Italian Food |

Viva Italia | Restaurant Review

Place: Viva Italia
Location: Ground floor, White House, Next to Lifestyle Building, Begumpet
Cuisine: Italian
Meal: Dinner

I’ve read good things about this place on Zomato, and was looking forward to try it out. And when I finally did, loved it so much that I returned in a span of a week. The first time around, I dropped in with a friend. It’s a small little stall located towards the exit of the White House building, with a couple of tables laid out.

The menu was quite huge and everything was very reasonably priced. It’s more of a self-service kinda place, so we ordered a Garden Fresh pizza and a Veg Alfredo pasta with Spaghetti, sat at one of the table and watched our pizza being rolled out from scratch. In about ten minutes, the pizza was served in a take-away box. It was a probably an 9″ thin crust pizza, and looked tempting. And trust me when I say this, it was heavenly!! It was very well-baked, the veggies really crunchy, and the cheese was just awesome. My only problem was it being served in the box, which made the crust soggy (because of the steam). Otherwise, the best pizza I’ve had in Hyderabad. The best compliment probably would be when my friend from Lithuania, Europe, said it tasted like pizza at home.

Next came the pasta in a small plastic container. It was cheesy, cheesy and more cheesy, just like I wanted it to be. On the down side, I though the spaghetti was a little under cooked, and that there was too much Basil, which gave it a very strong flavor. Even then, it was yum!!

We ended our meal with an ice cream from Sweet Chill, their other venture. We had Mango and Chocochip, both of which were amazing.

I was so in love, here I was again four days later, this time alone. And ordered the same pizza, minus capsicum, plus olives. I wanted to try something more, so also ordered a Chilly Cheese Tomato Toast.

Again, in about ten minutes, the pizza was served, and looked as yummy as the last time. But I found that the crust was a little under-cooked, and the co-owner was more than happy to replace it for me when I pointed it out. In the mean time, my toast was served.

The toast was served in silver foil, and looked quite heavy. And again, trust me when I say this, it was one of the best sandwich I’ve had in Hyderabad. For 30 bucks, it was an awesome deal. It was cheesy, well-toasted, and had a nice flavor. Yum!!

And then came my pizza, this time crispy. It tastes delicious, as good as the last time!!

Overall, an excellent find. Amazing Italian food, easy on the pocket. The ambiance is pretty neat, and the service, if you can call it that, is very good. The owner was around most of the time, was very friendly, and made sure that every customer was satisfied. The desert place next door is also very good.

I now have a new favorite pizza place in town. And guess what, it’s very affordable!!!

Food: 9.5/10
Service: 9.5/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Meal for 2: Rs. 210/- (Pizza and Pasta)
Meal for 1: Rs. 140 (Pizza and Toast)

Verdict: 9.5/10

Arena – Taj Deccan | Restaurant Review

Place: Arena
Location: Taj Deccan, Rd. No. 1, Banjara Hills
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Meal: Dinner (with amma)

When I got a Taj voucher from Zomato, decided to go take amma out for dinner. So here we were on a Thursday evening. We could choose from any restaurant at Taj Deccan, and we zeroed on the 24 hour cafe, Arena.

The moment we entered, we were given the choice of either going for the lavish buffet or a-la-carte. Neither of us were really hungry, so we decided to order from the menu. I had gone through their menu online before hand, and so it was easy to order. Ordered a Tandoori Malai Aloo for starter, Veg Club Sandwich for amma, and Fungi e Panna (mushroom and cheese) pasta for myself.

It took forever and I mean forever for the food to be served, not that we had an issue, but it was kinda getting annoying after a while. Finally, instead of getting the starters alone, he brought all the food at once.

I was kinda disappointed with the quantity of Aloo served. It was supposed to be potatos stuffed with dry fruits and nuts cooked in clay oven, but all I found were roasted baby potatoes. No nuts, no dry fruits. Thankfully, they were well cooked, and tasted good with the Mint chutney served along. But still, a let down!

The Sandwich looked good, and the french fries tasted yum. I asked for some mayonnaise and ketchup (which again took a while to be served), and with a mix of both, amma enjoyed the sandwich with grilled vegetables.

I asked for my pasta to be cheesy, but forgot to mention that I wanted spaghetti. It didn’t look cheesy, but was yum. The penne was perfectly cooked, the sauce was kinda dry, but still tasty. The bread served along though was very very hard though.

Overall, the food wasn’t anything great, but me and amma had a very good time thanks to the perfect ambiance. It was quite and peaceful and we sat there almost for 3 hours. The service was very slow, and you definitely expect better stuff at Taj. The food was over-priced as expected and the quantity was not that great either. Nevertheless, for the ambiance, I’d give it what I give. 🙂

Food: 7.5/10
Service: 6/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Meal for 2: Rs. 1240/-

Verdict: 7.5/10

PS: Thanks Zomato for the voucher!! 🙂

100 Degrees | Restaurant Review

Place: 100 Degrees
Location: Necklace Road, Ranigunj, Secunderabad
Cuisine: Continental
Meal: Dinner (with mom and dad)

After a long long long wait, I finally got to visit my favorite restaurant in the town. I once used to be regular customer of this place, but it’s been a while since I’ve last been here. It’s a place with great ambiance. The closed is section is dimly lit, with a wine cellar feel to it. The atmosphere is really good, but the place can get really loud when it’s packed. They have party rooms and terrace area facing Hussain Sagar. We sat at a corner table on the terrace. The view from up here was pretty good.

I kinda already decided on what I wanted to have, so it didn’t take much long for us to decide on our order. We ordered a Spicy Cottage Cheese Pizza as a starter, Crumbled Melting Cheese Sizzler and Ajwaini Tandoori Paneer Sizzler for the main course, and a Vanilla French Kiss Mocktail as a thirst buster. The guy taking the order was decent, but he seemed to lack enough knowledge on the menu.

We asked our waiter to get us some bread before the meal was served. I asked for warm bread, and two portions of excellent bread was served.

The mocktail was very well presented, and served in about 10 minutes. It was a mix of peach, orange and pineapple juices with cream. It was yum. Mom loved it.

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I’ve been craving to have their pizza for a while now for I think they serve the best pizza in town. And I wasn’t disappointed. It was amazing. Not very thick crust (neither too thin), perfectly baked, and cheese melting in your mouth. Add to that the crunchy veggies and spicy paneer. Heaven!!

We were pretty full by the time we were done with the bread and the pizza, even before our main course was served. We were even contemplating on canceling one of the sizzler, but they were already out.

I’ve already tasted the Crumbled Melting Cheese sizzler once before, and it looked delicious. Like always, though I knew it was gonna be piping hot, I couldn’t stop the temptation and burnt my mouth. It was cheesy and creamy, just the way I like it. The cottage cheese cutlet was well cooked and had a good flavor to it. The barbecue sauce on top, and fried rice served underneath were yummy. Overall, excellent!!

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I ordered the paneer sizzler with an Indian touch for Mom and dad. It was spicy, and had a very authentic taste to it. The huge chunks of paneer were well marinated and cooked, and the gravy was pretty tasty. It kinda felt like having Pulao with Paneer Tikka Masala, with loads of vegetables in between. Again yummy.

Overall, an awesome meal. Right from the bread, everything was great. The ambiance is excellent and service is pretty neat. Only problem with the waiters was that they did not understand English, and so everything had to be translated into Hindi. But they were sweet, and made us feel comfortable. Of all the Ohri’s restaurants in the city, I think this place has the best value for money, for it ain’t as expensive as other restaurants in their chain. The buffet they serve is also pretty decent and reasonably priced. But again, as it is with every Ohri’s restaurant, the tax is exorbitant (200 bucks for a bill of 800).

This place definitely serves the best pizza in town (not the one served with the buffet, please). Go grab a bite soon, and do let me know if there’s anything better than what they serve, cos I’d love to try it 🙂

Food: 9/10*
Service: 8.5/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Meal for 3: Rs. 1006/-

Verdict: 9/10*

*With some feedback, and my own prior experiences, I’d like to make a note that this place is pretty inconstant on their food quality. I was served good food on this particular night, and I guess I was lucky. Make sure that you ask the manager for a replacement in case something’s wrong (these guys are pretty good on their customer relations). And please do provide your feedback on your experience in the comments.

Papa Johns | Restaurant Review

Place: Papa Johns
Location: Road No. 12, Opp. Nissan showroom, Banjara Hills
Cuisine: Pizza
Meal: Lunch (with a couple of friends)

After enjoying a movie, we decided to go hog at Papa Johns. I loved their pizza’s while in the US, their garlic sauce is yum!! So here we were at their Road No. 12 outlet at about 3:00 PM on Saturday afternoon. One table was occupied, and rest of the place was empty. We sat in a corner and took a while to decide on our order.

We ordered a Meal for Two (half and half of Small Garden Special and Veg. Barbecue pizza, portion of Cheese Sticks, and 2 x Pepsi), Tandoori Chicken for One, Original Breadsticks and a bottle of water. We sat there for about 30 minutes thereafter, but nothing, not even the water or Pepsi’s were served. When after that long we asked the waiter to get us the water at least, he serves the Cheese Sticks. After about 10 minutes, the Pepsi’s were served, but still no water. Then he brings us the Pizza for Two, which was supposed to be a half and half, but it turns out to only Garden Special. We ask for a replacement and he takes the pizza back in. Then came the water, along with Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks, not the Original Breadsticks we ordered. At this point I totally lost it. I asked if the Manager was in the store, and was answered in positive. Five minutes later, another waiter comes and informs us that the Manager is not in the store. We walked out!!

Ten minutes after we sat at our table, the place was empty. We were the only customers in the store and it took the waiter more than 30 minutes to get a bottle of water. And then he messes up our order big time. We would have continued with our meal if the Manager (who was told to be in store) attended to us, but he was amiss.

I had great expectations from this place. Their pizza’s are good, no doubt about that. But if the service is this pathetic, I would never return to this store. Surprisingly, these were the same guys who delivered a pizza on time when I ordered one on New Year’s eve. But such horrid service is not going to gain them customers in the restaurant.

Food: NA
Ambiance: 7/10
Service: 0/10

Verdict: 3/10

PS: We did taste the Cheese Sticks. They were good but not great.

News Cafe | Restaurant Review

Place: News Cafe

Location: Inorbit Mall, Hitech City

Cuisine: International

Meal: Dinner

Was supposed to hit a pub on Saturday night. This time around, I even had company to go with. But as unfortunate as I am, headed off to News Cafe for a meal. I’ve heard some good stuff about this place so was very eager to try it out. Also, having starved the whole day, was very very hungry.

At 9 PM on a Saturday night, the place looked quite empty. Only the tables on the balcony facing Secret lake were occupied. There were four of us, and we found a table to the far end of the balcony, under the air-condition compressors. Beautiful view of the lake made us accept this table, but we began to regret sitting here after a while. There were loads of mosquitoes, and there was nothing the guy could do to help it.

Anyways, unable to bear our hunger, me and my friend ordered a pasta each while the other two planned to skip a meal. My friend ordered Penne in Alfredo sauce, while I went for Spaghetti in Walnut cream sauce (Spaghetti on consecutive days). We also asked for Apple flavoured Hookah (not for me).

The Hookah was served first. I took a taste of it for the first time. Strangely, I couldn’t feel a thing, it was as if I was breather air. But the second time, it made my throat go dry. I wonder what pleasure people get from it. I personally didn’t like it one bit!

My friend’s pasta was served first, and it looked alright. But it apparently dint taste that good. I took a taste, and thought it was very very bland. Mine was served a while later, and was much much better than his meal. It wasn’t as great as the one I had the previous night at Little Italy (Review), but no qualms. It was creamy alright, and there were a couple of crunchy walnuts here and there. The garlic bread served along was good, so ordered more of them. Since I was really hungry, I actually dint care much for the taste.

We sat here for about two hours, but the place got duller and duller. There seemed to be absolutely no life at the place. All four of us were starring at each others faces for most of the while. The prices of the food and liquor were exorbitant, and the food dint taste amazing either. The quantity of food served was also quite less. Added to this, the server was quite rude. He wanted us to move to a table for 3 in between, as we were having only food and hookah (he actually said that!!). On the whole, I was very very disappointed. I was hoping for a better end to a long day, and it was absolutely thwarted!!

Food: 7.5/10

Ambiance: 6/10 (Thanks to the beautiful view of the lake)

Service: 5/10

Meal for 2: Rs. 1850/- (Including the Hookah and a pack of cigarettes)

Verdict: 6/10

Little Italy | Restaurant Review

Place: Little Italy
Location: Rd. No. 92, Jubilee Hills, Rd. adj. to Volkswagen showroom
Cuisine: Italian
Meal: Dinner

On a Friday night, I badly wanted to go to a pub. But lack of company got me sitting at home as usual. Determined not to stay at home again, decided to go out and eat some good food. So here I was at Little Italy, my favourite Italian restaurant in town. Not wanting to leave amma alone at home, I treated her to loyalty (I am such a doting son :D).

Since it was a Friday night, I thought the place would be packed, so decided to reserve a table by calling an hour ahead. But surprisingly it was quite on this night. Located on top of a hill at Jubilee Hills, this place has an awesome view of the city, and has great ambiance. But the tables are placed quite close to each other which makes it look a little congested. They have cozy tables for couples outside on the balcony, which provides a better view of the city. The dim lights set you in the right mood to enjoy a sumptuous yummy meal. A great place to visit with family as well as with your better half.

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I was not really hungry after munching something at home late evening, so decided to go light on the meal. We ordered Crostini Alla Ragusana for starters (Sliced farmer’s bread, grilled and topped with artichokes, olives, capers, Italian mayonnaise, pesto and fresh chopped tomatoes). I am actually not so fond of Bruschetta, but wanting to taste something different made decide on this one. Also, the sound of Italian mayonnaise was tempting enough.

And I was very happy with my order. Ten pieces of bread were quite yummy. The tomatoes were fresh and juicy, and the artichokes very tender. The mayonnaise was a little too sweet, but had good flavor.

For the main course, I ordered a Lasagne alla Gypsy for amma (Layers of home-made pasta, béchamel sauce, tomato sauce, mozzarella, pecorino cheese, mushrooms and aubergine, baked in oven), and a Pasta Gambaza for myself (White creamy sauce, mushrooms, asparagus and Italian herbs).

The lasagna looked very good, but tasted alright. It had a strong after taste, probably because of the pecorino cheese. The mushrooms were strong and had good flavor to them. It wasn’t the best lasagna I’ve had here, but amma seemed to love it.

I choose spaghetti for my pasta. It turned out to be delicious. Very very creamy, as I asked him to make, it was cheesy as well. The spaghetti was tender and perfect. I had little trouble forking it but made my way through the entire bowl in about ten minutes. Amma had a taste, and thought it was a little too bland. I asked for some oregano, which disappointingly was very very dry. The mushrooms here weren’t as strong as in the lasagne. Overall, Bliss!!

The service was very friendly. It took a while for the food to be served, but we weren’t in a hurry, so it didn’t matter. Great food and good ambiance makes this place a must visit. The prices are on the high-end though. Their large vegetarian menu is something you don’t find at any other Italian eatery in town. They also serve a good range of mocktails and Wine. I dint know that these guys had branches in Mumbai, Pune, etc. till recent, with the same menu served everywhere. So, if you looking for a lavish Italian meal, head on to Little Italy.

Food: 9/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Service: 9/10
Meal for 2: Rs. 1200/-

Verdict: 8.5/10

Amma’s Verdict: 8/10

PS: The price played a big factor for the final rating.

Pizza Den | Restaurant Review

Place: Pizza Den

Location: Sindhi Colony, Behind Paradise

Cuisine: Vegetarian Pizzas and Ice-creams

Meal: Dinner

I’ve been wanting to visit this place for a long time now. It used to be a small pizza shop near Secunderabad Club, but later moved to Sindhi Colony. Back then, it served about 12 really good vegetarian pizzas and ice-creams for very reasonable prices, but not anymore. Its not a restaurant, but a road side shop (you have to sit and eat on the road, or in your car).

So, today for dinner, I again drove about 8 kilometers to have their pizza. Ordered a Cream Cheese pizza. As the name suggests, it was a creamy cheesy pizza with onions and special seasoning as topping. 10 minutes of waiting and my pizza was ready. An 8″, delicious looking pizza. It was creamy and cheesy, yes. The crust was really good too, and the pizza almost melt in my mouth. But for 100 bucks, I thought the pizza was really small. It dint fill my tummy!!

To stuff myself better, I ordered a Nutty Hot Chocolate ice-cream. It was good. Instead of the the base being vanilla ice-cream, it was chocolate. Vanilla would have tasted much better.

Overall, I should say I was not so happy about my long drive. Yes, the food was good, but I could get something similar right next to my house for maybe a lower price. Being an on road food place, they dint even have dust-bins around, and so all the paper plates and ice-cream cups were thrown right next to the shop.

I would suggest it for its variety of vegetarian pizzas though. If your driving by, you can probably pick up a pizza to eat in the car. But not worth a special visit, especially if you live far away.

Food: 8/10
Ambiance: 3/10
Service: NA
Meal for 1: Rs. 150/-

Verdict: 7.5/10

Olives and Cheese | Restaurant Review

Place: Olives and Cheese
Location: Trimulgherry, a little further from RTA Office, Secunderabad
Cuisine: Italian
Meal: Dinner

Update: Restaurant shut down a while ago.

Olives and Cheese is a new Italian restaurant in town. The place is small yet bright. They serve a wide range of Soups, Antipasti, Breads, Pizzas, Pastas, Sandwiches and Salads, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. They have a small desert menu.

I read about this place on Burrp, listed as a cheap fare Italian restaurant, famous for its Pizzas, so here I was. Drove exactly 11 kilometer to taste their pizza. The place was not so full at 9:00 PM, and I settled down in a corner. There was no music playing, probably because of the cricket match on TV.

I ordered a Szechwan Mushroom Delight pizza. I dint want Capsicum on my pizza, so I asked them to replace it with Olives. For a restaurant named Olives and Cheese, they were out of olives. So I asked him to replace it with Babycorn. Unfortunately, they were out of Babycorn too. So finally settled in for Jalapenos. Unable to withstand the temptation, I also ordered a Fettuccine in Alfredo Sauce pasta.

I was hoping for the pizza to come out first, but it was the pasta. It was really cheesy and creamy, just the way I like it. They added Mushrooms, Zucchini and Onions to it. The portion was sumptuous. I was almost full, and was wondering why I ordered a pizza. Pretty good start I should say.

It took a while for the pizza to arrive. This gave me time to make space in my tummy. I asked for a thin crust, but they actually brought a regular crust, which was not so thick after all. It dint matter much cos the crust was really good. The cheese dint seem to be mozzarella, and therefore was breaking way in chunks. But still it was a decent pizza. It wasnt huge, about 8″ in size. I liked the pasta better.

Overall, a pretty decent experience. Its no where close to Little Italy (one of my favorite restaurants in Hyderabad). But for its prices, its worth it. They started turning off the lights and closing down the place while I was in there, at 10:30 PM, which was a turn-off. Anyways, I would definitely go back to this place, even if its a long ride. I would also recommend it to you guys.

Food: 8.5/10
Ambiance: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Meal for 1: Rs. 238/-

Verdict: 8/10

PS: It’s ironical that this place opened just after I left to the US. Back then, I always used to hang out a lot on this road, and there was no good place except for Vacs and McD. Now I see that there are quite a few restaurants here.