Over the last two weeks my effort to try out Lahore’s finest Club Sandwich faced many a setback. This sandwich has a history attached to Lahore, and was invented in the Lawrence Gardens when in 1857 the Punjab Army was setting out to recapture Delhi.

My old club on The Mall is where this fine delicacy was fabled to exist. So there I sat and waited with bated breath as a ‘thin-sliced’ invention with wet tomatoes in both layers came. The chicken had more mayonnaise than meat and simply folded in my hands. A second attempt in the same club met with the same result. An old friend told me some not-very-happy stories about the culinary affairs of this finest of haunts. One hope better times return.

But this disappointment was not going to deter me. A few culinary buffs I consulted pointed me in two directions. One was Avari Hotel, but as the top man invited me to a complimentary Club Sandwich, I had to refuse his offer. So to the other place I landed, and that was Rizwan’s in the Gulberg Main Market. This place I have known for the last 30 years in various forms, and it has never disappointed.

As I settled in a moderate environment, the delicacy finally arrived. It was served with chips which I had requested to be not thin, and if possible coated slightly with a semi-spicy mix. I also sought the potato chips be first boiled for a minute and then coated and fried. The Rizwan owner knows me slightly and followed instructions. Oh, it was a delight.

For starters they used thickly sliced bread. Secondly, the bread was not soft that welts in your hands, but a firmer variety. The slices were large and edges removed and semi-toasted. It seems these chaps know what a Club Sandwich is all about. The chicken bits were not mince-like but slightly larger pieces. The original 1857 ones had thick roast beef. Luckily they used boiled eggs, while I noticed others had omelette-like fried ones. This is a personal preference, though the original ones had boiled eggs. With their cabbage salad and the Club Sandwich described, this was an absolute delight. This place has a lot of variety to offer, but my trip was for the Club Sandwich.

Now let me mark this ‘Eating Out’ experience on a scale of one to nine. For ambience it gets five out of nine, for cleanliness a five will also do, for service a seven is well deserved given their politeness, for food quality a six is an acceptable score; much that one wants to give a higher score. For food taste a six is justified, for prices a seven is well in place, for location a five is just about fine. Finally, the ‘after taste’ deserves a sound six.

Now this adds up to an average of 5.9 out of nine, or let’s be generous and say six out of nine, which is very impressive given the quality of the Club Sandwich served. Had this been a posh eatery the score would have been higher, but it is a reasonable setting.

CHINESE CHEFS: Over the last six days we were invited to the houses of two family friends. In both cases it seems the trend is to hire a Chinese food chef over to their houses to prepare an almost lavish setting. In both cases the starting soup was a thick ‘Hot and Sour’ which was delicious to say the least.

For the main meal, in both cases was a Chicken Chow Mein, with egg fried rice and spicy chicken. Add to this fried prawns and, naturally, crackers. My hosts tell me this is now standard for home meals, which the Covid environment has encouraged. In short, both experiences were delightful, given that in both cases two sweet dishes, both ‘desi’, added to the fun. A most interesting social culinary development for Lahore.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2021