Latitude, Mosaic Hotel, Sector 18, Noida

[Rated: 4/5]

PUNJAB is synonymous to brave people with heart full of love & hospitality, dhol & bhangra, vast fields, hard work & prosperity and delicious cuisine.

Punjabi cuisine is reminiscent of Makki Di Roti te Sarson Da Saag served with Gud (Jaggery). However Punjabi food is a lot more than this scrumptious delicacy, and in an endeavour to introduce authentic Punjabi delights, Latitude an otherwise world cuisine restaurant at Mosaic Hotel is celebrating the richness of Punjabi dishes under the fortnight long event named “Zaika Punjab Da” from 18 Nov till 3 Dec'11.

My Way Or The Highway, Sector 18, Noida

[Rated: 4/5]

I just couldn't stop smiling when one of my friends jokingly remarked on hearing the name - My Way or The Highway, “ Is the place owned by a female”. The arrogant sounding name “My Way Or The Highway” is contrary to its name and brings interesting twist to the normal recipes in its menu and offers personalised and courteous service. 

Located on the fourth floor of Centre Stage Mall, vibrant interiors of this 85 plus seater restaurant are spread over two levels with a well equipped bar at first level and a hookah lounge on the upper level. Relaxed seating, pleasant interiors and the not-so-loud setting makes it an apt venue for not-so young who avoids a volume screeching pub, but still are young enough to enjoy their drinks and food in a group or otherwise.

Vaango, Sector 18, Noida - Must try!

[Rated: 4/5]

South Indian cuisine is the only cuisine that has acceptance and popularity in all parts of India and is equally liked by all segments of customers. It probably is also the only cuisine that could satisfy palate from breakfast to dinner. For a larger population while south Indian may just mean Dosa, Idli or Wada, the fact is that there are joints that are serving a much larger variety both vegetarian and non vegetarian food from south.

The other day while I was at Sector 18, Noida, my attention was drawn towards this Green and Yellow glow sign “Vaango” the south Indian food joint. Motivated by my experimental instinct, I decided to try out this new joint. 

I was welcomed by the poster at the door stating meaning of Vaango and claiming that one will be extended with legendry hospitality along with authentic south Indian cuisine.

Top Breads, Sector 18, Noida

[Rated: 3.5/5]

The city of Delhi historically has been exposed to cultures and cuisines from various parts of the world. Not only has the city embraced each and every culture, but has with a lot of warm embraced cuisines and food as well that came its way. I feel blessed to have been born and brought up in Delhi since I get to experience almost all types of cuisines here.

We went for a warm Sunday lunch to Top Breads which is famous for its luscious variety of cakes also has a cafe style seating for about 30. At least 30 – 40 variety of ready to eat breads, sandwiches, pizza slices, pastas, croissants, baguettes welcome the diners. The self help to chose and pick up from this displayed variety adds to this excitement.

Dosa Plaza, Pacific Mall, Sahibabad

[Rated: 4/5]
“Variety adds to spice in Life”.  The saying will be taken literally and more so implemented with so much of zeal is what I discovered on my recent visit to Pacific Mall in Sahibabad with my family.

We were attracted to Dosa Plaza by sheer exuberance of the colourful glow sign that displays its name. On scrutiny of menu, I was amazed to see the variety of Dosas, Idlies and Vadas being offered by the outlet.  Dosa for me has always been that traditional fermented crepe made from rice, served with a filling of patatos and side dish of Sambhar and Chutneys

Shri Maharashtra Food - Mahagun Metro Mall, Vaishali

[Rated: 4/5]
Akin to fellow countrymen, I feel blessed to be born in India. While inheritance of rich culture, traditions and customs makes me proud, diversity and vivid variety of dance, music, architecture, landscapes and above all existence of multiple cuisine and food diversity leaves me astounded.

As a foodie, I love to try out all sorts of cuisine and dishes. Last weekend I happened to visit Mahagun Metro Mall with my family and observed a new outlet in Food Court by the name

KFC's spicy Zinger Burger Vs Mcdonald's McSpicy Chicken Burger

KFC Spicy Zinger Chicken Burger

 

Life can become so complicated on simple things, especially if one has to compare two legends. McDonalds and KFC have both launched their spicy variant of burgers and we checked them out to give our verdict as to which one is better.

Since it was a difficult decision, we compared both the outlets on few metrics with equal weightage for each metric.

The first point goes to KFC. We have never been welcomed

The Chicken quality and filling of crisp lettuce in McDonald burger was much better, hence McDonald scores here. 

I have never been served a burger at McDonald which was prepared over 15min. As far as I know, burgers prepared over 15 minutes ago are discarded and not served to the customer. But the burger that was served to us at KFC, Sec-63, Noida outlet was stale. McDonald is now coming up with MFY (Made For You) stores where the burgers would be delivered fresh and the new technology will ensure its advantage of a QSR (Quick Service Restaurant). At KFC, the outer layer of the chicken was dry and had become chewy. Same happened to the inner chicken patty which wasn’t moist and tender as it is supposed to be. We discussed this with the floor manager, Arvind, who tried to evade our observation but still agreed to change the burger. The next burger came after 5 minutes, and the minute I had a bite, my earlier views were confirmed. Hence McDonald scores here again.

Pind Balluchi, Great India Place (GIP), Noida

[Rated : 3.5/5]

Pind Balluchi is a known restaurant in Delhi NCR for their food at prices catering to the middle class. We had a nice Saturday evening with our cousins at a bowling alley in Noida after which we decided to visit Pind Balluchi in GIP mall. The restaurant located on the 3rd floor near the elevators allows quick access to the hungry souls.

Pind Balluchi, Indirapuram (Shipra Mall), Ghaziabad

[Rated: 3.5/5]

In past few years, restaurants with multiple outlets have seen a reasonable increase. Pind Balluchi is one of these multiple outlet brands.  

While the latter part of Pind Balluchi seems to have been derived from Baluchistan; an arid, mountainous region in Southwest Asia including parts of southeastern Iran, western Pakistan, and south western Afghanistan and goes with the Pind Balluchi’s proclaim to serve North West frontier cuisine, menu does not affirm the same.

Side Wok, Connaught Place, New Delhi

[Rated: 4/5]

In our quest to find the hidden and new treasures (Read: Restaurants), Sumeet & I tried the new East Asian restaurant, Side Wok, at Connaught Place. I must admit this is one of our decent finds in the recent time.

The interiors are nicely done in oriental style with deep red and deep blue chairs on the first floor. Though the large Buddha statues are reminiscent of Shiros at Samrat Hotel, but Side Wok has its own unique charm. The second floor is even better and has both covered seating done in resto-pub style and open area offering an excellent view of central Delhi. Side Wok which looked modest-sized from outside has seating capacity of almost 100 guests including a private dining room. They have researched their food and drinks well and offers one of the largest collections of wine for a restaurant in its class.

Dining Room

Resto Pub Setting

Private Dining Room

I can be a big snob when it comes to food and service. But I didn’t find much to complain other than the complementary served Kimchi, which was under-fermented, and the service delivery time which was a tad longer. Since I was sitting on the terrace floor and Kitchen is on the first floor, I can understand the slow delivery. Service otherwise was friendly and non-intrusive.

The excellent prepared dim sum were as authentic as it could get, and included Pakchoy rice flour dumpling (255; stuffed with Pakchoy, water chestnut & black mushroom), and Harkao (295; steamed prawn rice flour dumpling). Our starters, The Crispy fish Piquant sauce (375) and the Stir fried mint lamb (275) were soft, juicy & flavorful.  In the main course slow fried prawns (475) and Mix Veg in black bean sauce (235) were a delight. The flavors from spices helped us appreciate the taste of main ingredient rather than camouflaging them. Another point going in restaurant’s favor was they did not mellow down the hotness of original recipe to suit the taste of tourists. The Veg Hakka Noodles (155) could be eaten on its own without any main dish. After a great meal, the desserts, Blue Berry Cheese Cake (145) and the Caramel Custard (125) acted like an icing on the cake. 

Pakchoy Dumpling

Caramel Custard

Blue Berry Cheese Cake

We friends met after a long time, and the ambiance, food and service all came along to create moments that we shall long remember. We are definitely going back and suggest you try it too.

Meal for Two: Rs1800 | Alcohol: Yes | Credit Card: Yes|
Address: 21/90, Outer Circle Connaught Place (Near McDonald), New Delhi | Phone: 011-43509122/ 33

- Pawan Soni