Category: Restaurant Reviews

Place: Jiva Imperia 
Location: White House Building, Begumpet 
Cuisine: Buffet 
Meal: Dinner (with a couple of friends)

Jivas (I know it’s just Jiva, but I prefer to call it Jivas) has been one of my favorite restaurants in Hyderabad for they serve awesome vegetarian food for a reasonable price. So when they moved to a different location with a change in name, I was really excited to try it out. One night, thanks to my friends, I finally got that opportunity.

The new place was much brighter with white interiors. While I liked the cozy interiors of the old place, this was something refreshing. The buffet area seemed much larger than before, with much more stuff. Once seated, we were asked for our choice of soups: Cream of Mushroom or Chinese Vegetable Soup.

The mushroom soup was creamy and yum. I didn’t want to stuff myself, but couldn’t stop from finishing it either. The vegetable soup was alright, but salty.

They had a large variety of salads, but I didn’t try any.

They used to serve the starters at the table along with the soups at the old place, but here, we had to get them ourselves. Good thing, for they had so much variety. They had Paneer in Three Flavors, Peas Dry Fruit Tikki, Vegetable Shashlik, Spinach and Cheese Croquets, Cabbage Carrot Dimsum, Soyabean Dimsum, Papdi Chat, Bhel Puri, Banana Dosa, Podi Masala Dosa and Peserattu made at the live station. Uff!!

The Paneer was not so fresh and a lil too hard, could have been much better. The Tikki was good, but I couldn’t taste any dry fruits; the Shashlik, alright, very dry; and the Croquets, too oily, no salt, no taste.

The Dimsums, both varieties, were very very good. Perfectly steamed and yummy!! I also loved the hot garlic sauce served alongside.

The Dosas were nothing great. The Banana dosa was a nice experiment and the Masala Dosa (with masala mixed into the batter) was a lil sour. I didn’t try the Peserattu.

For drinks, they had Pineapple juice. It was a sweet concentrate, and the quantity served appalled me (It was served in a Tequila glass). Apart from that, we ordered Cranberry Juice. This time, the quantity was good (it better be for it costed 150 bucks!!), and had cut Strawberry pieces in it. It tasted alright, but I wish it had less ice.

On the buffet, they had Indian, Chinese, Italian and Thai. I started off with the Italian: Lasagna and Fusilli Arrabiata. The Lasagna was cheesy, yummy and one of the best I’ve had in recent times. The Fusilli though was disappointing; over-cooked and without proper flavor.

Next to the Chinese section; they had Vegetables in Lohan Sauce and Drunken Noodles. The sauce was good while the Noodles were bland, nothing drunken about it.

The Indian section had the usual with some unusual additions: Paneer Makhni, Bhindi Masala, Chowgra, Gawar Ki Phali, Kacche Aam Ki Subzi, Methi Chaman and Dal Panchratan. Butter Naan and Pulkas were served at the table.

The Pannner again was not so fresh, but the gravy was good; the Bhendi was yum, a lil too oily; Chowgra, Gawar and Aam were alright; the Methi Chaman, again, was yum; and the Dal was decent. The Pulkas on the other hand were too dry with lots of dry flour.

In the rice section, they had Moong Dal Khichdi, Biryani and White Rice. The Khichdi was okay okay, Biryani, as with other buffet places, disappointing. But the white rice with Thai Red Curry was awesome. Loved it.

There was also Chamagadda Pulusu (Sweet potato Dal) and Kothmir Vankaya (Eggplant) on the south Indian front which I didn’t taste. I was so full, that I couldn’t dig into the curd rice and other stuff they had either.

There were lots of accompaniments to go with the meal.

Finally, the deserts: Kurbani Ka Meetha, Chum Chum, Dry Fruit Halwa and Pastries apart from 4 flavors of ice-creams.

The Kurbani was perfect and the Chum Chum’s were dry, the Halwa was amazing, and the cakes were decent. The Pista ice-cream with Hershey’s on it (I know that it’s a weird combo) tasted yum.

Overall, a pretty good meal. Not all items were great, but with so many dishes, even half of them being good is reasonable. The pricing was decent for such a lavish buffet. The service was pretty good as well. It’s a perfect place for a family get together. I’d suggest it for anyone who wants to have a good vegetarian meal!

Food: 8.5/10
Service: 8.5/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Meal for 3: Rs. 1147/- (Buffet: Rs. 299/- per head)

Verdict: 8.5/10

Place: Olive Garden 
Location: Hitech City Main Road 
Cuisine: Indian Buffet 
Meal: Lunch (with friends)

On a Friday noon, met some friends and we decided to stop by some place near Hi-Tech City for lunch. We first walked into the new All Seasons restaurant opposite Cyber Pearl, but it was yet to open. Then we tried getting into Pizza Hut, but it was jam-packed. Finally, after about 10 minute wait, found a table at Olive Garden. We were really hungry, so seated ourselves at a table for four even before it was cleaned. This place used to be one of my favorites long ago. I loved their North-Indian dishes, especially their Malai Kofta. This time around, we decided to try their buffet on table.

They had to clean the table thrice before it was properly clean for every time they were cleaning it in a hurry. Once done, they gave us a one page menu with the buffet listing: Vegetable and Chicken Cantonese Soups, a bunch of Salads, Crispy Vegetables, Spicy Crispy Potatoes, Egg Manchuria and Chicken Tikka for starters, Paneer Methi Chaman, Mixed Veg., Aloo Baigan, Dal Tadka and Punjabi Chicken as entrees, Butter Naan, Vegetable and Murgh Dum Biryani, Curd rice, Gulab Jamoon, Fruit Salad and Vanilla Ice-cream for deserts.  We were pretty happy with what they had and asked for the soups and starters.

It took forever for the soup to arrive, and even longer before starters were served. Bigger problem was that they were serving only one starter at a time, so I had to wait while the non-veg starters were on. The Soup was tasty and tangy, the Potatoes were crispy and very spicy, and the Crispy Vegetables were fine, but a little under cooked.

After another ten minute wait, the main course was served. The Paneer Methi Chaman was creamy and yummy, Mixed Vegetable was average, and the Aloo Baigan was alright. The egg-plant was a little raw, but otherwise, the curry was fine. The Dal was decent, nothing great. The Butter Naan was soft and good.

As with most places serving buffet, the Biryani was horrible. It neither had taste nor flavor.

The Ice-cream and Gulab Jamoon were good. But when we asked for the Jamoon second time around, under-cooked Jamoon was served.

Overall, a decent meal for the price we paid. It doesn’t make much sense for vegetarians, but for non-veggies, it’s a great bargain. The non-veg food, as told by my friends, was very good. The idea of buffet at the table seemed innovative, but the slow service was a big let down. We were hoping for hot food to be served every time we wanted something, but on most occasions, cold food was served. Also, while we can get anything we want at our discretion at a regular buffet, here we had to wait for him to bring it out from the kitchen, which was kinda irritating.

With better service, this place could get bigger. For now, give it a shot if you are in search for a decent buffet in the Hi-Tech city area.

Food: 7.5/10
Service:6/10
Ambiance: 7/10
Meal for 4: Rs. 950/- (Buffet: Rs. 199/- + Taxes per head)

Verdict: 7.5/10

Place: Mozzarella Global Cuisine 
Location: Opp. Audi showroom, Road No. 12, Banjara Hills 
Cuisine: Buffet 
Meal: Lunch 

I’ve wanted to try this place for really long time and here I was on a Monday afternoon to try their buffet. The place was quite and had pretty good ambiance. I was courteously seated at a table for two. I expected the place to be crowded, but  it was empty but for a large family at one table.

Over the next few minutes, Tomato Dhaniya Shorba was served, and I was asked to choose my starters. Unlike other places, they did not have the starters at the buffet, but were making them to order. For veggies, they had Barbeque Vegetables and Veg. Kababs (Veg. Tikli as they mentioned it).

The soup was very very spicy and had a strong Dhaniya flavor to it. I din’t want to burn my mouth so early, do skipped it.

The starters were pretty good. The Barbeque Vegetables were crispy and crunchy, and the Kababs were one of the best I’ve had recently. They were really well-baked, and were yummy. Had almost 10 of them!

On the buffet, they had two Italian dishes: Veg. Pasta and Stroganoff. The pasta was alright, too tomatoey, while the Stroganhoff was very creamy and yum!! Only problem though was the quantity of food in the chafing dishes; both the items were so less in quantity that I literally had to scrape them off. The Stroganhoff especially had a thick crust formed over it.

On the North-Indian front, they had Paneer Tikka Masala, Subj Panchratan and Dal Tadka. The Paneer was kinda hard, and the gravy had a sour taste to it. While I normally don’t prefer dal’s outside, I found that their Dal was really good. The Panchratan was creamy and tasty. Butter Naan served at the table was alright.

For Chinese, they had Hakka Noodles, Vegetables in Hot Garlic Sauce and Ginger Capsicum Fried Rice. The Noodles were good and The sauce was alright. The Fried rice was really hard and horrible, again, the quantity in the dish was all you see in the pic.

The best part of the buffet for me were the deserts. They had Gajar Ka Halwa, Kiwi Souffle, Chocolate Mud pie and Vanilla Ice-cream with Fried Honey Wantons. The Halwa was perfect, not so sweet, yum. The Souffle had a nice flavor to it and was very good. Wantons with Ice-cream tasted awesome. The best of the lot though was the Mud pie. It was chocolaty and heavenly. Bliss!!

Overall, apart from the yummy deserts, the rest of the food was average. Apart from the Veg dishes mentioned, there was Mutton Biryani and  two Chicken dishes. They seemed to taste good, for the few people around me were hogging on them alone. Maybe that is why, the quantity of almost all Veg dishes was minimal. The fact that I had to scrape food off the chafing dishes was a big turn off. For the price, I thought they could do much better.

Give it a try if you are bored with other places.

Food: 7.5/10
Ambiance: 8.5/10
Service: 8/10
Meal for 1: Rs. 320/-

Verdict: 7.5/10