"George"...

Chicken Tandoori

Nothing can really satisfy a summer evening's hunger as good as chicken tandoori! And when you are really feeling up for it, The George is "da place to be"!

The George is one of the oldest restaurants in Pune. It is not so fairly scoring on the ambience and interior's side, but on the food side, it definitely is "SUNNY SIDE UP"! They have the best chicken tandooris that I have ever tasted! 

And not just the tandoori, the chicken handi and the biryani, ah, they are to die for! And to top it all, they have the kulfi-wala just at their doorstep! And believe me, he sells huge kulfis! 

Biryani

So readers, if one evening you are feeling up for a nice non-veg meal, you must definitely try The George in Camp! It is reasonable and definitely tasty and later you won't even regret it!

What Happens In "The Club"

The Unmistakable Ambiance

Yesterday, the 15th of August, was a really fateful day! For one, it was the Independence Day in India! Kudos - as India has successfully completed 64 years of Independence! And the icing on the cake was that I again went out, as in for "dining" after about one and a half week! WOW! And it wasn't to any restaurant - I went to the Le Royale Club (Residency Club) in Pune! YAY!

Well, how we ended up at the club is an altogether long story, made short by me - we wanted to go out and have a fun time! So, we went to Le Royale, and it was as inviting and pleasureful as it always is! (My family goes there more than often!)

Le Royale is reputed for having a really posh crowd and guests! When we were there, we had a few Bollywood biggies come in. Also there are these couple of restaurants there like Palladium and Grill House, which provide some really quality food. Palladium is an indoor restaurant whereas Grill House is an outdoor restaurant, and people prefer eating great food outdoors only, watching the TV Projector thing kept for entertainment. Not just this, these guys also provide live musical shows by a few Indian and foreign artists which is also wonderful!

Thai Sizzler

The architecture, especially the driveway and the parking and the entrance are really, really, really beautiful. They have these various sculptures kept at the entrance and people flock towards those to get their pictures clicked because these type of sculptures you don't normally see in the other restaurants here in Pune. And yeah, though these people could have worked a bit more on the interiors, they are almost alright!

When we were there, we ordered sizzlers namely the Thai sizzler and the Lamb sizzler. These names quite define what all the order contained. The food was really nice, served "smokin' hot"! However, the service could have taken place a bit more actively! We placed the order about 45 minutes before the food arrived! So that was quite an off-point!

The Family & Friends

But, an overall review from yours truly reads that Le Royale is a nice place to be at. With quality food, they also provide quality stay. Just make sure that you are carrying a lot of money, because just the dining here is a bit too costly. As my uncle is a manager there, we got a staff's discount and we were 10 people then and we ate a solid dinner in about a Rs. 1000. So, according to me it was reasonable! So, I'd advice that you try this place at least once!

The Sukanta - An "Eat to Live" Restaurant

This is a Rajasthani artpiece at the Sukanta reception

I went to the Sukanta on J M Road yesterday. And honestly, I never knew about it till today! It is an awesome dining experience, right next to the Mula river, tucked cozily beneath all the old establishments and flooding with Punekars waiting in a queue to check out the much reputed food!

A shift at that restaurant starts with  pooja wherein all the staff, right from the waiter to the owner participate, to make sure that their business keeps running by the blessings of the Lord. (And I think that even if they don't do that, their business is going to do just fine with the type of food they serve!) And when I said "shift" I meant it! The restaurant is "OPEN" from morning 9:30 a.m to afternoon 3:30 a.m and then it again opens for the guests in the evening from 7:00 p.m to 10:30 p.m. And trust me, these guys follow this schedule religiously!

This is wall piece at The Sukanta

The entire interior of the restaurant is really warm and welcoming. However old the exteriors of that entire building maybe, the inside of the restaurant takes your breath away! Then you are left with nothing to say besides a frequent "WOW"! :-) Then you have the much reputed (I know I am using the word 'reputed' more than often but it is worth it) waiters scaling every inch of the floor, every couple of minutes. These guys are really efficient, don't spill food in your plate, come up to you every time you ask for them or not, don't make you wait and they really make you feel like a 'Maharaj' or a 'Maharani'! What with the superb interiors of the restaurant! Beautiful!

Look at the size of the dishes here and the ambiance of the restaurant

The food at Sukanta is awesome! On my plate I had aloo ki sabji, bhel puri, rabdi, roti, puran poli, kadi, veg papdi, bajri ki roti with ghee and gud, mattar ki sabji, sabja, water, paneer ki sabji, dhokla, methi ka paratha and a couple of more stuff which I can't remember because I didn't know their names there! And guess what? We can eat unlimited food till we are filled with no extra charges! And trust me, while eating this, you don't want to accept any challenges wherein you got to finish all the food with 3 to 5 servings - I did that and I came home crying! Accept the fact that the potato of aloo ki sabji was not boiled correctly, everything else was amazing - I took 2 more servings of Sukanta's rabdi and it was superb! After you've finished your food, they give you pan outside, which not really good, but fine!

But when one opens a great restaurant one should take care of the fact that guests just HATE waiting! That is because if you go during the "CLOSED" hours of the restaurant, mostly when you are a first - timer, you then have to wait for quiet some time till you get to your table. That's fine when you are out for fun time and not hungry. But then what about those foodies who are hungry? When you want fine dining, you just want it! There is no turning back! Also one should make sure that the vicinity of the restaurant should be at least an okay one, if not great one. Another thing is this that one needs to be updated about the quantity of ingredients they are using for the dishes - for Sukanta it was oil. Oil ruled the main sabjis! Other than these, guys, I couldn't encounter any other drawbacks with the restaurant.

The Judging Committee - (from left) Mahima, Nikita, Vijayata and Deepti

I'd say that if you want a nice, filling meal and want to have it at a reasonable price, with amazing dining experiences, you got to visit Sukanta at J M Road! I rated it 6 / 10. Nikita and Vijayata agreed. Mahima rated it 5.5 / 10 and Deepti put it at 8 / 10. So the overall review is that Sukanta is a good restaurant with good food at the rate of Rs. 170 per dish and unlimited servings with the additional 'happy food' that is pan!

China Gate - A Chinese Delight

One thing I really love and the one thing that I just don't regret and won't ever regret is being a foodie! I love travelling for food and practically live for tasting great food!

Mercy & Mahima for the camera

The China Gate is a really good restaurant serving Chinese, Singaporean and Malayan cuisines, all in one place! I had been to China Gate a few weeks ago and believe me, they have amazing food at really low prices! I do solemnly believe in the saying "Anything of quality comes at a price" but before entering the China Gate, you have got to leave this pre-conception out into the street! I did! And it paid better at an even lower cost!
 

The China Gate is located on the J M Road about half a kilometer before Mc. Donald's. It is  a bit easy to miss, I must say, as the entrance looks like a Chinese gate and is totally illuminated with yellow lights. And when I said "easy to miss" I meant that the entire J M Road is like really lit up, mostly yellow lights, and hence under all that light one can get lost! So, when you are there, better ask someone nearby Mc. Donald's about China Gate as the locals know the streets properly! Or, the other option is that you can ring me up, and I, for granted, know all the streets in Pune! (Feeling proud)!

Mercy & Mahima eating Singaporean noodles

The interiors of the restaurant are completely Chinese-d up! There is always a slightly strong smell running about the restaurant which reminds you of chicken soup with soya sauce, and trust my taste buds, it feels so homey! Then there is a gong and a Chinese manager who greets you, and all you can do is smile (only if you don't speak Chinese or you can answer that guy in Chinese)! But again, "Smile is a Universal language", and hence I prefer a smile! :-) And the furniture is all blackwood there, and the entire atmosphere is very warm and Chinese!

The food is also really good, but I'd have to mention this fact that the food there isn't almost the best! I'd prefer something more Chinese, as in bland and all, but the chefs out there are more into satisfying the Indian taste buds! Hence they do some mixing of the masalas at China Gate, but that is ignorable unless you absolutely, desperately want to eat that special Chinese food and you'd even kill for it! Over all, the food is nice, luxurious and yes, it makes your evening, as the menu here is like huge, humungous, gigantic! And the menu is really diverse, and I feel sad to be saying this, but sometimes these people don't possess a few of the stuff listed on the menu! But on the brighter side (not so bright really) is that you have other really cool substitutes!

The Judging Committee-(From left) Mercy, Mahima & Nikita

In my opinion, the China Gate is a really nice restaurant, which provides quality food at a reasonable (cheap) price! When we were there, we were four people and we satisfied our large appetites in just Rs.770/- only! I mean that, that is a huge discount especially for a foodie network as big as the one we have in Pune! I put this restaurant at 4.5/10, Mercy put it at 6/10, Mahima put it at 5.5/10 and Nikita agreed with Mercy. So, I'd say that you have to go there once, give it a try! And I bet you won't regret it, folks!

The Chocolate Room

There are many advantages of opening a restaurant in the most famous street in Pune - you get publicity for free, to name one!

The Chocolate Room (an extremely catchy name) is a restaurant that serves dishes made out of the most luxurious food - chocolate (just so you don't get lost with the name, I provided this detail)! It is a good "chocolate serving" restaurant in Pune and located in a highly noticeable corner of the F C Road. The exteriors practically won't matter as the constructions on F C Road are quiet cool, but the interiors are warm and welcoming. They have a rather old-fashioned trademark of a cup filling with chocolaty coffee for their product, but don't judge the book by the cover! The goodies and the drinks and the food that you get at this restaurant is exceptionally nice! 

The smells of that place leaves a memory in your mind! It is like the of brewing coffee with roasting chocolate! Ah! I haven't still forgotten that! And then when you enter that place, you are greeted with smiling waiters and reception guys. The place is nice and homey, with a large glass window overlooking the busy F C Road. And as I am more of a car buff, I loved the fact that there was a window there overlooking one of the best streets in Pune, where some of the best cars ply to! There are nice wooden chairs, given sort of an old dining table and chair look next to modern, chic, red-coloured sofas, which makes the place radiant and gives it a pumped-up look!

When I was there, I had ordered a choco coffee and a Russian toast, and beyond my expectation, it was actually good! It was properly heated, evenly spread with cheese and the froth over the coffee was pretty good as well! And as for the coffee mug, it had "Drink Me" written in brown! That was nice, I guess! Besides these, they also have a nice long list of other awesome dishes on their menu for you to choose from!

The goodies counter

But for a good restaurant, it was really pricey! Me and my friend closed the bill for nearly Rs. 450! Also, I don't know why they priced their foods so high, the chocolate products out there are a bit too sweet! I went in expecting something which was more like "real" chocolate!

But if you wish to try some chocolate today evening and do not mind spending about 500 bucks, then I'd say you got to try The Chocolate Room! And, this is just an advice for all the boys out there, girls love chocolate! So take your girlfriends there at least once if you want to keep your relationship healthy! And this time, don't forget your wallets!

P.S:I haven't clicked these photos because when I was there I didn't get the time. So, my apologies!