Burra kebabs revisited

Ever since my first, then second amazing encounter with burra kebabs (both times from Swagath in Defence Colony) I raved about last June I have been desperately searching for those tiny, tangy, tender chops only to be disappointed with chewy, tough or raw kebabs.

I'm driven to write about my quest after yet another encounter with mediocre kebabs last night.

After a relaxing day hanging out by the pool, the only place to be when the mercury hits 41.6 C (that's 106.9 F for my celsius-challenged friends), we thought we'd stop on the way home to try out the latest branch of Delhi's famed Karim's Restaurant that recently opened in Malviya Nagar. The place was packed when we went in, good sign we thought, so we ordered burra kebabs, chicken seekh kebabs, butter chicken (I know - how cliche, but it is one of Delhi's favorite dishes; Rajiv wanted nihari but I wasn't in the mood for something so oily) and dal makhani.

The burra kebabs were tough and chewy, the butter chicken was overly sweet (it tasted exactly like it was cooked in Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup from a can), and the dal was only OK. Even the nan tasted sweet! Only the chicken seekh kebabs were tender and tasty.

Karim's is a Delhi institution. Getting kebabs from there is like getting a pastrami sandwich from Katz's in NYC - kind of a dive but it's the real thing.

Now I know we didn't eat at the original Karim's near Jama Masjid (and I haven't eaten there yet so I can't compare the quality), and I know butter chicken isn't what they're famous for but any way you look at it, it doesn't bode well for Karim's. Either their branches aren't up to the standards of the original which isn't good or they are and this is the level of quality to be found everywhere...which also isn't good.

If anybody out there can tell us where to get tasty, melt-in-your-mouth burra kebabs in Delhi we'd be grateful! Karim's is supposed to have the best in the city, Swagath's were amazing twice and disappointing twice and the other places aren't worth mentioning.