Friday, November 25, 2005

Cruise Food - Superstar Libra


Rest : Coconut Willys
Time : Evening
Date : Nov 23-25
Location : Docked
Company : Gautam

Experience: Friendly bartender, nice ambience, on the sea in mumbai. The moment i checked in and got to the room i knew i was in trouble. Being confined to a place isnt my thing. So i decided to spend my time eating, drinking and making fun of others.

Order : Sam Adams, Coors Light

Drinks
: see above

Food: 2 college favs i hadnt had in a while. They were on special offer for 50 INR a can. which is ridiculous but i wasnt complaining.

Overall
: I would give the bar service a 9/10.

Damage : 300 INR for 8 beers ($3.50)
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Rest : Four Seasons
Time : Dinner
Date : Nov 23-25
Location : Somewhere in the Arabian sea.
Company : Gautam


Experience: Considering my option of Indian or Continental i took Continental. Funnily only the ships scandinavian staff agreed with that choice. The waitress was this very pretty and friendly girl from Vietnam. She made sure we were comfortable and would pop by for a chat often. Even asked us to come in for lunch if we could the next day which we did. I did get a few stares form the maitre d for some reason, like i wasnt supposed to be there or something.


Order : Cream of mushroom soup, caesar salad, veggies, mashed tatos, some crunchy thing with stuffing, dessert was strawberry mousse.

Drinks
: see above

Food: The soup was good, breads fresh, i wish they had cheese. The salad was boring and since i dont like anchovies i had them do the caesar with Ranch but it was still boring as was the main course. The mashed potatos were allright, a bit too mushy but not bad. The mousse was too hard to be a mousse. It should have been a cake.


Overall
: I would give the food service a 5.5/10 service a 9/10.

Damage : Inclusive of the trip.
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Rest : Taj by the bay
Time : Breakfast brunch
Date : Nov 23-25
Location : Somewhere in the Arabian sea.
Company : Gautam


Experience: After walking around the ship for the nth time, we decided to check out breakfast. It wasnt very crowded and the view was fantastic. Miles of blue water for as far as one could see.

Order :It was a buffet style breakfast. So i loaded up on fresh fruit, a muffin, croissants, butter, jam, glass of water and a cup of tea.

Drinks
: Tea, water.

Food: Well the food was ok. Nothing great but not too bad. The spread was big as well, especially considering they had a whole alternate side of Indian breakfast items if one wanted to try. One criticism was they didnt have any kind of juice or soda. What the f*** kinda brunch is hard without beer or soda or atleast juice. Criminal negligence.

Overall : I would give the food service a 6.5/10 service a 7/10.

Damage : Inclusive of the trip.
___________________________________________________________________

Rest : Four Seasons
Time : Dinner
Date : Nov 23-25
Location : Somewhere in the Arabian sea.
Company : Gautam


Experience:Well despite a dissapointing evening before i still wanted to go and try something other than traditional Indian fare. So i went down to the four seasons and again there was practically no one there. My waitress from the night before wasnt either which was dissapointing.

Order : Mulligatawny, tomato & mozzarella, spagetti in pesto, choc ice cream.

Drinks
: Diet Coke

Food: ooh lala. It was as if the chef had a jolt of quality run through his head. The soup was good, very tasty and set the tone for the meal. The salad, very good again, tomato and mozzarella, how can you go wrong. After the taste of soup this was as far removed as you could get cuisine wise and it wasnt a bad idea. It worked. The pasta was nice, again slightly creamy but it worked quite well, the taste was just packed into the dish and the accompanying breads could do no wrong. The choc ice cream was ok. Our waitress was there and she saw us and brought out the dessert.

Overall
: I would give the food service a 8.7/10 service a 9/10.

Damage : Inclusive of the trip.
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some pictures from the cruise

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Thai Pavilion

Rest : Thai Pavilion
Time : Dinner
Date : 11th Nov 2005
Location : Taj President.
Company : Gautam, Vishal

Experience : We had a table for 9.30 and got there on time, were seated immediately and plied with the menu. No wait and the staff was relatively friendly though they did dissappear for bouts of time.

Order : Som Tam (Papaya Salad) Tom Yam Soup (Hot & Sour) Satay of Paneer and vegetables, Phad Phak (vegetables stir fried in Soya Sauce), Pad Thai noodles, Green Curry with White rice.

Drinks : Aquafina, Kingfisher

Food: The papaya salad didnt come with a sprinkling of peanuts which was dissapointing. The soup was interesting in a good way. Unlike how i have had it before but it was def a good choice. The satay oh paneer, veggies and mushrooms was a generic one. Tasted similar to satays i have had in smaller restaurants which was dissapointing. The phad phak was horrible, the taste was way off and none of us liked it much. The Noodles were strictly ok, but the green curry and white rice was the only saving grace. The right amount of coconut and spice gave it a great smell and even better taste. Overall dissapointing because you would expect a lot more from a prestige restaurant in a Taj chain.

Overall
: I would give the food a 5.8/10 while the Service 7/10.

Damage : 2200 INR ($40)

Friday, October 21, 2005

Monza

Rest : Monza
Time : Dinner
Date : October 20th 2005
Location : Phoenix Mills, Lower Parel.
Company : Gautam


Experience: We walked in around 9pm into the newly opened restaurant. Gambled against getting a table. It was busy but they seated us right away.

Order : Hummus platter (spicy, original, red) Minestrone, Penne in pesto, Penne in Arabbiata.

Drinks : Pinot Noir, Aquafina.

Food: The hummus was fantastic. The tastes were different yet seemed to go in the same direction. Good hummus is hard to find in this city and the Monza crew have done well to mix mediterranean with the italian. Like one of my fav restaurants the Aladdin chain of Upstate New York (Rochester, Syracuse, Ithaca) The pesto was fantastic, warm, creamy and full of taste, slightly heavier and gravier than the usual dry pesto one would expect. The Arabbiata was spicy, peppery in its taste, interesting taste by itself but when compared to the pesto it seemed like the loser. Fortunately my brother who had ordered the pesto didnt like it and prefered the Arabiata so we switched. The dissapointing thing about the restaurant is that being a wine bar, they dont have a Riesling selection. This is bordering on criminal. Secondly they need to offer a bit more in terms of garnish like pepper, Parmesan (an unacceptable oversight). Lastly the portions are so ridiculously small that we really had to go out and get a pizza on the way home. It was in no way filling at all and felt like i was eating a childs portion.

Overall : I would give the food an 8/10 while the Service 8/10 but its not a value for money meal by a longshot.

Damage : 1500 INR ($40)
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