A ride in the "Shikhaara"

I don't think there is ever a way to define "a perfect dinner" and I don't think I will try to attempt it. Although i must say that I had what I would call an absolute thrilling evening. What made it thrilling??Aaaaah.... the ambiance, the setting, the food and yes, the company.

I dined at Shikhaara at kalyani Nagar. A roof-top restaurant that serves Kashmiri and North-Indian delicacies. And i must say that it was the one of the most tastiest Kashmiri food Ive ever eaten. Definitely there is no match for the Kashmiri food cooked by my friend Zohaib's mom. The rooftop hotel has very comfortable seating, chairs, sofas and baithaks (take your pick). The walls of the restaurants have something engraved in Kashmiri language i believe as I could not make head or tail of it. Now for the setting. A candle-lit dinner under a clear sky with a full moon to grace the dark night and the icing on the cake was the music that was playing. From jagjit singh, pankaj udhas to mehdi hussain. The ghazals that were playing back to back just made the air more soothing and enticing.

We were offered papads which were complimentary that helped us get into a perfect conversation. We ordered Kali miri kabab which was spicy and warm for our throats considering we were having cough ;-). we ordered Rishta (minced mutton koftas in red chilli gravy) which was medium-spicy and tasted absolutely perfect with onion kulchas. We ordered steam rice as the gravy was not thick and quite spicy. In deserts we ordered firni that was yummy to say the least with aroma of kesar and other spices. If this was not enough and we could not stop talking about how wonderful the food and the place was, we were served Qahwas that were complimentary as well. Wow!!..its been long since i have had one and I absolutely savored each and every sip of it.

I walked besides that someone special beneath the moonlight, and I now live in yesterday's afterglow.