Around the World With me

Hunger Cure

2010-12-14T12:07:00.002+05:30

It sure does live up to its name and cures hunger!

Well this is a little known eating hangout in Faridabad – Sector 14, Sector 21C and Sector 15 (takeaway only). A warning for hard core non-vegetarians; this is a strictly vegetarian joint and serves no non-vegetarian dishes.

The menu is full off mouthwatering dishes like steamed momos, grilled kulcha, pastas and salads. All are mouth watering and would make you come back again and again. Well as a caution don’t go for Pizza at it is tasteless and soulless.

The place is average on décor and cleanliness. It is better to get your food packed and move on to your home. Well if you are in Faridabad and fancy some tasty food, do try out hunger cure and for sure it will live up to its expectations.

Trident Jaipur

2010-12-08T14:33:00.002+05:30

Trident, Jaipur is an excellent property right opposite JalMahal in Jaipur. The location is ideal as you cross Amer and Amer fort on the way. The same road leads you to the pink city and the major shopping destinations in Jaipur. Basically, it is neither outside the city nor inside the city.

The property is maintained very well and staff is very courteous. Sometime, that makes you a little uncomfortable. But, it is not hard getting used to all the pampering and attention received.

The food is excellent; however the ‘only’ restaurant serving food can get very busy at times.

The rooms are impeccably clean with all the necessities required. Keep in mind the 3rd floor rooms being sold as Lake View rooms do not offer the view of the lake as promised. The view is blocked due to the vegetation.

Well the only drawbacks are:
1. The property is very compact. The rooms are comfortable and nicely decorated but they are quite small.
2. Lack of facilities like SPA.

Le Meridien is a stone’s throw away and seems to be better option. As it is a bigger property with the similar price band. However it lacks the view and the location which Trident offers.

Places to eat out in Faridabad

2010-04-29T13:42:00.000+05:30

Faridabad is part of Delhi National Capital Region, a lesser known sibling of Gurgaon and NOIDA. Although the place boasts of numerous malls, food courts, numerous take away joints (International, National & Local brands). There is no good place to sit and enjoy the meal.
Few decent names which come to my mind when planning to eat out in this NCR town are:
1. Silk
2. Zosse – Crown Plaza
3. Moksha
4. Pind Baluchi
After eating numerous times at Silk, it was time to try out something new. And, it turned out to be a great horror story.
Reached Moksha (In the same mall as Haldirams). The floor was stinking with garbage, tobacco stains on the wall, etc. It was like stepping into a railway station or a rundown movie theatre. However, braved everything and entered Moksha; the interiors quite decent considering the exteriors.
We stood at the reception for 15 minutes and nobody attended us. Finally, spoke to the guard and got a reply that, “Sir, nobody will attend you today, as there is a big party going on”.
Well why not open a banquet hall if the place is to entertain big parties and not cater to walk-in customers OR at least put a board outside.
Well with this attitude of a restaurant I will advise none to visit the place and any ways the place is filthy.
Rating: 0/10

Second Stop: Pind Baluchi was even worse in terms of services.
We were seated and the order was placed. However, I felt as if I was invisible. None of the waiters served the dishes, they just brought them and left it on us.
However, this was not the case with other customers who were in groups of 10+. I saw the partial treatment of the waiters because of large tips Vs small tips with all the customers.
On complaining to the head waiter the response was even colder. We were given finger bowls with cold water which was literally thrown at our table.
Well with such hostile nature of the waiters I will rate Pind Baluchi (– 10)/10
To top it all there were mosquitoes in the restaurant and dishes were not clean. Had to ask for replacement multiple times.I have never faced any problems with Pind Baluchi in Gurgaon. So I will not rate the whole chain as I have done above. But certainly Faridabad branch is one place I am never visiting.

Phirangi Paani, Gurgaon (Ambience Mall)

2009-07-11T23:33:00.003+05:30

Phirangi Paani is a BJN property and is supposed to be good.
I have been to loads of other BJN properties and really liked Indijoes, Samarkand etc. but have never been to Phirangi paani in NCR or Bangalore.

I visited Phirangi Paani at Ambience Mall, Gurgaon this weekend.
The decor was inherited from its cousion (Indijoes) - however Indijoes is more american and sporty.

We all got to our seats and liked the place.
This was a place where we can sit, drink, eat, be merry and be sophisticated at the same time.
However, that's where the dream ends and the problem starts.

First of all - "No draught beer!!!".
So, went ahead with usual Kingfisher.

Then came the second blow - "no french fries".
Anyways, went ahead and continued with drinks and ordered paneer tikka and chicken malai tikka.

Both dishes were very well prepared and very tasty.
But, they were very expensive for the quantities being served.

So, after few pints down; it was time to visit the toilets.
Well, it seems toilets are 1and half kilometres away tucked inside "FUNCITY". You reach your destination after dodging few children and mom to be(s). Which is not at all fun on a Friday evening.

However, all said and done we get into a very nice animated high volume conversation and realise that we are not audible to each other. The reason, after 7:30PM phirangi paani decided to make everyone deaf. Upon asking the manager to slightly lower the volume so that we all can at least talk. Were polietly told that this is the company policy.

Well, it was time when we wrapped up, paid the bill and moved on to our next destination. And, decided never to return again (period)

Final verdict: Nice place, nice ambience, good concept, a concept which never conceptualised, not in tune with customers, over priced, lack of facilities.

4 / 10

Few good places to eat on GT road

2009-07-04T17:23:00.001+05:30

Murthal - Jhilmil, Ahuja No. 1, Sukhdev

Few Kms ahead - Haveli

Ambala - Sagar Rathna

Chandigarh - a really long list

Ropar (Rupnagar) - Lee Rose

Spaghetti, Saket

2009-05-01T16:45:00.003+05:30

I first tried food at Spaghetti, at Lido Mall Bangalore and completely loved it.

The food was great, the wine was great and the service even better.
Had a great time there and complimented the chef many times.

Then tried spaghetti at Saket and the service was cold, food not so tasty and overall not a nice experience.

Nothing much to write about the restaurants though.
My rating would be 5 out of 10 as all the franchisees don't maintain the same standards.

Cafe Coffee Day

2008-12-01T09:58:00.002+05:30

I love going to cafe coffee day outlets across the city and enjoy a cup of coffee. But slowly the standard of service is going down on some of the cafe coffee day outlets. Some points which I noticed were:

1. Staff is pathetically lethargic.
2. Because of the above mentioned reason, when it gets busy in the evenings - there are missed orders, mud on the floor, dirty table tops etc.
3. Lately, I have observed at 4 different cafe coffee day outlets that they run out of stock for basically everything. (Whitefield, Hormavu, Kalyan Nagar and RMZ Infinity).

I had not been to barista lately so cannot compare their service. Barista is also catching up to CCD by opening more outlets across bangalore.

Jalsa, Outer ring road, Bangalore

2008-10-18T15:37:00.003+05:30

Jalsa is located on the outer ring road between Marthalli junction and KR puram flyover.

About the restaurant - as the name and the picture above suggests it is a Mughlai restaurant. It truly lives up to its name in context to what it appears from outside. Stepping inside is like going backward in time. It is like a dance bar from the mughal times (no puns intended). All the staff is dressed in theme based mughlai attire. All this takes some time to sink and then the enjoyment starts.

They have seating in the middle area of huge hall (that is under the dome). They have seating around the central hall which is kind of small semi-private cabins and then there is seating outside. So there is loads to choose from.

Now coming on to food. Food is excellent but is priced slightly higher than the restaurants of same class. I personally loved the 'Aam Panna' (Mango drink). They have good variety of drinks, snacks, veg and non-veg food. Service is prompt and efficient.

Overall a nice restaurant which is different in its own way and provides a fun evening out with friends or family.

Average meal for 4 (without alcohol) would be 2000.00 INR

Fun Cinemas

2008-09-03T15:54:00.003+05:30

Fun cinema located at Sigma mall, Cunningham road, Bangalore used to be one of the quite multiplexes in the city. However, now it seems everybody who wants to escape from the maddening crowds of Forum (PVR) or Garuda (InoX) is running to the fun cinemas.

The multiplex is same as any other across the country. However there are two major points at which the multiplex management should look at and also people going to watch movies there should consider.

1. Cleanliness
While you first sit in your allocated seat UGH!!! Factor kicks in. I don’t know whether they clean or do they dirty it?

2. Safety
(i) We usually watch 9-12 show and by that time the food court on the lower floor place all
their chairs in the service stairs area (which is used as exit for the cinema hall). Also, the staircase is very poorly lit, slippery and full of unknown dangers.

(ii) No proper security checks. People walk in with their helmets, gift wrapped gifts etc. Which
is major concern especially since Bangalore is now on the terror hit list.

Well overall the hall is very congested. It is not a place where you would like to be. But, due to scarcity of multiplexes in Bangalore, in spite of so many shortfalls they are doing good business.

I would rate the cinemas as poor.

La Plantation, Mauritius

2008-06-10T09:24:00.005+05:30

I travelled to Mauritius in December, 2007 and chose to stay at La Plantation (4 Star).

The hotel is located away from city and has its own Private beach with loads of fun activities. If you are a regular visitor and don't fancy to move around much; except for relaxing. There is loads you can do at the hotel itself. There is a Spa, Sports such as volleyball, swimming pool, scuba diving, para sailing etc.

Food is mouth watering especially the breakfast. Pure vegetarian Indian food is also served.
The most amazing was the beach side restaurent and bar.

Staff speaks English, Hindi and French and the service is excellent.

Dragon Air

2008-06-10T09:18:00.002+05:30

Flying to Hong Kong from Bangalore just got easier.

Dragon air a sister concern of Cathy Pacific has started a daily service from Bangalore to Hong Kong from 2nd July, 2008.

Good places to watch English movies in NCR (New Delhi)

2008-06-06T08:40:00.002+05:30

Good places to watch english movies in New Delhi are Priya in Vasant Vihar and PVR in Saket.

Also the multiplex in Centrestagemall, Noida hosts good english movies.

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2008-05-28T09:18:00.000+05:30

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Cafe Masala, Eva Mall, Bangalore

2008-05-20T10:06:00.003+05:30

CAFE MASALA

This is another BJN hotels property on the 5th floor of Eva Mall.

One can either chose to sit outside and enjoy pleasant bangalore weather or sit inside. However, balcony seating is void of any views. The food is really good, but avoid rumaali rotis.

We enjoyed north indian food that was ordered and the Kulfi was amazing. The tables provide enough privacy and are decently spaced. Also, the seating is very comfortable - puts you in nice position to enjoy food and conversation.

Turn around time is also decent and waiters are responsive. For example, as soon as our drinks were done. Table was set up immedietly for dinner and dinner was served.

For Saturdays and Sundays one needs reservation.

This is a decent joint in the heart of the city. I would recommened this joint for a casual dinner after shopping. I was also told that their lunctime buffet is really good and there are plenty of items to choose from.

I will post more on other BJN hotels property like Samarkand, Hypnosis, Indijoe etc.

Spice Jet

2008-05-14T17:22:00.003+05:30

Spice Jet Flight - Bangalore to New Delhi

Experience on a Spice jet flight, on a recent trip from Bangalore to Delhi.

I have been on this same flight on two , and it has never been on time. The original flight was at 8:55PM (Friday). As usual I got an SMS 1 week before; that the flight has been rescheduled to 9:30PM.

However, I was expecting further delays.

On the day of flight; the flight was then delayed to 10:30PM. However on reaching the airport the flight took off only at 00:00AM. The only plus point was, that the luggage was released quickly and I was out of the airport within 30mins of landing.

Well coming to the point. The whole idea of taking 8:55PM flight was that I will reach New Delhi at decent enough time and the problem is, that on both the occasions the flight was rescheduled and took off at midnight.

What I understand from this is that the airline ignores customer feedback. However I will have to take the same flight again if I book the tickets late and it is the only airline available.

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2008-04-07T17:06:00.001+05:30

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The other side of South African tourism : Sad

2008-04-07T17:04:00.002+05:30

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I don't understand the fundamentals behind killing some living being and enjoying.

Jet Airways - flights to San Francisco

2008-04-04T09:23:00.002+05:30

According to the advertisement in TOI today,

Jet Airways is announcing flights to San Francisco from Mumbai on daily basis.
This flight is starting from May 5th, 2008.

I will review international and national flights of Jet airways in next post.

Travel Websites - India

2008-04-03T18:52:00.002+05:30

In recent years there has been a boom in number of websites offering air tickets, packages, hotel packages etc. Here is a short list of few popular web-sites:

1. Makemytrip
2. Yatra
3. Cleartrip
4. Indiatimes travel
5. Ezeego
6. Travelguru

Air Travel in India

2008-04-01T08:58:00.006+05:30

Air travel in India was a good experience till last year when I travelled Jet and Sahara. With new year's start (2007) I travelled with Paramount, Sahara, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo.

Well Air Travel especially with -SpiceJet, GoAir andIndiGo is a nightmare. My advice to people travelling especially with IndiGo is to go 1hour late as all their flights are always 1hrs late. We always talk about Deccan being late and not being on time. But these other no frill airlines have crossed the limit. First the boarding call is delayed by 15-30mins and then after boarding the plane, one keeps sitting inside for 30-40mins for god knows what. So overall - Indian no frill airlines I give a thumbs down. I only travel through them because I have no other option. Travelling through no frill airlines is a painful experience, especially if you are one of those very few punctual flyers. Who reach airport on time and check in on time.

Moral of the story: If these airlines cannot get a person from Point A to Point B on time these airlines are useless. They don't solve the purpose of travelling with them. No frills airlines provides no extras and the only service provided by them is to pick up a person from one city and drop them to another city. If they fail to provide timely and efficient service, then I think they have failed as a company and as a airline.

Restaurant: Fav 5

2008-03-30T01:45:00.001+05:30

List of my 5 favorite restaurants are:

1) 13th Floor, MG Road Bangalore. - For its Daal Makhani and amazing view of Bangalore from the 13th Floor balcony.

2) 3 Quarter Chinese, Bangalore - For its ambience

3) Queens, Church Street, Bangalore - For its daal Makhani

4) Elixir, Sector - 29, Faridabad - For its Daal Makhani

5) Hunger Cure, Sector - 29, Faridabad - For its Indian sauce used in Pizza

I rate restaurants on the basis of the quality of Daal Makhani.:-)

Landing at New Delhi Airport...

2008-03-30T01:44:00.004+05:30

Now that I have landed in Delhi many times, I thought of sharing my experience and write this post.

One can make out that they have arrived at New Delhi airport by the smells. One can smell and tell that the flight is about to land in Delhi. It is a good 'fragrance', a mixture of dust and smoke. This smell fills the plane's cabin when the plane is hovering over Delhi, just before the landing. It is a wonderful feeling to be choked, I feel so nostalgic. For me who is allergic to dust and smoke, I know I have arrived in Delhi as I start sneezing. It takes a while for my immune system to adjust to Delhi air.

As soon as one gets down at IGI (New Delhi Airport) airport there is a strong smell of Phenyl and the white tiles and mosaic floors reminds one that they have gone back in time. By this time having experienced so many 'fragrances' my nose gives up and I can barely breathe. Then comes the immigration queues, the wooden tables, and paan eating babus waiting to stamp your PASSPORT and ask weird questions. Just as one thinks it is all over and now I will meet my loved ones. One has to collect the luggage, with people literally resting their heads on your shoulder to look at the conveyor belt.

By now one really really want to run out, cry, scream, etc; but wait there is more. While getting out of the airport one has to tell so many people that they have their own arrangements to go back home or to the hotel. People of Saddi Dilli (New Delhi) are so courteous to the guests. I am talking about millions and zillions of taxi drivers and touts waiting outside.

Well, whatever it is; It is my home and I love being in Delhi. The dust, the smoke, the traffic, the swearing and shouting while driving, the food, the mess, the chaos, the heat - I love it ALL. Dilli is Dilli And, I love Dilli.

Tandoor

2008-03-30T01:41:00.001+05:30

To start off Tandoor is a restaurant on MG Road, Bangalore.

The décor is 'haveli style' this is the best I could think of, and yes the seating is not that comfortable. I don’t know when my search for perfect seating and perfect food will end. Coming to, food, is amazing at Tandoor. It is a haven for a north indian residing in Bangalore. The food is 'Lajwaab' in short. The restaurant is a bit on the expensive side; drinks and food for two will cost anywhere around 800.00INR to 1200.00INR, depending upon one’s appetite.

Please beware the servings are quite generous and if you are not that hungry. Think twice before ordering multiple dishes. Food should never go wasted, there are millions of people starving to death on this planet.

Our (As we are two now) two favourites dal makhani with naan is delicious and chicken is fantablous. The ambience is good on the ground floor. However on the first floor towards the other end of the floor, some tables are too close to the toilets and some old furniture is piled up in full view of the customers. This looks quite shabby and is not expected from a restaurant of such a repute. Like any other restaurant in Bangalore, while going for dinner on weekends – PLEASE BOOK IN ADVANCE.

HAKA

2008-03-30T01:39:00.001+05:30

Haka is located at RMZ Infinity, Old Madras Road.

The RMZ infinity building has shops and food court on the ground floor and offices above it. Companies such as Agilent, Synopsys, Reuters have their offices here. Haka looks nice and attractive from outside and the ambience is also modern. Seating is not the best but comfortable. One does not end up sitting in some awkward position or one arm distance from the table. Food and service is average – nothing much to write about. Quantity of food when compared to other restaurants of same standard and pricing is less. Infact this is the trend with all the stores and food joints at RMZ infinity. Low on quality and high on price. This may be because there is no mall in nearby areas and they are holding people for ransom, which is a trend in Bangalore. Well this is not the topic of this post so I would refrain from writing anymore on this.

Overall I would not rate the restaurant above average, but you may visit the restaurant if you have some extra money in your pockets ready to be spent. Mainland china at Indiranagar and Church Street is anytime better at comparable prices and provides better ambience and better quality of the food.