The Local Eatery: An Eatery With A Difference

I must confess that I seldom prefer desi food when I go out to eat. A local food place has to offer something exceptional to draw me towards it.

I had heard about The Local Eatery, one of the latest additions to Y Block, DHA when it opened up but, like I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t particularly interested because, as the name suggests, it serves local food. 

I stumbled upon their menu online and what piqued my interest were some items I don’t quite remember seeing at other desi restaurants, such as Butter Chicken, Tawa Beef and chicken apparently from Sialkot, Prawn Biryani, and some tempting Thaali combinations. I had to go check it out!

Located next to Cosa Nostra, The Local Eatery is hard to miss: the minimalistic white wooden exterior can be instantly noticed. It’s a small, cosy restaurant with the same white wooden theme as outside extended inside. But what strikes you as soon as you enter is the wall in front of the entrance decorated with mirrors from buses and trucks, and a panel adjacent to it with a black and white photo of a smiling Madhubala and some more of those mirrors, giving a touch of charcoal truck art to the place. This is one of the few desi restaurants with an urban, contemporary vibe to them.

The interior follows a black and white theme which is lit up further by sunlight splashing in through the glass wall. I took the table right next to the beautiful Madhubala.

I had a friend accompanying me, so our first starter was the Mirchi Bites: delicious jumbo green chillies stuffed with hints of chicken strips and covered with a crispy shell. Meant for the really brave, they are best had with the restaurant’s in-house sauce that balances the spice level.

We also tried the Paneer Pakoras: large cubes of soft cottage cheese fried in pakora batter served with chutney. The best starter though was the Til Mil Jheenga: succulent prawns grilled to perfection and sprinkled with sesame seeds. These are a must-try if one’s into seafood.

For the main course, we had the Thaali in two variations so we got a little bit of everything on the menu, as well as Beef Seekh Kabab and Prawn Biryani.

The kababs were thick, juicy and cooked perfectly. The biryani was fresh and slightly spicy with a significant number or prawns, thankfully.

One thaali consisted of Khatti Daal, Madrasi Chicken and Dr Chaamp Chicken – the owners claim this is a specialty of Sialkot sold there by the same name, and in Lahore available here at their restaurant only. While Malai Boti and Zeera Rice are already included. The daal was good; Madrasi Chicken tender, spicy and sprinkled with red chilli flakes with ample gravy. Dr Chaamp Chicken was a revelation: tender little chunks of taka-tak tawa chicken cooked with the right amount of chilli, spices and herbs.

For the other Thaali, we opted for Butter Chicken, Palak Paneer and Dr Chaamp Beef, and of course Malai Boti and Zeera Rice are part of it. I liked the beef tawa better than chicken; I’d have beef over chicken any day. Both chicken and beef tawa are served with a house special sauce.

The other two dishes on this Thaali were stars of the meal for me. Palak Paneer did not have the usual texture and consistency of spinach (though that is also served if you inform the waiter); this was a delicious, aromatic, thick, cheesy gravy with ample chunks of cottage cheese. Cooked in fresh cream -- with some drizzled over it too, Butter Chicken was finger-licking good with juicy, full-of-flavour chunks of chicken.

To finish off this hearty meal, we had Shahi Tukray for dessert. Crispy, fried slices of bread covered in thick, creamy sauce topped with cardamom and pistachio – as good as they can be!

For a desi restaurant, the prices are slightly steep, but then almost all items on the menu are meant for one to two persons. Also, one can hardly go wrong with local food – handis, karahis, BBQ – unless one commits a blunder, so while at The Local Eatery, expect good food generally, but nothing surprising. But do try out the dishes you may not easily get elsewhere.

Originally published in Dawn on Feb 19, 2017