Tag: Restaurant review

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Experience the enticing flavors of authentic Indian cuisine at Diya, The Leela Ambience

What’s Hot?

Specially designed to the delight of every palate, Diya at the Leela Ambience is a true North Indian restaurant. From the ambiance of the restaurant to the class apart hospitality, everything is inviting about the place. Step through the metal-frame rosewood doors into the land of exotic flavors and get mesmerized by the contemporary setting of the restaurant. You won’t be surprised to know that some of the bestselling dishes from the menu are prepared by their in-house celebrity chef, Kunal Kapur. Now, who won’t want to go there?

 

Location

Considering the ease of accessibility to the crowd of both the cities, Diya at the Leela Ambience is located on Delhi-Gurgaon border in Ambience Mall. The mall is located away from the resident zone to avoid the traffic congestion of the city. So, it won’t be a hard time for anyone to reach here.
Don’t forget to try

The signature dishes to try are dal makhani which is heavily loaded with makhan, khattey meethey kofte and Nalli Korma. Baigan ki katli, gilawat ke kebab are good to try as starters. Another not to miss dish is crispy shredded mutton served with assortment of chutneys, the two special ones are peanut-eggplant, and tamarind-dates.


Each dish prepared is unique in itself, and shows creativity not only in terms of the assortment of ingredients but also presentation. Don’t forget to try the Indian mustard-flavoured delicacy, the Kasundi Salmon Tikka. It is as mouth watering as it sounds.
The assortment of desserts is endless; your meal would be considered incomplete if you get up from your place without trying their sweet dish. It is rightly said; keep the good things for the last. Try their Matka kesar pista kulfi, a homemade ice cream with flavor of saffron and nuts, for the healthier option you can even go for Chukandar ka halwa, beetroot fudge.

What’s Special

Experience the dream come true moment at Diya by tasting the food personally made by the world renowned celebrity chef, Kunal Kapur. You never know when you might turn that lucky enough.

Ambience
he decor of the Diya has an old traditional palace look and charm. It remains beautifully lit with dimly lit lamps around the water body along with live music, so soothing to the ears being played in the background. The restaurant is designed in such a way that can accommodate 112 guests easily.
For a private affair, there is a glass enclosed private dining space that can accommodate up to 12 guests. The another highlight of the restaurant is the live kitchen, where you can see your order being freshly made.

Price

The price of the restaurant is slightly on the higher side which is approximately Rs. 3500 for two people, but is worth every penny spent.

Quick Tip

Make prior reservations to avoid the later hassle. In case if you are skeptical about your order, consult the chef and you won’t regret their decision.

The Verdict
One after the other, Diya has won many awards for its unabating hospitality and quality. This is what has kept its name and ranking always on the top. Stepping through the contemporary interiors of the place, accompanied with warm hospitality and soothing environment makes you feel not less than an Indian maharaja.

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Foodie

Desi deliciousness – A review of Dhaba by Claridges

Interior Rating: 4/5 stars

Food: 5/5 stars

Staff: 4/5 stars

Overall: 4.5/5 stars.

How many times have you eaten on a local roadside Dhaba while with friends? The delicious food, the homely feeling, the whole experience is indescribable. But while you are stuck in the city, all you get on the name of eating outside is take outs and boring restaurant food. Dhaba by Claridges give you authentic Dhaba food with the same homely feeling.

Review:

As soon as I entered the place with a couple of my friends, I was astonished to see the whole set up. The interior is like a Dhaba set up near a ‘theka’ and there are Nimbu-Mirchi lights and an actual truck. It might seem hilarious but it was actually a good thing. There were Bollywood posters on the walls and good music that would make you want to start dancing. In fact, the staff did an actual dance with their song of the month. The whole ambiance of the place put me at total ease. The staff was very polite and cooperative. The seating arrangement is good with nice lighting.

Now for the most important part, the food! The menu is divided into tawa, tandoor and patila. Me, I love non-veg and one of my friends is a total vegetarian so while I munched on Chicken Biryani, galouti kebabs, Butter chicken and tandoori Roti, he ordered Bhune aloo, Kadhi pakora, Dal Dhabha and Dhaba Roti.

The food was in sizable quantities and being a food lover, I have a good appetite.  Glad to say that my stomach was just as filled with my heart as I devoured the delicious food. The Butter chicken was juicy and Chicken Biryani equally yummy. According to my friend,  Bhune aloo was also wonderful and Dhaba Roti was a mixture between Roti and Naan. I will be giving that a try the next time I go there. There was masala onions, salad, and chutney which also tasted fine.

For drinks, we got Kala Khatta which was also incredibly nice and Aam Panna which was just okay. The menu is very wide and it took us a lot of time to decide what we wanted to try. Since we were there for the first time, we did not know what would taste good and what would not. That is probably the only thing that stopped me from ordering Tiffen chicken and I saw that one person there ordered it and it actually came in a Tiffen! The place also offers a wide variety of drinks with their own twist on them like toofan, gulabo, santari and lal pari. In the end, we also ordered the alcoholic Kulfi to finish the meal and it was absolutely worth it.

Now for the cons, since the Dhaba is in the pulsating hub of the city, it is crowded and there’s a huge line of people waiting to get inside. By the time you finish waiting and actually get inside, you are famished and would dig into anything you can get your hands on. Also, for normal class people, it is sort of expensive.

But once you have tasted the food and start sliding into the whole aura of the place, you will have no complaints and only praise for everything about the Dhaba. I will recommend it to everyone to just go and have a meal there (especially my friends whom I’ll be dragging there). I myself will be going there again. Hopefully, I will find a day when it is less crowded.

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Foodie

This Dharmendra themed restaurant will win your hearts and invoke nostalgia

Garam Dharam, Bollywood actor’s Dharmendra restaurant does justice to its name. The restaurant is quite earthy in its ways of serving food to its customers and is a treat to the fans of the great veteran actor Dharmendra, who apparently was known as Garam Dharam back in his days. It is amazing to see how the restaurant has been totally dedicated to one person right from the interiors to the food and yes even the washrooms. As expected, the cuisines that get served here are in typical Punjabi style and moreover, you will simply fall in love with the ambience.

Located on the outer circle of Connaught place, the place is visible from the main road and easy to reach. There is ample parking space nearby, making it one of an ideal place for a family outing.

Ambience

The insides of the restaurant seem to have been designed by a lover of old Hindi films, the films starring Dharmendra to be more precise. The interiors of the place are simple, quirky and are modelled on a normal roadside dhaba. The one who enters the place feels the top notch Indianness of the place which happens to be a big attraction for the customers. The presence of Dharmendra is present in everything from the wall decors to the posters on the walls, the cutlery, and the music that plays inside. Apart from the theme it follows, the music, the decor, the lights at night everything is so perfect.

One added attraction is the iconic bike from the movie Sholay. Overall, we could say that the ambience of the restaurant cum dhaba is deeply mixed up in the colourful world of the Hindi film industry which makes the place a must visit, especially for the film lovers.

The food and drinks

Pyare mohan masala nimbu cocktail, a refreshing and unusual concoction of flavours like lemon spices and almonds, with Vodka as its base is a must try at this place. The cocktail is strong to the taste buds but is said to have a refreshing feel.

The cuisines which get served in the place are strictly North Indian and will appeal the most to the Punjabi community. For the starters, the visitors must taste the delicious paneer kabab, hara bhara kabab and the dahi kebabs which are a pure delight to start with. The main course is the real deal over here. The place is a paradise for the hardcore food lovers and serves them right with almost every other vegetarian dish imaginable. From shahi paneer, daal makhani, kadhai paneer, mix veg to salad and tandoori roti, everything is here and that too, at the most reasonable of prices. The place offers as desserts a tall glass of sweet lassi and ice creams.

Overall, the food is quite rooted and delicious as hell. The average cost for two people dining at the place must be somewhere around 1300 Rupees which is quite on the moderate side.

Highlights

The interior decoration inspired by Dharmendra remains the biggest crowd puller feat of the restaurant.

The Verdict

As the restaurant gives a very Bollywood type feel, the place is a must visit for the Bollywood and Dharam Paji lovers. It has the perfect ambience for a family dine in with old songs playing in the background and lip smacking snacks.

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Foodie

Tonino brings you love from Italy!

Tonino is a restaurant that makes you realize what would it really be like sitting in an Italian city, feasting on the best of the Italian meals. You wouldn’t really find a place like it in the entire Delhi NCR. Redefining class, the place is located in Connaught place, in the heart of New Delhi. You can spot it right near the Rajiv Chowk metro station, in the PVR plaza building. Although thanks to the metro, the place is pretty much under the reach of the Delhiites who crave some authentically native Italian meals along with some delicious Continental meals that would tickle your taste buds.

Tonino is a beautiful piece of architecture and it costs a couple of people about 1500 INR to have one good meal over here.

Decor

Laced with long winding staircases, the place is exquisitely designed to woo the average Delhi youth. The staircase along with the white painted walls produces a pretty romantic and chirpy ambiance. Although, it is quite obvious that the efforts had been made to make the place look somehow unique but the fine dine look of the interiors fails in the pursuit. That doesn’t mean it is any lesser in beauty, it’s a bit more stylistic, however clichéd. The giant window glass overlooking the road is quite artistic and well thought out. While the furniture, to the tiles used on the walls, will easily remind you of what Italian architecture actually means.

Overall, the ambiance is quite at par with some of the best places in the city, maybe even surpassing a few of them.

Food

Let’s start with the drinks first. The restaurant hasn’t got a bar license yet but there are some refreshing and delightful mocktails and delicious cups of coffee to make up for that. The drink named Beet’s beauty is especially worth a mention.

Being a proud Italian eatery, one could expect that there would be variety of delicious pizzas. And the restaurant does exceed all the expectations of die-hard pizza lovers. From thin crust pizzas to arabita pastas they have everything to offer from the Italian menu. For starters, we ordered Arancini Di Formaggi which were cheese rice balls and definitely worth a try. Pizza Sana and Cafe Tonino Square Pizza served as a special treat to our taste buds. The thin crust and crispy pizzas retain a smoky taste that is surreal, thanks to the wood firing technique used to bake them. The pizza sandwiches are great as well and leave you stunned with the veggie fillings and the quality of cheese included.

Our meal culminated with the desserts in form of Arabian Honey cake and Tiramisu. Both were sweet and summed up a great experience perfectly well.

Highlights

The world renowned chef Suman Sharma overlooks the menu of the restaurant and having such a huge name to its credit, Tonino is a great place to satisfy your love for authentic Italian food.

Being located in the most happening neighborhood in the city, the crowd is good, yet may prove to be too much for some. So book in advance and enjoy a great meal. They have their fine dining at MG Road as well and is very popular if you plan candle light dinner.

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Review – Pebble Street, Connaught Place

What’s Hot

Carrying on its legacy for almost over 20 years now, the Pebble Street in Connaught Place has maintained its position even after successful two decades. With a potpourri menu, serving the best of Continental, Italian, Tex-Mex, Asian and Indian delicacies accompanied with the choicest of drinks and groovy music, this place is a complete dining space.

This is an ideal place to be with your family and friends during some games event. Enjoy your meal along with the live match streaming on the screen in front of you.

The Location

The restaurant is located in the heart of city at Connaught Place, which is easily accessible from different corners of the city. It is situated on the first floor in the outer circle of N block, which is slightly different to locate as there is no board sign on the ground floor. Place is also there in defence colony.

What to Eat?

The menu at Pebble Street is a potpourri of different cuisines, Continental, Italian, Tex-Mex, Asian and Indian. So you get a lot of options under one roof. For Italian lovers, Lasagna Palermo is a must try, a perfect combination of minced chicken and pasta, which melts in your mouth smoothly.

Pebble Burger is something to die for. It is served along with French fries, Cole slaw and onion rings. The best part about every dish is its portion size, which is sufficient for two people. Combine your meal with the tempting mock tails and cocktails. The best ones to try are Long Island Iced Tea, The Mumbai Iced Tea. The assortment of desserts is mouth gaping. The combination of flavors along with the presentation does the magic. Some of the must-tries are Blueberry Cream Pie, Tiramisu, and Apple Nut Pudding.

What’s Special

With everyday happy hours running from 4 pm to 8:30 pm, this is considered as one of the liveliest places in the area. More than the happy hours, the most awaited day is Saturdays when you get to groove to Bollywood nights.

Ambience

The ambiance of the restaurant is very European. It has a unique seating. At one place corner you will find dim lighting for the younger crowd and on the other, bright attractive courtyard for the families. There is a wall that is dedicated to all the famous streets of the world and also displays the flags of various football teams.

Price

The price range of pebble street is pocket-friendly, approximately Rs 2000 for two (including alcohol). Apart from the price, the portion size is much filling for two people. So it doesn’t feel heavy on the pocket.

The Verdict

With time, the restaurant has grown in its area of functionality. The clientele has substantially increased, which is a sign that the quality and services have been continuously moving upwards. The best time to be at Pebble Street is during an F1 Race, Soccer Match or Cricket Match. The sports fever clubbed with a couple of drinks cannot be experienced better than here.

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Foodie Uncategorized

Bukhara, ITC Maurya,Delhi – A restaurant which greets the tandoori lover in you

Planning to celebrate the tandoori food lover in you right before the year ends? Then Bukhara at ITC Maurya can play the perfect host to all your tandoori desires. The famous multi-cuisine restaurant is located at Sardar Patel Marg, Chanakyapuri.

Come here and you’ll earn yourself a unique, sophisticated yet totally ethnic experience. Everything from the display kitchen including the tandoori kebabs looks so mouth watering. The special thing about the place that it recreates the charm of the traditional way of cooking in clay ovens known as “Tandoors”.

If you are a vegetarian, delight your taste buds with recipes such as Paneer Tikka , Veg Tandoori salad, Bharwan Aloo (Stuffed potatoes) and famous Dal Bukhara which is exceptionally the best to try. The delicious and succulent tandoor cooked- kebabs, vegetables, and bread and Sikandri Raan, straight from the kitchen all make for a great menu.

Besides the luscious food, the interior that gives you the feel of a Dhaba is a feast for the eyes. The décor is still like that of the old times with stone walls, low stool seating, wooden flooring giving the place a rugged look. Copper pots are suspended from the ceilings. Also, the crockery used is the earthenware in an earthen color and if we talk about the menu it is actually painted on a block of wood.

The guests are made to wear the checked aprons while eating and moreover they are also motivated to eat with their hands so that the food is tasted by all the senses. The wearing of checked aprons is a very novel concept. The restaurant offers an efficient service in the delivery of food to the tables.

Quick Tips

If you are looking forward to the best dine in experience at Bukhara this weekend, reserving a table is strongly recommended as one may have to wait for 45-60 minutes to be seated which could make you a little restless. The staff service is great that will set you off on an insatiable greed to order more.

For those looking to end the meals with a dessert, phirni is a great option. If you are in Delhi, add this legendary restaurant to your things to do list without a second thought. A royal family dine-in experience is all you will end up with.
Price The prices are definitely expensive but the place is all the worth to visit and does live up to its hype. The price is Rs.6500 for two people approx where VAT and service charges are additional.

Hours: 12:30 PM – 2:45 PM; 7:00 PM – 11:45 PM

Dress Code: Formals/ Smart Casuals

Dining at Bukhara is a feast to remember. A beacon of culinary excellence across the globe and the undisputed pride of India, Bukhara has won innumerable awards over the years, making it a globally recognized Indian restaurant and the preferred dining destination of foreign delegates and high-profile people.

 

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