Friday Evening at Chakraa, Itaewon

This was our visit to Itaewon after quite a while and the reason for doing so was due to some instigation from colleagues. The restaurant had sent out a mailer publicizing a food event where they would be serving Indian Goodies (typically snack items) and all of them vegetarian. I hadn’t tried out the Itaewon Branch earlier and after acquiring some knowledge on the items that would be available, I was quite keyed up.

Since we wanted to make sure that we had enough space in our stomach, a meagre lunch was ensured while we waited for the clock to strike 7 PM, our departure time. We all congregated at the bus stop and off we were on our way.

The Chakraa Restaurant is located in one of the back alleys running parallel to the Itaewon Main road. If you have Hamilton Hotel on your left you would go a bit forward and turn left to hit a T crossing. There you would turn right and immediately you would find the entrance and the stairs leading to the destination in the First Floor.

The owner is an Indian Christian from Kerala, and I knew him from before since he is also involved in arranging accommodations for Indians in Seoul (with a food supply deal). I went up to him and when I greeted him, I am not sure whether he was all that pleased. Maybe he didn’t like my face or perhaps something else was bothering him. I could not care less.

Let me elaborate on what was on store for the evening. The list ran as follows:

Spicy Cocktail Idlis (Steamed spheres of fermented rice and lentil)
Gol Gappa (Small Crispy Fried Hollow Wheat Flour Balls meagerly stuffed with a spicy concoction of mashed/pieces of boiled potato along with optional accompaniments, finally dipped in tamarind water and served)
Bhel Puri (Spicy Mixture of Puffed rice, tamarind/tomato sauce, Indian mixtures, onions, boiled potatoes, etc)
Chat Papdi (Cocktail size crispy flat fried wheat flour pancakes with assorted toppings of boiled grams, Boiled potato pieces, tomatoes, coriander, whipped yoghurt and a sweet tangy tamarind based sauce)
Samosas (Fried stuffing’s of potato mix in wheat flour and shaped like a triangle)
Pav Bhajji – (Toasted Buns soaked with dollops of butter accompanied with a spicy pan fried mixture of Tomatoes, Potatoes, Onions and whatever else you could lay your hand on)
Punjabi Dal (thick lentil soup)
Roti (Elementary Indian Bread)
Chole (Spicy Gram Curry)
Badam Kheer (Supposed to be thickened milk with Kesar, saffron and almonds)

I along with a couple of others sat down with a bottle of Hite Beer (I somehow like the mild Korean Beers) while the others sequentially attacked the counter for the initial fillings and refillings. It was a buffet and you could consume as much without the owner getting too upset about it!!!

I took some Idlis as accompaniment with the beer and they were not too bad, though I missed the rulebook accompaniment of the chutney(a coconut based sauce). The Gol Gappas were not up to the mark, which meant that the filling was not tasty and the tamarind water was not tangy. For me it was a terrible let down, since I am used to extremely well done Gol Gappas back home.

The Bhel Puri and Chat Papdi were manageable. We were enjoying all this not because of the taste, but more so due to the fact that we don’t get to eat all these out here regularly. Chakraa knew our emotions so well and was taking advantage of the same.

The Chole was the best they produced and stood out amongst the others. I avoided the Dal and I did some sampling of the Badam Kheer at the end and I found it to be diluted rubbish.

We had spent nearly two hours there and on our way back I was thinking about the time spent. It was good as we relaxed and all of us joked and laughed and had a good time. The verdict on the food consumed was 2.5 out of 10 and I am sorry if you have a different opinion. As far as I am concerned, this was my last visit to Chakraa unless due to compelling circumstances beyond my control. Best of luck to you, if you venture that way!!

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