Restaurant Reviews

Jiva Imperia | Restaurant Review

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.

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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.

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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.

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There were lots of accompaniments to go with the meal.

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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

Olive Garden | Restaurant Review

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.

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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.

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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

Mozzarella | Restaurant Review

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.

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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.

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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.

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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

Xtreme Sports Bar | Restaurant Review

Place: Xtreme Sports Bar
Location: KBR Park Road, Rd. No. 2, Banjara Hills
Cuisine: Lounge
Meal: Dinner

I always wanted to go sit at this place and watch cricket matches, but never had the right company to do so. When I got an invite for a classic rock gig from a friend on couchsurfing, I had a reason to pull my ass out on a Sunday evening. There was also a ManU football match to enjoy.

So here I was, alone. I sat at a cozy bean bag table on the first floor, watching the Fulham vs Wolves game while enjoying the band play. I ordered a Virgin Caprioska and Crispy Chilli Potatoes to munch.

In about 10 minutes, my Caprioska (virgin) was served. I’ve never had one before, and thought this one was great. It had a nice lemon flavor to it, not too strong, just perfect for my taste. The sweetness also was perfect. I randomly chose my drink, and was very happy with it.

The Chilli Potatoes were served pretty soon. Julienne potatoes fried in honey chilli sauce, yum!! The potatoes were very crispy and I loved the taste. I was also very impressed by the quantity served and struggled to finish them all. Only problem was that they were too oily.

Since I was pretty full, I skipped the main course, and had another Caprioska while watching ManU beat Tottenham 3-1. The second one was much stronger than the first one, a little too strong for my taste. Towards the end of the game, I ordered a European Chocolate Sundae. It was creamy, with chunks of chocolate in it; not the best, but not bad either.

Overall, my experience was not as bad as I though it would be. I made some friends with whom I enjoyed the game. People scared me saying this place is really expensive, but it wasn’t that bad. The service was great, ambiance in my opinion was perfect, and the live music gig was good. It did seem a bit cramped for space though.

I had a pretty good time, and definitely will be going back to this place. I only wish I had company to go with!!

Food: 8/10
Drinks: 8/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Service: 8/10
Meal for 1: Rs. 496/-

Verdict: 8/10

Chopsticks | Restaurant Review

Place: Chopsticks
Location: Srinagar Colony Main Road
Cuisine: Chinese
Meal: Dinner

About 8 months ago, I stated Chopsticks as one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in the Nanking review. I’ve been to this place quite often since then, but never got a chance to write a review. So this time around, I visited this place exclusively for the review.

Chopsticks is a small place on the Srinagar Colony Main road, towards Panjagutta. It used to be a bandi type place in a shop long ago, but now is extended. Its difficult to tag it as a restaurant. The place is pretty cramped up and not really well maintained. It has an open kitchen, so the smoke fills the room when stuff’s being cooked. So I mostly avoid sitting and eating here, and usually go for take-away. Though the place has no great ambiance, it is always packed. During the peak hours, especially during the weekend, the wait time, be it for parcel or at the table, could be one hour.

I usually order a Veg. Manchuria and Noodles to go, but today wanted to try something different, and so ordered Veg. 65, Singapore Noodles and Shanghai Fried Rice. It took about 40 minutes before I was on my way home with the food.

The major problem with Chopsticks is the quantity of the food. Since there is so much rush, everything is made so fast that they don’t pay attention to how much they are packing. Thanks to the rush and the hurry, there is also a possiblity (more of my fear) that you might get what you didn’t order for, though thankfully it has never happened so far with me.

Quantity of the Singapore Noodles was alright (they used to serve a lot more before). It tasted yum. There are times when it is are made too spicy, but today it was just perfect. Only problem was that there were bunch of unseparated noodles, and the Singapore masala was not well mixed. But otherwise, I loved it.

Veg. 65 looked and tasted more like Veg. Manchuria, but still it tasted good. There was lots of green chilly which gave the dish a nice flavor. The dumplings were well cooked well, though there were a couple of hard ones. Neverthless, happy again.

I’ve never liked these guy’s Fried Rice. I think it tastes too bland. So, decided to try something different, the Shanghai Fried Rice. It was more of the regular Friend Rice, with some red chillies, chilli paste and some extra pre-cooked veggies. The chilli paste gave it a nice flavor and made it tasty.

Overall, an excellent meal. Everything tasted delicious, and for the price I paid, I was very happy. The quantity is still on the good side, for I was able to have two sumptuous meal (dinner and lunch the next day). Apart from what I had today, their Sweet-Corn Soup is something I love. They also serve some good non-veg dishes. I wouldn’t suggest you having a meal sitting at the restaurant, but if you are patient enough to wait for a while, go get yourself some yummy Chinese food.

Food: 9/10
Service: NA
Ambiance: NA
Meal for 1: Rs. 180/-

Verdict: 9/10

De Thali | Restaurant Review

Place: De Thali
Location: White House, Next to Life Style, Begumpet
Cuisine: Rajasthani, Gujarati
Meal: Lunch (with mom, dad and aunt)

I’ve been wanting to try this place since it opened recently. I’ve been to both Rajdhani and Golden Star while in Mumbai, and loved the food and service, especially Golden Star. When Ohri’s came up with a similar concept, that too for the most reasonable price of Rs. 189 /- all-inclusive, I needed to hog.

We were cordially invited into the restaurant by the amicable staff. Tilak was marked on my forehead when I entered. The place had decent interiors, was very bright, and quite full for a weekday. We sat at a table where four huge thali’s were laid.

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It took a while, and I mean a while for the waiters to attend to our table. And the food too was all not served at once, but in batches, which made it quite difficult for us to begin with. But a little patience, and our thali’s were full.

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In the menu today, for starters, Dhokla and Dal Baati Churma, and the curries were (in order from left) Gobi Masala, Palak Paneer, Aloo Jeera, Kaddu Dal (listed as Pineapple Dal), Chole, Gujarati Dal and Kadhi. The Dal Baati was good, and Churma excellent. Dhokla was hard and not up to the mark. On the curry front, all of them were yum, with Chole being best of the lot. The Gujju Dal was not so sweet and perfect, and Kadhi was alright. I didn’t taste the Kaddu Dal.

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Three types of breads were served: Pulka, Masala Puri and Bhakris. The Pulka’s were a little hard, but not so bad. Masala Puri’s and Bhakris were good.

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On the rice front, they had Khichidi, Pulao and Curd Rice. The Khichdi was made of wheat gram, and was mediocre. It had no proper taste to it. The Pulao was excellent though. The rice was perfectly cooked, and it had a nice flavor to it. I didn’t have the Curd Rice, but amma said that it didn’t taste so good.

For desert, there was Gajar Ka Halwa and Double Ka Meetha, both of which were yum. There was also a sweet digestive drink served upfront, which was alright.

Overall, a nice meal. For the price we paid, I should actually say excellent meal. The waiters were very nice and forced us to eat more even though we were full. The only issue was the slow service, for we had to wait for quite a while before the items we asked for were served. Also, the waiters were at times in such hurry that they didn’t bother to hear what we were saying. Other than that, the whole experience was really good.

De Thali is not a place which you can visit very often for the same kind of food might bore you after a while. But it’s definitely a place you can visit when you are really hungry and are in a mood to eat some good food for a reasonable price.

Food: 8/10
Service: 7.5/10
Ambiance: 8/10
Meal for 1: Rs. 189/- (all-inclusive)

Verdict: 8/10

Liu’s Chinese Restaurant | Restaurant Review

Place: Liu’s Chinese Restaurant
Location: S.D Road, in the lane behind Nanking, Secnderabad
Cuisine: Chinese
Meal: Dinner (with a couple of friends)

On a Saturday night, we decided to go hog at Nanking (listed as of my favorite Chinese restaurants in town). Since it was packed, my friend pulled us to its sister restaurant, which apparently shares the same kitchen. Liu’s is a small little place, interiors very similar to Nanking, a little brighter, and with a table available right away since not many people are aware of its existence.. I was kinda pissed the moment I entered, for when we asked if we could occupy an empty table with a reserved board on it, the manager rudely asked us if we couldn’t read the sign. Anyways, we sat at another table ignoring what just happened.

The moment we sat down, the waiter was behind us to place the order. They have the same menu as Nanking. My non-veg eating friend ordered for Chicken Drumsticks and Ginger Chicken. Me and my other vegetarian friend asked him to suggest a starter other than what the menu had to offer, and we zeroed on Chilly Mushroom. Later on, we again asked him to help us with some kinda Noodles for the main course, and he suggested Soft Noodles with Vegetables, Mushrooms and Bamboo Shoots. We also ordered a Vegetable American Chopsuey.

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Both the Chicken items were served in about 10 minutes, and it took another 5 minutes for the Mushrooms. Firstly, the quantity looked quite less when compared to either of the Chicken items. Next off, they tasted horrendous. There was too much sauce, and the mushrooms tasted very very bitter. We expected it to be spicy, for it was Chilly Mushroom, but it turned out to be fiery spicy.

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After a disastrous start, I was hoping for a turn around with the main course. The noodles with Mushrooms looked yummy to look at. Once we dug in, the noodles were under-cooked, and were dripping with oil. Except for the flavor for the Shiitake, the curry was pretty much bland., and I could barely find any bamboo shoots. Again disappointment.

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The worst though was yet to come: American Chopsuey, which I happened to like the last time around (it was at Nanking though). The noodles were crunchy, and the vegetables well cooked, okay, but the curry was so bloody sweet that I couldn’t eat more than one serving. I know American Chopsuey’s are sweet, but I never tasted anything this sweet. It was as if the chef added all the left over sugar into this. Horrible!!

The only part of the meal we vegetarian guys were happy with was our Coke!! The Chicken was apparently good, but whats the use when I don’t eat it. As if the terrible food wasn’t enough, a bunch of waiters suddenly appeared at our table, trying to rush us out while we were struggling to eat through what we ordered. I really started to doubt my choice of Nanking as one of my favorites after this pathetic experience. I’m never ever coming back to this place, even if it means that I have to wait for an hour at Nanking (which I might never come back to as well).

Food: 3/10 (Vegetarian only)
Ambiance: 7/10
Service: 4/10
Meal for 3: Rs. 786/- (Veg – Rs. 400/-)

Verdict: 3.5/10

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.

Anand Sagar | Restaurant Review

Place: Anand Sagar
Location: Dharam Karam Road, Ameerpet
Cuisine: Indian
Meal: Dinner (with a friend) / Take Away

First Meal: Dinner

Me and my friend were’t really hungry and wanted to eat something light. I remembered this small dhaba I once saw on DK Road in Ameerpet and decided to give it a try. It’s a small joint, something similar to an Irani cafe. At about 10:00 PM, the place was pretty much empty. The place didn’t look so clean, but we decided to give it a shot anyways.

The menu looked quite similar to the ones I saw in Mumbai. They serve everything, right from Chaat to Pav Bhaji, Burgers, Pizzas, to Noodles and Fried Rice apart from their North-Indian dishes. The best part is that they offer full or single of almost every dish, which is perfect if you’re visiting alone, or if you want to try out different items. This day, we ordered a full of Kaju Paneer Masala and Aloo Paratha. We wanted to try Stuffed Kulcha, but they were done for the day.

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The curry was served within minutes of order, even before the parathas were served. The quantity looked pretty alright and the curry tasted good. The paneer though was’t so fresh. The masala was more of regular kurma, with kaju and paneer in it to make it Kaju Paneer Masala.

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The Aloo Paratha was excellent. Its one of the best paratha I have eaten outside, and reminded me of the ones my Didi makes. They were pretty huge, and the stuffing was excellent. I felt that it had a little more lime juice in it than required, but still good. They actually didn’t need a curry to be eaten with. With some dahi, they would have been perfect.

We were pretty much stuffed with a single paratha each, but we ordered a Tandoori roti to finish the curry. It was huge, soft and really good as well.

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Though I am on a diet, I couldn’t stop the temptation, and so ordered a special dry fruit Lassi. It had chunks of malai in it and was yummy.

Overall, a pretty decent meal for the price we paid. Though we ordered a full curry, we were charged for half (I don’t know whether if it was a mistake or if what we were served was really a half). The ambiance and the place is not so great, but with the food they serve, you might want to try this place.

Food: 8.5/10
Service: 7/10
Ambiance: 5/10
Meal for 2: Rs. 145/-

Verdict: 8/10
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Second Meal: Take-away

Not satisfied with the place, I returned the very next day to order some take away for dinner (Another reason for coming back was that I forgot the name of the place :P). I was promptly greeted by the server who attended our table the previous night. I asked him for suggestions with curries, and he was suggesting exactly the opposite of what I was looking for.

Finally, I ordered a half of Malai Kofta, half of Kaju Paneer with Fried Rice (combo) and two Tandoori Rotis. It took about ten minutes, and I was away with my order.

I came home and was surprised to find plain gravy in the place of Kaju Paneer. I was actually cursing him for serving me something like that. Quantity of the gravy served was also quite less. The Malai Kofta’s quantity was alright, and it had quite a few chunks of paneer in it apart from the koftas. It tasted good, quite similar to the gravy last night, but the koftas were kinda hard. (I am tired of places serving hard koftas!!). The Tandoori Rotis became cold, and were saggy.

Next I open the rice packet hoping to find Fried Rice, but instead I find Kaju Jeera Rice. That’s when I realized that the waiter mistook my order and parceled Kaju Jeera Rice instead of Kaju Paneer with Fried Rice, and that is why there were no kaju or paneer in the gravy. The Jeera Rice was alright, the basic stuff, with chunks of Kaju in it (not a lot though).

I so wanted to have Biryani (they apparently are famous for their Dum Biryani), but ended up having Jeera Rice. Anyways, a decent meal. There was more than half of the Kofta curry left at the end of my meal. My excitement to retry this place within the span of a day though was totaled. I was hoping for an excellent meal, but was only partly satisfied.

Food: 7.5/10
Service: 5/10
Ambiance: NA
Meal for 2: Rs. 125/-

Verdict: 7.5/10

Vasudev Dhaba | Restaurant Review

Place: Vasudev Dhaba
Location: Sindhi Colony, Secunderabad
Cuisine: Indian
Meal: Dinner (with a couple of friends)

Wanting to try a new place, we dropped by at Vasudev Dhaba in Sindhi Colony. It’s a small place, easy to locate, not so exquisite to look at from the outside. We walked in, and the place was bloody hot. Though an AC restaurant, the place had none running, and no fans running either. We sat at a table in an enclosure, making sure he turned on the fan. It was a decent place, something similar to Santosh Dhabha.

It took about five minutes for the waiter to appear at our table. He was kinda sweet and helped us a lot with our order. We ordered Chilly Paneer as starter. For main course, we went for Punjabi Kofta and their day special Tiranga Paneer, along with a stuffed Naan and stuffed Kulcha. We also ordered a dum Biryani.

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The Chilly Paneer was good, but the paneer wasn’t great. It had a mix of fresh and old paneer, and so few pieces were like eating rubber.

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The Punjabi Kofta looked scary, while the Tiranga Paneer was well presented, but both were oily like crazy. The Kofta tasted alright, but kinda hard. The gravy was well cooked though. The Tiranga Paneer had tons of gravy with very few paneer pieces which were horrible. Again, unfresh. The oozing oil from both the dishes was scary to look at.

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Both the Naan and Kulcha tasted pretty much the same. We asked for the stuffed Naan and Kulcha without butter. But even then, they were oozing out oil. The portion of bread was quite small, and they were burnt towards the corners. The stuffing wasn’t great either.

The only part of the meal which was good, was the dum biryani. The quantity served impressed us, and so did the taste. The dum/curry was well cooked, and the rice was perfect. Though again, it was oily.

Overall, we were kinda disappointed. Looking at the place from outset, we expected something similar to Santosh Dhaba, but it was not even close. The food, though priced nominally, lacked brilliant taste, and was very very oily. Roti Shhoti on the opposite side of the road was much better. Give it a try, but don’t expect anything great.

Food: 6/10
Service: 7/10
Ambiance: 6.5/10
Meal for 3: Rs. 531/-

Verdict: 6/10