Where tacos go with shawarma
Our date with El Rancho & Pick Pocket started on a rather unsavoury note. Google Maps couldn’t direct us to the exact spot, and the person who answered the call at the eatery wasn’t of much help either. Eventually, we did find our way. Located on a road that has innumerable food and beverage establishments, spotting this tiny new hole in the wall isn’t easy; the place just gets lost among the dozens of neon lights on this street. Not one of the swanky joints that we were expecting it to be, the place has an al fresco section that leads patrons to the main seating area, which accommodates a few more tables.
Coming to the décor, it’s very modest. One half of the eatery has a decked surface, while the other shines in bright red and lot of graffiti, along with an in-your-face image of Argentinian revolutionary Che Guevara. The eatery is marketed as two restaurants, though located at the same place. The menu too reflects this with one side dedicated to El Rancho, which is Mexican fare and the other to Pick Pocket that has Lebanese food. Orders have to be placed at a counter, and food picked up at the adjoining one.
Our first orders, Chicken Jalfrezi (₹189) and Chicken Sausages (₹179), came in soon enough. The former, which was a mixture of shredded chicken, carrot, capsicum and beans, was flavourful. The latter, which was also served in pita bread, like the previous one, was more like the Sub that we are so used to. We also went in for the Wing Man (₹179), chicken wings, which was tender and the best of the lot. Since we had already placed the entire order earlier, at this point, we were served Classic Churros (₹159), which was meant to be served after our food as dessert. We didn’t try it and went in for Grilled Chicken Pesto Skewers with 5 Spice Rice (₹249) from the main course section. It had well marinated chicken that went well with cumin rice and Thai gravy. Our next, Roast Chicken with Caliente Rice (₹249), simply melted in our mouth and the portion was large enough for its price; an absolute value for money. Our second dessert, Umm Ali (₹199), a preparation of bread, milk and dry fruits, was inedible because of its extremely sweet contents.
Though most new restaurants are catering to the health conscious lot these days, this one doesn’t. A woman employee who took orders at the counter, also served food at the tables, picked up soiled plates and even cleaned tables. So, this meant fresh orders were being served in spite of the table being littered with food leftovers. Also, there were no tissue papers at the table, and every time we needed one, we had to request the woman at the counter. El Rancho & Pick Pocket is surely not a place I’d like to visit again.