An Unpretentious, No-Fuss Dining Experience With A Few Surprises

An Unpretentious, No-Fuss Dining Experience With A Few Surprises
Ruth Dhanaraj | TNN


If you have ever walked along St Mark’s Road, in all probability you would have spied a stall with a sign reading ‘Kabab Korner’. Of course, only if you are a regular there you will know that it is not a stall, that the few chairs that seem to be half-inside, half-outside are but an extension and that the entrance to the AC/non-AC seating are up a small flight of stairs adjacent to a cigarette stall.
Kabab Korner has been a part of the landscape at St Mark’s Road for 25 years now. Generations of children from the nearby schools have run back home past this Korner with their tummies rumbling and come again later with children of their own.
Owned and managed by Suresh Lulla and his wife Kavita, Kabab Korner offers customers an unpretentious, no-fuss dining experience. First-time visitors, taken in by the name, will be surprised to note that the restaurant also serves Chinese and Continental fare.
“When we started, Kabab Korner was one of the few joints in the city to offer home delivery facility within a limited radius. In a couple of years, we were able to introduce Chinese cuisine. Since then there has been no looking back,” reminisces Lulla.
With branches in Koramangala and Domlur, Father Time has favoured Kabab Korner in a city where eateries pop up every other day, die down, take on a new avatar and then disappear forever, to resurrect in the memories of old-timers and those driving by find a familiar landmark.
“We have always tried to keep up the quality of our services. Long ago, we even cut back on our catering services as we found it just got in the way of daily work,” says Lulla.
With some of the staff having been around for 25 years, Kabab Korner definitely has a time-tried and tested recipe for success. Perhaps a part of the answer could lie in the
fact that the entire focus seems to be on the food.
Everything else — the decor and the frills that seem
to accompany the eating-out experience these days — is at a minimum.
One of the best things about the Korner is that the kababs are available throughout the day and one is actually spoilt for choice, trying to decide between the Peshawari or Kalmi kabab. Of course, the easiest would be to settle for the kabab platter which would give you both and then some.
The biryani is that wholesome-meal-in-itself for hungry souls who would rather get into the meat of the matter. No fancy spices clutter your plate, neither do grains of coloured rice. The dish is a godsend for those who want to have their meal without the bother of having to pick, sort, chew and repeat. The many office-goers at lunch time are testament to it.
The amazing range of rolls at Kabab Korner are a musthave. The chicken egg roll is chicken stuffing wrapped in an omelette and then rolled up in Roomali roti. Half the chicken egg roll should do for a snack, the whole thing could pass for a meal.
Sadly, chocolate mousse is the only item for dessert here. But where it lacks in the sweet trolley, Kabab Korner more than makes up for in the variety of vegetarian dishes, something most people don’t expect with its very non-vegetarian name.
Meal for two: Rs 500 Cards, vouchers accepted Timings: 12 noon to 11 pm No Holidays Phone: 22215476