The dining table at the Sheesh Mahal.
Dining outdoors
Swarna
Mahal
jackets and huge saffron coloured turbans – laying out the succulent (and signature) lal maas (a traditional Rajasthani meat preparation), a never-ending kebab platter and an assortment of rotis. “We’re trying to maintain authenticity yet still offer choices to someone who may want something more regular,” says Bali, adding that, “Totally authentic food is very rich. It uses ingredients like saffron, cashew nuts, raisins, almonds and the like. So the menu is a combination of the very traditional and something new. – jungle maas, lal maas, gatta curry.” The service, as you’d expect, is highly personalised, courteous, and discreet.
Goes without saying that eating at 1135AD is not cheap – but given the sheer indulgence, authenticity, and exclusivity of the experience, the `15,000 or so per head (sans alcohol) that you will shell out for dining
Assortment
of Kebabs
at the sheesh mahal is well worth it. Dining out at the other sections will set you back less than a third of that, but the sheesh mahal is the crown jewel that you cannot afford to miss. 1135AD is not a place which you’re likely to waltz into for an evening snack on a whim. In more ways than one it’s an anachronism in this age of homogenised fast food. It belongs to another era when a meal was an occasion – elaborate and ritualised – to be savoured with pomp and leisure. Whether you’re out for a romantic evening with your better half, a gourmet trail through Rajasthan, or just a meal with a side-dish of history, you’ll do well to don the formals, switch off the phone, and settle in for an evening back in time. Close your eyes and you can almost hear the sound of distant hooves. The King’s back in Jaleb Chowk.
NOV — DEC 2012
chairs, decorative pieces, tables – are entirely made of silver. Ostentatious? Absolutely. But breathtakingly so.
The outer wall of the dining area has intricate lattice work. “We were trying to clean the jaali work at the Sheesh Mahal when we realised that there was something inside it obscured by centuries of neglect. And then we got someone to delicately chisel it and we realised that inside there were in fact full jharokhas. It makes sense because back in the day, this was a ladies section. And right across is Diwan-e-aam. Below is the Jaleb Chowk where everything happened when a king came back from battle. There was a purdah system and the women could come here and look at whatever was going on down in the Jaleb Chowk through the jharokhas,” explains Bali. The meal commenced with the waiters – impressively dressed in embroidered sherwani
Jai Garh
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