Mangal Sweets, New Delhi

I had an opportunity to taste the delicious food from Mangal Sweets in New Delhi. It was a home delivery order. The first thing that impressed me was the packing. They have packed the food in such way that the taste is maintained even after delivery. 

Masala Dosa 

We ordered masala Dosa and Chat for snacks. The packing for Dasa kept the crispiness intact. The tomato chutney was delicious. Sambhar was slightly spicy (not with chilly) for my taste. I found that the Coconut Chutney was sour. It may stem due to extreme weather in Delhi or may be due to Chef's lack of knowledge about South Indian delicacies.

Bhalla -Papri Chat with Aloo Tikki

Veg Biryani

 Veg biryani and Veg Noodles were quite tasty. They may not be representative of excellent Biryani or Chinese Cuisine, but they were definately far better than the food you get in pure-vegetarian joints.

Chilly Garlic Noodles

 We ordered dry Gobhi Manchurian but by the sheer look, we thought that we are provided with gravy version. The thick gravy of onion was tasty but cook could have done more justice with this delicacy.

Gobhi Manchurian

 This place is definately worthy for a second visit. Overall, the place is nice to have vegetarian food delivered.

Le Meridian

Cheese n Bread

Veg Salad

Non-veg Salad

Starters

Grilled Sea-food

Grilled Veggies

Main Course

Desserts

Oye Pape, Amanora Mall, Magarpatta, Pune

I recently visited "Oye Pape" restaurant to have a corporate lunch. The restaurant is located at Amanora Mall near Magarpatta, Pune. It serves lunch buffet on weekdays. The settings of the restaurant is like a North Indian village. The ambiance was a bit smoky due to adjoining kitchen.

Chilly Chicken

 There were two vegetarian and two non-vegetarian starters. For non-vegetarian food lovers, they severed roasted chicken and chilly chicken. Chilly chicken would have fared better if served boneless. The taste was okay. I was surprised to see a Chinese delicacy in a restaurant that advertises of being authentic restaurant for North Indian food. The roasted chicken did not taste good because the chicken seemed inadequately cooked.

Roasted Chicken

Veg Kebabs and Crispy Potato

The vegetarian starters included Kebabs and Crispy Potatoes. Both of them tasted great, way better than non-vegetarian food. The butter-milk served was also great, giving a nice touch to buffet. The soup and salads for the buffet were okay. 

Soup n Salad

Vegetarian Curries

 The main course had some vegetarian and non vegetarian curries with Ice Cream and Gulab-jamun as dessert. There was nothing out of ordinary. The vegetarian food tasted better than the non-vegetarian food. The North Indian feel and taste was amiss. The cook should concentrate more bringing out the authentic flavors that are wide spread in Northern India.

Meal

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.

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.