When it comes to restaurant location,
Ambrai has few competitors in Udaipur. Located right on the lake on
the quieter west bank of Lake Pichola, Ambrai is perfectly located
for a stunning view of the lake, the City Palace and its surrounding
area, and the Taj Lake Palace built on its own private island. For
the best view, the table located at the very corner of the restaurant
is the most prized, and given that this was our honeymoon I made
reservations for the table for three nights in a row. Since we ate at
Ambrai repeatedly we were able to try most of their signature dishes
by our final night. As such rather than dealing with this meal by
meal, we'll give an overview of all the dishes we tried.
The journey to Ambrai was a pleasant
walk from our hotel Jaiwana Haveli, as you walk the streets near the
city palace, down the laneways to the bridge across the river.
Udaipur is really a magical city. Once you're on the western side
however, its a walk through a gauntlet of sellers who taut constantly
and try to find sneaky ways to get you into their store with such
veracity its quite off-putting and (in one case) a little unnerving.
Throughout Udaipur you'll get the constant 'yes please' and 'look at
my shop' and the classic Udaipur trap of getting you into their store
with 'Excuse me sir, where are you from?' but with less foot traffic
in this part of town there is a desperation and forcefulness that
wore out its welcome. One guy seemed particularly angry that his
guilt trip comment of 'Now... finally I have my chance to show you my
shop!' was greeted with 'No, please, we're not interested' everyday,
and we even took an auto-rickshaw on one of the days just to avoid
having to interact with him.
Once you've actually made it to Amet
Haveli – the hotel Ambrai is located within – you'll see that the
walk was entirely worth it. Amet Haveli's grounds are perfectly
tended, with the odd chicken casually strolling through the gardens
as you approach the restaurant. Its truly idyllic. As you enter
Ambrai, the fairy lights and candlelit tables are as welcoming as the
staff. And with the view of the city all lit up accompanied by
sarangi and tabla music by live musicians, this is Udaipur at its
most romantic.
Ambrai have quite an extensive menu.
Not quite as comprehensive as Persian Darbar but nonetheless
considerable. Having eaten here before, I knew to focus on the
'Ambrai Specialties' section as their signature dishes are excellent.
Of their curries, I feel that the
Chicken Jhangiri is their most significant. A tomato-based creamy
gravy, the curry is filled with nuts and is served with cherries and
egg. I've not found this dish anywhere else, and its really very
delicious – like a much more deluxe butter chicken made all the
better due to the additional flavours. We heard a table near us order
the Butter Chicken, and I couldn't help but feel that they were
missing out.
Their other most significant dish is
the beautifully presented Ambrai Special Biryani – or as I like to
call it 'Three Colours Biryani'. The rice is layered in the orange,
green and white of the Indian flag, each having its own flavour that
when mixed together makes for a delicious biryani. I particularly
like the paneer and spinach that is in the green layer, and the
cashew nuts that give it a nice crunch and nuttiness. Its not quite
as amazing as the biryani at Dum Pukht, but this is definitely a must
order at Ambrai.
As much as we really like the Jhangiri,
we wanted to sample a few different dishes from their menu. Almost as
good is their Chicken Angoori. Instead of the tomato base of the
Jhangiri, this one is a lot creamier and even more nutty and uses
chicken meatballs instead of the boneless chicken. This is
extraordinarily rich and opulent – definitely one of the dishes we
can point at as contributing to our massive weight gain during the
trip.
Since we were saving our fish curry
eating for the south, we decided to skip trying Ambrai's fish curry
and instead give their Mutton Rana a go. This mutton curry gravy is
sort of halfway between the Angoori and Jhangiri curry, insofar as
creaminess and overall flavour is concerned. The mutton was cooked
perfectly, with a great melt in your mouth quality that complemented
the richness of the curry. Its not as refined as the lamb curry at
Dum Pukht and I personally rate the Jhangiri higher, but if making
multiple visits is good to break up the endless chicken eating.
When I was last at Ambrai two years
ago, I remember their being an excellent eggplant dish, and on one of
our nights we ordered the eggplant curry even though it was not on
their Ambrai Specialties list. Either their standard had dropped or I
had ordered the wrong dish, but it did not taste as I recalled. The
eggplant was very vinegary and almost tasted like bottled eggplant,
lacking the nice soft texture I was expecting. Definitely not an item
I would order again.
To accompany the curries we ordered the
garlic naan. The garlic naan was good, though its not on the level of
Trishna.
For dessert, we repeatedly ordered the
Gulab Jamun with Ice Cream. This was about what I would expect for
the dish, being neither bad or exceptional examples.
The Verdict: Excellent
As you'd except from the north,
Ambrai's food is decadently rich. But it so delicious you've just
gotta try it if you're in town, plus their cocktails are very good too. And while I would probably would eat
at a few different restaurants next time I'm in Udaipur, I would
certainly go back again. To sit there at the corner table, with the
music wafting through the cool evening air as we overlooked the
city... for me, it wouldn't be a complete Udaipur experience without
it.
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