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

Pesto Pesto

Pasta with Vegetables

Lasagna

Cafe Mocha

Potato Pizza

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

Pollo Campero, Phoenix Mall, Pune

Last weekend I visited Pollo Campero at Phoenix mall, Nagar Road, Pune. This Latin American chain provides cuisine similar to that of KFC. The ambiance is nice and we did not find it crowded.

Buffet Meal

We opted for the ongoing buffet which was available with Fried Chicken. For vegetarian's, the staff traded unlimited Fried Chicken with single vegetarian burger. But the important thing to note is that soft-drink is also included in buffet.

The buffet included Fries, Salad, Rice, Fried Chicken, Soft-drink and bun. The taste was not at par with KFC but considering the price (199 + taxes) it fared well.

Vegetarian Options

So if you are in mood of enjoying Fried Chicken with friends in some nice environment with lower prices, this one is a good option.

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

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 

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...