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chirag_09's Lists
Reviews by chirag_09
May 09, 2008
198/3 Chandrakant Chambers, Dhole Patil Road, Pune
Rated: Excellent
bake 'em all
Oodles of carbs and oodles of fat.....be wary of your resistive skills whenever you enter those glass gates to blissdom! A big glass wall divides the patio from the interiors which house their culinary delights.
An eclectic spread of rolls and sandwiches (Rs. 50/-) include the not-to-miss mince lamb roll, half-sin half-healthy (read as half-white half-brown both coalesced to form a single un-joint slice of bread) chicken, paneer, cheese sandwiches, chicken nugget roll, veg kebab roll, colorful burgers and the works (puffs e.t al.).
An assortment of croissants (effectively priced between Rs. 40/- to Rs. 60/-) include chicken croissant, veggie croissant, cheese croissant, butter croissant. Thoroughly infused with butter, extremely soft when heated, yet withholding the well-baked, kinda-burnt' aroma of bread, its this Pièce de résistance that makes me coming back for more and more.
A mind-numbing, palate-satisfying, body-inflating range of pastries (Rs. 70/- onwards) and cakes are housed in a central display. I have fought my restraints to dig into the chocolate cup cake (they showcase it as 70% gooey choc in it), or the chocolate lavasa, each time i visit . The one time I have dared to indulge was the zebra torte (Rs.80/-) infused with oodles of liqueur and perfectly moist which enables the melting-in-the-mouth syndrome. A further variety includes chocolate mocha, chocolate chip muffin (recommended), walnut brownie etc.
Sporting a huge plasma screen, the mezzanine floor caters as the seating area...an alternate way to enjoy a match in contrast to a sports bar.
They do coffees; hot and cold, ice teas and ice-drinks too.
In a city of bakeries, this one has traversed into the high-class zone with ease. A huge glass window showcases the chef and his assistants up to their tasks (which is not exactly a great view considering they use their bare hands...and to think that they have the audacity to portray it to the public is definitely commendable!!). The family that runs the place are hospitable to greet you and bid adieu to known faces.
One minus point though is that they have nothing whatsoever to cater to the 'healthy living' or 'watching their weight' kind of people. 'INDULGE' seems to be their unwritten logo!!
Multiple digs at this place are highly highly recommended.
May 02, 2008
Virdavan Apts, Opp, Sanas Residency, North Main Road, Koregaon Park, Pune
Rated: Excellent
reverberating the palate
A visually appealing menu card; one which entices a patron to actually dissect the varying options - is a job half-done. This one an Malaka Spice is neatly embedded with general trivia about the locations of whose food they cater. Knowing your food definitely did no-one any harm :)
They proudly exhibit themselves as an outfit enabling a 'culinary journey through southeast Asia'. This ensemble of varying cuisines incorporating flavours from Malacca, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia China, Indonesia ensures a neat (read as 'non-comprehensive') mixture of starters, stir-fires, soups, mocktails, rice, noodles, salads, curries and deserts.
A cosy-eatery, frequented by connoisseurs of good food, tucked in a by-lane in Koregaon Park offers both -open-air and air-conditioned seating. Drinks include wine and chilled beer.
Neither the service, nor the food (portion-wise and taste-wise) falter; be it any weekday or any weekend - the place almost always has a queue of patrons lined up.
I have had a range of dishes on numerous visits, the most frequently ordered being:
1) Lotus stem tango (Rs. 140/- for sliced crispy lotus stem stir-fried in a tangy sauce)
2) Chicken sausage satay (Rs. 190/- for 8 sausages on skewers and sauted to perfection, accopmanied with peanut sauce)
3) Stuffed musshrooms (Rs. 140/- for 8 big mushrooms)
4) Chicken in pandanu (Rs. 190/- for tender kebab chunks accompanied with a sweet sauce)
5) Malaka veg thai red curry (with oodles of veggies)
6) Roti jhala (Rs. 40 for 4 nos. - crepe-type roti interspersed with holes)
7) brown rice (perfect accompaniment with the curries)
8) chicken kari kapitan (Rs. 155/-)
9) Chocolate sin mouse cake (Rs. 70/-)
'Brilliance' is an understatement whilst describing the various flavours inseminated in every dish. 'Huge' is another understatement whilst describing the quantity of portions served.
It is not always about the grandness of the ambience, nor is it about the number of dishes that your chef purportedly manages to conjure; sometimes its just about the perfection that a joint exudes - be it the innovative menu, the attentive staff who 'know' their food, the minimalist decor heavily laden with paintings-for-sale adorning all their cemented ramparts - there is a definitive class statement about this place.
My Advice: Guzzle down chilled beers along with starters to enjoy a comprehensive laid-back evening, and rest assured about any item off the menu that you wish to order.
Mar 10, 2008
102, Juhu Tara Road, Juhu, Mumbai
Rated: Average
Un-fruitfully vie-ing for?
There are dogs, and then there are underdogs. Contrary to popular belief, some underdogs may never take off; irony of the fact being that the underdog by reference herein has nothing that should work to its disadvantage, yet it attracts this descriptive term for some inadequacy that cannot be pinpointed or traced to perfection.
Kudos to vie, firstly for the spectacular ambience overlooking the Juhu beach (cannot get better than this in the suburbs). A protruding platform out of the deck with glass walls with a small high-rise table and stools is clearly a winner sitting area. The praise buck abruptly stops here though.
They are by their own self admission muddled between ‘a lounge’ and ‘promoting the place as a swanky night club’. Their effort to achieve this transformation is by way of charging cover on Saturdays (haha....with no predefined terms or rates i.e. initially we were told Rs. 1500 per couple...which somehow escalated to Rs. 30000/- for a table on the deck....hiccupps galore).
Anyways, with prior reservations (not to mention the goof-up here), we were seated close to the railing overlooking the beach at high-tide on a Friday night. Drinks were ordered and promptly served (Whiskey sours with Angostura Bitters, lime juice and syrup – personal favourite, although was not potent – Rs. 350, juices and mocktails – Rs. 95-/- to Rs. 200/-).
Decently portioned starters included chicken satay (Rs. 250/- and a little blandish,), tequila tiger prawns (Rs. 800/-, 4 pieces, had a good cheesy and tangy sauce showered on it), mushrooms stuffed with cheese (Rs. 175/- for 6 numbers), and el mezzeh (hummus with mouttabal and khubus for Rs. 190/-). Served well before the stomachs started to rumble.
White garlic chicken (breasts of chicken with mashed potatoes), veg cannelloni, chicken stroganoff (in a red sauce!), escalopes of chicken breast served in a saffrony tangy sauce, crusted pieces of pomfret – each priced at Rs. 350/- went down well with all of us.
A sneak preview of the enclosed lounge showcased a bunch of stags swinging hips, bellies et al to bollywood numbers - lest we dared to enter!
In essence,
- just a casual place to catch up and drink - yes, most definitely yes;
- to 'especially' reserve in want of an 'exclusive' night out - not the way it should conjure up to be.
Feb 12, 2008
355, Ramdass Naik Road, Hill Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai
Rated: Good
Pause-itive;......and we paused
Goof-ups galore and yet no strike down! (mighty generous of me :P)...The good vibes of the place made me hope against hope to positively overlook the non-trivial fiasco that the staff managed to conjure.
As an habitué of Spice Tree towards which we were headed, Pause indeed made us pause; not only pause did we, we halted, and ventured. Just around the corner across Globus (Hill Road), the exteriors (read futuristic) and name-sign visually blares out at the streets.
The menu is minimalist to say; neatly divided into fares; first (soups), second (antipasti), third (mains)......makes scavenging it easier. Nonetheless, it is diversely experimental; in that it showcases the clamant diversity of its offering; squids to fish to chicken to lamb to veal.
The decor is one of wooden finishes, seating caters to all; ALL being the operative word; the sizes of groups which find their comfort zone here encompasses the 'ALL' in its entirety. Neatly spaced with enough space to tap a foot or two under inebriated conditions.
Music's loud (disco loud - no chance in hell for a conversation), lighting's dynamic, yet subtle - plots a real deal night out sans the disco bit.
The eagle-buckled waiter (as referred herein below, by a fellow burrper) offered us tastings of the in-house wines (Pause shiraz). Ordered a Pause Indian Nectar (white) later.
What started as an extremely efficient, and friendly service which led us to ordering the calamiri (fried squid with mayo on the side), bruschetta duet (garlic bread topped with chicken, garlic bread topped with cottage cheese), chicken skewers (accompanied by a flavoured hummus) - all priced at approx Rs 300/- each......soon paused, took a U-turn and smashed us right in the face (with respect to the (in)efficiency with which the main course was served)!!!!
Ordered the Open Faced Ravioli (Rs. 445/-) which was a processed chicken (a lot of it!) in a creamy sauce with laces of spinach sitting atop a sheet of pasta. Also, we had the grilled chicken (8 slices) in a mustard based sauce (Rs. 445/-) which was tender and subtle.
GOOF_UP time:
1) Main course took well over an hour to be served the first time around...
2) served the wrong dish after an hour!....
3) refused to accept that they had goofed up!!....
4) the waiter just aint visible once its midnight!!!....
phewww....that adamancy was pricking
We did what you told us sir! - we paused and we entered, we paused and we took notice of the interiors, we paused and tasted your wine..hell, we even ordered some of it, we paused and ate...........while you paused and smiled, you paused and goofed up, you paused and cut a sorry figure while at the helm of affairs!!
Do we 'PAUSE" more or less now!!??
Jan 19, 2008
Krishna Baug, R C Marg, Near Fine Arts Society, Chembur, Mumbai
Rated: Good
Indian, Chinese, Ghazal, Open-Air, A.C. et. al.
The hunt for good food continues weekend after weekend, as I encounter another 'non-speciality' restaurant with palate-satisfying foods in the Indo-Chinese genre. Dish out these two menus in any hotel across town and lay back as the cash registers jingle.
Step away from the valet and into the restaurant and you can choose between the ghazal-enchanted open exteriors or the cosy, dim-lit air-conditioned interiors with woody overtones.
The variety of dishes on the menu is blatant. While they serve a range of starters, the menu looks innovative in terms of the dishes it protays; be it the Indian starters, be it the Chinese starters, be it the Indian main course dishes, be it the Chinese main course dishes; both veg. and non-veg. That's some balancing act that they have managed with finesse! A brief glance at the menu will make you wary of its prices, but you may comfortably reside in assurance in terms of the portions they serve.
Thus we ordered:
Oriental soup (Rs. 80/-); a spicy schewzwan based think chicken soup is one which instilled cravings for more.
Impeccable prawn dishes are formulated in the prawn oyster chilly wine and the prawn butter garlic dishes. The crunchiness of the prawn is evident and then the spicy flavour takes over. Served with a thick sauted sauce encrusted with bell peppers, onions (fresh and spring), it makes a wholesome starter. Priced at around Rs. 250/- to Rs. 300/-, the dishes do complete justice to the portions they serve in order to completely revel and succinctly devour the food.
Chicken fried rice (Rs. 150/-) has just the right amount of hints of the soya sauce, perfectly soft, embedded with tender chicken and lumps of scrambled egg conjure up to be 'the ultimate winner'. Do not excuse yourself from trying this here.
Dal tadka (Rs. 90/-) Rightly infused with garlic, ginger, the tadka, and the right consistency; it cooks up to be a dash of brilliance. This one leaves you wanting for bowl after bowl.
The service is prompt. The staff cheerful and attendant, yet never intruding.
This gastronomical sojourn sums up rightly to make up for a delightful dining experience (a fairy tale ending of sorts :D)