bikaneri bojanalai : for an outdated experience ...

so the same old struggle of a new place that is pure vegetarian and that serves good food was on - after much deliberations and eliminations of choices like la shakahari, veg nation, eden, little italy, cream centre, mathura, shree mithai, 2 square, woodlands, saravana bhavan and even flower drum, the choices came down to kailash parbat or some other place. one such place that was suggested was bikaneri bojanalai. located at the corner of ragaviah road in t.nagar, i should have taken some clue about the experience that i was going to have by looking at it from the outside. to be honest, i myself have got confused as to where exactly the dine in place was for i thought it was a place for just take aways and home delivery on more than a couple of ocassions earlier.

so as we take a closer look at the place, out in the corner is a small door that leads us to the first floor where the restaurant actually is. the place is quite bigger than what it seems to be honest and i was pleasently surprised. what hits you the first thing is the music - my god they had super dooper hindi hits played at good volume to just make you wonder if it was a desi pub - that last sentence is 'highly' sarcsatic. they had the most. i repeat, the most outdated music - a part of our conversation suggested that it could be songs of a couple of generation's old - the music is annoyingly loud and it seems that the guys there wouldn't want to reduce the volume - which is even worse. even more horrible is the fact that at times the music is too slow and it makes you sleep. the service that followed the dinner was not applicable most of the time and quite horrible otherwise. 

the starters were a big let down - they didn't have chaat in the first place and the kababs and the papad was really not inviting. the most standard and the usual dish of the north indians - as i consider - the dal makhani was also not that great and a friend of mine who is simply obsessed with the former just forced himself to eat just because he made the choice to order. the breads were ok and not that great or anything special. the best part about the food was the 'masala coke' - just the alternative of bhangra pepsi that you get in sachin ka dhabba or any other. only cause it was coke, it was a tad stronger and thus better. the rice - had it earlier - was quite good and was yum though it was oily. we didnt try the thali and i suppose that this place runs mostly for its thalis. 

so considering all this, if you are in the mood for some really odd experiment that is ok even if its not that great in the end and if you can put up with the really old loud hindi music, you could give bikaneri a shot for you will not be grossly disappointed with the result. my suggestion : its seriously good for you to just order and enjoy at home for other than being spacious, this place is not that great when it comes to service. a lot needs to be improved and surely you would, on more than a couple of times, feel that you have come to a place where the entire concept of dine in is either forgotten or outdated.

food : 2.5/5

ambience : 3/5

service : 2/5

meal for two : rs.250-500

overall : 2.5/5

ajnabi mithai ghar : chaats in all permutations and combinations ...

ajnabi mithai ghar also referred as ajnabi or ajnabee has been around for a very long time. unlike the other chat shops like gangothri and shree mithai which advertise, this one purely runs on word of mouth. it wouldn't be surprising if you wouldn't have heard about the place. if one has to list down some places that would serve the best north indian chaat items in the city, then ajnabi will be right up there on the likes of shree mithai.  

i've known this place for quite a long time now - located inside fountain plaza, people in the locality would be easily able to identify the shop for its that well-known. am writing this review to let others know that such a place do exist. the best thing about ajnabi is that you would end up getting a wide variety of north indian short eats - from dokhla to aloo papdi to khakra to paani puri to roasted cashews and lots more. a couple of things that you are assured when you place an order at ajnabi is i) your orders are made to order and thus they are real good and served hot ii) the processing time of your order is quite fast. unlike shree mithai, ajnabi does not have a place to sit and dine inside the shop, but there are a couple of chairs and tables kept outside for anyone who is interested to dine in. furtherore, you cannot expect great service from a shop like ajnabi for i) its always crowded and ii) the model is self-service driven.

this place has a long list of favorites that include bhel poori, mirchi vada pav, panneer roll, chinese samosa, chatpadi masala, dahi puri, badam milk and their jelabis too. so if you are wanting to take away some north indian chaat items on your way from office to home, then this is a place you will just want to go. when your play gets over at the museum theatre and dont know where to go for dinner, you can try having some chaat late in the night. one good experience that i would seriously recommend everyone to try is to go there and eat with a group of friends for its not only super fun, but you will be happy that you've spent some good time. a serious heads up, its not the kind of place to sit and eat - so there is no point in expecting  comfortable dining. talking about the pricing, its moderately priced, but again, the food is just amazing and is definitely worth more than what you pay for. ajnabi is already a hit, it just needs to add on to its tempo by letting people know of what they offer - for they are truly classic.

food : 5/5

ambiance : 2.5/5

service : 2.5/5

meal for two : rs.250

overall : 3/5

the pasta bar veneto : irresistably italian and more ...

how many times would we have accidentally stumbled upon a place to eat?! well for me, the chance of dropping into the pasta bar veneto (http://www.thepastabarveneto.com/) came out as a winner in a moment of sheer indecisiveness - that too not having heard about this place earlier, the choice was entirely of my close friend's. located somewhere deep inside the center of burkit road, this place is quite hard to notice - its absolutely normal for someone to just drive through burkit road and still miss out on the restaurant. what suprises me the most is how come a good restaurant like this is not advertising much at all?!

photo courtesy : the pasta bar veneto website

i have to admit it that we didn't have much when we went there - upon visiting the place again, my fondness just grew. the place is somehow quite contemporary in its interiors and the dining space is quite well designed - it gives you your private space even if you are going as a couple. coming to the food, the anti pasti (starters) were quite the usuals and the breads are as good as what you would get in pizza hut, domino's etc. where the pasta bar veneto scores - and that too by a huge margin - is with their insalate (salads), pastas, lasagne, sandwiches and dolce (desserts). just like what they claim, their food is real fresh and all of the dishes are made with an adequate dose of veggies. their pizzas are not the best that they could offer - they fall a little short of the mia crust pizzas of pizza hut. i've not tried their pasta al curry, crepes, grills or the al forno (baked dishes) - so can't comment much about them. 

my pick of the restaurant would be the 'primavera meditarenee' pasta - priced at rs.225, it has sundried tomatoes, bell peppers and black olives. you could also customize your pasta with the vegetables that you want in or out. when you decide to have your pasta, remember that you could choose any of the 6 varieties of pasta - penne, spaghetti, farfalle, fusilli, fettucine or maccherone. talking about the flip side, the time taken to prepare the dishes can be felt a tad long if you are really very hungry - so if you are in a hurry or if you want some really quick food, you might want to try some other place. service is quite good - the guys know when to interrupt and when not to. the location is another catch - they should hopefully be opening more places across the city soon.

so if you are in the mood to go out with a special person, or if you are in a mood to catch up with an old friend, or if you are in a mood to sit and work long hours during dinner time - ' they have wifi that we can use upon request , not sure about the plug points though ', or if you are in a mood to just laze around and spend time with family in a restaurant or if you are in a mood to go out of the way and have some hearty italian food at quite a decent price, then the pasta bar veneto is a good place to hang out at. this place wouldn't dissapoint you for it would be the experience that you will take away more than anything else.

food : 3.5/5

ambiance : 4/5

service : 3.5/5

meal for two : rs.500-750

overall : 4/5

donut house - you'll come home to some good ones ...

imagine this : a super soft donut filled with rich creamy and absolutely flavor rich filling that will simply make you indulge - that's what the guys at donut house (http://donuthouse.in/) are offering. this place is relatively new and is slowly gaining popularity. unlike dunkin donuts, there are no big food chains serving donuts as their mainstay offering. for a donut lover, french loaf, hot breads or even barista used to serve a little close to what he/she wants - but none of them were really satisfying.

photo courtesy : donut house website

i had been here a month earlier - just for over 10 minutes - more to check out their offerings. am more or less compelled to write their review today for what i've experienced was something really different. went along with another friend of mine to have a quick bite and for some take-aways too. for starters, the place looked nice and bright - freshness was simply there in the air. the counters were really clean and the display was really well taken care of - the arrangement of the donuts was very simple but effective enough to make you drool by just looking at them. the service is quite good and is considerably fast. besides donuts, they also serve cold coffees, mojitos, salads and sandwiches - you might want to think twice about their mojitos.

one thing that really impressed me were their kitchen - it was a see through setup and for people who admire the baking process, it is really fascinating to just sit there and look through. the donuts were yum and for guys who want to experiment, there are plenty of varieties - guys with sweet tooth, beware. their signature dish called "ultimate" is a must try - you get to choose the donut you want and is topped with vanilla ice cream and fresh cream in conical fashion - it is decorated with handful of chocolate chips and very thin sliced badam and is made to look really really beautiful. i was compelled to just keep looking at it for more than a minute as i've never seen anything like it with donuts. the probable flip side is the price - though they have buckets of differential pricing, a donut on an average would cost you close to rs.45 - but with that being said, you would probably get what you pay for.

so, for someone who is willing to travel quite a distance and is in the mood to have a couple of really really yummy donuts, then this is a place you must try - for it will not let you down. one other really important information is that, all the donuts are egg less - so vegans, have a blast! donut house is here to stay but they must work on their locations.

food : 4/5

ambiance : 4/5

service : 4/5

meal for two : rs.250-500

overall : 4/5

jeevan - your cafe ! alls not well if it doesn't end well ...

so, it was a birthday of a vegan! after trying out pretty much all kinds of pure vegetarian food outlets across the town that serves multi cuisine , we were pretty much left to choose between kailash parbat and jeevan - your cafe . considering that there were 10 of us at least, we decided to pick on jeevan cafe for its location and that it was very new. upon being there, we found the place really nice - it wasn't the greatest of ambience but one will definitely not hate it if not love it.

prior to this, jeevan was in the news for its amazing spread of multi cuisine buffet priced at rs. 250 and that it was more than a steal for its price. i must admit that the food was really worth it - the spread was as lavish as it claimed to be! a soup to start of with - which was good, the starters included 4 salads and a couple of chinese starters , the main course had chinese serving the usual fried rice , noodles along with a couple of chinese accompaniments , the indian cuisine serving the rice, naan/roti and more than 4 varieties of gravies and the italian pasta - the fusilli style cooked with tomato sauce. the pick of the lot was 'tofu in mixed vegetables' cooked the chinese way. the food went down with a variety of desserts that included ice creams and the traditional kheers.

the only downside to the entire experience was the service. as much as it seemed really pleasing in the beginning, they clearly got panicky as more and more crowd started to come in (as one of the staffs clearly admitted). they were not at all around to cater your needs and one will literally have to go catch them to get their attention. what was even more disastrous was the non availability of food half the time - something that could turn off many people.

so if food is the main priority, then jeevan is a great place worth every penny. however if u count ambiance and service as a far more important criteria, then probably it worth looking outside for there are equally good restaurants offering food at the same price point. not a great place for birthday parties or group lunch that calls for celebration (you are better off in handling birthday cakes yourself for they did make a mess with ours). am hoping that jeevan cafe would impress people all through their dining experience and not just for starters!

food : 3.5/5

ambiance : 3/5

service : 2.5/5

meal for two : rs.500

overall : 3/5