Restaurant Review - Incognito - Phoenix Mall, Pune

Ambiance - 3.5
Menu - 4
Taste - 4.5
Service/Price - 3.5
Overall - 4

This place is located in Phoenix mall, so parking is of course not at issue. It's a small place but there are enough tables squeezed in without compromising much on privacy. The decor is decent, a bit classy too.

I like the menu. Different cuisines are available though a bit heavier on Italian side. For other cuisines there are limited options available but that's the good part. Concentrating few good dishes is better than offering everything but not doing justice to any of it. We had Chilli Potato shots (that looked suspiciously like the frozen ones we get from McCain, though the taste was slightly different) served with Mayonnaise, Phuket style fried chicken served with peanut sauce (this dis was amazing, chicken was juicy, seasoning just right, but tasted better with the mayonnaise rather than the peanut sauce), Malaysian Laksa curry (again very well made), Sicilian veg pizza (thin crust, just the right amount of cheese), Chicken Lasagna (Very well made, but heavy to eat) and Chicken Cacciatore (another stunning dish, the baked potato on the side was even better). The fact that they did not forget the "no mushroom" instruction from me is commendable (i have had bad experiences in other places in the past).

Service was good, price is a bit high. They need to serve more quantity in the starters for the price they charge. Also, as mentioned earlier, change the sauce on side for the Phuket style chicken. Oh and the charge for sprite at 100 rs + taxes??? just too much.

Overall costly but delicious.

Restaurant review - Gokhale Mala, Alandi road, Bhosari

Ambiance - 3
Menu - 3.5
Taste - 4
Service/Price - 3.5
Overall - 3.5

This place being very close to my office (and pretty much the only decent place closer to office) we go there often for lunch. Dinner is also available here and weekends are very crowded. There is usually enough parking available, at least during lunch.

There is a big, hall like dining place (open from all sides) in the middle of a guava plantation. There are many charpais kept below the trees for you to relax after the meal or to wait if you don't get a table immediately. A few swings as well.

Seating is like a usual dining hall. You don't get a separate table. The menu is also fixed. There's a smaller hall towards the entrance of the place itself where you can have snacks, but no one usually comes to this place for snacks. It's meant for meals and that's what you should go for. The menu usually has pithla, one dry vegetable, matki usal, kadhi, chapati, bhakri, rice, dal with ghee, butter, different papads, some pakoda and pickle. The green chili kharda is very hot, so be careful. Also, buttermilk and sweets are available (usually shrikhand and gulab jamun) and you can pay for it after the meal if you haven't already paid for it while entering the place (pre-pay model).

Taste of all the dishes is consistent no matter when you go. It's good. During peak times, serving is a little slow. But other than that, they are fine. Price of course is something that is slightly on the higher side considering that they are so out of the way and taste wise it's not exceptional, nor from variety of menu wise.

If you are bored of the run of the mill restaurants in the city, this is worth an outing.

Restaurant Review - Jovos - NIBM Road

Ambiance - 3
Menu - 3.5
Taste - 4.5
Service/Price - 4.5
Overall - 4

Wanted to try a new place for lunch on my birthday. After looking around on Zomato, decided to go to Jovos as it had good ratings and the menu looked interesting. It's on NIBM road in Bizz Bay mall. The mall itself looks deserted, and there were 2-3 restaurants there that have shutdown. When you get into Jovos, that's the kind of feeling you get initially. The pic on Zomato and the reality of the decor/interiors is very different. Some things are falling apart some have been intentionally kept that way - which is not bad. Some interesting ideas in terms of decoration are being tried but some look very tacky. But at least they're trying something different, which is good. The way the menu is presented or the fact that they put bubble wrap in place of table mats, are some of the things I liked about the place. It's different. But need to make it better. more classy.

The menu is not too big. But that also makes it possible for them to have things that are different from the usual run of the mill dishes. Most of the dishes that they serve are named differently, made differently and served differently. We tried quite a few dishes including Chicken Tikka in mason jar, Chicken fingers in orange sauce, Dal gosht, etc. Each of them tasted quite well. The tikka was juicy, dal gosht was perfectly cooked, and the orange sauce was just stunning. We also had a bite sized chicken cheese fries that was not on the menu. That was also very good. Loved all including the long island iced tea that was served in a huge measuring jar :)

Service was good. Everything was served well within time and everyone was very courteous. No one breathing down our neck with "over concern". Price is very reasonable. 

Definitely try this place out. Forget about everything else, just enjoy the taste.

    

Restaurant review - Global Grill, Chinchwad

Ambiance - 3
Menu - 3
Taste - 3
Service/Price - 3.5
Overall - 3

Global Grill is by the same management as Sigree. I didn't know it until I got here. It's located in a shopping mall at Chinchwad. Not sure how many people go to the mall, but that also means there's usually enough parking space available. 

The decor of the place is good. Not cluttered and the tables are also not too close to each other. So overall it's fine, However, unfortunately, the washrooms stink. STINK. I usually don't comment about washrooms in my reviews, but this one merited a mention - for the wrong reasons.

Menu here is nothing impressive. The usual stuff. They serve unlimited starters on the grill on your table until you ask them to stop. The starter options were very limited. Tasted alright. Since this place is in direct competition with Barbecue nation, I can't help but mention that the starters (which is the most important course in these restaurants) are better at BN compared to this place, both in terms of options and taste. The main course was ok as well. If you're a pasta lover there are a few options available in main course. Desserts were alright too. Nothing much to write about. One thing that I should definitely mention - Lychee flavored cocktail (Margarita? Not sure since it's not listed in the menu on Zomato) was amazing! and quite potent as well I must say.

Service was fine, no real complaints there. Price was decent as well, though I would like it to be slightly lesser.

So this is it. Give it a try and hope they have improved by then.

Restaurant review - Turque - Sayaji Hotel - Wakad, Pune

Ambiance - ****
Menu - ***1/2
Taste - **1/2
Service/Price - ***
Overall - ***

Turque is located at Sayaji hotel so parking is never an issue. There are three restaurants there, BBQ Nation, Portico - which usually has a buffet lunch/dinner and Turque - ala carte restaurant. The menu here changes depending on the "festival" they are celebrating. The last time we went there it was Chinese festival, so everything was decorated in red. Looked nice. There's a swimming pool here around which the tables are placed. Overall nicely spaced out and you get enough privacy. If there's a party going on in the grounds next to the hotel, then it is quite loud here. Also, wedding receptions etc. are also usually on in another area next to it - but that shouldn't make a difference. Another thing about this place is the live music performance. The singers are really good and sing songs on request too.

Menu is pretty standard but as I mentioned earlier, it changes slightly based on the festival going on. There were some interesting dishes that we tried there. Not all of them good. The soup was bland. And the starters we tried, though sounded interesting (i don't remember the names anymore) were blander. There are few Turque special cocktails. We liked two specifically - Lust and Naughty desire. The latter was especially nice watermelon based cocktail which is quite... potent. Otherwise, the food was not good enough for me. Too bland. Maybe next time I will have to try something different and see if it works for me.

Price is definitely on the higher side. Service is good - non-intrusive and polite. In fact, they didn't charge us for one of the dishes that we had because we didn't like that dish at all. No complaints there, but the price brings the overall rating down in this area.

Worth a visit for the cocktails and the ambiance. Definitely.

Restaurant review - Level 12 - Double Tree by Hilton, Chinchwad

Ambiance - ***
Menu - ***1/2
Taste - ***
Service/Price - ***
Overall - ***

Another Zomato meetup. Another chance to try out a new place. Another chef's table guaranteeing the best of their dishes. Complimentary. I found no reason to refuse to attend this meetup. So there I was, first to reach as usual after a long long drive through the city traffic.

Doube Tree is located in a crowded area near Chinchwad station. However, they have enough parking space and also valet parking. There are multiple restaurants there, the one we went to was Level 12 located on.. guess which floor..? 12th silly. First thing you notice, while going up, is that lift is really badly lit. I didn't get into the lift the first time because I thought it's faulty. I didn't want to get stuck in it. But then I realised that that's how the lighting in it is. Unfortunately, the story is the same at the restaurant as well. You can hardly see what's in the menu unless you hold it up so that the fire from behind the waterfalls lights it up. Same story while eating. We had to switch on the cellphone flashes and torches to see what we were eating, and take 5-6 photos to get that perfect frame. Or in some cases take the dishes near the fire for a better photograph. This really should change. It is not classy nor romantic if you struggle to see your beloved's face while on a romantic dinner. The view from the hotel is good though since it is on 12th floor. Bonus.

The menu is pretty standard, though some of the dishes are named differently. We had a fixed menu but then the head chef for the three restaurants came up and decided to offer some dishes which were not on it. That was good. My take on the items we ate -

1. Sweetlime soda - Easy thing to make but the sweet and salted perfect mix is difficult to achieve. It wasn't achieved
2. Thecha aloo - Story behind the creation of this dish was good. I struggled to find the taste of thecha in the dish. 
3. Tandoori tawa gobi - Decent. Well cooked
4. Palak patta chat - Good innovation. Tasted like chat, obviously. Good starter and something that you would want to make at home too for the sheer novelty exotic factor of it.
5. Dahi puri/waterless pani puri - Decent. No great shakes
6. Fish tikka - Well cooked. Just enough burnt bits. Tasted good. Not dry.
7. Seekh kebab - Well cooked. Decent taste. Not extraordinary.
8. Malai drums of heaven - Slightly difficult to eat. Tasted alright. Not something I would recommend
9. Paneer lababdaar - Paneer was soft. The gravy was again, regular. 
10. 12 ki daal - Best dish of the day. Perfect softness. Just right amount of butter. Spices were just right. Definitely worth eating again and again
11. Jeera pulao - Good
12. Subz dum biryani- Surprisingly good. Served from a cooker. veggies were cooked well, rice grains were separate. spices were just about right - not extra. Another positive dish
13. Mix veg raita - Standard
14. Roti/naan/laccha paratha/amrutsari kulcha - Amritsari Kulcha was good. give it a try.
15. Butter chicken - Not as good as it should be. Butter chicken is one of the standard dishes that is available in any restaurant. Needs the right amount of butter and sweetness and yet should not be overly sweet. That balance couldn't be achieved.
16. Lamb shanks curry - Looked good. Tasted bad. The spice mix used was just not right. Didn't tickle my taste buds
17. Jalandhar ki special malai kulfi - Ordinary
18. Tiffin halwa - Served in an old style steel tiffin box. Moong dal halwa. was cooked well, needed to be a little more sweet.
19. Sugarfree Date Fig and mascorpone ice cream - Worst dish of the day. Confused dish. Absolutely no taste. 

The funny part of the price is that many dishes have the prices ending in "12" because of the name of the restaurant. Some creativity shown there. Prices are on the higher side considering the other aspects of the restaurant. Service, well, what do I say. They were trying very hard but even when there were hardly any other people in the restaurant, it was a struggle to manage our table of around 12 people. Stewards didn't always know what they were serving, they served paneer lababdaar on top of butter chicken (bad lighting), we waited for clean cutlery and got it only after multiple reminders, some of us had to wait a long time to get roti/naan or some curry before we could start eating. So, even though the head chef was very gracious in attending to our table personally, the service from the other staff wasn't up to the mark - in fact well below the mark.

Overall, an ok experience. can't say anymore.

Restaurant review - Cafe 1730

Ambiance - ***1/2
Menu - ***1/2
Taste - ****
Service/Price - ***1/2
Overall - ***1/2

So, decided to have our anniversary lunch at Cafe 1730. Reason? no particular reason actually. Just looked up on Zomato, saw a couple of good reviews and decided to give this a try.

It's located at the end of Lane 6 in Koregaon Park. Parking is on the side of the road, i suppose it should not be an issue even in the evenings. Also, they have valet parking if needed. The restaurant is "music theme" based. From the moment you walk in, you see a lot of photographs and posters of various singers and musicians with some tidbits about them. The restaurant is tastefully decorated. I liked the way the ceiling is done - sort of half complete look, but still quite nice. The windows on the front - though have curtains - need to be cleaned. With the curtains open, the place is much better. Just below the window, on the outside, there are some horizontal beams. I would suggest that the restaurant management puts some Italian flower beds there. would look amazing.

As soon as I opened the menu, I was reminded of Ms S Roy Choudhury's comment on her review - multiple personality disorder. They menu, is a mix of continental, North Indian, Goan, etc. But then many places have that kind of menu, so it didn't really bother me. Something for everyone, right? :) The menu also has some interesting tidbits about musicians and, as the menu cover says, chefs - since they are celebrating the art of cooking too. There's place for live band performances as well. So music theme stays, food gets added - but only on the menu. The interiors are still about music. Some of the stuff on the menu is interesting to read. I liked the one about the scottish word for the panic you feel when you need to introduce someone whose name you have forgotten! :D. Oh I still don't know why the menu card says, Cafe 1730 - Surf and Turf?

We tried a lot of different cocktails there and all of them were made correctly. No mistakes or missing items in it. The starter we ordered was Crunchy chicken with Garlic-Chilli dip. Was very good. In the main course, we had Non veg Moussaka and Bacon and Cheese burger. Both the dishes were excellently made. I didn't like the carabeef in the burger - the patty was slightly drier than needed. everything else was very good - and that's not just the alcohol speaking ;)

The total bill for everything was on the higher side - around 2800INR, out of which majority was for the alcohol.

All in all, a good place to visit. Good ambiance. Good staff. Decent menu. Good food. The Italian flowerbeds will just make it better ;)