Pan Asian cuisine at Red Zen

We have a 19 month old daughter, and they have a 2 year old son – so it is an extra benefit for us if we go to places that are kid friendly (such as 361 that I reviewed some time ago). In this regard, this place takes the cake. At a lot of places, you need to ask whether we can get child seats – here things were a little bit different:

• We arrived, were seated.
• Immediately, two people brought two high chairs for children (and good quality ones like we would have at home – not wooden stools).
• One of them took my daughter from me and seated her nicely into the chair and strapped her in.
• Then in a couple of minutes, they arrived with utensils for kids (plastic colorful plates, kid friendly forks, and plastic bowls). This got my daughter busy immediately with the stuff. Good.
• Then they came in and asked if it would be okay for them to provide plain noodles for the kids (free of charge).

I tell you, no other restaurant does this. I have had us be charged for bread that we have asked for our child in restaurants before.

Now for the other important stuff. The food is good. Period. We ordered a bunch of things and they were all very tasty. The pricing is on the higher side (though not that high). You can take a look at the offering on the menu and their prices at Zomato (Red Zen menu).

The only bad is that the place is VERY poorly lit. I think they went overboard with the low lighting theme. On one hand, low lighting gives you a little more privacy and separation from other diners – on the other hand, it can be very depressing and dull. If they want to keep the lighting low, they should definitely provide some lighting source at each table (candles perhaps).

In any case, I would totally recommend this place for a good time (that makes two recommendations, since our friends recommend it too).

Here’s my review:

It started by my calling the hotel to see if reservations are available (you never know). As it is with 5 star hotels, I got a very helpful lady who talked me through the dining options they have, and then passed me on to 361 when I said that’s where I want to dine. I was handed over to an equally helpful guy in the restaurant. He asked me the usual details (when I am coming, how many, etc.). There were two things that stood out in this interaction – one, when I told him that we have an infant, he suggested that we take a booth instead of a table (the sofa would make it easier to manage); two, I mentioned that I would like a table with a nice view since I am treating my mom for her birthday and I want her to enjoy it as much as she can, and he said “birthday?” in a funny manner.

Three Sixty One

Well, we arrived at the hotel. I have to say one good thing about this hotel. It is different. Their reception is on the 5th floor and the rest of the hotel is below the reception. So, when you enter, you drive up a beautiful lane to get to the fifth floor. Anyway, to get to the restaurant, we took an elevator down to the first floor. The restaurant itself is very spacious, and can seat a lot of people. The tables are very far away from each other which gives it an even better feel of openness. It has a very nice view of the huge reflection pool that the hotel has. We had two tables waiting for us (a booth, and one with a nice view of the pool). We chose the booth.

The food

We ordered some Thai red curry, some dumplings, a tandoori starter, and some other dish that I don’t remember. The food was quite simply delicious. The drinks were well-mixed (we had ordered a mix of cocktails and mocktails). They served very fresh and very tasty bread (3 or 4 types) while we waited for our food.

The service

This was even better. I can easily say that this place had one of the best services that I have ever seen in a five star hotel. The people serving us were all very friendly, very confident, always smiling, and very good at conversation. We had 4-5 people serving us at all times. If I wanted something, I just had to look up and I would catch someone’s attention who would promptly come over to see what we needed. We felt very pampered.

Our daughter is 18 months old. She was being a little difficult just as our main course arrived. One of the servers just walked over and offered to take care of her while we ate. We accepted. He just took her (this was a busy restaurant with most of their tables filled) and started taking her around the restaurant, showing her different things, having her meet his different co-workers. It was great. As I said, we felt very pampered.

In fact, even as we had arrived (not even ordered our food), a chef came over (out of no where) and brought over a plate with 4 chocolate pieces on them for our daughter. He offered her the chocolate, which she loved because these were all different colors and shapes.

When we were done, and I called for the bill, they asked us to stay put – they had a cake ready for my mom. I always love it when a restaurant does that. And this being The Oberoi, the cake was right up to their standard – it was delicious – simply delicious.

I think their hospitality is their best offering by far.

The price

Food for 4 people, mix of drinks cost us around 5 grand.

For a 5 star hotel, the type of service they have, the kind of ambiance they offer, I think that is not too unreasonable – in fact, I think that’s a good price.

I will definitely return.

Vapour was recommended to us by some friends who are extremely fond of brewed beer. So, over the weekend, when my husband and I decided to watch the soccer world cup at a bar that served brewed beer, we decided to take up on the recommendation for Vapour!

Situated in MGF Megacity, where food court once was, Vapour immediately welcomes visitors with its hip, new design and ambience. An open-air like restaurant has been created outside the entrance for those who prefer this type of an ambience. As soon as we entered, several servers greeted us with large smiles; we were asked for our seating preferences, and were quickly seated. We were immediately served water, and upon giving us the menus, the servers left us alone to make up our mind. This was refreshing because at a lot of places, severs are eager to take orders and more often than not, have to told multiple times for water to be served.

At Vapour, you have a choice of four different beer types, each costing Rs. 185 for 500 ml; this is ‘rather cheap’ as compared to other microbreweries in Gurgaon,which is a good thing. I am a big fan of lager, so I chose Vapour Light which had a mild and yummy taste and was not too strong on the tongue. During the course of the evening, we tried all the beers and I would recommend Vapour Light and Vapour Dark which are both refreshing and perfect for lager lovers. With the drinks, my husband ordered finger foods and pasta, which though a little less in terms of quantity, were seasoned well and tasted great! For the soccer match, the premises boasted a large projector screen and two large HD TVs. As the match time came around, we saw more people rolling in.

One of the only inconveniences of the place is that in order to use the restroom, patrons are required to walk one level up; Vapour makes up for this by keeping the bathrooms very clean and well kept. On the terrace is a lounge area with a large screen, a separate DJ, and comfortable seating.

Big screens, good beer, good food, good ambience – this place has the makings of a perfect sports bar. Gurgaon needs more such restaurants.

But let me step back first, and start with the hotel itself. The hotel is located in Udyog Vihar which is one of the busiest places in Gurgaon. If you’re planning to go there on a weeknight, better plan to be stuck in traffic for a while, since all roads going there are likely to be jam packed. However, once you get there you will never know that you are in the middle of hustling bustling city.  The moment you get in the place, you are taken in by the immense architecture of the hotel. It’s like stepping into a different world all together (see below the photo of the entrance – photo by Sanctu)

The reason it is so important to mention so much about the hotel, it’s architecture, it’s lobby and so on is because it puts you in the right mood for a relaxing meal.

Now let’s move on to the restaurant itself. The restaurant that I went to recently is called Saffron and it serves Indian food. I have been here several times. And I cannot say that it has always been the best food, but this last time, the food was really good.

Here’s the review.

Food:

I have normally ordered A La Carte here, however this time around they had an option of a set meal which includes starters, main course, and dessert. We chose this option. Basically, this is similar to what you might get at The Great Indian Kebab Factory, or at Barbecue Nation.

So, they started with the starters (no pun intended). There was an assortment of veg and non-veg stuff. I liked everything, and it was a large variety. They will keep coming back with more of these till you tell them to stop it and bring on the entrees.

The main course it self was pretty tasty, and the as was the dessert (an assortment of 4-5 types). Combine this with their extensive wine list, and I would say that the food is definitely good.

Service:

If I quickly summarize the service, then here it is:

• polite people
• no one rushes you
• they know how to pour wine properly
• basically what you would expect from a five star hotel

Ambience:

Very nice. It is the same as the rest of the hotel. The place is done nicely (see picture below). There is live Indian music (some tabla, sitar, and sarangi) which is very melodious. The space is small, but that has the effect of it not being filled with a lot of people and so doesn’t feel very crowded.

Conclusion:

Its a very nice place to go to for a nice lavish dinner. Lavish because the price will be very high; but I think that just the entrance to the hotel is worth the price tag.

Good place to go for a celebration, an official dinner if you need to wine and dine someone important, a special date, or just to treat yourself once in a while.

Bad for budget conscious dining.

But, I am jumping all over the place here. Let me introduce this place first. The restaurant is called FresCo. It is located towards the backend of the Ambience mall food court (a little behind the McDonalds).

They have both A La Carte and Buffet menus, and I have enjoyed both, and liked them both. A friend of mine however would differ as she didn’t like the soup that they served her (but she is vegetarian).

The staff is very polite and is always watching out for you, and makes you feel very much at home. There are two seating areas, open and closed. The benefit of the closed area is that you don’t feel like you are in the middle of a mall with people passing by all the time.

They have a decent wine list as well, so you should be able to order good accompaniment to the largely Italian/Med cuisine that the place serves. We enjoyed their desserts as well when we tried the buffet. However, if you are really a dessert buff, then you may want to check out IndiJoe’s which is a couple of restaurants down (once we ate at FresCo’s and then walked to IndiJoe’s for dessert).

Overall, the place is recommended. Do try it out, and leave your comments here on whether you liked it or not.

Here follows a review of the place.

The place serves beer of course (the name kind of gives it away, doesn’t it). But its no ordinary bar. They have their own brewery inside the restaurant and all the beer is fermented fresh. Now, that makes it different (if not unique, as this is not the only micro-brewery in town).

The Beer – I don’t normally like beer. However, I did develop a taste for a particular type of beer which is common in Germany (its called wheat beer or Weizen). And surprise, surprise, they offer wheat beer at Rockman’s. And it was pretty good as well. They do offer a number of other brews, and you can choose to order a large glass or the regular ones (the photo shows the regular ones).

We were joined by a couple of other friends and all of these beer-drinking guys said that the beer was good (remember that I am not too big on beers).

The Food – the food was nice. We ordered a variety of starters and dishes, and there were no complaints with the food quality. The menu is varied, though it is heavily biased towards the non-veg variety of food. So, you vegetarians will have only a handful of options to choose from.

The Ambience – the environment in the restaurant (I call it a restaurant) was pretty bright and cheerful. They have this little booths which look like barrels/kegs (call it whatever you want), in which you can sit 4-6 people. But you can only use them if you are only going to have some beer, as the tables in them are tiny. Other than that, there are normal tables and of course a bar space where you can sit if you happen to be alone or with a friend.

The Price – the place is very expensive. That’s all I can say.

Conclusion – nice place but very pricey. Will probably go back though.

Have you been to Rockman’s? If yes, please leave your impression of the place in the comments.

The restaurant is nicely decorated (very American), with nice bright lights on top of the tables (but otherwise subdued lighting). The decor keeps you interested while you are waiting for the food to arrive. Of course, if you are with interesting company then you probably don’t need to be kept occupied by the decor. Its very reminiscent of Ruby Tuesday or Big Chill (of course, if I was a professional critic, I would know the actual word for such decor).

The people waiting on you are courteous and friendly – big smiles all around. Even the person who showed us in (the one standing at the door) was very professional and courteous. I love going to restaurants where the patrons and the staff are happy to see you – they make you welcome. It just adds another dimension to your dining experience and makes you want to go back.

The place was not crowded when we went there (it was a Sunday night) – this was a surprise because we found it to be quite a nice joint with good food. Of course, its not that old a restaurant, so it may take some time before it becomes popular.

To give you an idea on how to get there – Get to the food court and face McDonalds. There is a passage that is going further in from the left side of McDonalds. You will see Punjab Grill at the beginning of this passage. Just keep going along it all the way to the end (where there is a Chinese restaurant). IndiJoe is just before the Chinese joint.

The Food

Although we went for dinner, I have been told that they also have a buffet for lunch (no buffet at dinner time). That makes it a great place for working lunches. The menu is not huge, but not small either. There is enough variety. The best part about their menu is that they have a decently large Desert Menu, so make sure that whatever you are eating, you leave space for that.

Aside from the food, they have a pretty large drinks menu as well, and a well stocked bar. So if you are in the mood to knock back a few and relax, you won’t be disappointed. They have a large selection of cocktails that they will mix for you, if you don’t like your alcohol straight.

We ordered something called “The Maggie’s Farm” and I must tell you, it was delicious. It was the most succulent piece of chicken that I have ever had, and my wife agreed. Maybe we were just lucky or very hungry or both. But still, it tasted very good. And unless you are really hungry or you have a large appetite, that one dish is good for two people (we both had our tummies full in one order).

Value for Money: Given the fact that we only had to order one dish, and the drinks alone were for over 650 bucks, the food came out to be relatively cheap. Our entire bill of Rs. 1,100 meant that this is not an expensive place at all.

The Bad

Every place has some flaws – no place is perfect. The flaws at IndiJoe were not major though. Actually, we counted just 3 (and two are similar).

One – we ordered a Martini. They came back to us and said, sorry, we are not serving Martinis. I hate it when a restaurant has a flashy menu and they aren’t serving half the things that are on the menu.

I forgive them however as they are a new joint, and I know that until recently they didn’t have a bar license. So maybe they are still stocking up.

Two – we ordered a particular desert (don’t remember the name anymore, but it was a lot of fruits in chocolate, or something). They weren’t serving that either. Again, I hate that. The excuse for this one was that fruits are seasonal, so they didn’t have that dish.

What a silly excuse. There are some great fruits to go around during the winters in India.

Three – we ordered a frozen lime Margarita. I am pretty sure that the bar tender forgot to put Tequila in the Margarita (or he may have ran out of Tequila after putting a couple of drops). Or maybe it was just me.

Conclusion

All in all, we will definitely be going back to this place. I might even take some clients there from time to time as it was a very nice place.

I put together a list of the ones I know. I have included those that are relatively safe to get to, and are in or near Gurgaon. Typically, you can get to any of them in less than 15-20 minutes from anywhere in Gurgaon (after midnight only).

Here’s the list:

Plaza Solitaire Hotel

This place is located on Old Jaipur Highway behind Sector 14. They serve North India, Chinese, Thai, and Continental food. They have both outdoor as well as indoor seating. I have been to this place MANY times, and though it is not the classiest joint in town, but it does fine. Here are some details:

• Meal for Two: Rs. 500.
• Address: 30, Sector 14, Old Delhi-Gurgaon Road
• Phone: 0124-2323043, 0124-2325832, 0124-2325833

Bonitos

This is a coffee shop near the international airport. Technically, this is in Delhi, but the highway makes this very accessible. It is located in Uppal Orchid. Details:

• Meal for Two: Rs. 2,500.
• Address: Uppal’s Orchid, NH8
• Phone: 011-25061515, 011-41511515

Citrus Cafe

Citrus Cafe is the name of the coffee shop in Lemon Tree hotels in Gurgaon. There are two such locations in Gurgaon. Although, I haven’t been here at midnight, I have had lunch here, and the meal has always been good. Hence, it is recommended. Here are the details:

• Meal for Two: Rs. 1500.
• Address 1: Lemon Tree Hotel, 287, Sec 29
• Phone 1: 0124-4160303, 0124-4160304
• Address 2: Lemon Tree Hotel, 866, Udyog Vihar, Ph V
• Phone 2: 0124-4423232, 0124-4423205

New Town Cafe

I have visited this coffee shop many times. And I highly recommend it. I even wrote a review about it recently talking about the Biryani Buffet. It is located at Park Plaza, and is definitely one of the better places to go at night.

• Meal for Two: Rs. 1800
• Address: Park Plaza Hotel, B Block, Sushant Lok II
• Phone: 0124-4150000

NYC – The Fun Cafe

This one too is not within Gurgaon, but is a short drive away on the highway. It’s inside Radisson hotel. I haven’t been there, but if its Radisson, how bad can it be?

• Meal for Two: Rs. 2000
• Address: Hotel Radisson, NH 8, Mahipalpur
• Phone: 011-26779191

Palmyra

This is yet another coffee shop located in the Bristol Hotel. I have been there, and although the place looks big, the food is alright. I had ordered their house speciality Chicken Burger, and wasn’t impressed. Other items on the menu sounded good though.

• Meal for Two: Rs. 1800
• Address: Hotel Bristol, Sikandarpur, DLF Phase I
• Phone: 0124-2356030

Axis

This place is a coffee bar plus restaurant. Once again, I haven’t seen this at night, though have been there during normal hours. They did have a nice wine list as per what I remember. The food was average though. This is located in the Galaxy hotel behind 32nd milestone.

• Meal for Two: Rs. 1500
• Address: First Floor, Galaxy Hotel, Sector 15.
• Phone: 0124-4565000

Cafe RoadHouse

Located inside 32nd milestone complex, this is one of the cheaper places on the list. The place is clean and I have visited it many a times. The clientele can get a little ordinary at times, but I haven’t had any trouble ever. The food is usually decent.

• Meal for Two: Rs. 750
• Address: 32nd milestone, NH8.
• Phone: 0124-2332571-75

Well, that’s it. These are all the proper joints that I know of. If you know of any other, please leave a comment. Also, if you have eaten past midnight at any of these, please leave  a comment mentioning how your experience was.

Park Plaza Hotel (which is located in Sushant Lok, near Max Hospital) has a 24 hour restaurant, which serves an awesome Biryani Buffet at midnight. We have been there a million times, and it has never disappointed. The biryani is great and the price is not too expensive (don’t remember what it is exactly, but if someone does, please leave a comment).

They have of course both veg and nonveg stuff available. The restaurant (it is called New Town Cafe) also has a great buffet during normal meal times though that is on the expensive side. The staff is very courteous, the place has valet parking (being a hotel), and the crowd is usually good (yes the place can get crowded even at midnight).

It is a perfectly safe place to go even with your wife (as I do) and kids (though I think if you have kids, then you probably don’t get hungry at midnight).

Have you visited the place for the biryani buffet? What is your experience? Please do leave a comment.

How to get there? Its not that straight forward, and so I put together a little picture (shown below):

Directions: So, basically, if you are coming from Sahara Mall towards DT City Center on MG road, right after the building of City Center ends, there is a cut which lets you enter Sushant Lok (through a big gate). Just go down to the end of that road, take a left, then take an immediate right, and you will see an entrance to your left to a big building (second gate) where the restaurant is situated on the Ground Floor.

You can arrive in style with their valet parking service. So, you can pull right up to the entrance of the restaurant, hop out of your car and walk right in. Once you are in there, immediately you are made to feel welcome. We had a smiling hostess at the entrance, and were escorted by a an equally ‘glad-to-see-you’ host who ushered us in.

Note: It’s always more useful to have reservations, because even on a weekday, the place was completely full. The number is +91 124 4044563.

Once you are seated, you have just two choices of meals: Veg or Everything. What they do next is that they will put a grill right on your table, and put a number of skewers on your grill with a variety of things ranging from potatoes to prawns. At the same time, they will keep serving you other kebabs and starters (until the time you get them to stop). So, you can cook the meats on your grill to your satisfaction, and enjoy already cooked starters alongside.

When you feel that you are done with kebabs, then you can hit the buffet. The buffet was good enough (not expansive, but enough). Well, I skipped the buffet, because I stuffed myself with starters, and went straight for double helpings of the dessert. You can choose how you like to do it.

Between 3 people with 3 soft drinks, we paid around Rs. 1800. I think that is a fairly okay price for the quality of food and the ambience of the restaurant.

Conclusion: No parking hassles, good food, moderate price, and good food. Did I mention good food?