American Diner, Lavasa

I visited Lavasa on 20th August with my friend. It was raining so I decided to have food in an indoor restaurant. It was late afternoon and most of the restaurants have closed their kitchens. Therefore we decided to try American Diner which was available. The first thing we felt was the ambiance. The look and feel was very pleasant and pretty much influenced with American Culture.

Non-veg Sampler

The food seemed over priced but they provided with pictures of various delicacies. We ordered Non-veg Sampler and Veg-sampler for starters. Both the items tasted good and made us realize that the choice was not bad.

Veg Sampler

Double Decker Burger

 We ordered Double Decker Burger and Vegetable Steak for the main course. Burger was not as delicious as sampler. The bread used in burger was not of good quality. The accompaniment were good. Vegetable Steak was also nice but the bread was not toasted properly. In total, main course was not as appealing as starters.

Vegetable Steak

Overall the experience was nice. I would like to mention one thing here. The restaurant staff provides mineral water for INR 50 and displays reluctance in serving regular water. This is not a cheap option but definitely worth for a try.

Kasba, Kalyani Nagar, Pune

I visited Kasba by Royal Orchid twice in recent time. This restaurant is located in Kalyani Nagar, Pune. I had lunch buffet and dinner buffet as well in the same.

Chicken Manchow Soup

During dinner buffet, the staff server all the delicacies on the table itself. It gave us a feeling of enjoying a-la-carte meal. We had Chicken Manchow Soup which was good. There were 4 starters which were also good in taste; Fish Fingers, veg Kababs, Chilly Chicken and Crispy Veg. I never expected bones in Chilly Chicken so I was startled a bit with the bones. 

Crispy Veg

Fish Fingers

Chilly Chicken

Later we opted to have veg-salad and Dahi-vada. Both of them were okay, nothing sort of great.

Veg Salad

Dahi Vada

Pasta

In main course we ordered various delicacies. I did not appreciate the Pasta or Chicken Biryani because it was not as spicy as one expects.

Chicken Biryani

Dinner Spread

The dinner spread was good for a vegetarian guest but for non-vegetarian it was just okay. The desserts were mouth watering. Overall the experience was nice. It was a bit expensive considering other available options with better spread.

Gulab Jamun with Ice Cream

Salad Counter

I visited second time for lunch buffet. This time it was almost typical buffet where one is served only starters on the table. The starters were almost similar. This time they provided veg and non-veg pizza. The Chicken 65 was exactly same as Chilly Chicken and again with bones.

Veg Kababs

Veg Pizza

Chicken Pizza

Chicken 65

Veg Curries

The curries were okay but this time desserts were with more variety. I liked the Gajar Halwa they served. Other desserts (strawberry mousse and coconut cake) were okay.

Dessert Counter

The lunch buffet was much cheaper with more options. It was definitely worth a try for once...

Yana Sizzlers, Pune

I visited Yana Sizzlers located at Kalyani Nagar, Pune on August 15. I reached there early evening, therefore I got the seats without any reservation. I ordered make your Wok. It is similar to a live counter for Pasta/ Noodles. 

Make your Own

We selected various vegetables and noodles according to our taste. There was a good variety of vegetables but the counter lacked the variety in meat.

Vegetable Selection for Wok

More Veggies

We finalized Black Bean Sauce to go with our selection. The noodles were prepared nicely. But the taste of Black Bean sauce was not prominent in the dish. Overall it was not worth the effort we put in selection.

Noodles with Black Bean Paste

Veg Sizzler with Cheese Corn Patties

We ordered one vegetarian sizzler and one non-vegetarian sizzler. Veg one was with Cheese Corn patties and non-vegetarian one was prepared as Steak with Chicken and Cheese. Both the sizzlers were exactly same except the main ingredient. The sauce was not effective to appease our taste buds. The steak was well cooked but the chicken was and cheese were not prepared that well. Even the presentation lacked the skills necessary for a great sizzler.

Steak with Chicken and Cheese

Overall I felt that the place is hyped without having the taste or ambiance for an up-market sizzler eatery. The delicacies were not worth the price. The only thing was quick service on a public holiday.

Nandini, Pune

I went to this restaurant last weekend with my friends. This restaurant is located in Chandan Nagar serving pure vegetarian food. I went there for dinner. I started with a Mango Lassi but it was too sweet. They ought to keep such delicacies prepared in advance to enhance the taste.

Mango lassi

Paneer Satay

I ordered Paneer Satay, Masala Papad and Cheese Bullets for starters. I was not new to the restaurant, therefore I got my expectations fulfilled with Papad and Paneer Satay. Both were prepared with the proper mix of spices, rendering perfect taste and flavor. But the cheese bullets were not able to produce the similar effect. It was due to lack of cheese in preparation.

Masala Papad

Cheese Bullets

I ordered Chilly Paneer, Daal Fry, Chilly-milly and Paneer Bhurji for main course. Daal Fry and Paneer Bhurji were good but other two dishes were neither tasty nor presentable. Overall the food is good at this place if you avoid experimenting with what you order. The ambiance is not great but it would do if you consider the main selling point for such restaurant; and that is “Value for money”.

Daal Fry

Sun-n-sand, Pune

I visited Sun-n-sand on Aug 11. This one was a five star hotel located near Bund Garden in Pune. I planned to have lunch buffet there. I expected a lot from the food but found it nothing special.

Salad/ Live Pasta Counter

The first thing I noticed was the salad counter. They had variety in salad but I always preferred self-service when it comes to make your own salad. I was surprised when I realized later that salad counter was also live pasta counter. They did not provide any tossed pasta/ salad. They also had make your own counter for light snacks. I was unable to differentiate various stuff due to lack of tags.

Make your own

Tomato Corn Soup

I had corn-tomato soup but it was nothing special. Event the presentation lacked the feel of a starred restaurant. The chicken starter was very dry and did not taste good. I was comparing the food here with the food I had at Barbeque Nation. Vegetarian starter (Chilla) was not even worth mentioning.

Chicken

Crispy Veg/ Casuni Potato

There was good spread of vegetarian dishes. The crispy veg and Potato were prepared nicely. They had curries with spinach, leafy vegetables, paneer, okra etc. Most of the curries were nice to have. But the non-vegetarian dishes were not great in taste. They had one dish each for chicken, mutton and fish. Even the biryani lacked the aroma and flavor.

Veg Curries

Bhindi Curry/ Pasta

Pasta was good but the noodles did not do justice with the starred ambiance. I was also disappointed with the veg Biryani. They prepared a nice Daal-makhani but the overall spread lacked the luster of a five star buffet.

Right Mix

Main Course

The consolation lied in the dessert counter. Desserts were obviously the strong point of buffet. There was variety and the taste was very good. They provided options to make your own sundae with variety of ice-creams. Besides there was fudge, mousse, brownie, flavored yogurt, fresh cut fruits malpua and basundi/ rabri.                   

Dessert Counter

Cake Shop

Sun and Sand is famous for its bakery items. I expected great food from the lunch buffet but the food there was in no way lucrative. I may never try the buffet there again. Staff was nice and service was good but the buffet is all about tasty food and multiple options, not about the service/ staff or stars. So if you are planning to go there, first think what you want from your buffet.

Barbeque Nation, Pune

Dessert Counter

I visited Barbeque Nation situation at Kalyani Nagar, Pune on August 04, with my friends. We did not face any issue getting a table as we booked the table in advance. We reached there around 12:15 PM. The restaurant was almost empty. We were escorted to our tables by the staff. This restaurant provides an elaborated buffet with barbeque facility.The one thing that caught our attention was the dessert counters to suit everyone's pallet.

Barbeque

The starters were awesome. The seafood was especially delicious. We did not try much of the delicacies from main course because we had enough starters. Still I tried their Biryani which is considered very tasty. It was not as delicious as one would expect from such place.

Salad Counter

Famed Biryani

Personal Favorite

Desserts..

Desserts..

More desserts...

The desserts were exquisite leaving aside the pastry. The texture was not smooth, may be due to humidity in monsoon. But leaving aside that, it was nice experience having such tasty desserts.