Barbeque Nation, Ahmedabad

Barbeque Nation
3, Shivalik III,
Near Mile Stone Complex,
Drive In Road,
Gurukul,
Ahmedabad
079 40053555, 079 60600000

Returned to Barbecue Nation in Ahmedabad after 2.5 years because of a friends heartfelt recommendation that the service and food had improved.

Barbecue Nation was one of the 1st restaurants we visited when we arrived in Ahmedabad, 2.5 years back and I was extremely disappointed with service, hygiene, taste and quality compared to their outlets in Bangalore, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Pune. So I'd never returned.

Today however showed me that service has improved dramatically for the better. Food too has improved, but still not on par of their other branches in cities.

Inspite of the grill on the table being the foundation of their concept, of the 12 starters, only 4 were actually placed on the grill - boneless chicken, prawns, paneer and mushrooms, everything else was served by the staff, off a plate, like Awadhpuri or Kebab Factory or the many others that have similar concept.

Mum said the prawns were very good, the boneless chicken and the bhuna ghosht were good. Main course is avoidable compared to starters, the biryani especially is extremely bland.

Only the gulab jamuns were worth their calories in desserts, the mousse and cakes had synthetic syrups, the brownies and ice cream were average.

Yes, the service and quality have improved hugely, but its still not a place I'd go back for the food.

Rates for Veg selection could be Rs.545 / 690 and non-veg could be Rs. 600 / 825 depending on day of the week and lunch or dinner.

Rating : 3.5 / 5

Petals, Junagadh

Petals
The Lotus Hotel
Station Road
Junagadh 362 001

+91 285 2658 500 / 01 / 02

I first stayed at the Lotus Hotel in August 2012. At that time it was quite recently constructed and still did not have its own restaurant. They only supplied room service.

When I first reached this hotel at 10pm at night, I was quite wary of its appearance and was ready to turn around and drive another 1-2 hours in the dark to Gir to stay at the Taj, because it looked quite shady from the outside and I wasn't sure if I would be comfortable having my mother and younger sister staying in such a place.

Fortunately, I took a look inside at the rooms and that assured me a lot on the safety and "decency" of this hotel, so we decided to spend the night here itself.

Sadly of all the food that we ordered in room service, I couldn't eat anything except the masala papad. Even the fresh lime soda, I had to re-order as it was too sweet for my taste. The tomato soup was like watered down tomato sauce. The veg biryani was extremely oily. The spring rolls were too thick, too much large sized fillings and oily and soggy. It says a lot about how bad this meal was, given that I can recall the horrible tastes even after 2 years have passed (I normally forget any bad meals I have had)

1 year down the line, we returned to Junagadh and I had packed my own food, so that I wouldn't have to sleep hungry another time. But surprise, surprise - they had opened up a new restaurant called "Petals" and when I made a very tentative initial order, the quality of food that was produced, encouraged me to have my entire meal there.

I now stop here regularly, each time we are in the area when driving across Saurashtra and have mostly had good experiences with them.

They offer a complimentary cooler and some fryums as soon as you sit down. They have an Executive lunch buffet for 180/- that has a lot of takers.

Their Chinese starters are good and I can heavily recommend their Baby Corn Crunchy (130/-) and the dragon potato starters (140/-) that they have. I'm happy to admit that the veg spring rolls (180/-) have also improved tremendously. They have a very intriguing Paneer Kapicho (135/-) on the menu. But since none of the waiters seems to know what it is, I have not yet had the courage to try it.

They have quite a few tandoori items and I personally like the kaju paneer sheekh kebabs (175/-). Baked pastas, baked vegetables, sizzlers and cocktails are parts of their menu, that I have not yet ordered from.

Their Indian dishes are the best of the lot, on the menu and they make some lovely paneer gravies. The paneer toofani (150/-) is a nicy tangy, semi spicy gravy that goes very well with rotis. Their dals too are very good.

Their green peas and jeera pulaos are quite good, but this time, I made the mistake of trying their palak pulao which ended up being extremely oily and tasteless.

I heavily recommend their Masala buttermilk / chaas / chaach. At 25/- its a steal for the quality and flavour.

Seating is standard. Air Conditioning is a blessing in the heat of Junagadh. Washrooms are reasonably clean, depending on who was the last person to use it.

However, there are a lot of new fancier hotels & restaurants opening in Junagadh, wonder how Petals & the Lotus Hotel will stand up to the competition.

Rating : 3.5 / 5

The Eatery - Four Points by Sheraton, Ahmedabad

The Eatery - Four Points by Sheraton
Opposite Gujarat College,
Ellis Bridge,
Ahmedabad
079 30912345


Finally headed to "The Eatery" after a stop at the Railway Station. We have been wanting to go here for awhile, but it just felt a bit out of the way and we were saving it for an occasion when we were already in that area.

I've been here before when it was owned by Royal Orchid and enjoyed the food, but I hadn't been back since Sheraton took over the management.

We had heard a lot about the buffet, but sadly the lunch buffet on Saturday was pure veg. (dinner buffet and Sunday Brunch includes non-veg), so we just decided to order a la carte. I have to say that they serve the best dal makhni in town. Desi Route is now a distant second. We also had the tariwala chicken that was excellent. A homestyle gravy with a hint of sour and spicy, it went perfectly with the tandoori and roomali rotis.

For myself, I ordered the lamb chops and I have to say that these were the best lamb chops I have eaten in Ahmedabad. They were not fatty, but meaty and the meat was extremely soft, that I didn't even need a steak knife for it. Also since the chops themselves did not have too much meat of their own, an additional slow broiled meaty piece of lamb was also added to the plate, so it wouldn't be too sparse and I think that this was an excellent idea.

Executive chef Karan was hugely enthusiastic and it was a pleasure to meet him and see his love for food.

I don't think we will be considering distance anymore, when we decide to head to The Eatery for a meal, the food is worth the travel time and distance for sure. When I have been too busy eating to take more pictures of the food, you can be assured that the food was really good :)

Rating : 4 / 5

The Raj Pavilion - ITC Windsor, Bangalore

The Raj Pavilion - ITC Windsor,
25 Windsor Square,
Golf Course Road,
Near Sankey Road
Bangalore
080 22269898

The Sunday Brunch at The Raj Pavilion is expensive, the venue is lovely (whether indoors or outdoors - poolside) the range is HUGE, some dishes are really yum but some are ho-hum. We were here with our sisters and they really enjoyed the buffet trying out a lot of stuff for the first time including freshly shucked oysters.

The spread is really really vast. We were surprised that there were no desserts around and thought that they would bring out a dessert trolley at the end. It was only later that we realised that there was a humongous dessert spread hidden behind the main restaurant area. (40+ varieties)

My recommendation : focus on the seafood, the live stations, the fresh grills were the best, the biryani, the chaat, anything new that you want to try and the desserts.

Avoid the roasts and anything that looks like its been sitting there awhile, it tends to dry out (the roasts were dry inspite of us being among the first group to occupy a table for brunch - they looked good, but were dry when tasted). The khao suey was a waste of tummy space and an insult to our tastebuds.

Do note that there is a separate price for alcoholic and non alcoholic buffets, they offer you champagne and if you ask if its a part of the buffet, they will say yes. One of my sisters doesn't drink alcohol, but we got her a glass because she wanted to pose with it for an fb pic, the husband was off alcohol that day and my sister and me barely had a glass each (as the Jacob's Creek Chardonnay was too dry for our taste and the champagne wasn't very great either). They charged us for 4 champagne brunches and reversed one when I pointed out that there were only 3 glasses on the table. The price difference is very significant, (about 900 per person), so be aware.

I have always been happy with their a la carte though. From the 2am cold coffee cravings to post 3pm lunches and all day breakfast platters, we have been happy with the quality and price. They have an outstanding dessert (I forget the name), its the same price as the rest of their desserts, but this one is a melange of fruits and ice cream and can feed 4+ people (the others are single or maximum double serve)

Rating : 3.5 / 5

Buffet
Rs. 750 +TAX Non Veg - Breakfast (Sun - Sat)
Rs. 1050 +TAX Non Veg - Lunch (Mon - Fri)
Rs. 1350 +TAX Non Veg - Dinner (Sun - Fri)
Rs. 1950 +TAX Non Veg - Lunch (Sat)
Rs. 1950 +TAX Non Veg - Dinner (Sat)
Rs. 450 +TAX Lunch for Kids
Rs. 450 +TAX Dinner for Kids

Sunday Brunch
12:30 pm to 03:30 pm on Sundays
Rs. 1950 +TAX (Without alcohol)
Rs. 2350 +TAX (Includes unlimited sparkling wine)
Rs. 2750 +TAX (Includes unlimited champagne)
Rs. 1050 +TAX (Kids (5 - 12 years))

Coorg, Bangalore

Coorg,
477, Krishna Temple Road,
1st Stage,
Indiranagar
Bangalore
+91 9845493688

Coorg, operates only on the weekends on the terrace of the owners house and only offers a buffet. (Lunch Sat-Sun & Dinner Fri-Sun). But, you can't ask for anything more than the buffet itself which is loaded with goodies from Coorg.

At 450/- per head, its a real steal. 2 types of pork are definitely in the buffet - one dry and one curry and the Chilli pork (Chilkana Pandi?) and the Coorgi pandi curry were to die for. I could just keep eating this chilli pork and not even bother with anything else on the buffet, other than the coconut custard. But believe me everything is worth at least tasting.

Along with the 2 pork dishes there was a chicken coconut milk curry. Noolputtu (Idiappams/string hoppers) were served on the side and hot akki rottis (chapatis made from rice flour) at the table. There was also a lovely pulao to go with all the side dishes.

The wild mushroom curry served on the day we were there, was brilliant as was the brinjal side dish. The pickles too were absolutely amazing. I would rarely mention the accompaniments like pickles and chutneys at a buffet, unless they were really memorable and these both were memorable.

Hot akki rottis served at your table, lovely low lighting and the company of friends, this is the Bangalore of our memories and dreams. Coorg is a place, where we could ignore the chaos and the traffic outside and transport ourselves 15 years back to the Bangalore that was an idyllic paradise.

In the midst of all this relaxing and bingeing, definitely remember to leave space for dessert. Their coconut custard is mind blowingly tasty. The only thing close to it that I have tasted is the Kerala dish - tender coconut payasam. The caramel custard is great too, but its the coconut custard that grabs all the attention.

Drinks are not a part of their buffet, but they do offer an excellent home made passion fruit juice or buttermilk for 60/- a glass. Coorg does not have an alcohol license, so while you can hire the place out for the afternoon or night (with prior notice), you cannot bring your own alcohol here. Priya, the owner is extremely sweet and accommodating and is the hand behind the homely touches of Coorg.

Rating : 4.5 / 5

The Square - Novotel, Ahmedabad (+ Special Navroze Parsi Bhonu)

The Square - Novotel Hotel
ISKCON Cross Road,
S G Highway,
Satellite
Ahmedabad
079 40606060, 95371 97777


My rating of 3 for the Square is solely for their regular lunch buffet.

However, if I have to consider the special Navroze Parsi Buffet that they had over the weekend, I would have to raise that rating to 5. It was the best Parsi food I have had in Ahmedabad and the most amazing spread of Parsi food that I have had, outside of a Parsi Wedding.

The reason, I have rated the regular lunch buffet at 3, is because nothing stood out. Some of the food had turned hard, as it was lying there for awhile. The biryani grains were hard, the paneer was hard etc. The spread is really really large, but perhaps they need to focus on making a few dishes well, rather than making a large spread of average dishes.

The buffet had a large variety of  Indian breads and dishes from Kebabs to vegetable curries. They had options of both veg and non-veg soup, some Indian Chinese, bread with a selection of flavoured butters (the cajun and curry butters were interesting), a salad bar, a chaat bar and a large spread of desserts. The baked desserts were the only items, that were memorable from this meal - the hot chocolate pudding was a mass of melting fudgy chocolate goodness, the panacotta was better than average and the raspberry financiers were a delight.

The food we tried on our first trip here last week, wasn't very great, but we saw the flyer for their Parsi festival and I knew nothing could keep me away. I love Parsi food and Goodies has been deteriorating rapidly & terribly!

On the occasion of Navroze (Parsi New Year), Chef Mek from Udwada had created a special buffet menu loaded with Parsi delicacies. There were so many things to try, that a few of them had to get left out in the end. For obvious reasons, the variety of Parsi food in the non-veg section was way higher than the veg repertoire. But the husbands favourite item from the buffet was the Parsi sabut Masoor dal, followed very very closely by the nutmeg flavoured Lagan nu Custard.

The Sunday brunch offered similar varieties to the the regular lunch with an additional Waffle + Pancake station, fresh eggs to order, a Gujarati farsaan section and 2 platters of vegetarian sushi. It says a lot about how starved I am for sushi, that I ate a few pieces of vegetarian sushi, even though the rice was woefully overcooked and pasty.

But the Parsi food more than made up for the rest of the disappointments. Starting with Parsi Akuri, tamatar pe eeda, the special salli pe eeda which the chef made for me upon my request, Kheema pao, murgh farcha, mawa nu lagan nu achaar, the patrani macchi (excellent pomfret slices), chicken and mutton salli boti, mutton and chicken cutlets, prawn pulao, dhansak were all excellent and finger licking good. Sadly, given a subsequent appointment, I couldn't do justice to this spread. But just thinking about it, makes my mouth water.

The Parsi desserts included Lagan nu Custard, Rose Jelly (very diffeent from normal jelly in texture) and Parsi Sevvaiyan. The churros and the deconstructed Blueberry Cheesecake were also commendable.

 

As, I mentioned at the start of this review, the Parsi spread was a 5 / 5 for variety and taste.

The paneer was better quality, softer and fresher on Sunday than it had been in the middle of the week.
Next time we visit The Square on a random occasion,  we will try the a la carte option and see if we have better luck, or maybe we just might keep visiting them only when there is a chef brought in from outside for special food festivals.

The regular lunch buffet costs 718.65/- per person, all inclusive. The Parsi Sunday Brunch was charged at 967.42/- per person, all inclusive. Lunch buffets are from 12:30 - 3:30 and Dinner from 7:30-11:30

Rating : 3 / 5

Awadhpuri, Ahmedabad

Awadhpuri,
First Floor, Pushpak Complex,
Opposite Prahlad Nagar Garden,
Anand Nagar Road
Ahmedabad
079 64503044, 079 31202220

I'd been to Awadhpuri a couple of months ago and service was very very slow and at that time I had mentioned that it was preferable to go for their home delivery option rather than dine-in. We had been ordering delivery from them on & off, so I hadn't realised that they had moved.

Awadhpuri has now moved to a new location - in the same building, but on the 1st floor where Punjab di Galli used to be. They have maintained the same seating and done up the walls with paintings and all. But this is definitely a much better location. It is brighter, more spacious, tables are spaced out more comfortably, seating is more luxurious and hence overall, its been a huge improvement.

We reached around 2:40 and they had a buffet offer. I asked them if it was still open and they willingly obliged. It was a sit down buffet, unlimited portions made fresh each time, but served in your seat - no running up & down to the buffet table and balancing plates). The vegetarian option is about 425Rs and the non-veg option is 500Rs. The selection was so good, that I did not even bother to ask for the a la carte menu.

The buffet started with a soup, which was paya for non veg and tomato dhaniiya for veg. I told them we wanted 3 non-veg buffet, but for 1 person we wanted tomato dhaniya rather than paya soup. although we were the only 3 people in the restaurant at this time, they willingly obliged. The tomato dhaniya shorba was outstanding. Nice and spicy Indian style.

This was followed by unlimited freshly made kebabs served like Barbecue Nation and The Great Kebab Factory, but so much tastier than BBQ Nation and on par with TGKF(Ahmedabad, not Noida). There was mutton Galouti which was mildly spiced, but pounded flat, mutton chops, chicken pasandey, fish mahi abi hayat and Lahori chicken tikkas. My favourites were the galaouti, chops and pasandey. My mum loved the tikkas. We ordered repeats of all these items and they were served with a smile.

By the time we were done with the starters, it was past 3pm and a lot of the serving staff had left, but some of them stayed back to take care of us and never once made us feel like we were wasting their time or that we should hurry up and I think this deserves 5 on 5 for service standards.

At both BBQ Nation and TGKF, the mains are quite weak compared to their kebabs (except TGKF's kaali dhal), but here is where Awadhpuri overtook both these chains in quality and taste. We were served a brilliant mutton curry - Baluchi Ghosht and boneless chicken curry - Begum ki pasandgi and some yellow dhal. A bread basket with warqi paratha, sheermaal & dhaniya naan was also served. The chicken biryani that they served later, was a little average compared to the rest of the superlative food, but easily overlooked.

Desserts brought out a platter of mirchi ka halwa (simla mirch/capsicum), sevaiyyan, gulab jamuns, zafrani kheer and kulfi! Again, each of the desserts was amazing.

The food was so good, that we stuffed ourselves so much. . . None of us ate dinner that day.

I can't recommend this place enough. the veg buffet has equal number of dishes which also sounded interesting. Prices mentioned above are inclusive of tax. The buffet is slightly more expensive over the weekend.

We have also ordered home delivery from them. However, this menu too has changed. They offer a platter of assorted kebabs for about 800/-. It comes in a square earthen dish. Initially I was quite surprised at how heavy the parcel was, it felt like a kilo and a half of kebabs. Since the dish was lined with foil, the earthen dish is now an unusual holder in my garden. Compared to their regular bufffet, obviously the home delivery kebabs are expensive, but almost as tasty.


Rating : 5 / 5

Mainland China, Guwahati

Mainland China
Dona Planet, 4th Floor
GS Road
Guwahati

0361 2466 222/3

Mainland China is one of the 2 Speciality Restaurant franchises opened in Guwahati and both of them have been our favourites here, since the day we arrived. We kept returning to Mainland China and Machaan time and again because of the wonderful service and excellent quality food.

Mainland China offers weekday lunch buffets which are excellent VFM given the huge range of items on the menu. However, since they do not offer dinner buffets, we mostly ordered a la carte and have been rarely disappointed.

Mainland China does not  serve typical Indian Chinese. The other day I was dining alone and the older gentleman at the next table was complaining loudly to his son " yeh kaisa Chinese restaurant hain?  Manchurian chicken, Chilli Chicken, Chopsuey, Garlic Chicken - koi bhi nahin hain!" (What kind of Chinese retaurant is this? They don't even have Manchurian chicken, Chilli Chicken, Chopsuey, Garlic Chicken on the menu!)

I don't know about that old man, but we have loved their food and have been regulars at the restaurant. Service is muted and attentive without being overbearing.

Complimentary starters of  pickled cucumbers and cabbage khimchi are laid on the table, before you even settle yourself. They also offer complimentary Chinese Jasmine tea and keep refreshing your cup through the meal. They offer a choice between traditional cutlery and chopstics.

Wontons 170/- are served with sweet chilli sauce and dimsum (pan fried / steamed) are served with a choice of 3 different sauces - a spicy red chilli paste, a herby green leaf ginger salsa and honey mustard sauce. We especially love their pan fried chicken & mushroom dumplings 190/-

Some of the other starters that we have enjoyed, include their Diced chicken with assorted pepper & ginger 330/-, crispy corn chilli pepper 280, sliced chicken with chillis 340, drums of heaven in Schezwan sauce, Mongolian skewered lamb 370/- (served on your table on a mini chhula) and fried sichuan chicken with dried chilli & peanuts 360/-

Among their soups, the hot & sour chicken soup 150/- is excellent, but the Shangsi crabmeat soup 120/- is average. I could not taste too much crab in my soup.

Their main courses are very good too. Crabmeat fried rice in XO chilli sauce 250/-, Burnt garlic fish 395/-, Chilli garlic noodles (vegetarian) 230/-, Chicken Shaoxiang with cashewnuts 360/- and the Roast chicken fried rice (subtle bursts of flavour from the chicken) 270/- are some of our favourites. The black Pepper lamb has been heavily recommended and I will try it the next time I visit.

For a Chinese restaurant, they do have a large selection of non-fruit based desserts and that makes me very happy indeed. The darsaan -honey noodles with almond flakes 130/-, hot chocolate rolls with vanilla ice cream 120/- and steamed coconut dumplings in a honey butter sauce 120/- are among the best. You can always add 2 scoops of ice cream 90/- to your dessert for varying temperatures and textures. However, their best dessert s something called fried milk balls which are not on the menu. They are sometimes available during the buffets. This is a dessert that I can skip appetisers and main course too, to ravish.

They do serve alcohol and make some good cocktails. Alcoholic caipirojka 190/- and non-alcoholic Mint storm 105/- are my favourites. A Johnny Walker Black label large costs 520/-


The staff here is almost like family. Extremely helpful, polite and well mannered and are part of the reason why we keep going back.

Rating : 5 / 5