Oriental Spice, Thane

Often you may visit certain restaurants which offer exceptional quality of food, but you come out of them thinking why you went inside in the first place. Oriental Spice in Thane is such an example.

I will share my views in a different way this time and will focus more on my experience with the place rather than putting up everything into points. Here’s how it went:
I knew this place is often jam-packed on weekends, so I called them up to reserve a table. A very rude sounding man picked up the phone and said, “We don’t take reservations, you have to come to the restaurant. All we can do is write down your name in the list.” What was the purpose of that list??

I still decided to go (my bad luck) and I was not surprised to see people waiting outside. I went inside to get my name on “the list”. I had to wait around 15 minutes to get a place, which was acceptable enough.  The real part starts now:

We were handed the menu cards and the waiter said, “Sir please hurry up and order, as there is a waiting outside!”. This really pissed me off. Are you seriously concerned about the waiting more than the customer sitting inside your restaurant and eating his meal? How unprofessional. I ordered soup and starters and decided not to create a scene for such behaviour. The order was served in time and tasted good. I will not mention anything about food in this post because rest assured this place serves one of the best and authentic Chinese cuisines in Thane area.

I have read a lot of reviews about this place and each review has one particular point about its restrooms. This is 100% true. An average sized man can’t fit into the restrooms at Oriental Spice. I had to bow down as I couldn’t stand straight. I didn’t pay heed to this as I was already disappointed at the management there.

After having my meal, I decided to order dessert. Waiter made the same point this time too. I hadn’t even looked at the menu and he asked me too hurry up. I had actually lost my cool this time around and spoke to his manager about it. To my surprise he was too busy to come to the table and hear me out.
Now comes the showstopper. In my entire life, I have never had such an experience, which I’m going to write about now.

I was handed the cheque and I decided to pay by my debit card. When I gave my card to them, the manager came to me and said, “Sir, we don’t accept debit cards as they require a pin to be entered.” I assured him that my card won’t ask for a pin as it was a VISA international debit card (which doesn’t require a pin at the time of transaction.). He still continued arguing with me about the same issue, and asked me to pay by cash. I literally shouted at him and said I won’t pay by cash and it’s up to him either to swipe my card for payment or find an alternate solution to it. After around 15 minutes of discussion he swiped my card and as expected, it didn’t ask for pin. They should write in bold letters, on the restaurant walls that we don’t accept debit cards.

After going to this place I realised that only good food and good ambiance for that matter doesn’t make a good restaurant. It’s the hospitality, the management and ethics that matters. Although the food I ate was delicious, the first thing that will come to my mind when I think of this place will be my bad experience with the staff. I hope this improves with the course of time else the restaurant will lose its glory within months.

Friends, the events which I have shared with you are those which I experienced. You can choose to go to this place for its food but beware of the service you get. You may end up spoiling your evening.

Cheers!
 

Jaffer Bhai's Delhi Durbaar, Vashi

Notes: 

Home Delivery, Dine-In, No Bar, Non Veg, Mughlai, Chinese, North Indian Cuisine.
Costs around Rs. 700 for two. VAT and Service Charges extra.

I don’t know why, but the moment I set foot in this place, I felt a certain Bade Miyan vibe. I am a huge non veg fan and I had a preconceived notion that I’ll get some good quality non veg here.

Following is my experience at Jaffer Bhai’s Delhi Durbar:

Location:

This place is on the famous MAFCO road in Sector 18, Vashi. It is actually closer to Sanpada station. Easily accessible!!

Ambiance:

As it is often said, good things come in small packages. This holds true for Delhi Durbar too. Damn, this place is congested!! It was jam-packed when I entered and I had to wait for 10-15 minutes to get a table. I must say that the tables here are at all impressive. They are like small booths created for maximum 2-4 people. We went in a group of 8 and we had to actually sit on 2 separate tables as they apparently were “non movable”.

Second point which was a put off was the noise in there. Trust me you can’t have a peaceful evening there. I literally had a headache till I walked out of the place. But I think the management can’t do much about it as the place is always a house full and it’s too cramped up.

Food:

Fortunately, ambiance is the only thing that disappoints you here. Food at Delhi Durbaar is mind blowing!

For starters, we ordered, Black Pepper Chicken, Chicken Lazeez Boti and Paneer Chilly Dry. Talking about the veggie dish first, the paneer was pretty mediocre. It was hard and oily, but I expected it to be so as this place specializes in non veg. Coming to chicken, it was perfect. Black pepper chicken was a bit low on quantity but it tasted really good. It was spicy to an appreciable extent. Chicken lazeez boti was out of the world. Chicken was so tender that it melted in my mouth. It was smoky hot and left us craving for more. All in all the starters were good, especially the non veg ones.

For main course we ordered Murg Mussallam (my all-time favourite) and Salli Boti. Murg Mussallam was exquisite. It came in a large platter and was beautifully garnished. It looked absolutely mouth-watering. Chicken was roasted to perfection and the gravy was really tasty. Its portion size was really impressive. I really recommend having this dish at Delhi Durbar. It’s worth every penny you pay.

Salli Boti was a bit tasteless. I had held high expectations for it but I was disappointed. It could have been better. I enjoyed pairing up the chicken with Garlic Naan and Tandoori roti.

I would like to add a point regarding the service at this place. To be fair, the place was too crowded to be managed well but that’s no excuse for bad service. I feel there was lack of man power to do the job well. This should be improved in a place which entertains such huge number of people.

This place is pretty cost effective too. After eating so much we had to shell out less than 2000 bucks for the meal, taking into consideration that we were 8 people and we ate like beasts. That’s pretty economical!

Ratings:

Food – 4, Service – 3, Ambiance – 2, Overall – 3.5 out of 5.

If you are a die-hard non veg fan like me, you should visit Jaffer Bhai’s Delhi Durbar for some authentic non vegetarian cuisine. I hope you will enjoy your outing.
Stay tuned for more.

Chenab, Vashi

Highlights:
Home Delivery, Dine-In, Bar Available, Non Veg, North Indian Cuisine.

Costs around Rs. 800 for two without alcohol. VAT and service charges extra.

Chenab is a restaurant different from others. It has a class of its own, which speaks for itself. I like Chenab for its ambiance, atmosphere, food and it brings a sense of being home away from home to me. That’s because I’m from Punjab and this is one of the best place to have North Indian food in Navi Mumbai. Following is the detailed review:

Location:

Getting to this place might be cumbersome for many. It is located at the residential area of Sector-8 in Vashi. The plus point about this thing is the peace of mind you get while enjoying your meal. It’s a bit hard to find, but once done, all the hard work is worth it.

Ambiance:

Chenab has two seating options- indoors and roof top. I find the latter more interesting and enjoyable. It gives you a feel of a roadside dhaba. Copper glasses, large wooden tables, manjis to sit on, cushions etc. everything was perfectly set. However this place is slightly low on space and one might feel quite cramped up. Other than that, everything is good.
This time of the year is the best to have a meal on the roof top of a restaurant as it’s mostly humid in Mumbai. However the management makes arrangement for monsoons as well.
A common thing found in most of the restaurants is ghazals playing in the background. You can find this at Chenab also.

Food & Drinks:
Let me get to the drinks first. This place serves alcohol and has happy hours from 6:30 to 8:30 in the evening. Other than the hard drinks, you can grab a huge tumbler of lassi (buttermilk) which is a speciality in Chenab. Drinks are not overpriced which is a thing I like. Plus in happy hours it’s always more reasonable on hard drinks.

Now let’s talk about food. North Indian food is found in its most authentic form here. I ordered the favourite tandoori chicken for starters. It was well cooked and was melting in my mouth. Honestly I haven’t found many places here which offer a decent tandoori chicken which is quite disappointing. I think it is one of the simplest yet tasty dishes one can prepare but many restaurants can’t do justice with it. Chenab isn’t one of them.

The reason why I loved eating at Chenab apart from all the stuff written up was Dal Makhni. Trust me this place serves the best Dal Makhni, or Dal Bukhara as they say. I literally jumped of my seat when I tasted it. I also ordered chicken tikka masala but I kept gobbling on Dal Makhni like a little child. Chicken tasted good and the quantity was also good enough.
In dessert I had Malai kulfi which was decent. I think it didn’t match the standards set by starters and main course. Food is aptly priced.

Verdict:
Chenab is different from the various fine dining restaurants one may visit on a regular basis. But it is worth visiting if you are longing for a change. It breaks a certain kind of monotony which is welcome once in a while. I give this place 4 stars out of 5.

Tight, Vashi

Key Notes:
Dine In, Bar Available, Non Veg
Costs around Rs. 1500 (approx.) for two with alcohol. VAT and service charges extra.

Tight is one of my favourite places to hang out with friends. This place has a vibe of a sports bar although it is far from being one.

Location:
One of the best things about Tight is its location. Located at the first floor of the famous Inorbit Mall, Vashi, it is easily accessible by the crowds. One can go grab a beer after hours of shopping and relax.

Ambiance:
As I mentioned earlier, this place reminds you of a sports bar or a good old English pub. Arsenal flags on the walls, beer kegs at the entrance, a large screen mostly showing recent football or cricket matches, great music pumps you up. There is one demerit though. Being located in a mall, this place is quite cramped up. If you are going in a group, you might end up waiting to get a place on the large couches. There are small tables with a seating capacity of 2-4 in the front also. All in all the ambiance is good.

Drinks:
Tight has this really interesting concept of “Beer Bucket”. Shell out 999 bucks and you get a steel bucket having 6 beer pints tucked in ice. Pretty awesome!! Isn’t it?
You can get a refill by paying around 110 more for each pint. The only bad thing about this is the choice of beer. You don’t get the luxury of choosing from a variety of brands.
One can also try Beer towers, pitchers, drafts etc. depending on choice. On happy hours you get good offers too.

I have never tried anything else other than beer at Tight. All I can say is that liquor rates in this place are fair.

Food:
Food here is nothing but OVERPRICED, which is a let-down. I like having garlic bread and masala fries with beer, so that’s my usual order. I have also tried chicken tikka here. It didn’t impress me.

If you are worried about the expenses, tight is not a place to eat much, else you’ll end up spending a lot than you think.

The Bottom Line:
This place is a must go if you want to hang out with friends. It offers great music, chilled beer, sports, what else does anyone want after a hard day of work? I give it 3 stars out of 5.
So drink up friends. It makes other people more interesting!!

Oye Pape, Vashi

Quick Bites:

Dine In, No Home Delivery, No Bar, Non Veg Available

Cuisines:

North Indian, Chinese, Italian

Cost:

800 for two people (approx), without alcohol; VAT & Service charges extra

The main story:

A friend recommended this place to me and I decided to give it a try on a Sunday afternoon.

Location: Oye Pape is located on the 3^rd floor of Raghuleela Mall, Vashi (just opposite Vashi Station) and is thus easily reachable. On its doorstep, I saw a large board saying “Aap Mood Banao, Khana Hum Banayenge!!”.  I must say, this raised my expectation a bit as the welcome sign was dramatic.

Ambiance: Full marks for the ambiance. This place has a feel good factor to it. It cheers you up the moment you set your foot into the place. Actually, the place has a “Bollywoodish” tone to it. Right from small paper windmills on the tables, a bicycle suspended from the roof, catchy filmy dialogues on the walls to the bright and countrysidish interiors, everything is nearly perfect. Music was good too, volume neither too low, nor too high.

Food: I decided to try out the buffet. It costs 399/- per head inclusive of all taxes. Following is the in depth analysis of the buffet:

·         Welcome Drink: No hard drinks at all !! I was served a chilled & refreshing mocktail that tasted good. That’s all I can say about it.

·         Soup: I opted for the Non Veg Shorba. It could be better. The consistency was on the lower side and it was way too spicy down the throat. I didn’t like it much.

·         Starters: Complete show stoppers !! Each and every starter was cooked to perfection and had a good portion size. As usual starters had both veg and non-veg options. 

I preferred gorging on non-veg but I tasted the veg items as well.

Veg starters included Cutlets, Tandoori Gobhi, Chilly Paneer & Potato Wedges.

Non Veg options included, Chicken Tikka, Malaysian style chicken, chicken seekh kebab, tandoori fish. I really liked the fish as it was best of the lot. It was piping hot and fresh, plus it was perfectly marinated and cooked. Chicken tikka was simply divine.

·         Salads: I have been to many restaurants serving buffet in Navi Mumbai but all of them disappointed me in terms of variety in salad section. Oye Pape didn’t !!

There were 6-7 varieties of salads, including nachos and a chicken salad. Salad dressings were also available which is a common thing missing at most of the places.

·         Main Course: It had both Indian and Chinese varieties. Dishes included, Chicken Afghani, Mutton Rarha, Lemon Fish Curry, Dal Makhni, Shahi Paneer, Chicken Biriyani, Veg Biriyani, Thai noodles, Manchurian and fried rice.

Since I was stuffed after having copious servings of starters and salads, I only tried a few spoons of Chicken biriyani with mutton rarha and chicken afghani. All three were exceptional in taste. Dal makhni could have been better as it was a bit high on salt.

All in all, the main course was good.

·         Desserts: Ahh.. finally.. my favourite part of the buffet. Desserts included hot gulab jamuns, fruit custard and moong dal halwa. But the tragic part is, THERE WAS NO ICE CREAM!!!!

This is the most basic thing in every buffet and it was missing. I tried gulab jamuns which were soft and melted in my mouth. I didn’t try out the rest, they looked tempting though.

THE VERDICT:

Given the price you pay per head, this place is totally worth it. I must say that places like Barbeque Nation and Tunga are all time favourites when it comes to buffets but this place is worth visiting given the price tag and the food.

I give it 3.5 points out of 5.

An Introduction to Foodware Junkie

Hello friends and welcome to my blog! All of you might have come across endless links posting trivia and feedback of restaurants across the country. So why read this one?

The answer: I write this blog as a passionate food lover, who loves to dine out and takes his food seriously. I am a Software Engineer by profession and a foodie by choice!! (Thus the name “Foodware Junkie”)

I’ll be posting in-depth reviews of various restaurants I visit.  These reviews will be based on all the aspects you might be concerned about a restaurant before visiting it, i.e. Location, Ambiance, Food, Service etc.

So go ahead and dig into the reviews. I’ll be very happy if you make valuable suggestions to improve my blog as this is my first attempt at writing. If you find my reviews helpful, or you disagree with them, do give some feedback.

Keep munching folks!! J