In a NUtshell A little bit of nostalgia, a whole lot of (90 years history) past, an average to good present, when it comes to food. Excellent service. Nice ambience. Address & other details: Aminia Meal for 2: ₹300 onwards Cuisine type : vegetarian & non vegetarian YUMMRAJ rates all the food items & then gives a final overall rating, which is a simple average … Continue reading Aminia ( Ballygunge gardens road, Golpark, kolkata)
In a NUtshell:A restaurant manned by ‘cold’ people, members of ‘no laughter club’ , the restaurant has average ambience and serves very good food Address & other details: The calcutta club Meal for 2: ₹500 onwards Cuisine type : vegetarian and non vegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & … Continue reading The calcutta club (22, link plaza, near police station, Oshiwara , Andheri West, mumbai)
This is a review of Sunday brunch In a nutshell: An unforgettable brunch, one of the best we have had in years, in terms of spread, amazing attention to detail by chef and team, brilliant conceptualisation and seamless execution. For seafood lovers in india, this is specially more interesting. Address & other details: Meal for 2: ₹6000 Cuisine type : vegetarian and non vegetarian Disclaimer: … Continue reading J W Cafe (J W Marriott, sahar , mumbai International Airport area, mumbai)
In a nutshell: Focussed 3 item menu card, serves good Awadhi food. Scope for improvement. Address & other details: Rumi’s Kitchen Meal for 2: Rs. 400 onwards Cuisine type : nonvegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips also. http://www.yummraj.com does not have even one featured / sponsored reviews. YUMMRAJ believes in going to … Continue reading Rumi’s Kitchen (Home delivery eatery in Gurgaon)
Indian fine Dining Restaurant with superb food, excellent ambiance but quite mismanaged when it comes to the whole experience.
The logo of the restaurant
Address & other details: Kasturi
Meal for 2: Rs. 1500 onwards
Dining hall of
Cuisine type: vegetarian & nonvegetarian
Short Description – in case u r in a hurry:
If it had happened once, I wud have thought it to b an aberration. Since it happened twice, I smell a consistency in the pattern. The restaurant is on the first floor. First day we climbed up the stairs & reached there to find that a party was going on. There was no staff member either at the ground floor entrance or at the bar at first floor. Second day was again a similar experience – We climbed up to find no one upstairs. Waited for a few minutes & came downstairs. How can a restaurant in India not have a Human being manning it at all ‘open hours’?????
Sunehri Bater
As we sat for the food we realized that there was only one server for the full floor of approx 16 tables. He was welcoming guests (in case he was in the hall when the guest popped up), taking orders, going to the kitchen (I guess down stairs), serving the food, clearing the plates, settling the bill & saying goodbye!!!! Must say that the guy was too good & very well behaved. But the overall service was getting affected coz he was running around. We were at the restaurant from 8pm to 9.45 pm & the status was the same. Is the lone waiter expected to b a superman to still deliver impeccable service or is it sheer negligence on part of the Management?
beauty shot
The interiors of the restaurant is very nice. A ‘golden latticework’ theme is seen throughout. The walls have large paintings of Nawabs & courtesans. I think the Nawabs in these pictures are 3 times slimmer than what they wud have looked like, when they lived.
pictures of slim nawabs in the Dining Hall
I was however wondering why western music was playing in a Nawabi menu Nawabi look restaurant!!!
The menu card was beautifully designed – its cover was inspired by the lattice work mentioned above.
Menu card at Kasturi
Prices of food are on higher side as compared to prices of these dishes in mid range restaurants. So I heard my friends comment ‘too much priced’ etc. However, as compared to other Indian fine dining places like Dum Affairs South Ex Delhi or Kainoosh, Promenade, Vasant Kunj, Delhi, the prices r totally justified.
Latticework design
I wud love to go to Kasturi again & again inspite of all the above coz the food is real good. Authentic to a large extent & impressive taste & flavour.
Bunn Gosth
Detailed description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:
A long History of excellence, sadly struggling to keep up with its earlier Glory – A lunch here left us with a cold feeling & also food that was surely lower than expectations.
Shiraz as a name rings a bell with Most Calcuttans (since the Days when Kolkata was Calcutta). I have had many good experiences in the past here like many others. Over the years I have seen a decline & had stopped going here & insead to the newly opened Arsalan. Similar experiences cud b heard from others as well. This time around I made it a point to revisit Shiraz & check it out myself…………….
Burrah Kabab @ Shiraz
There are two restaurants at Park Street Mullickbazar area. One is a few shops away from the other. The newer one is closer to the crossing & the older one is a few shops away. The newer one is swankier as well. We decided to go to the Old one.
Menu Card @ Shiraz
The old restaurant has a non airconditioned ground floor & an airconditioned first floor. Furniture, look & ambience of the first floor is much upgraded as compared to the ground floor. The look at first floor was that of an old Eightees restaurant. Cubicles made with set of sofas facing each other. Lighting was dim.
colorful picture studded menu card
The staff of this place need a special mention. Some of them seem to walk out of a 70’s movie. They have been in the same job of waiting tables for decades, have got bored enough & that shows on their face every moment, appear at the tables like robots without any facial expression & at times frown if too many questions are asked. The uniform has quite a ‘Nawabi Khansama’ look. The relatively younger Manager who I guess was the only person in suit, was also quite serious faced. He was continuing to speak to me in English even though I was speaking in Bengali. It was then that I did what I do best – mentally poke. I striked a conversation on ‘what is popular her / what is legendary her, I have come from far to eat here/ what is ‘mash-hoor’ (famous) here etc & within 3 -4 sentences each, the customer – server barrier fell apart. We were talking to each other as two human beings & the interaction was excellent since then for the rest of our stay.
mutton chaap @ Shiraz
The food is surely very good in isolation but as compared to others, this one takes a beating – Straight away from Arsalan Park Circus & surely from Aafreen, Metiabruz. We were unlucky to get stale meat in one of the dishes, very happy to get a replacement after we reported the same & even more disappointed when the replacement turned out to b stale as well.
Raita @ Shiraz
However, inspite of that, people throng to this place in thousands, more due to emotional reasons than pure culinary ones.
If u have expat guests & want to give them a taste of good Indian food that will not give them a Delhi Belly, this is the place. If u want to go out on a date & have indian food, u might consider this. If u r thinkin of meeting friends in a nice environment with some good food , this place is a good option. A family outing to a nice restaurant for celebration – once again this qualifies. However, if u r a hardcore foodie to whom tastebuds only matter & not ambience, or to whom a dori kabab on an Old Delhi roadside amidst huge flow of human traffic butt brushing u constantly is super exciting, then this Restaurant might throw up some disappointments.
Well let me try to xplain this. There r very limited ‘excellent’ Indian food Restaurants in Delhi. If u narrow down to Awadhi cuisine (Lucknowi food), then ur options r highly limited to say the Legendary Dum Pukth, Kainoosh or say Indian accent. Indian fine dining is rare & specially if u r a fan of Dum food (slow cooked over low fire – a Lucknowi tradition).
My experience at Dum affairs was very good but has been surely better at Kainoosh, IndianAccent & the big Boss – Dum Pukth. I will happily part with Rs. 6000 for 2 at Dum Pukth but having paid Rs. 2800 for 2 at Dum affairs, I feel it is a bit overpriced. Its like a 2 hrs flight vs. a 14 hrs AC 1 Rajdhani. That is the difference.
The staff is extremely courteous & have good relevant product knowledge. They were quite attentive too, to our needs.
The ambience, as I mentioned, was very good. Nothing Awadhi about it but just plain good. Music was modern day Bollywood – I did not really get the connection of that with Lucknow.
innovative dessert
The food was a mix of outstanding & average. Authenticity did not seem to be a focus & the Chef has done a good job at doing some of the fusion cuisines. However, it wud have been good if the menu card displayed which ones r fusion & which ones authentic. For some dishes, that was obvious but it wasn’t obvious for the rest.
The first page of the menu card was a shocker to me – It had a section called ‘For the health freaks’ with salads etc. That was the most inappropriate section in a Lucknowi Restaurant – ‘healthy Lucknowi food’ is nothing short of an oxymoron.
Detailed Description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:
Good fish & meat kababs with strong & rustic flavored & taste, some very interesting Biryani that made me rethink my list of ‘best Biryani’ & one of the best Mutton Kormas I have ever had..
best Mutton Korma I ‘ve ever had
Address & other details: Just get into an autorickshaw & ask for Jamil Hotel near Chatori Gali. U will b transported there. In case the auto driver does not know, ask him to take u to Chatori Gali. Once there, just ask for Jamil Hotel situated on a road opposite Chatori Gali.
Meal for 2:Rs. 100 onwards
Cuisine Type:Nonvegetarian
Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:
Like Chatori Gali, everything here is very chatpata in taste – rustic, robust.
For those of u who rate the look & feel of a restaurant highly, u will b disappointed here. It has quite a shabby appearance, has old metal tables & bench seating. The shop does not even have a signboard. People just know this place.
The interiors
During my chat with the owner, he told us that they will move in to a new bigger building right opposite the existing one & that will b like a regular Restaurant.
For those of u who r frightened to eat fried food or food with fat in them, this is not the right place. BUT, if u r one of those who believe in pampering ur tastebuds & then work out harder to burn those extra calories, then this is the place to be.
the open kitchen
The serving staff at the shop are quite friendly. But as I always say, they do not undergo modern day ‘Hotel Management Training that preaches ‘Customer is the King’ etc. So they behave with u in a person to person basis & treat u as another person they r dealing with & not a ‘Customer’. So if u r friendly, that is reciprocated & vice versa.
We were lucky to have the Chef come up to the table post the serving staff ran out of answers to my questions. The Chef was really nice & explained things. When we ordered an extra Biryani to end the meal, he gave a complimentary ‘gravy of Mutton Do Pyaza’ to taste.
As u enter the shop, u r greeted with the sight of Marinated meats & fishes. These are cooked on request right in front of u. So there is almost nothing that is made & stored. So we had some good kababs, some outstanding Korma & a very very interesting Biryani.
marinades displayed right at the entrance to the shop
Detailed Description – In case u have the time to enjoy reading:
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