of the evening. Again, it is Natkhat’s own work, keeping his ears, eyes and nostrils open and uses the mouth only to devour the best from the dishes ordered.

Everything that the restaurant in question has to offer comes on bee family’s radar. Right from your entry to paying the bill and what to expect for the money paid. Whether they are VFM’s i.e. Value for Money dishes.

The bee family rates and grades each eatery on its décor, the colour combination used along with some pots of greenery to support fresh living. The same pots of greenery to support fresh living. The ambience maintained within and outside whether it synchronizes with what they offer. The service which is the mainstay of any hospitality business, the quality and quantity of the food served right from recognizing the tenderness and the freshness of either the vegetable or the meat, how well the dish is dressed when placed before you and the bearers’ fine art of undressing the dish to be served to you and whether the aroma spread appetizes or repulses one away from the table. Just the way it is, when your family doctor touches his stethoscope to your body, the illness suddenly vanishes.

And all this for all my habitual herbivore, carnivore culinary connoisseur friend, making it easier for them to grade and pick up their choices according to the pre-planned evening.

Now after the wonderful experience at Mainland China last week and the biggest compliment of being Nawab in food columns where else could Natkhat think of going but to Bighdey Nawab - A Lucknowi Cuisine. We skipped Costa Coffee this week and headed straight to sector 14 in Koperkhairane dot at 8 pm. When we entered this eatery for the second time, as we had loved our first visit and that compliment bighdofying the Nawab in me, chose the spot.     

Chani bee, my daughter, as usual was digging thru menu by sheer habit now. The first dishes to be served were the soups. I had my favourite so nothing bad about it the Tomato Ka Shorba (Rs 50/- +). Being Lucknowi Cuisine and beautiful taste and aroma dished out at our last visit to the same place, we thought of going only for Kebabs and Tandoori dishes. Natkhat said let us start where the cuisine has its roots. And Chani had sensed that and so from the herbivore stable we had Cheese Kurkure (Rs 80/- +), Baingan Tikka Awadhi (Rs 90/- +) Full Murgh Tandoori (Rs 230/- +), Murgh Ke Sholay (Rs 170/- +) and two varieties of Seafood.

Natkhat had Cheese Kurkure on the side. This is grated cheese rolled in flat Indian Bread and crisp fried for better taste - will go fantastically well with liquor as chakhana as one calls it. Very good to pop in. Then had a portion of Baingan Tikka Awadhi. In this preparation the curd is hung to water out and perfectly blended with the Indian Masalas used in the Lucknowi Cuisine, the mixture put behind two brinjal, i.e. baingan slices and deep fried. Come out another dish as Chakhana with drinks. Just lovely. I just hate my herbivore friends. Beautiful is the first and the last word. A portion of tandoor chicken leg was on to my dish. Nicely marinated in pepper, Balsamic vinegar, the real tandoori spices minus the colour, Royal Cummin Seeds and imagine perfectly grilled to the center. A little portion from Murgh Ke Sholay. In this breastpieces chicken are stuffed with mince, grated cheese, broken casonate and peppered herbs paste and grilled in the Indian Hot Oven i.e. the Tandoor. And all this minus the many breast bones, whatever left sustainable to become boneless. The seafood stable fare had arrived. Chani has asked for Peshawari Pomfret (Rs 200/- +), Raan-E-Sikandari, a big dish easily serving four people (Rs 650/- +) and the Non Vegetarian Platter (Rs 260/- +) Peshawari Pomfret is coated with Peshawari Masala for marination which gives the velvety look and grilled in a small Tandoor. Well, did somebody say Pomfret is the seafood of Peshawaris? Well then you have the answer. The non veg platter had Mutton Seekh Kebab, Fish Tikka, Chicken Tikka and Murgh Chaudi Kebab. Well friends, it is the Lucknowi Cuisine. Raan-e-Sikandari is whole  leg of Tender Baby Lamb marinated with Malt Vinegar, ginger and garlic paste, exotic Indian spices and they say, Chef’s Secret Masala is added.  This is basted with Yoghurt i.e. dahi to some and Doi to others. It is cooked in the Indian Tandoor and served with Kohinoor authentic Basmati rice.

I’ll tell you friends, you really have Lucknow Cuisine and authentic here at Koperkhairane in Navi Mumbai. What else, a real thums up! Licking our fingers we bade Adieu to all saying Sayonara and discharging our last duties we head straight home again to be in front of Intelligent Box with Mishty Doi.

All jokes apart, now again next Sunday, you would have had a neat and nice eatery to browse thru before you try maybe anything from fish to figs on your platter to devour. Till then ‘Au Revoir’ to all my ‘Culinary Connoisseurs’ who treat this article as a testing ground. See you, same time, next week, same day with your favourite Sunday newspaper ‘Newsband’ in hand, sipping your morning cuppa coffee, giving you the taste for your following leisurely evening. Au Revoir! Once Again!