JOHN’S KITCHEN

Eating Out

If you are a fast food lover living in Guwahati city, John's Kitchen would hardly need an introduction for you. Located in the busy GS Road area in ABC, John's Kitchen is undoubtedly one of the most popular fast food joints of the city, having managed to maintain its standards right from its inception.

For the uninitiated, John's Kitchen is the brainchild of John - a passionate adventure biker, mountaineer and a foodie at heart. John, the proprietor, is always dressed in a biker's tee, crew cut hairstyle and a long goatee while his favourite bike, a Royal Enfield, is perched outside the eatery. So for a first timer who comes into contact with the owner, the first question that comes into mind is the probable quality of the food. Not surprisingly, the million-dollar question for most customers is whether John and his team of chefs can cook decent Chinese fast food? Well, the answer needs no second reiteration. Over the last many years, John and his group of young chefs have established their fast food joint as one of the most popular Chinese eateries in the entire city.

Atypical Chinese fast food joint, with sole emphasis on quality food at highly affordable rates, John's Kitchen serves typical Chinese fast food items like noodles, fried rice, and dumplings. It also features several Pork and Chicken Items.

One of the best-selling items of this joint is their signature Momo dish, which is also the talk of the town. One can find food lovers of the city and even visitors to the city lining up on the streets in front of the eatery just to get a seat in one of their table to enjoy this dumpling of joy! Guwahati-based Radio Jockey Tulika Devi, who is an almost daily visitor to the restaurant, swears by the quintessential momos served here. She says, "After MomoGhar which is slowly losing its food standards, John's Kitchen arguably serves the best momos in the city. The dumplings are filled with ample amount of chicken and tastes really good. The best part is that the management has managed to maintain the taste of the food items as all of them taste exactly like the way when it was first introduced a few years back".

Not just momos, the eatery is a heaven for fast food lovers, especially those who swear by Chinese cuisine. Some of the popular food items range from the Pork Dry Fry - sliced pork chunks seasoned with salt and black pepper and fried to perfection in black sauce, onions and green-peppers, and the assortment of noodles and chopsueys. It is quite a common sign to witness patrons lining up in front of the café to grab a plate of their favourite noodles and chopsueys, which is prepared with elan and served with perfection.

Coming to the interiors, the place is quite small and always remains filled to the hilt. In fact, as mentioned earlier, it is quite a herculean task to find a decent spot in the place to sit down with your loved ones and eat. But despite the lack of space, the management has made quite good use of the space to lend an ethereal Chinese fast food feel to the entire eatery.

While the wooden and plastic chairs and tables make up most of the ground space of the eatery, the walls are adorned with logos and memorabilia's from John's travels to various biking expeditions all over the country. Tibetean country flags adorn a part of the wall while framed pictures of John's mountaineering and biking expeditions are framed on the other walls. The kitchen is located above mezzanine floor out of the customer's view and the waiting bearers provide fast and reliable service to the vast pool of waiting customers.

While the ambience is one of a typical Chinese fast food joint, the prices of the food items are unbelievable and goes quiet easy on the pocket. Taking into comparison the fact that this place is located in the busy and slightly expensive GS Road area of the city, the highly reasonable food prices makes this place a food lover's delight. As a customer duly pointed out, 'In the expensive Christain Basti area of Guwahati, John's kitchen can be your saviour for a quick bite if you are looking for gourmet quality fast food."

The melange team recently parked itself in John's Kitchen in a bid to understand the craze that its food items have created. And not surprisingly, we were not left disappointed. As a customer said, "This is a very simple place with a simple pricing strategy. But the taste of the food is not something you'll forget soon. Its yummy to say the least! This place arguably serves the best Chinese food available in Guwahati. Otherwise most of the so-called Chinese eateries are just opened for the sake of running their business and don't even aim at satisfying the customers' taste buds."

Another customer Kristi Baishya said, "John's Kitchen has been a favourite eatery of mine since my college days. If you want some tasty food but your budget is a bit tight, this would be a wonderful option for you to try out in the ABC area. The service is quite fast as they can't keep the crowd seated for a long time. Their Momos and American Chopseuy are delicious!"

All in all, we feel that John's Kitchen deserves a rating of 4 out of 5 for the consistent quality of food that they serve. The only shortcoming, we felt was the rather small dining space which, if improved, would have elevated this place into the best Chinese food joint of the city. So next time, if you want to try out the best momos and chopsueys of Guwahati, don't forget to give John's Kitchen a try!