Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Pune Times - Foodie Article - TFG Awards

Here is a list of restaurants in Pune who have been awareded at TFG launch.
Article in 22-may-07 PT , page 3.
Hopefully, some of them are worth visiting while not making serious dent to the wallet....just kidding.. !!! all of them are capable of making a BIG hole in the pocket.. except Vaishali and Chitale Bandhu..
and BTW, I just noticed, this list should not have come as a surprise.. these places are the same as mentioned in " BEST OF" in Pune TFG 2007..

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JUFUvMjAwNy8wNS8yMiNBcjAyNTAw&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom

AND THE AWARD GOES TO ...
The Times Food Awards and the Times Nightlife Awards ceremony honoured the best of the best in the hospitality industry in Pune.
Presenting the winners of the coveted awards ...

FOOD AWARD CATEGORY
BEST NORTH INDIAN CUISINE (Tie)
1. Sigree
2. Chingaari (Le Meridien)

BEST SOUTH INDIAN CUISINE
Vaishali Restaurant

BEST COASTAL CUISINE
Coconut Grove

BEST CHINESE CUISINE
Mainland China

BEST THAI CUISINE
Whispering Bamboos (Taj Blue Diamond)

BEST ITALIAN CUISINE
La Pizzeria

BEST EUROPEAN CUISINE
The Galaxy Grill — Greek Tavern (Season’s Apartment Hotel)

BEST COFFEE SHOP + ALL-DAY DINING
La Brasserie (Le Meridien)

BEST COFFEE BAR
Mocha

BEST MITHAI SHOP
Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwala

BEST CONFECTIONERY
Baker’s Basket

BEST AMBIENCE
Shisha Cafe

MOST ROMANTIC RESTAURANT
Spice Island (Le Meridien)

NIGHTLIFE AWARD CATEGORY

BEST BAR
Entresol Bar (Le Meridien)

BEST LOUNGE BAR
Soho

BEST NIGHTCLUB
Club Scream (Le Meridien)

BEST AMBIENCE (BARS)
Entresol

BEST WINE LIST
La Brasserie (Le Meridien)

BEST BAR WITH LIVE MUSIC
Shisha Cafe

Monday, May 21, 2007

Berries Restaurant- Wonder Funkey - Mumbai–Bangalore Highway

So, why exactly I am reviewing an Entertainment Centre ? If you dont know, Wonder Funkey is a entertainment joint, with lots of Arcade games, Bowling Alley, a smallish discotheque, and the reason for including this review here.. a decent Veg Restaurant - Berries.
This is located about 1.5 kms from Chandni Chowk, towards Warje, on Mumbai-Banglore Highway.Here is there website, giving more details about the place. :- http://www.wonderfunkey.com

It would be odd if I dont spare a few lines about the place itself. It has a cover charge of Rs 100 per head, non refundable. So, 5 people going in, have to spend Rs. 500 inside. You get a card, which you can use to make payment, and also get it recharged with additional amount. Arcade games are decent, charging from 20 for kiddies to 30-50 for adults games. A chowpatty lane serves you with street snacks, samosas, dahi puris, kachoris to pastries and all.
Try Calcutta Bhel- it is different from your regular bhel in Mumbai-Pune zone. They also have Puppet and Magic Shows there as well. Downstairs, there is a Bowling Alley, a discotheque and snacks joint, shaped like a ship.It has pizzas, hot dogs, burgers and so on. Tried something ShangHai, which turned out as veg schezwan balls coated with lots of sesame seeds, pretty ok and filling. Be careful not to try them if planning to have dinner soon.

So, now to the main course of the review- Berries Restaurant, located on top floor.Now, ambience wise, its designed as a forest, dark and takes time to get used to it. Artificial leaves, animals, pond but thankfully, air-conditioned. Would have added fun, if they had some live fishes in the pond and a waterfall of some sorts. Hard green plastic leaves and animals look tacky. Kids would love this place. Lots of space, so much that they have shut off half of it. But, overall a soft and quiet feel to it.

Menuwise, it covers almost all major cuisines - Indian, of course (South, Punjabi, Jain Specials, Thalis) plus Mexican, Italian, Arabic, Chinese, Thai, and Sizzlers. You can take a look from their website as well.http://www.wonderfunkey.com/berries_menu.html

I have been there before and had ordered Mushroom Cheese Enchilada and Veg & Beans Tacos (about Rs. 80-90, each) which turned out to be quite decent. This time, decided to go with Burrito Supreme ( Rs. 65)and Veg Cheese Lasagna (Rs.110). Now, while going through the menu card, take a look a Indian menu and forget about ordering them. They are atrociously priced, somewhere in range of a Koregaon Park upmarket restaurant!! Now, why would I go to Funkey to have that ? Wouldn't I go to Kothrud, or better still, Chandni Chowk for the same ?
One reason, I understood is, this being a family entertainment centre, many grandparents turn up along with kids, and they would prefer eating Indian only rather than anything else.Anyway, rest of the cuisine is moderatly priced and variety wise, its huge. But, you have to know what you are ordering.

Service wise, they are quick, but then, the restaurant is mostly empty. Although, this particular day, our order was inordinatly late, for which they apologized.

But, finally,our order arrived. The Lasagna, I would have prefered in the flat tray, rather than a big bowl it arrived in. The thick red tomato sauce/gravy was chunky, layered with spinach, cheese, vegetables and lasagna sheets, and pretty much tempting. Piping hot sauce, with baked vegetables, lots of cheese. Good choice.
Burrito Supreme, on the other hand, in one word- a Disaster. Period. I know, after those Shanghai balls and Lasagna, the tummy was full and could not have eaten any more. But, at least, it should have been appealing to taste at the first bite ? It wasn't. It came along with a small serving of Onion rings,(too oily), cheese balls (which I did not like) and pickle. I hate to throw away food, home or restaurant, but in this case, had to make and exception and left most of it. Sheer Waste ! Seriously, I could not figure out, what exactly was wrong with the stuffing.

But, leaving aside the Burrito part, the Lasagna and previous experience of Enchilada and Beans Tacos were delecious and so, I wouldn't mind going there and trying out more stuff.
And, you have to pay through the charge card provided at the entrance. Pay additional amount by cash to charge the card.

To conclude, this is a lesser known place and so, the restaurant is not crowded even on weekends, although the arcade games and bowling alleys are packed. A decent place if you want to try something new, even if you are not in mood for games and bowling. Though, since it is located pretty much out of the city, so it makes sense to have fun and dinner together. Overall, a nice place to hang out for kids, teenagers and young adults and the Berries restuarant, to have a nice, quiet dinner to end a fun-filled evening. Reasonably priced, though I would prefer not to have Indian food over here, just for the price itself. Do try other cuisines.

Make sure you collect the remaining amout on your card before you exit, else they have some issues while refunding after you have exited.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Pune Times - Foodie Article- Karen Anand

Here is another article by Karen Anand, in Pune Times dated 11th May
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JUFUvMjAwNy8wNS8xMSNBcjA0MDAw&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom

GOURMET’S JOURNEY
I have now been living in the city for 20 years. Most people still think I live in Mumbai and wonder why I keep dashing here. Living in Pune, with work just about everywhere, means that "dashing about" has become an inevitable part of my life. When I am at home, I often don't step out of my environment for days at a stretch, except to buy food. When I first came to this city, I was captivated by the "real" food scene; I went regularly to Kayani Bakery myself and took great pleasure in doing a Marcel Marceau mime act with Kersi behind the counter, who would pass me what I wanted on the side so that I didn't have to wait in the long queue. Now, we are all on nonsensical diets all the time and the children seem to have grown out of Kayani, so I've stopped going. This also means that I have stopped interacting with all those delightful characters in the bakery. My loss. The same with Rusi at Royal Bakery who still produces the best bun pav in the world. The sight of him standing there welcoming customers in his old white sadra, head stooped, moaning and groaning about something or the other, is something I miss. The trek to Laxmi Road to Chitale for bakharwadi cannot be replaced by a trip to the supermarket to buy a mechanised packet version. Desi Bundu for mangoes, Tulsi Baug for fabulous traditional utensils and last but not least, Shivaji Market. Shashikant and Anil, my fishmongers who, because of my pronging and insistence, started introducing new marine life to us like Red snapper, Karimeen, Squid, Ladyfish, Yellow tail and so on. Until then it was Pomfret, Prawns, Bombay Duck and Mackrel and river fish for those who couldn't afford the rest. I must admit that I don't miss the grumpy old Zaiker bai but at one time she was my life force as far as "exotic" vegetables went. Today red peppers, iceberg lettuce and zucchini are no longer that exotic and available in supermarkets. When Dorabjee's changed from a quaint, old grocery store to the modern supermarket it is today, I nearly had a relapse. I missed the smell of coffee being ground and the sight of the chap wrapping ham in grease-proof paper with masses of string. Dorabjee's has now grown into a supermarket catering to the needs of our every increasing global palate. Would you have ever thought that they would be selling green lipped mussels from New Zealand and salamis from Spain? Then we have Koregaon Park which has become another sub-culture. German Bakery, started by Woody and Gopal, who first introduced me to the amazing Yak cheese from Nepal which they used to bring here in great big wheels, Prem's, Green Grocer, all have a life of their own. All this has been part of the last 20 years of my culinary life in Pune. The city is bursting with great products and wild and wonderful people. Unfortunately, the restaurants don't share my enthusiasm. At the traditional end of the scale, you still have the die-hards like Blue Nile, Shreyas, Shabri, Poona Coffee House, Vaishali, Mayur and so on. The new addition to that spectrum is Rajdhani, clearly the best Gujju thali in town, in the Gold Adlabs complex in Kalayani Nagar. Previously, we had only Mayur on East Street and Chetana in Budhwar Peth. For South Indian, Ram Krishna on Moledina Road, joins the brigade of ever popular 'idli-dosa' eateries, only this one is much smarter and larger.
The Maharashtrian eateries of Shreyas, Shabri, Bedekar Missal, Janseva Dugdale, Joshi vada pav, Shree for sabudana kichdi and wadi, Durvankur and Poonam, are still going strong and still serve up consistently good family style Maharastrian fare. I find it heartbreaking that nothing smarter nor more stylish has come along in the last 20 years.
On the seafood front, Trishna from Mumbai has packed up. Mahesh and Coconut Grove serve Mangalorean food, Riverview serves exceedingly good Kerala dishes and Shristi off Tilak Road does Maharastrian coastal. They are all competent and serve fresh seafood but the décor of all is rather lacklustre and uninspiring. Some Indian restaurants, like Sigree, Northern Frontier (actually a very good Kashmiri restaurant), Saat Handi in Kalyani Nagar, Mystic Masala and Chingari, the rooftop restaurant at Le Meridien, are showing a smarter side to Indian food, combining well-prepared dishes with some thought behind the décor and an ambience worth talking about. In the global food market, we have Oriental shining, mostly in the Koregaon Park area with the exception of All Stir Fry at E-Square. Chinese has also spread but it hasn't got any better, there are just more of them, with the exception of Mainland China, which has raised the bar for Chinese in this city. Considering that Pune has such a "cosmopolitan" crowd, there are very few options for European food and very few places which you can really call "elegant". None of the hotels serve European food except the Coffee Shops. Thank Goodness for that breath of fresh Greek air at the roof top Galaxy Grill at Seasons. Sizzlers used to be a Pune special. Unfortunately, some of them have not even maintained their standards. In the last 20 years, I have also seen a mushrooming of horrible places serving "multicuisine" with interior design like a doctor's surgery, insensitive service and food smothered in mass made masala. It's very sad. Pune has, by and large, a good weather. Where are the cafés? Where are the interesting outdoor picnic areas serving local food? Other cities have managed it. Well, we have several new, fancy hotels opening up in the next few years which should shake us out of our complacency and into work mode. Let's hope so.

Pune Times - Foodie Article- The world’s on your plate

here is 1 article in Pune Times dated 11th may, I found interesting from foodie perspective.
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JUFUvMjAwNy8wNS8xMSNBcjA0MDAx&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom

A journey through Pune manifests a range of culinary delights. And, yes, we are not talking about obvious fare here. One does come across Indian cuisine, and Chinese or Thai have a serious presence as well. But, if one were to look beyond such cuisines, one can see that Indonesian, Malaysian, Japanese, Greek, and Italian delicacies are clicking in a big way as well. Today, popular food festivals have all kinds of thematic delights, and look way beyond Lucknowi or Kashmiri food. A Sushi festival also does equally well. The taste of foodies in the city is fast developing, and they know what they want. "It's not like before. When customers come to the restaurant, they know exactly what they want to order," says Cookie Singh of Toscana, an Italian restaurant. Various restaurants that specialise in different types of international cuisine have made their way into the city. Le Pizzeria continues to be a favourite for Italian cuisine. Then there is La Dolce Vita, where celebrities both from Pune and Mumbai dine regularly. Asia specialises in South-East Asian food and is another popular hang-out. Then, there is Mad House Grill, which specialises in Irani food (Irani Food???- what was the writer thinking ?). Greek magic is served at Galaxy Grill in Aundh. There is The Ship at Kalyani Nagar. And, then there are the regular Chinese restaurants, with Mainland China continuing to be the biggest hit. Even Mainland China is coming up with a number of branches all over Pune. There are the smaller joints like Thai House in Camp. US chains like McDonald's, Domino's and Pizza Hut have their usual clientele. R Chauhan, manager of Mainland China, explains, "Today, the city is expanding and the average income of people is also increasing. They want variety which is what we are endeavouring to provide," he says. Chinese food has always been popular in the city, but new methods are being adopted to woo customers. "It can't just be the usual. For instance, we did a special festival in this Year of Pig in the Chinese calendar," says Chauhan. Today, more and more Puneites are going abroad, which explains why the culinary habits are undergoing a transformation. "I was away in Italy on a company project for three years. Some colleagues from there came to meet me last week. They loved the Italian food in Pune," says Jitesh Agrawal, an executive working for a top MNC. Following the corporate boom, there has been a considerable rise in the number of foreigners, leading to an increase in demand for world cuisine. "It's good to get some nice Continental food near my office," says Ronald Cruz, a French national. Restaurants specialising in world cuisine are taking off in localities like Kalyani Nagar, which houses some of the leading international companies like HSBC and Ventura. Even the average Puneite likes to savour unique cuisine. "Preparations have different flavours, and the sauces used are different as well. It's light on the stomach," says Kamini Jaiswal, who loves Greek food. Her personal favourite is Taramosalata, a dish made out of fish roe mixed with boiled potatoes and moistened breadcrumbs. Some restaurants attempt to give a complete feel of the country whose cuisine they specialise in. Gauri Naikanavre of Galaxy Grill explains why. "It is a conscious effort from our side to do that. People love it that much more." These restaurants also import spices and other ingredients. "It is important so that the flavour is intact and authenticity is there. Today, the people are very aware about what they are ordering," says Gauri. Be it the caffe macchiato or the traditional pasta, Italian food with its select toppings has always been popular. That includes Nasi Pecel Rice served with cooked vegetables and peanut sauce, and Opor Ayam Chicken cooked in coconut milk. To cater to the varied tastes, fivestar hotels have been organising European buffets regularly. "It's very popular in the hotel, and not just with the foreigners who are there but with Indians as well," says Jaswinder Narang of Le Meridien. Indeed, there is a huge demand for organising international food festivals. The five-stars spice it up by having European bands like Le Meridien does, or Filippino singers who are brought to the city by Hotel Pride. As international cuisine is catching on, so is European wine that goes down very well with such delicacies. Niche wine, like sparkling wine, is gaining popularity, so much so that Venky's Rock is now thinking of importing it. Various wine testing festivals are regularly organised, and they have fabulous turnouts. Wine experts from all over the globe come over, and interact with people. Wine lunches and dinners comprising international cuisines and quality wines are organised regularly. Now that the food scene is so bright, where are you going today?

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Student Foodie -IMDR Days- Part 2

So, from where do I actually begin? The first meal I had when i joined IMDR? Or when I started staying in FC Hostel? or with the most frequented one ? Ahhh..its all so confusing.. so let me start geographically. I can literally find myself mentally walking down the lane, the proverbial memory lane.
Starting from Paduka Chowk, now there was no traffic restriction at that point of time. Life was simpler, but you had to be careful while crossing the road since, most joints were on the other side of road (and no dividers, remember!) and no traffic signal from Good Luck Chowk till Paduka Chock. and pune bikers..well, we all know. Now, as a student and a guy recently freed to eat at Hotels as many times as he wanted, I had to watch my pocket as well.
So, just near the Chowk, there is a joint called Salokha where I had my first dinner after moving into the hostel.Always teeming with college students, they had monthly coupons system, with 4 Sunday specials lunches, and 1 egg dinner, 1 chicken dinner per week..all for a princely sum of Rs. 400. It was SPICY..period, so when initial eupheria died of "eating at hotel", the tummy started revolting. Maida rotis and oily and spicy food started taking its toll and finally, had to give up. I don't remember if I ever went back again.
Umed Sweet Mart, next to Salokha, was a snacks joint for kachoris, samosas, patties and dhokhlas. i remember to be careful while eating the kachoris becoz it was stuffed with imli chutney and sev, and it will drip and spoil your clothes. But, very enjoyable and packed during evening.
Niranjan : how can I ever forget my breakfast provider? Now, if I do an off hand calculations, I would have had Kanda Poha breakfast for apx 400 times at Niranjan's in 2 years, standing in their courtyard. That's more than what I would have had during my earlier 22 years..!!! I remeber starting with Rs. 5 for Poha and 2 Rs for tea. By the end of it, it was 7 and 3 repectively. But, Niranjan was a much visited joint not only for their breakfast, but also their Thalis for lunch. Rs. 35, if I remember correctly.
Moving more towards FC, I remember Manmeet opening during my last days as student, but never had an opportunity to visit them at that time. I do not remember if Chaitnya was open at that time, as well.
Next in line was Savera, opp FC main Gate. Now, this is a very interesting veg restuarant. Those who knew, they ordered "Fish Pickle", which is not there on their Menu. Fish pickle, in a veg restaurant ? But, it actually turns out to be paneer strips, in tangy and achari sauce. Absolutely fabulous. Over all, a very satisfying and comfortable place, though be prepared to find someone standing next to you to take your place as you finish..!!
Somewhere between JM Road and FC Road is Kamath. A pretty nice place, used to have Thalis on weekends, though not very regularly. so, even today, I wont be able to find the place on my own. But, it’s not the one bang on JM road but a bit on inside lanes.
I am intentionally leaving out Vaishali and Roopali. There is so much said about them all over the net, I cannot add anything to that. if you need to find out more, go and visit the place. The place cannot be explained in words, it has to be experienced.
There was a chinese joint between Vaishali and Roopali. China Dragon, if remember correctly. I think it has closed down now. Smallish place, But, it served amazing crispy fried noodles. it was served with red sauce, somewhat like your american choupsey, but it tasted way different since the noodles were spicy and with dtir fried vegetables. One of the places, to have dinner with your male hostelites friends.
Now, there were no Wadeshwar, Horn OK please or any of these joints at that time. There is Good Luck restaurant, which, you may believe it or not, I had meal only once during my entire 2 years as student. Why ? because, on my first day as student, when i went there for lunch, I could find only, bun and tea. So, never thought, they had a full indian eating joint by their side. So never went there again. but, lately I visited them and found the non-veg economical as well as filling.
The saddest part of this foodie memory is when i found out that Lucky Restaurant has been shut down. The place was an institute in itself. Probably been there for so long, probably since 1930s. The chicken was worth every penny and the custard and jelly was amazing. and of course, student friendly, price wise. The best part, after a late night beer party, or a late night movie show from Alaka/Vijay, you could always go there, even at 2 AM to grab a meal. They used to shut down the front shutters, but back door was always open. You just had to know the way. So many times, along with friends, so much fun.. Really felt a part of my memory has been torn apart ruthlessly.
Another joint near deccan corner was Purab. a decent veg restuarant. On the inside, so you have to know where to find it. I don’t know why, but I seem remember Green Peas Masala from this place !!. Probably coz this was the first place i had seen anything like this. Only peas, peas and more peas.
There were many more joints, some which i never visited, some once, and some, never at all, on FC road. There was one in Hong Kong lane, another one opposite Roopali, another street side joint near current Millenia plaza( I think, it has converted into a decent sitting place, initially it was just a stall !!) Rainbow, Apache, Shabari, places I never got opportunity to visist. I have just tried mentioning my experiences. You are most welcome to add to this list, but remember, it needs to be 10 years old !!!
The list seems soo small for a foodie, right ? But, hold on, there is more to come. With this, I have tried covering the area which we hostelites, could cover on foot, on or near FC Road. More still to come, some of which was partially covered on foot, and sometimes on bikes. Having a vehicle, increases you chances manifolds of savoring new places, right ? Keep watching this place for more...

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Pune Times - Restaurant Waiting Queues

he ! he!! its kindda spooky .. the very thing i mentioned in a few of my posts actually made it to Newspapers. !

here's a clip from TOI today.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Pune/Waiting_to_eat_in_Pune/articleshow/1986274.cms

The Waiting Game

Serpentine queues outside restaurants in the city have become very common on weekends and even on weekdays. How do Puneites deal with the situation? PT finds out.
It's a really tricky situation. You go to your favourite restaurant with your family or girlfriend, only to find that there is no place to sit. You have to wait for your turn to come. And in some cases, the wait can be really long. Yes, this is a new trend in Pune's culinary culture. Most of the top restaurants in the city are absolutely full on weekends and even some part of the weekdays, compelling you to wait! Because of parking woes in the city on the rise, the problem is greater.

Rajan Ghai can't remember one instance in the last six months when he could find a place in a restaurant on weekends. "Invariably, I have to wait for about half an hour. There is no point in going to some other place because the traffic and the corresponding waiting there will just add up to the same," says Ghai. For some people, clubbing is passe and they would rather go for a quiet dinner with their better half. "But you never seem to get a place instantly. Mostly, we roam around the malls adjacent to the restaurant to kill time. Sometimes the clock just doesn't move. At other times, we completely lose track of time...only to wait again!" says Ketan Agrawal. Restaurants agree that tables are almost full on weekends.
"Pune has always had a great eating out culture. It is only increasing," says Sunil Chandani of Nawab. Cookie Singh of Toscana feels that the solution to this problem is to make prior reservations and come. "That is a better way and saves time," he says.

But it is not something everyone agrees with. Ankita Mehta says, "One mostly makes plans at the eleventh hour, so it becomes difficult to make reservations then. And, when you want to do booking just before coming, mostly it is very late," she says. Her friend Sandip Agrawal seems to have found a way out. "I just pick up some pizzas and diet coke, sit in the car and enjoy. Who is going to take so much effort in waiting? Even my friends enjoy," he says.
Well, not a bad idea!

Well, am happy to note that I am not the only one that feels that eating out on a weekend, in Pune, is fast becoming a torture rather than an adventure.

Mad House Grill - Koregaon Park

ph: 26124779
Now, if you google for this joint, mostly positive reviews have come up. Am sure, a regular pune foodie would have heard about this place. TFG (Times Food Guide) also mentions positive things about it.Now, as I mentioned below about coupons below in TFG, decided to put it to better use and find out more about this place. It is situated close to Silk Route in Koregaon Park.

Now, this is one place with limited seating arrangement. Not more than 15 tables. 2 on the outside, about 6-7 inside and probably 4-5 on 1st floor. Since I went there on a Monday, so it was not crowded at all. But, if the place is as famous it claims to be, am sure the weekends would be a nightmare.

A typical European set-up, sparsely decorated but inviting, nevertheless. The menu simple itself, with varities of steaks, lamb, chicken and vegetable options. The TFG suggested Mutton Raan (Rs. 500 apx), a whole mutton leg, grilled, with a variety of Indian/American etc. But we could not dare it. Probably next time. Am not exactly a mutton person.

So, for starters, decided to go with Chicken Wings (Rs. 110) and soft drinks. Now, I have tasted chicken wings in USA, also here in India at Pizza Hut.( Now, they stopped serving that). I loved the spicy and sweet taste there but in comparision, these were disappointing. Too much sweet, probably to serve the taste buds of Americans/Europeans. There were quite a few there. Looked like served in a sauce of jaggery and imli. Tasteful of course, but could have been better.

For the main course, ordered 3 dishes, Special of the day -Grilled Chicken Supreme (Rs. 250), Pepper Chicken (Rs. 180), Mad House Grill Vegetable Special( Rs. 165). On server's suggestion, Garlic Bread( Rs. 30).And then, we waited..for a long time. I hope this is not their usual waiting period. Anyway, food arrived and I must say, it was worth the wait.

Grilled Chicken Supreme- served with rice on the side.. A bit spicy red gravy, but juicy and adequate chicken pieces. Not much gravy, but delicious.
Pepper Chicken- a large chicken steak in spicy brown sauce. served with grilled vegetables and mashed potatoes on the side. scrumptious indeed, but would have liked a better quantity. I envied my companion having Chicken Supreme, but then Pepper Chicken costs less as well.
MHG Vegetable Special- various vegetable, brocolli, panner, mushrooms, in white sauce. Baked potatoes and grilled vegetables on the side. good quantity, lovely to taste. Although, some of the grilled peas were raw.

Now, the hilarious part, the Garlic Bread. tiny little round pavs or buns !. neither smelt like Garlic Bread, nor tasted like one. We almost laughed out aloud. went along with dishes, anyway.

In all, an interesting experience indeed. Food quality was excellent. Probably, would taste even better with some chilled beer.! Service could have been faster. Decor strictly functional. But then, coming back to main course- food was one pleasing highlight of the evening.

Blow to the wallet :A meal for 3 can be done for below Rs. 800. In my case, with mentioned the coupons in TFG, a 15% discount brought it down finally to Rs. 700.

So, Rs. 100 spent on TFG not futile, but recovered. And there are more of them left !!.