Dec 09, 2017 12:27 PM
4367 Views
I have been to this place quite a few times in the past few years. I quite liked the food and thought I'd share my thoughts on this. What I have to say is on the whole, positive.
Location & Layout:
It is located not far from the entrance of RMZ Ecospace Park, after Bellandur flyover and is part of "Bay", an outlet housing restaurants and food joints in the vicinity of several corporate organizations.
The seating is common for most eating at the restaurants in "Bay", which has a vast seating arrangement, divided into an inner portion and outer portion for tables / chairs. The outer segment is more exposed to outer surroundings. One could watch television or the surroundings as the sit and eat.
The joint itself, under question is small and is a self-service kind of outlet. One has to collect their respective meal after payment and then sit somewhere in the many seats available outside the stall.
Food:
The food is actually quite decent here overall. There is a vast variety here both for vegetarian and non-vegetarian standalone items to go with various kinds of bread - kulchas, paranthas, rotis etc.
"Chole Bature" is quite good here and the "Lassi" is pretty decent too. There is a "Paneer Zabardast" item in the menu, which is not listed but is there and is pretty good. It is similar to "Kadai Paneer" but is better. Not sure exactly what the gravy is composed of. It's not too spicy or buttery, but at the same time, comes across as very pleasing. Other than that most of the standalone items mentioned in the menu you would find at other eating joints too. Probably more variety in a bigger restaurant.
This place has a lot of good combos. There are biriyani combos, veg / non-veg meal combos and tandoori combos. There is also a "Pathankot Special" which didn't come across as too special. All of them are a mix and match of thali items specializing in what is evident in the name. For e.g., "Biriyani Combo" will have one biriyani item. I'm not sure the biriyani items are the best item here. It also depends on the individual. "Tandoori Combo" item typically has more dishes cooked in tandoori style rather than the usual gravy manner. Typically, the "Tandoori Combo" would have 3 tandoor side dishes to go with one gravy side dish and 1 kind of garlic bread.
There are some basic beverages and quite a few starters here as well. I only have them on occasion. Seems nice. Also soups and raitha which I've never tried. There are some good variety of paranthas here. Haven't tried all of them but their breads are typically quite decent. So, I doubt this would be lacking in anyway. There are some chef specials which seem interesting and a "Chicken Chatpata Dry" seems curious. Yet to try that though. Also, I suppose "Chicken Zabardast Masala" might be similar to its vegetarian paneer counterpart, in the gravy. Most other items you would find at other restaurants. This is supposed to be with Punjabi orientation though.
Pricing & Offers:
It's not really an offers kind of place, being a small joint by stature. The pricing seems adequate in most regards although I must say there was an occasion or two in the very beginning, when the quantity seemed a bit less in. But it has been good ever since mostly and is in general, pretty good.
Service:
The service can't really be called bad. But there are things worth noting. They don't seem to have a very clear procedure regarding the bill delegation. Sometimes after payment, they give it to the customer to give it to the person at the kitchen counter. Sometimes the person at the billing counter only does this. It is mentioned in a big note on the wall, that the meal is free unless you are given a bill. But in the end, when one is collecting food, unless you ask for the bill, it is seldom given. On select occasions, they may need reminding about the order. But more often than not, they do track it well. They are interactive and do let you know about their dishes.
Flexibility:
I've noticed some flexibility and in some cases not. One instance of flexibility is that in combos, while allotting the gravy side dish one can choose what one wants there - some pulse item, chole or something else. Also, no real fuss about some impromptu add-on to your order although I do this quite rarely.
They are open to most kind of monetary transactions.
One bogus thing is that there is a clear cut separate section for breads in their menu and you can have an add-on if you so desire and pay for it. But for some reason, "Bhature" is not part of it and if you want an add-on bhatura, you have to pay the amount for the entire "Chola bhatura dish". Doesn't really make sense.
Other thing is if you want some standalone items to be added on, like "boiled-egg" for example with your meal, you will be told it isn't available but at the same time one would notice it is very much part of biriyani meals dished out. I understand the thinking - They want to preserve the eggs for the bigger meals where it will be more profitable (probably). But I suppose this would have to be counted as a non-flexible point.
Highlights:
1) I think the main highlight is that their quality of most food items is quite decent.
2) For a pretty small joint, variety is also not bad in standalone items and combos.
To conclude, I'll say going by Mouthshut rating standards, I'll give it between 3-3.5 / 5. For the food and the small scale of joint it is, I would say it is good and worth a try.
