Monday, February 14, 2011

Review: Swagath

Cuisine: North Indian, South Indian, Chinese

In brief: A decent restaurant with pub, offering good North Indian food. Home delivery available.

First Impressions: We (3 of us) reached this place at around 11 PM at night, not finding any other place open for new orders. Loved the part where they told me that they are very much open for new orders!! Nice neat tables, good service.

Menu: North Indian, South Indian, Chinese. We concentrated on North Indian, as it seemed the right thing to do!
8/10

Ambiance: Decent no-frills ambience, with light music playing. Can get a little noisy because of the pub.
8/10

Food: We ordered the Hariyali murg kababs (Rs.325), half butter chicken boneless (Rs.365) and naans (Rs.55 for butter naan, Rs.40 for roti). The kababs were very good. Around 8 pieces, with very nice, spicy marinade, and roasted perfectly. The butter chicken, too, was very good. Around 6 fairly large pieces of boneless chicken in a very smooth buttery gravy. The naans were very good too. The food arrived in just around 15 mins, which I think is good.
9/10

Cost-factor: A little on the higher side, but good quantity makes up for it. Around Rs.1000 for 2-3 people, without drinks.
6/10

Location: In Sector 18, right next to CentreStage mall.
9/10

My Rating: 8/10

Parking: Common parking anywhere in/around Sector 18

Friday, February 11, 2011

Review: Chaat at Jalvayu Vihar Market

If you are feeling like having some good Alu Tikki or Golgappe, and you are somewhere near Jalvayu Vihar / Spica Mall, just head towards the Jalvayu Vihar Market (the one between Sector 21 and 25).
Just outside the main market gate, you'll find a crowd surrounding a chaat wala, during evening hours - 6 PM to 10 PM

Go there for very good Alu Tikke, Dahi bhalla, bhalla papdi, and amazing golgappe.

One of the best places in Noida for these items!!

Review: KTFC (Kerala Traditional Food Corporation)

Cuisine: South Indian - Kerala style

In brief: A very small place service Kerala food. Home delivery available.

First Impressions: The restaurant has just around 6 tables on groung floor, and another 6 in the basement. Basement was smelling badly because of no ventilation. Similar smell was there on the ground floor as well. So, we decided to order for home delivery.

Menu: Menu consists of lot of combinations of main dishes (lot of nonveg options, few veg) and accompaniments (Parotha - maida ones, idiappam, appam, roti etc.)
8/10

Ambiance: As mentioned earlier, its better to order for home delivery. They deliver within 30 mins to 1 hr depending on distance.
4/10 (for restaurant)

Food: We tried the Mutton curry + Parotha combination (Rs.115). And the Chicken 65 (Rs.100) as a starter. Two large maida parothas came - soft and fluffy. The mutton curry was good with the parothas, but can be better. The Chicken 65 was very mediocre. Around 10 very small pieces of fried chicken in some spices. It was very bland. Would have preffered a spicier, juicier version.
7/10

Cost-factor: Pretty cheap. Meal for 2 can cost not more than Rs.250
9/10

Location: Very near to Spice Mall. People staying near to Sector 21/25 can order for home delivery.
8/10

My Rating: 6.4/10 (for dine-in); 7/10 (for home delivery)

Address: Sector 25 Jalvayu Vihar Main Market complex
Contact: 9871021659
Parking: Common parking for the market, on the main road.

Review: Laxmi Coffee House

Cuisine: South Indian

In brief: A small joint service South-Indian food (Tamil Nadu style). No-frills place

Menu: Consists of regular South Indian stuff - Dosas, Idlis, Vadas, Uttapams etc. All common stuff. You should try their Podi (or Gunpowder, as it is called) with Ghee, along with Dosa/Idli.
7/10

Ambiance: Nothing great. The place can be much more neat and clean. Very less seating space. Can be suffocating during peak hours (Weekend mornings).
7/10

Food: Whatever they serve is definitely as good, if not better than other places like Sagar Ratna. Filter Coffee is strictly OK. I enjoyed the Podi very much :)
8/10

Cost-factor: Very Cheap. Around Rs.100 for 2 for a good breakfast.
9/10

Location: Tucked inside the Brahmaputra market complex. A little difficult to locate. You can ask any of the shops once you reach the market. The market is easily accessible.
8/10

My Rating: 7.8/10

Address: Brahmaputra Market

Parking: Common parking for the market. Rs.10 one time charge. Difficult to get parking nearby during evenings.

Review: Oriental Octopus

Cuisine: Pan Asian

In brief: Claims to serve cuisines from 8 countries of the ‘East’ - China, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar & Singapore.

First Impressions:
R and I went there on a weekday evening, without any prior reservations. The restaurant had a common entrance shared by "Chor Bizzare". Very neat and classy purple-toned interiors. Around 6-8 tables placed rather close to each other.

Menu: Pretty vast menu, dishes mainly from China. Maybe one or two each from other places like Korea, Singapore etc.
8/10

Ambiance: Nice Purple looking ambiance. Decent. Staff is very courteous.
9/10

Food: Loved the Chicken Salt and Pepper. The dishes had excellent quantity. Difficult for 2 to finish.. We also tried one Korean dish, which was OK. Cannot comment on authenticity, though.
7/10

Cost-factor: Costed around 1200 for 2, including drinks. A little on the expensive side.
6/10

Location: Very near to Sector 16 metro station, on the main road. Next to McDonalds
8/10

My Rating: 7.6/10

Address: Savoy Suites, Sector 16. Next to McDonalds.
Contact: 91 120 - 4274420 / 4208720 - 24
Parking: Valet parking available