Mr. TKD and I, we go for restaurant crawls, burger hog fests and shawarma bingeing sessions but I'd hardly call them date. I know, there are movie nights and fancy-schmacy restaurants thrown into the mix but it hardly feels date-y during the movies when we are squabbling over the last bite of the hot dog or slapping each other's hand for a turn at grabbing the popcorn.

We prefer staying in, binge watching the star-wars movies to going out for parties. (Unless they have food there, then we definitely choose food) My ideal date would probably be a book place with a cafe in it. But knowing Mr. TKD, his probably would be catching some snooze.

Even then we came quite close to real, nice date at a rooftop cinema cum eatery until Mr. TKD enquired if the chicken we ate was giving me gas too.

Yes, anyway. I brought up this insightful topic up because we were at Level 12 at Double Tree by Hilton and it gave off the date night vibe like no other place. And it's located at Chinchwad. I know, I know what you might be thinking, we were taken aback by the sheer unlikeliness of this incredible place too. But it had to be here, because the serene beauty of the moonlit night and distinct calmness of the sweeping view of the twinkling lights that this place provides can hardly be found in the mad hustle of the main city.






It seemed like we had arrived at the perfect night. Clear skies, gentle breeze, soothing, live sufi music in the background and candle lit tables, everything charms you right as you step in. The whole area is divided into an upper and lower decks with a swimming pool in the middle with giant, gently glowing orbs floating on them. If this doesn't scream date-night, I don't know what will.

Everything went smoothly from there on as the whole staff seemed to take us under their wing. We were served attentively and perfectly and the Chef himself appeared occasionally with incredible dishes to prove that our appetite could be stretched to its farthest limits.



We started off with VEGETARIAN and NON VEGETARIAN KEBAB PLATTER which featured selected starters chosen by the Chef himself. The fact that we actually loved the vegetarian starters was a proof of how amazing the food was. We usually prefer not to eat vegetarian when eating out but we were thanking our stars (which we could see clearly above us, btw) for giving the chef a free rein.





Some of our favorites from the VEGETARIAN PLATTER were:

WATERLESS GOLGAPPA: It was what you'd call a dahi puri but the Chef seemed to have waved his magic wand over it because it had literally transformed into a 5 star dish. The puris were crunchy and the insides was an amalgamation of deliciousness. Dahi, nuts, spices all mixed to perfection. **TRY TRY**

CORN AND CHEESE KURKURE: It looked like a spring roll but on a deliciously crunchy side, which I loved. Inside was a welcome mix of corn and cheese and spices. Love!

PANEER TIKKA: The good ol' quintessential dish on every vegetarian's plate was delicious and for once I didn't feel bad for my vegetarian brethren.

If I loved the vegetarian fare, needless to say the NON VEGETARIAN PLATTER was golden. I loved the whole thing right from the HIGHWAY CHICKEN TIKKA (oh so spicy, yet so yummy) to the SEEKH KEBAB (minced lamb) to FISH TIKKA. The FISH especially was so tender, it was falling apart at touch. Probably, the closest we have come to liking a non-chicken dish more. :P



We also had a MUSHROOM and CHEESE dish which was delicious. Mr. TKD is a great fan of mushrooms so he couldn't be happier.



The Chef then conjured up the KACCHE GHADE KA PAKA MURG which was a show stopper of the starters, probably. So, the chicken is marinated for almost 12 hours in curd, strawberries and spices and then its placed in a raw clay pot. The mouth of the pot is sealed and its put into the tandoor where as the pot gets fired as well as the chicken inside cooks. I found it fascinating and even more so, when the Chef expertly broke the pot and served us with the piping hot chicken pieces.



The chicken was perfection. It had the slight undertone of strawberries which was used for marination but it was perfectly spiced. It was served with a special tangy, spicy dip which only made it better.

When we were thinking we could eat no more, we were served the 12 KI DAAL with AMRITSARI KULCHA, and might I say that we would have been happy even if there was no chicken for mains. It was that delicious. I am not very fond of daal (lentils) much to my mother's distress but here I was polishing off my bowl of daal. If you live around, you should definitely drop by to taste this, if nothing else.



The KULCHAs were pillowy soft and incredibly tasty. These kulchas were giving kulcha-goals to all other kulchas in the market. We ate it with CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA and BOONDI RAITA and literally cried because:
1.) It was so damn exquisite
2.)We couldn't stop eating

We were ready to give up when the Chef thought it would be funny to send over a cooker of KACCHE GOSHT KI BIRYANI over at our table. We had no choice. When you are served such mouth-wateringly aromatic biryani with delectable chunks of spiced lamb, you don't say no. So yes, dear reader, we ate it all like two gluttons on a buffet breakfast. #NoRegrets

We finished off the grand affair with JALANDHAR KI SPECIAL PISTA MALAI KULFI which is made from scratch in the kitchen, every element taken care of. It showed in the kulfi as it was rich and very smooth and creamy.



Mridul Khosla, the Marketing executive for Hilton as well as our host for the evening, only made the evening more fun. She was warm and welcoming and it was like sitting down to dinner with a friend. If you are reading this, thanks a ton! :*

As a cue perhaps, fireworks went off in the horizon as we sat nursing our glasses of wine looking over the expanse of twinkling lights. And it was a perfect date.