The place is quite spacious and tables have been laid out for every sort of group combinations. With a full glass facade, you could opt to sit next to it and enjoy a view of the ever-busy Rd 36, Jubilee Hills(though I must say it ain't a pleasant view always). The laid back dining theme really impressed me as I sat down facing the facade while L and A settled down on the sofa. A cloudy, rainy day has a charm of its own and I thought this was the perfect way to enjoy the rain while having a lazy lunch.
It hadn't been even 2 minutes since we settled down and A had been handed over a smiley mug with fruit juice in it. So much for being a toddler! And yes, the juice was at room temperature, exactly how we would have wanted A to have it - so thoughtful of them! And soon after, we were served with a complimentary jal-jeera. It was slightly chilled and tasted good and subtly sweet.
I felt an urge to order a cock-tail and I really couldn't think of anything other than pina colada. What I got wasn't exactly the original pina colada. A look at the orange wedge and a couple of sips told me that they had used orange to bring out the citric flavor (probably out of stock with pineapple or very little of it, I presumed). The flavor did seem to be in harmony with other ingredients and so I was content with that.
One thing which I found out gradually - they did have a lot of style in the presentation of dishes and it truly made our wait for everything we ordered quite interesting(more about it later!). We ordered a Mint Makai ka shorba soup and they served it in a mini tempering wok. The shorba was something which I found out to be about average. It tasted a bit bland to me and in my opinion I wasn't quite impressed with the toned down mint flavor.
While we were at the soup, the starters arrived. Makai Malai Seekh and Dudhiya Paneer Tikka. I had requested our whole lunch to be completely devoid of spice or to the lowest extent possible and was quite impressed that the staff really took care of it each time they served a dish. All this so that A could eat her lunch without fretting much about spicy food.
The makai malai seekh was a wee bit spicy though, but we didn't mind. It was absolutely delicious with a very slight hint of tanginess. Soft enough to melt in the mouth and yet stiff enough to hold it shape while being fiddled on the plate. The dudhiya paneer tikka was the star of the show. It really was a bold statement of how paneer tikka can taste delicious sans the spiciness, the highly pitched masalas and other mojo. I would really recommend this dish to anyone who feels core ingredients like paneer would not taste good when not spiced properly. The portion sizes for both the starters were decent enough.
Like I mentioned earlier, we eagerly waited for each dish to unravel itself before us. It was the turn of the main course and they served our Dal Bukhara and Nizami Handi in elegant over-sized mug shaped bowls. The quantity of the dishes, I would say, was enormous. So much that we had to request the leftover to be packed for us. The nizami handi was a mix of assorted vegetables in a cashewnut and spinach gravy. The vegetables were as fresh as they could be and had a crunchy texture. They were most likely blanched and added to the gravy. No question of not liking it! Surprisingly, the oil level was so low, it never really flowed out of the dish when served on the plate!( Its a common sight at many places, the oil starts oozing out of the dish minutes after it has been served). The daal bukhara in all its richness was definitely heavy by all means. But frankly, I was a bit confused between daal bukhara served to us and daal makhni, as I had never been a good judge to distinctively identify the differences. In any case, it really did go well with masala kulcha.
The masala kulcha is one more item on their menu which I would definitely recommend. Quite soft and cooked to perfection, they had a hint of garlic and really complimented the curry and daal that we had ordered.
Honestly, we were full and couldn't really take in another morsel of food. But the excitement of pondering over how the Kashmiri Pulao would be served, refused to die down. So we decided to wait until they serve us a tiny helping to taste and then request them to parcel it along with the gravy-curry and daal. True to their style, they served it in a claypot and it did look enticing! Kashmiri pulao tends to be on the sweeter side a bit and this one indeed had bits of pineapple, semi-ripe papaya, cherries which added a subtle sweetness to the pulao. And there was a generous dose of cashewnuts as well. It wasn't oily at all and quite lighter in taste as compared to the daal bukhara.
Apart from food, the thing that impressed me to a great extent was the impeccable service. No delays(apart from the customary wait time for preparation), no unheeded requests, no mistakes in order and service, no unnecessary attention! Really appreciate them for the extra mile they go to make theirs guests comfortable and hope they continue to do the same.
Food - 4/5
Ambiance - 4/5
Service - 5/5
VFM - 4/5
Wow factor - vegetarian menu at par with non-vegetarian menu, service
Thumbs down - nothing really!
I am sure I will come back to try out their non-vegetarian menu soon!
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