Suruchi, Crown Interior Mall (Faridabad, India)

This is going to be a really short post as there is nothing much to write about the restaurant except for my rants.

Well, the first time we had dinner at Suruchi was around dinner time on a weekday and we were quite happy. I mention time and weekday, because these are the variables that will screw your experience at the mentioned restaurant.

Also, real test of the restaurant is when it is peak time. I have seen bigger, better and reputed restaurant(s) fall and struggle to breathe on the weekends. But, then how you handle it changes the experience of the diner.

We visited Suruchi in sweltering Indian summer at 7:15 PM on Sunday. First we were refused anything as they start serving at 7:30 PM. I insisted and said we will order drinks in the meantime as 7:30 PM is just 15 mins away. To which they hesitantly agreed. Clearly giving the signals that we were not required.

We sat down and realized that air conditioning was switched off as restaurant opens at 7:30 PM. At 7:40 PM we ordered our food and asked for AC to be switched on. But to our dismay it was never switched on. They just pretended. I could make out as there was no air from the Vents.

Yes to prove my point I had to get up and wave my hand in front of AC to confirm that there was not even hot air blowing from the AC Vents. Few minutes later there were 2-3 more tables full and mysteriously cool air from the vents started flowing.

For this I confronted the waiter and the restaurant manager, the talks to them turned out to be as useless as the restaurant. I asked were you lying to me, and the reply was "YES"!!!

How, rude can it be? I paid the bill and moved and swore never to visit any restaurant related to Suruchi. I hope and wish that you never have such an experience at a restaurant.

This restaurant absolutely falls in "No Go Zone" and "Enter at your own risk category".

Konkan, Taj Vivanta (Mumbai, India)

On one of my business trips, I had the privilege of staying at Taj Vivanta President, Cuffe Parade, Mumbai.

During this stay I got to try all the restaurants there, as after work I did not had enough energies to walk to nearest restaurants. However, on my other stays in the same hotel I tried "Status" near Maken Towers and Moshes on Cuffe Parade. I will write about them later.

Yes, of course I have been to Leopold Cafe multiple times and it is not that great.

Coming back to Konkan; when one of my colleagues suggested that this was an award winning restaurant, we decided to have our dinner there. I was skeptical because I am vegetarian and coastal food does not give many options to us vegetarians.

Well the decor was like an eat out on a beach village in India.
I didn't like the mango drink that we ordered or anything else. Even the non vegetarians did not like their dishes. Even though they belonged to coastal regions and had coastal food frequently.

Good things to write about were highly obliging and courteous staff who tried a lot to make us comfortable. However, food may be good but was not to my tastes. May be they went a little bit too authentic, everything had too much of raw eilaichi. Which was a turn off.

Contrary to this Thai Pavilion which is another renowned restaurant at this Taj Property has good food. I loved eating there. I will write more about it later.

Le Meridien, Jaipur

After staying at Trident Jaipur I was tempted to stay at "Le Meridian", Jaipur. Finally they were offering a good deal when we were planning our annual trip to Rajasthan.

It was then that I decided to stay at the property for a night, as a stopover between our destination and Delhi. The deal was 9K INR (Room, Breakfast and one SPA session for a couple).

What I remember from the trip is:

1. Sitting by the pool procrastinating and sipping fresh lime juice.
2. Relaxing in the SPA
3. Feeling small in huge rooms with high ceiling
4. Wine on the first floor of the restaurant

The property is grand and rooms are of good size with good sized bathrooms. Had a great stay at the hotel and enjoyed it. The restaurant serves awesome food. Chef and waiting staff is well versed with what’s on offer and what's liked by the people.

Few little problems that we faced were:

1. The staff expects tips at every step you take.
2. English is terrible even with the reception staff
3. The cue by the billiards/pool table was broken and even after repeated complaints it was not fixed. (Again a staff issue)
4. They need to do something with pigeons sitting out in the balconies. Basically one cannot open the balconies because of the mess created by pigeons.
 

Mac Donalds, Faridabad (Haryana, India)

A new outlet of MacDonalds is now open at Crown Interiors Mall.

This is in addition to:

- Mac Donalds at Crown Plaza
- Mac Donalds Sector 31 (Drive in)
- Mac Donalds Sector 12

Places to eat out in Faridabad - II

Few more additions to the list:

1. Restaurant at The Vibe, Lalit

2. Dhaba, Calridges (I really don't remember how I missed it in my first list).

3. Restaurant at Millenium Hotel

Dal Makhani

Well I found the most delicious Dal Makhani; you can get it at 7 Days food court at Pristine Mall, Faridabad. The only downside is the quantity as, you need to order two dishes for one person.

However, I don't mind the quantity as the quality is excellent.

The other place which dishes out 'EXCELLENT' dal makhani is the GULATIs on Pandara Road, New Delhi. This place is my all time favorite.

For making India food at home see the books below. You can also try cooking Indian food at home in Microwave.

    

Pirates of the Grill, Gurgaon (Haryana, India)

I had really good food after a long long time!
I think that sums it up, innit?

The Serious Stuff:

This  newly opened restaurant is located in the same mall as Vapour, Gurgaon. Decorations are average  and they try to do Pirates theme which is totally out of place. The food is served in same format as Barbecue Nation.

However, the POG (Pirates of Grill) is more spacious and tables are comfortably spaced from other tables. The snacks are served on the table and are excellent. Main course is buffet style and is average.
Desserts are awesome.

Waiters can be at times get overwhelmed with orders and service; especially when the restaurant is full.

Verdict:
Rating - 8 / 10
Will I visit again: Yes
Location: Excellent
Cost: 350 + Taxes for Veg (One soft drink included)

Hunger Cure

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.

Places to eat out in Faridabad

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.

Few good places to eat on GT road

Murthal - Jhilmil, Ahuja No. 1, Sukhdev

Few Kms ahead - Haveli

Ambala - Sagar Rathna

Chandigarh - a really long list

Ropar (Rupnagar) - Lee Rose

Spaghetti, Saket

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.

Jalsa, Outer ring road, Bangalore

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

Cafe Masala, Eva Mall (Bangalore, India)

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.

Restaurant: Fav 5

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.:-)

Tandoor, MG Road (Bangalore, India)

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

The décor is 'haveli style', this is the best I could think of to explain the decor. And yes the seating is not that comfortable.

I don’t know when my search for perfect seating and perfect food will end. Coming back to food, it is amazingly delicious at Tandoor. It is a heaven 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 favorites dal makhani with naan was delicious and chicken was fabulous. The ambiance 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.

Tip: Like any other restaurant in Bangalore, while going for dinner on weekends – PLEASE BOOK IN ADVANCE.

HAKA, RMZ Infinity (Bangalore, India)

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 ambiance and better quality of the food.