Ice cream that refuses to melt

In the years gone by, Kwality has continued to live up to its name.

Staff at New Delhi's Kwality restaurant will discreetly tell you of their most-recent celebrity guest "" actor Jet Li. But ask the old-timers, some of whom are still around, as gracious as ever, and they will tell you of Nargis Dutt who would visit this restaurant along with her children each time Parliament was in session.

For years, Kwality has been one of Delhi's best-loved chole-bhature place and a glance at the wholesome platter tells you exactly why. If you don't want to add on the calories, you should still visit to soak in some nostalgia.

The restaurant came into being way back in the 1940s when an enterprising P L Lamba decided to churn out home-made ice-cream from a hand-held wooden machine for American soldiers stationed at the nearby barracks during the War.

"Two of the soldiers consumed five gallons of that ice cream," recalls Kuldeep Raj, director, and one of the oldest employees around.

"They then urged Mr Lamba to import a machine from the US and an ice-cream factory was set up right behind the restaurant."

It was relocated later and taken over by Walls but few of us know about these origins of the famous "Kwality". In the 1960s and 1970s, the restaurant also gained popularity as a destination for arranged dating, over a cup of coffee.

Since then, much has changed, but many of the old-favourites on the menu going back to the years of the Raj remain. As do some waiters; genteel and unhurried. Lately, Lamba scion Dhruv has been expanding with many Kwality Xpresses in the QSR format. But without the nostalgia.