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

deciding to eat out is just the start !

after much deliberation on whether to start a blog or not , here i am , yelling to the world that yes am a big foodie - "i love eating!" . this whole thing was a result of  a moment of pure frustration and one simple question that goes like "how many times have we really struggled to pick a dining place that will be satisfying and gives us the feeling of time well spent with family or friends?" - well am just going to pen down my reviews of all the different places that i've been to . Am sure that at some point or other it will be useful to others !