Punjabi

The hoardings tempt you. "GRASS"... the name sounds like a vegetarian paradise.. it was a flop show.

Dare not use their washroom/loo-s, especially after eating. The horror of the place might make you lose your lunch/supper.

Nice place, interiors.. Grrreat potential.. these guys (who are running it) are just RUINING it.. :-(

We (spouse & self) were the only 2 people eating there at 10 pm on a Thursday nite.. That pretty much sums up things.

Some lousy movie was on the wall projection cable TV. We requested the waiter to change it to any Eng News channel, the reply came back, All Eng News channel are paid channels and we have not renewed our payments !!

They have pizza in their menu. When we enquired the waiter about it, he said it was a nine inch 'pijja'. Thank you very much !

The prices are very expensive for what they serve. They slap a VAT of 12.5% but it is not mentioned anywhere on the menu. Further there is no Mah. ST/ CST Regn. no. on the bill. God knows where the VAT goes.. (to fund their VAT-69s.. I guess)

Six tiny pieces of mushrooms with two tb-spoonfuls of a gaudy red sauce - The starter - was INR130.. a big flop

I suspect they dump the sauces/ketchups used by the road-side sandwich-wallas inti their gravies.. you get tha unmistakeable (dis)taste in your mouth.

That sums up the experience of "Eggplant-in-Hot-Garlic-Sauce" (INR115). It would have helped if the dish had even traces of garlic.

The steam rice (INR50 per small bowl) was woefully under-cooked.

The tragedy that followed was the Green Thai curry (INR130). It tasted like paint. The texture of the curry was terrible.
The basil leaves were burnt (literally). The curry was loaded with just small pieces of cauliflower and carrots (aaaaarrghh !!)

However hard we tried, pushing the stuff down the throat was becoming a task that was getting more painful by the minute.

(Packing that and giving it away to the needy on the streets would have brought us their curses; not blessings!)

Couple of tables away, the waiting staff were sitting with legs on the chairs, slurping some drinks and noisily gossiping. Every three minutes a staffer comes to your table to ask whether he could remove the plates, even while you were eating !!!

The hotel management is JUST NOT SERIOUS ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS. It is amply clear.

Considering that we were the ONLY diners in that hall, they took an AWFULLY long time to serve the food !!!

INRs-525 spent on a flop dinner show.

Maybe my review is based on only their Oriental cuisine. Its a case of first impressio is always the best (here - worst) impression !!

As a rule, We are great supporters of pure veg restaurants; but this one was abominable.

Stay CLEAR of GRASS.

Like the great Ivan Lendl once remarked "Grass is for cows"

Abhishek is a recent (~1-1.5 yrs.) addition to the group of restaurants' near Nal Stop. Its excellent service, delicious food, and good ambience, has given other restaurants in that area a run for money.

They serve normal North Indian, and Punjabi food, but the taste, and the speed of service is awesome. Try the Methi Malai Kofta, mouth watering. The servings (including the starters) are generous. For a family of four the expected bill comes to around Rs. 500, so I would term this restaurant as "affordable".

The only con I can see is the rush, it is crowded during weekdays too. The weekend waiting can go as high as an hour and half, though they manage to get you a table as fast as possible. The staff is courteous, and the ambience is decent. I would highly recommend it for a casual dinner (except on weekends).

Oh, one thing - there are two Abhishek hotels opposite each other, one of them is a bar (you will be able to spot the difference visually though).

Very nice place to visit. Also has valet parking, you will generally need it on weekends when long queues are inevitable too.

All the veggies are nice. I was also recommended non-veg dishes by friends. The Dal Sigree is awesome. Combine that with one of the biryanees and you are setup for a sumptious dinner. There is a particular starter made of Bhindee (Lady's Fingers) that is so good that it makes you wonder whether you are really eating Bhindee ! Good desserts too.

On weekdays, there is the sit-down buffet available for lunch, for about Rs. 300.

Overall, its a bit pricey but worth it. Don't go there if you are looking for a 'light meal'. Enjoy !

The New & Hip venture of the one at Irla, also has a couple of banquet halls & hotel.

Well spaced out tables, similar menu, lots of parking outside (one of the reasons of giving irla a miss)constantly improving service & willingness to help you with off the menu trials.

The vegetarian edges out the non vegetarian by a wee bit; probably because of some new dishes, whereas the non veg does not seem different.

Afternoons are quiet & evenings till 9 are ok before it starts getting crowded.

A family restaurant, that has been in existence since the time lokhandwala complex came up. Been a visitor since 1993. Earlier they served chinese & mish mash. After their renovation some years ago, it is only punjabi, indian & a couple of moughlai dishes. Reasonably large, with enough space between tables & open till 1 am in the night. Home delivery is prompt & efficient. Afternoon Buffet is OK, but can be avoided.

The vegetarian spread is pretty nice, with some good off the menu dishes being offered. The chef ensures that he listens to the requirements & different dishes HAVE different gravies & taste.

The rotis are made out of wheat & not maida. The stuff kulcha, have real mixed stuffing & not only aloo.

Deserts are standard Kulfi, gulab jamun but combining them is a good bet.

This is part of the chain of restaurants by BJN Group (Samarkhand, Hypnos, Sahib Sind Sultan etc).

First the ambience

- The lighting is too bright for my taste
- Music is too loud
- Too many staff hovering around. On top it they have open kitchens.. so the staff inside the kitchen add to the crowd.
- Staff has a very funny green colored uniform

Now coming to food

- I had a cocktail made out of Vodka. I hate white sugar in cocktails. The best is cane sugar.
- Ordered Jalapeno bites... too hard & the Jalapeno tasted like Capsicum.
- I ordered Pasta in tomato sauce. Too much Garlic & on the salty side. These days i am very low on salt and prefer to get the natural taste of the food. Pizza hut's Pasta tastes better.
- Wife ordered Pudina roti (Where was the Pudina???) and Veg Jalfreizi. Strictly Ok.

Overall was disappointed as i had started having high expectations of any BJN group venture as their restaurants are always of high quality when it comes to food. I gave the feedback & the manager was sincere in telling me that they are looking for feedbacks to improve. They are new.. so my sincere hope is that they improve.

Till then i would advocate this place only if you have a crowd with mixed preferences to eat. If you are focussed on a particular type of cuisine then there are speciality & better options out there in the city.

cheers
Anand

GREAT PLACE GREAT FOOD GREAT AMBIENCE AND ABOVE ALL GREAT PEOPLE. WONDER HOW THEY MANAGE AN EVER SMILING FACE WITH SO MUCH OF CUSTOMER PRESSURE.
THE NEWLY OPENED PARTY LOUNGE IS ALSO COZY AND CAN ACCOMODATE AROUND 100 PEOPLE.
YET ANOTHER CLASSY OFFERING FROM THE OWNERS OF URBAN TAADKA.

Barbeque Nation

Address:

Plot-4005, 100 Ft Road,
HAL 2nd Stage,
Indiranagar,
Bangalore
On Google Maps

Phone:

+91-80-32503344
+91-80-32504455

Price Range: Rs 600 (lunch for 2) Rs 900 (dinner for 2)
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Parking: Valet
Good for Groups: Yes
Good for Kids: No
Takes Reservations: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Serves Liquor/Beer: Yes
Smoking Allowed: Yes (in outdoor seating)

Another restaurant from the BJN Group..Lives up to the mark. Setting, interior decor is awesome, on the lines of Aromas of China and service pretty attentive.
Situated at Vile Parle west right above McDonands on the 1st and 2nd floor.
Have been there around thrice between the last couple of months and am glad to say that 3 out of 4 times the experience was great..
Only the afternoon buffet was not impressive on a saturday - the starters were cold and the food average & quite greasy...Also, I had taken some business associates for the lunch buffet - but the restaurant was filled with the kitty party crowd in the afternoon - too noisy and crowded...
Othewise the a-la-carte menu is awesome - not too many varieties in starters for non-veg. but great food..
One of the mutton items Lawrence road ke tikke or something like that awesome! So was the the chilly roti - (mildly spicy)...
The chicken tikkas & kebabs were good too (a trifle too oily though).
The biryani is great and the desserts quite good too..
Pricing - not too steep - and portions are generous -- They serve alcohol too. A meal for 8 of us with 1 drink each set us back by around Rs. 4500/-
All in all a great experience. Be fore-warned, they do not take reservations and people literally are queueing outside the door for a table..
Strategically, as there are no great restaurants in Vile Parle West and we have a richie -rich Gujrati community there - the most difficult part is getting a table there!
Cheers,
Ajai Bathija

The sheer variety of parathas or better still, the combinations are huge. But nothing outlandish.
Single filling for abt Rs 81 and Double filling abt 92. they also have a basket of mini parathas 4", 4 in number for Rs. 200-270. You can also have your own combination with upto 4 filings.(Rs. 104) and also Low Cal Tandoor paratha. But then, why will anyone go for an oil-free paratha ?

As, for starters, they have the regular chaat stuff and tandoor . So, we ordered a mini platter (Rs. 162) which had 2 pieces of 4 types, i.e. 8 in all.It was pretty ok, Paneer, Gobi, Potato. Also, some Mocktails. (Rs. 99 each). Now, the one I ordered, Honey Bunch was, simply unpalatable. Too sweet. It was suppose to be with vanilla icecream, which i could never see or taste.
I was kind of surprised at the size of the parathas. They were smaller than the ones I had at similar joints. The parathas are served with dal, chana masala, raita, onions and achaar. We had ordered 3 parathas of mix combinations and managed to sample all 3. But, as I found out, nothing exquisite about them. The chana was too salty, the stuffings were less than filling. The parathas in themselves would have been insufficient if we had not had the tandoor platter earlier and the mocktails.

The ambience is nice, spacious and well lit. The service decent. Surprisingly, no finger bowls. Now, you are eating parathas, not pizzas. Got to use fingers, else it wont taste the same. So finger bowls should have been there.

Meal for 3 would cost in range of 600-800, including taxes.

Finally, as I said earlier, the size of the parathas was dis-appointing and so was the filling, (tastewise and quantitywise). So, what else is there in a paratha ? The tandoor platter, i believe, was highly priced and mocktails unpleasant.

In all, a below par experience.

Now, I am comparing this with one I had at Real Parathas, Nr. Vasant Vihar, Thane(W). That is what I would call a real north indian paratha experience. There would be very few people daring to beyond 1 paratha, and yet the taste so enchanting that it would tempt them to do so. Thats what keeps people bring them back there.

Rohit
http://thepunefoodie.blogspot.com/