Le Meridian

Cheese n Bread

Veg Salad

Non-veg Salad

Starters

Grilled Sea-food

Grilled Veggies

Main Course

Desserts

Pesto Pesto

Pasta with Vegetables

Lasagna

Cafe Mocha

Potato Pizza

Spaghetti Kitchen, Amanora Mall, Pune

Last weekend I visited Spaghetti Kitchen at Amanora Mall. I received some positive reviews from my friends so I was expecting a lot from the restaurant in terms of taste and flavor.

Assorted Bread

The ambiance is soothing with nice music. The complimentary assorted breads were a nice touch but they did not fare well on the taste buds. The restaurant could provide some freshly baked Italian bread instead of assortment and it would do wonders.

Bruchettas

 For starters, we ordered Bruchettas and Parmesan Cream Cheese baby Potato. It is nice as they provide English name and description for the dishes. Both of them tasted well. But I was still waiting for something extraordinary.

Parmesan Cream Cheese Baby Potato

Sicilian Garlic Chicken

 Later we ordered Sicilian Garlic Chicken with Fries. The quantity for both these dishes was way better when compared to other vegetarian starters. The taste of Garlic was missing with Chicken but it was flavored with lots of tomato as popular in North Indian cuisine.

Fries

Fettuccine with basil Pesto

 For main course we ordered Lasagna and Fettuccine with basil pesto. Both the dishes were great but lacked in quantity. I preferred Lasagna over pasta because I have had better pasta in many a places. I found the dishes lacking in cheese contrary to my beliefs of Italian cuisine.

Homemade Lasagna

All Vegetables Pizza

Finally we summed it up with an All Vegetable Pizza. They only serve pizza with thin crust. The pizza looked very nice but tasted very bland. There was not even anything ordinary, leave alone extraordinary with this one. Overall the ambiance is nice but food lacks the luster. There are far better places if you want to have a slice of Italy.

Exotica - Zafran, Yerwada, Pune

I visited Exotica - Zafran restaurant yesterday. It is situated within the Panchshil Tech Park at Yerwada, Pune. The first thing anyone would notice about the restaurant is its location. It is on 7th floor with a feel of roof-top restaurant. The weather was nice and there was nice breeze flowing. There are three restaurants within Zafran. We opted for Exotica which serves north Indian delicacies. It is also equipped with a bar.

Vegetarian Kebabs

We ordered vegetarian platter for starter. It included two types of Paneer Tikka, Tikki and two types of Seekh kebab. Three out of five items were excellent. One of the Seekh Kebab (probably Hara Bhara Kebab) was not up to the mark. The restaurant also served complimentary Papads.

Papad

Fusilli Pasta

Next we ordered Fusilli Pasta. This was not in the menu of "Exotica" but you can order from the menu of other restaurant "Mozzarella" as well. This was excellent with right combinations of vegetables, cheese and sauce.

Daal Makhni with Paneer Lababdar

For main course we ordered Daal Makhni, Paneer Lababdar and various types of Naans & Roti. Main course was excellent with the authentic flavor and taste. Daal Makhni was the best. From bread section, Missi Roti was tasty and well cooked. We were disappointed with the Lime Soda as it was unable to produce the desired effect.

Missi Roti and Naans

Lime Soda

We finished our journey of taste with "Litchi Malai". The taste was good but the Litchi was filled with sugar syrup. The reason for the same may be the unavailability of Litchi in this season. Overall the taste is good, ambiance is great and the price greater...

Malai Litchi

Pizza Hut, Kalyani Nagar, Pune

I had a small celebration with my friends at Pizza Hut, Kalyani Nagar. It was a weekday and the place was deserted. We inquired about the various deals/ offers that were available. There were two deals - one was four course meal and another was combo offers.

Tomato Soup

We ordered both the deals. We opted for Tomato Soup for combo offer. It did not look great but taste was quite nice. I never expected such taste from Pizza Hut. For appetizers we ordered Cheese Nachos. They would have been great if were crispy. They became soggy and were unable to produce the desired effect on our taste-buds.

Cheese Nachos

Chicken Skewers

For starters we ordered vegetarian platter and Chicken Skewers. Non-vegetarian food was great tasting and nice with respect to quantity vs price. On the other hand, vegetarian platter was not adequate for the price and the taste was also not good. I would recommend not to try the vegetarian platter.

Veg Platter

Pasta

For main course, we had pan pizza and pasta. Pizza was decently baked but it was low in toppings as always. I have a complain about eateries in India which are serving pizza. None of them serves pizza with good amount of toppings or cheese. It was served hot so we liked it.

Pizza

Desserts

Finally the deserts - Ice cream and cheese-cake. Both the things were nice to have. We good a good surprise as we received corporate-discount. But the joy was short lived as we found a huge amount in service taxes and VAT. These joints should follow McDonald's pricing model where you know beforehand, how much you need to shell out.

Cream Center, Kalyani Nagar, Pune

I visited Cream Center, Kalyani Nagar on last weekend. It is a pure vegetarian restaurant serving variety of food and beverages. We were told that nothing in available in Pizza section.

Corn n Cheese Balls

We ordered Corn n Cheese Balls, Nachos for starters. Presentation of nachos was a bit different due to their large size but the taste was nothing near exquisite. Cheese balls were nice.

Nachos

Pasta

Later we ordered Falafal and Pasta. Falafal did not produce the desired taste or flavor. They were more like "Alu tikki" from north India. Pasta was decent. I was surprised as they did not serve Falafal with Hamas.

Falafal

Quesadillas 

Finally we had Quesadilla and Dinner combo. Quesadilla were decently prepared but I would always prefer with more cheese. The Dinner combo was a good deal. There was variety and you can make your own combo by selecting various courses. 

Dinner

I opted for Chole - Bhature which tasted great. One more thing is worth mentioning that we got a Margarita free with our Nachos. It looked nice but the taste was nothing special. They need to put more concentration on taste rather on presentation.

Peach Margarita 

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.