The buffet has 7 sections – Drinks, Kids Buffet, Live Chinese Kitchen, Continental, Indian, Wine and Champagne, and the Desserts. The drinks section has a special ingredient for Bloody mary’s – the V8. V8 is supposed to be made of 8 different vegetable juices and expected to be very healthy. The kids buffet is a great option for convenience of families; arranged at a lower height, this mainly consists of fast food – chicken nuggets, burgers, fries and desserts. The live Chinese counter was closed the day we visited. The Continental Section had significant variety with small portions neatly separated out making self service very convenient. The Wine and Champagne section was interesting with an Australian red & white wine collection and Belgian beer on offer.

After a detailed tour of the whole arrangement, we were seated at a table with a great outdoor view. We started off with drinks and decided to taste the V8 without any spirits. The drink was intense with a good mix of spices. I would recommend you to add Vodka to it and try. We were served the starters on the table; these were Chilli Tofu, Hara Kabab, Chicken and Wok Fried Lamb. The Tofu and Hara Kabab were well spiced up and the Chicken delightfully tender. I felt the Lamb was inconsistent and chewy in places.

We then moved to the counters to try out different things. I first tried some salad and the Chinese section. The salad was crisp and fresh. Moving on to the Chinese Counter, Shredded Lamb with Oyster Sauce was tender and great to taste; and the Sliced Chicken with Mushroom had a good blend of spices. We then moved to the Indian section, I tried the Bhindi Naryantra, Paneer Kalimirch and Raita along with some Achar. The dishes were good but a touch too spicy for me.

Still waiting for the day’s winning dish, we dived into the desserts and found more than what we were looking for – Ras Malai, Mango Pana Cotta and Sewian di Khir are definite must haves here. The Rasmalai was tender and creamy; and the Sewian di Khir was sweet just the right amount. A couple of signature sugar-free desserts are also available for the health conscious ones – Corn Pudding and Black Chocolate Cake.

Overall, a good dining experience with good food, great ambiance and knowledgeable service.

- Pankaj Chaddah

For the menu and photos, please visit: http://www.foodiebay.com/ncr/restaurants/south-delhi/suraj-kund/oasis-claridges-2686

Entering the hotel lobby, we did something we do so often nowadays – check out the restaurants. What intrigued us was that Wildfire (the famed Brazilian barbeque restaurant) had a new lunch offering called the Mongolian lunch served in a “make your own main course” fashion which begged to be tried out. Being the perennially hungry souls that we are, we sat down.

The plan for the lunch was that the soup will be served on the table. FYI – they have a daily changing soup, so me telling you what to expect will not fly here. We had to go make our own salads – that day we got to choose from raw papaya salad, fried eggplant, assorted lettuce, roasted pineapple , roasted broccoli and carrot bean salad.

However, the main course is the most interesting part. What you have to do is – take a bowl, goto the live counter, put in all the ingredients that you want, choose the sauce and then ask the chef to cook it for you. This main course can be made by choosing ingredients from vegetables like edamame, bean sprouts, tofu, sugar snap peas, shitake mushroom, celery sticks, napa cabbage, tender stem broccoli, baby carrots, baby corns, baby zucchini, scallions, bok choy, spinach, cilantro assorted peppers, meats and seafood like stripped tenderloin, flank steak , spare ribs, sliced lamb, chicken wings, julienne spring chicken, duck breast, baby prawns, jumbo scallops, squid rings, pork shreds and eggs and condiments like roasted nuts, fried elephant garlic, ginger, toasted sesame, charred pineapple, chopped yellow onions, shredded lettuce / cabbage, spring onions, jalapenos and bird chilies. The list of sauces available include roasted peanut & chilli sauce, yellow curry sauce, teriyaki sauce, szechwan sauce, black pepper sauce, XO sauce, ponzu glaze, sweet basil & chilli pepper sauce, pineapple & lemon sauce, sweet garlic sauce, smoked ginger, black beans and scallion sauce which will bring in the characteristic flavors. All this, you can choose to get served with either udon noodles, egg noodles, soba noodles, white rice or wild rice. Now, don’t get too excited. Not all these ingredients are available every day, but they certainly have a lot of choice so that you can pretty much get anything you are craving for on that particular day.

By the way, I missed telling you that they also serve desserts as part of the lunch. We were served a bowl of fresh fruits with vanilla ice cream on top, so amazingly simple and wonderful – something I have been eating ever since as my dinner dessert at home now..

Recommended? Definitely. Am I going back there again? Definitely, sometime this week!!

Reservations? Recommended – Find the phone number etc at http://www.foodiebay.com/ncr/restaurants/gurgaon/sector-29/wildfire-crowne-plaza-2443

Did you go there? Would love to hear about it in the comments section.

- Deepinder

True to their culture and tradition, Brown Sahib promises to offer you the best of Bengal by giving its guests the elegant ambience of zamindari homes in Calcutta while relishing a succulent spread of rich Bengali fare.

Indulge in an array of gourmet treats starting with KUMRO PHOOL BHAJA (Fried pumpkin flower), DAL PANCHRAKAM (A dal made with five pulses, usually served only at feasts and during celebrations), ENCHORER DALNA (Green jackfruit curry), GALDA CHINGRIR PATURI (Jumbo prawns marinated with mustard and coconut and steamed in banana leaves), CHITOL PETIR JHAL (The quintessential Bengali fish curry, made with feather-backed fish), KHASHIR MANGSHOR KORMA (A fragrant and robust lamb and yoghurt delicacy), ELISH MACHER PULAO (Spicy hilsa cooked with basmati rice) served with fragrant GHEEBHAT (Basmati rice flavoured with ghee and dry fruits), LUCHI (puffed bread) and TOMATO CHUTNEY. And that’s not all, save your appetite for the melt-in-your-mouth desserts like RAJBHOG (Saffron flavoured rasgullas stuffed with dry fruits) and MISHTI DOI (Made in-house, the dessert that sends a tingle through every Bengali and non-Bengali’s sweet tooth).

Drop by Brown Sahib to truly enjoy the spirit of Poila Baishak with your loved ones amidst a lot of feasting and merry making.

Duration: From 14th April to 21st April 2010

Timing: 12:00PM to 11:00 PM

Location: Brown Sahib, 2nd Floor, MGF Metropolitan Mall, Saket, New Delhi

Price: Rs. 999 (plus taxes) without alcohol
Rs 1299 (plus taxes) with alcohol

For more information on Brown Sahib, the menu, and contact details to make table reservations, please visit http://www.foodiebay.com/ncr/restaurants/south-delhi/saket/brown-sahib-2435

This article is brought to you by Foodiebay.com

“Big Fan” is what I was known as whenever I entered one of my favourite neighbourhood restaurants. I absolutely loved the food, which was consistently hot and delicious and the waiters greeted us with a smile every time.

On the face of it, it couldn’t really get any better. All of us being carnivores to the core, we ordered our favourite items on the menu – The Great Indian Chicken Tikka, Mutton Seekh Kebab, and some Grilled Potatoes to stay low on protein. With Masala Lemonade to go along with our food, we settled ourselves in and awaited the appetisers.

Ten minutes later, the food arrived and we began digging into it. Quickly demolishing the Chicken Tikka, we moved on to the Mutton Seekh Kebab. There was a small surprise in store for us here – a small fruit fly was hovering in a proprietary fashion over the kebabs. Obviously, the fruit fly could only have come from one place and I requested the waiter for a peek into the kitchen. My request was promptly refused with the excuse that it was a restricted access zone and I could only go there along with the owner or with written permission from the owner of the restaurant.

That got me agitated! I had visited this restaurant so many times that I knew most of the waiters by their first names. I didn’t expect to be refused to let into the kitchen. Upon insisting, I was told that most restaurants, including large chains, do not allow anyone into their kitchens.

I buy food from this restaurant… food that goes into my body. I have the right to see where it is coming from and whether or not it is being cooked in hygienic conditions. Not budging, I insisted on going into the kitchen. The restaurant manager told me that they absolutely cannot let anyone go into the kitchen. Then he asked me a weird question, ‘Would you let anyone and everyone enter your home?’.

What did that mean? Of course, I would have to let anyone enter my home if I was running a business out of my home and any of my customers wanted to do a quality check on my processes. After all, my customer is buying my product and has every right to check its quality before buying it.

I also tried to reason with the manager by explaining to him the concept of restaurants with open kitchens. I asked him if he thinks that owners of such restaurants had open homes too. I think that stumped him and he figured that I would not be giving in easily and would only rest after entering his kitchen.

After a gap of a few minutes, I was let into the kitchen, time they were probably buying to clean up things in the kitchen. I figured so because when I entered, everyone inside had towels in their hands. Inspite of their frantic efforts, what I saw shocked me. The waste food and leftovers were lying on a huge dump on the floor and were the source of a weird smell. Fruit flies could easily be seen all across the kitchen. Utensils were not washed properly – a common tub of dirty water was being used to wash the food off them and then were being dried up by paper kitchen towels before being pushed into the dining area. Unable to bear more, I quickly left the kitchen and the restaurant.

The whole experience left me thinking about the state of cleanliness in most restaurants that I go to. Restaurants should be required by law to let paying customers into their kitchens. That is the only way these business owners will be forced to clean their kitchens once in a while (in the absence of an effective restaurant policing mechanism in our country). If course, now onwards I will stick to as many open kitchen restaurants that I can. If I don’t have that choice, I will always ask the restaurant to let me check out the kitchen before I eat anywhere.

Will you do the same?

We went over on a hot Wednesday afternoon to check out the place. Of course, we didn’t easily get parking in Khan Market and had to park our car quite far from the epicentre of Khan Market. Weary from the long walk, we sat down craving for some good coolers to quench our thirst. So we ordered the Lemon Twist and Bloody Mary rightaway. We say, good mocktails! The drinks got us well settled in.

Hungry too, we quickly got on to food. The food menu consists of 7 main categories – Small Bites, Salads and Soups, Robata Grill, Mamagoto Signature, Wok+Cuisines, Desserts. We ordered soups (Tom Yum Soup (125/115), Beijing Seafood Soup(145)), Thai Chicken and Water Chestnut Salad (225), Rock Shrimp Tempura (325), Robata Grilled Prawns (495), Soggy Thai Basil Chicken with Sticky Rice (325) and the Chiang Mai Train Station Noodles (325/295).

The soups were really good – very light, fresh and aromatic. The Tom Yum soup was quite spicy – just the way it is supposed to be. However, we really recommend the Beijing Sea Food Soup which is basically garlic infused with a thick texture with fish/prawn.

The Rock Shrimp Tempura is a lot of shrimps (yeah, a lot of them, that means that the portions are quite good), with ponzu pepper powder served with chilli mayonnaise. Serve the purpose of snacks along with your drinks. Then, the Thai Chicken and Water Chestnut Salad. This was easily the highlight of the day. The salad is made of up Chicken, Water Chestnuts, Red Chilli Strips, Kaffir Lime, Lemongrass and Coconut. Pankaj liked it so much that he said that this Salad is better than all the ones that he has had at Thai High. Now, of course, that is a subjective opinion of one single person, but even then, saying that means quite a lot.

Onto Robata Grilled Prawns. But what is a Robata Grill? Robata is a form of grill from Japan. Translated as ‘around the fireplace’, Robata taps the ancient Japanese custom of cooking in the irori, the traditional charcoal-fired hearth once found in every home. Mamagoto serves 3 big prawns cut into 6 pieces, arranged on a leaf and laid down in a queue. Good presentation and amazing taste. Makes me want to reiterate that a lot of restaurants nowadays are serving good sea food which used to be a rarity to find in Delhi a few years ago! Mamagoto, now easily joins the league of one of the best ones in town for sea food.
We relished the Soggy Thai Basil Chicken with Sticky Rice and Ching Mai Train Station Noodles (coconut milk, burnt onion + garlic, “khao-suey” style). And with no space left for Desserts, we signed off on the afternoon.

Overall, amazing food, cheery ambience and good knowledgeable service which is bound to lift you up. Must-go, I’d say.

Check out Mamagoto’s menu and other vital stats at: http://www.foodiebay.com/ncr/restaurants/central-delhi/khan-market/mamagoto-2632

Located on the main road, Whipped offers you a very unique experience as you walk in. There is a wall which always has an exhibition of funky photographs and a wall which allows you to paint anything you want. The wall is full of great feedback from the customers – good first impression for anyone who walks-in for the first time.

I tried out the Tiramisu and the Belgian Chocolate ice-cream to begin with (yes, that’s how I like to begin my meals). Everything being made in-house, the Tiramisu with original Baileys and Kahlua, is a treat to the taste-buds. The strawberry and blueberry cheesecakes were next, key ingredients being Mascarpone cheese and homemade cheese. I loved the blueberry cheesecake, so much so that I got a couple of slices packed to pamper my taste-buds after dinner. Sticking to the “Whipped” image, the menu keeps changing every season. The Bailey’s and Snickers ice-creams are this season’s specialty and I’m sure the loyal customers are looking forward to the Triple Decker Pastry for the next season. A few other treats worth mentioning on the menu are the bagel with Philadelphia cream cheese and the Good Old Brownie.

This is definitely a dessert boutique you don’t want to miss if you stay in South Delhi. But don’t expect to find much healthy stuff here, Whipped is all about pampering yourself in the most unhealthy of ways. Quoting Alcie again “I don’t claim my desserts are not unhealthy, because they aren’t!”

Check out Whipped’s menu and vital stats at: http://www.foodiebay.com/ncr/restaurants/south-delhi/greater-kailash-gk-2/whipped-2649

Situated on the 3rd Floor of The Vardhman Plus City Mall, Grill on a Hill is spacious with a huge indoor section and two outdoor sections on the terrace of the Vardhman Plus City Shopping Complex. It has a wholesome fine dining feel to it with rich decor indoors and water curtains dominating the ambience outdoors. The music is not too loud which means that you can easily have a conversation with someone sitting across the table. Overall, it has the ambience suiting a quiet and interactive dinner. Another interesting aspect about one of the terraces is that you can see people working out in the gym in the next wing of the building – bound to bring in some guilt when you binge.

The menu has 3 cuisines – Indian, Thai and Chinese. The Chef suggested we taste his recommendations from each of the cuisines. Starters included Murg Reshmi Kebab (230/-), which was as good to smell as it was to taste. Marinated and cooked to near perfection, we used the mint chutney and lemon juice to make it more tangy and juicy. Next, we had some Fresh Tandoori Prawns (350/-) which would be a good try at Sea Food for the chicken eating Punjabis.  We also tried Crispy Potatoes with bell pepper and spring onion – now, the best part about this is that we could actually taste the rich potato flavour, unlike other run of the mill ‘chinese’ restaurants where all you can taste is the sesame and the garnishing. Also on offer from the Chef’s recommendations was Oriental Barbequed Lamb (225/-) – slices of lamb garnished with black pepper and schezwan sauce. The lamb here was slightly dry and chewy and could have been much better. The main course we had was only Indian, since we ran out of tummy space to try out other cuisines. However, we did have the appetite to taste the delicious Dal Gharwali (125/-), Zafrani Malai Kofta (165/-) and Murg Makhani (220/-) accompanied by Raita.

Grill on a Hill is owned by a cargo businessman Mr. Tiwari. This is his forst foray into the hospitality world, and his new venture seems set to be a good success story and do justice to the hungry affluent crowd of Dwarka which has been craving for fine dining options for quite a while now. I would definitely recommend this place for good food, great ambience. And right now, is also the perfect weather for some terrace-dining.

To check the menu for Grill on a Hill, please visit:

http://www.foodiebay.com/ncr/restaurant/delhi/grill-on-hill-dwarka-2438.html

Listening to his customers, the owner of the place, Sagar, rented out the vacant space next to his existing corner and built up a great sitdown restaurant. He added a couple more cuisines to his menu – Continental, Mexican and Italian, did a decent job at preparing these dishes and added a fine-dining twist on top of everything.

The result is a highly affordable restaurant serving great food with a pleasant atmosphere. The chef does a good job at all the cuisines; you cannot expect authentic Chinese, Mexican or Italian food – but it is certainly better than what a lot other restaurants pass on under these cuisines.
Under the Indian menu, do try out the Murg Malai Tikka (pic above). Its presentation is very good and the taste will compare to the best Malai Tikka you would have ever had. In the main course, do give the Yellow Dal Tadka a try along with Vegetable Jalfrezi and Laccha Parantha. The Parantha is one of the most crisp and crunchy things I had eaten for a long time.

Avoid the Raitas – they are way too dilute and will certainly not be liked by people who actually enjoy yogurt. Apart from Indian, you should try the Mexican Fiesta Chicken Salad, Tortilla Soups, Chilli Chicken, Chicken Satay, the Enchiladas, Chicken Steak and Cheese Steak. Take my word for it – all these dishes are completely worth their price.

With what it has on offer, Yumz should be very successful in a market which has seen the monopoly of Dana Choga as the only good restaurant for so long. The best part of Yumz is that you can have food which is at least as good as other restaurants in this area, it has more cuisines on offer, and it will set you off by only half as much as any other place in DLF Phase 1.

And I am sure, people living in the area will find it to be a very welcoming change for their tummies too!

Recently, there has been a surge of restaurants offering Sunday brunch buffets to their customers. I can easily name around 10 off the top of my head. However, Drift has been doing this for quite some time – for over a year now!

Last Sunday, me and Kanchan had a chance to visit Drift for the Sunday Brunch Buffet. Luckily, that was a little early compared to other people in Gurgaon so we got a table immediately. The place looks pretty popular amongst the local crowd since it was almost fully packed by 1pm. So if you are planning to go there and are not an early riser, make sure you book your tables in advance.

They serve juices and hot beverages (of course, all non-alcoholic) as part of the buffet. So, on a cold winter morning that it was, the first thing we asked for was two steaming cups of tea. Sipping on the tea, we took a stroll around the restaurant to see what was on offer. Let me start to describe it: first the juice bar, 4 different types of fruit juices followed by the salad bar, where the more foodie-types can make what they want and the lazy asses can pick up from a choice of a few veg/non-veg pre-made salad options.

Next, they have some cold meats and sausages. They also typically have two soups (one veg and one non-veg) and the Chef ensures that one of them is an Indian soup and the other a Chinese soup. They also have Chicken Finger Sandwiches, Baked Tomatoes, Hash Brown Potatoes, Bacon, Sausages, Baked Beans, Creamy Mushrooms. In addition to the conventionals, they also had Roast Sole in Basil & Butter and Seared Chicken Breast. The fish was the highlight of the day for me as it is very rare to find fresh and well-made sea food in Delhi and this certainly was a welcome change.

Kanchan is a big pasta fan and Drift also has a live pasta counter. What more could she ask for? She requested for Penne with mushrooms, black olives and onions in arabiatta sauce topped with freshly ground pepper. She started eating and soon completely lost focus on everything else on her plate. Anyways, you cant blame her.

By the way, I didnt mention that they also have waffles, pancakes for all those iHop fans. They also have crisp paranthas (aloo, gobhi, paneer, onion or a combination of any of these) to bring out the Punjabi munda in you. Make sure you top these paranthas with butter and you really wont forget what they tasted like for a long time. They also have South Indian cuisine in the form of Vada Sambhar. The Chef told me that they keep changing a lot of things on offer so that their regulars get something different each time they land up at Drift.

In Desserts, we had Chocolate Walnut Cakes, Ice Cream, Custard and Mini Cakes. They also had some sort of halwa on offer, and me not being a big fans of halwas, skipped them.

Clearly, we had a lot to eat and were really stuffed by the time we finished. Perfect excuse to go home, take a nap and finish the perfect start to a cold Sunday morning.

Entering through the leather accessories showroom, little did I know that the stairs would teleport me into Italy from defence colony. This indeed was 28, Capri, Italy. The café on the third floor truly replicated the Capri (pronounced ‘Kaapri’ as I was told later on by the gentleman who owns the place) café look, feel and spirit into hustle bustle of Delhi. The decors were simple and everything about the place convened a serene comfort. Through the open kitchen one could see dextrous chefs working their way through the flour. Later on I was told that this is one of the few places in Delhi which makes all their pastas and sauces in house.  There was also some seating space in the balcony giving a bird’s eye view of the plush defence colony anybody visiting the place should definitely check out this area.

Reading through the menu card I realized that this was one of the most elaborate menu card I had seen and these guys served everything that you could think of under Italian cuisine – Pizzas, Risottos Pastas and a lot special dishes which I’m most of us in India would have never had. The most interesting thing about this place was that it serves wheat pastas on request and also all the cheese that they use are low fat and low salt. This is a paradise for all the health freaks who abstain from rich creamy diet and grudgingly pretend to savour a leafy diet. 28 Capri Italy boasts of a never seen before variety of pastas with all the kinds of combinations – spirits, vodka’s and wines. I was adviced by the manager to try out Involtini as starter and Grilled chicken in mustard sauce and Spinach & Mushroom lasagne as the main course. I was eager to try out the wheat flavour so I order a wheat lasagne.

Involtini was the chef’s speciality and trust me it or rather he did not disappoint. Cheese stuffed and herbed chicken pellets with cheese oozing out laced with a delicious butter, garlic and white wine sauce was indeed an ideal appetizer not only in terms of stimulating my enzymes but also triggering my culinary sense to look forward to the main course.

Next on the table was grilled chicken in mustard sauce which had a refreshingly overriding flavour from fresh mustard sauce. Sauté vegetables served with chicken really complimented the mustard very well and the taste of pink pepper corn with hint of jalapeno differentiated the preparation from a run of the mill mustard chicken. As I was having the last helping, it left me wanting for more, perhaps an ideal time for lasagne to arrive. And there it was piping hot Spinach & Mushroom lasagne – wheat layers. The lasagne too was delicious like the ones that we have at Big Chill. But the flavour of wheat added to it divergence from the conventional. Even if you are not a health freak, I would strongly recommend going for wheat pastas simply for their taste and also for the fact that it is a very welcome change after all those conventional pastas that we eat so often.

The low fat cheese really works because after having all this I wanted to try a dessert which I was told is their speciality. After having such delicious food my expectations were high and Brownie Sizzler was there to take me to a new high. This was as much a delight to my eyes as it was to my taste buds. Brownie served with ice cream scope on a hot sizzling plate with melted chocolate all over the place was indeed an ideal end to a perfect evening.

With official opening on 12^th December, I think Defence colony has finally found what it lacked – an authentic and exclusive Italian restaurant with an even authentic name. The only think amiss was some good wine as the liquor license was awaited. But very soon I would be visiting the place again to have a complete Italian experience in terms of ambience, drinks, food and spirit. Any one visiting Capri do let me know about Chocolate Bomb (yet another speciality), as I could not risk an explosion after devouring some much already.

~Mridul (mridulanand2003@gmail.com)

Check out 28 Capri Italy’s page at Foodiebay.com: http://www.foodiebay.com/ncr/restaurant/delhi/capri-italy-defence-colony-2437.html