National Durbar, Periamet opp Rippon building

Someone was recently asking where to get good faloodas with nuts. First place that came to mind was National Durbar. Their National falooda is amazing for the money (just 60 bucks). It starts with a pretty good mango ice cream scoop at the top (this is where most lower priced outlets mess up with cheap stuff) which is creamy then come lots of nuts including cashews, pista, raisins and fig! Followed by fruits (mostly papaya though). The jelly has almost no taste I can remember but at least doesn't taste artificial. Finally a layer of cold fresh cream if I'm not mistaken. Probably vanilla ice cream. 

National durbar is an old timers place near Central. Ask your parents about it they'll probably have fond memories of coming here for tea n' biscuits or Paaya- idiyaapam. The tea here is good but not the best in the area. Biriyani has disappointed tried it once. It was dried up and that's no good.

Recently been here a few times and once I'd got two special parottas and a Mutton pepper chops which the waiter assured would have enough gravy. Was a takeaway so back home I reheated it on a tawa nicely to get back the crispiness. Very soft yet crispy! These special ones are thrice the size of a normal one so was filled up with two!  Mutton pepper chops curry was amazing! It seemed mild at first and didn't overpower with pepper flavor yet I was sweating at the end of it!

 The mutton melted off the bone it was that tender. Quantity was perfect for the price (just rs 120) with two medium sized mutton pieces. Even the free accompanying gravy they provide is quite tasty made with mutton bones and small pieces which you'll find if it's your day. It was mildly peppery almost milky.




Recent visit 2 days back:

Ordered a Mutton roast masala along with the special parotta at about 9:30 pm. But they said the special parotta would take 20 minutes to make, so chose 4 normal parottas instead. The roast masala was great. Tender mutton as usual with a tomato based spicy gravy. I felt it tasted a lot like the biriyani masala gravy before one adds the rice for dum. Quite a unique tasting curry since it was slightly sweet from the tomatoes in it yet spicy. Four to five pieces of mutton in it for rs 130. Plain parottas weren't great though I think they gave me wheat parottas instead so it was a little flat and not flaky as expected. 

Badam milk with vanilla ice cream: It was green colored so I thought it was Pista milk at first. I didn't find much (any?) badam pieces in here but the thick milk was quite yummy. Also found I think some kind of gram in it to get that crunchy effect. Wish they didn't use that!

Menu

Service is efficient, it's a small dining area with lots of tables crammed in so thbeing very experienced they know when to appear and when to disappear. No cards accepted i think. Ambiance is bustling, plain yet that's part of the charm and keeps costs down. They have a first floor dining area with private rooms and a great view. Watch your head while climbing the narrow stairs though! Don't say I didn't warn ya! ;-)