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).

Photo by ThaisWellnessCentre

Yesterday I found myself really yearning for a foot massage. And I then happened to find myself in the Ambience mall in Gurgaon. Well, it just so happens that there is a foot spa (whatever that is) in Ambience mall – Aroma Thai Foot Spa. Off I went to check out the place. First thing first – I am not sure why they call themselves a foot spa. They offer the full range of body massages as well other than the foot massages and reflexology treatments. Anyway, as I said, I was in the mood for a foot massage – so that’s what I asked for.

The bad first

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.

photo credit: Swaminathan

Over two years ago, I had written about an early learning center by the name of Intellitots - back then, I had good things to say about it. Back then, they had a nice little facility (which I had visited), and a very unique little program for parents and children. A lot of time has passed since then and Gurgaon now has a huge number of day cares, play schools, pre-schools, etc. A lot has also happened at Intellitots since then, and all of it looks very good.

Intellitots now caters to a much larger age group of children. They have programs from 6 months up to 13 years – covering parent child programs, preschool programs, music, art and drama clubs, speech, hands on learning, and fun camps. Recently, they have also moved to a newer, bigger, and better facility in DLF Phase IV with a lot of open and green area. The classrooms are air conditioned (which I prefer if it was for my kid).

The child to teacher ratio at Intellitots is 7:1 (that’s 1 teacher for every 7 children) – that sounds great to me (Intellitots claims that it’s the best in Gurgaon). They have live music in classrooms, specially trained staff for activities such as musical drama, story telling, baby yoga, and phonics instruction. They even allow parents to volunteer for conducting such activities, and to interact with teachers and watch assemblies.

According to Pooja Goyal (director at Intellitots):

Learning happens when there is an emotionally safe climate and a rich, stimulating environment. That is exactly what Intellitots attempts to provide through our trained educators and a playful, engaging environment conducive to learning.

One of my friends visited the facilities at Intellitots and she also had very good things to say about them. If there is anything wrong with Intellitots is that their courses are always filling out very quickly, so one needs to inquire well in advance when trying to enroll your kids with them.

Another good thing I like about them is the TotShop. The content for some of these are actually created by Intellitots themselves. My daughter (18 months) loves to listen to the audio track of the CD that is on sale on that link (Down in the Jungle).

Finally, I will leave with a quote from one of the parents whose child used to go to Intellitots:

July 2010 my husband and I brought a very disturbed child to intellitots….  He was afraid of the word “school’ because of a negative experience at another school…. By the end of the academic year, he was a confident and happy child. He danced with joy and spoke beautifully on his graduation day. He has now moved to a big school. Everyday when I see him coming home happy and excited, I thank Intellitots for the foundation they gave my son!

Anyone looking for a good learning place should definitely give Intellitots a try.

As usual, we went straight to Max (we like Max hospital). And at the OPD registration desk, we asked for an appointment with whoever was available in the ophthalmology department. I was in a lot of pain, and the person behind the desk could see that. I was holding a cloth on my eye. He asked me to wait a bit, and then within a few minutes told me that no doctor is available in this department.

I was shocked. For a multi-specialty hospital to not have an eye specialist available during normal working hours was something I couldn’t imagine. It was around 11 am when we visited Max. But this is not even the beginning of what was wrong with this picture.

Anyway, since I had to get some attention very quickly, we got out of that place and went to the Eye-Q Super Specialty clinic near galleria market. One thing I have to say – those guys took one look at me, and got me to jump the line to immediately see the doctor.

The doctor confirmed the corneal abrasion and bandaged my eye, and so on. Overall it was a decent experience there. A couple of days later my eye had healed, but I continued to have a blurry vision, so I wanted to visit a doctor again.

I went to Max again (on Tuesday), this time because the doctor who had been recommended to me works out of Max. Her name is Dr. Poonam Sharma, and I came back with a good impression of her. Well after my checkup, she asked me to come back and see her on Saturday.

Here’s my conversation with her from that point:

Me: “but, doctor, you don’t sit here on Saturdays”

Doctor: “no, Saturday is one of the busier OPD days; I am always here on Saturdays”

Me: “but, you were not here last Saturday”

Doctor: “I was here. I was looking at patients all day”

Me: “but, doctor, I was told at the OPD registration desk last Saturday at 11 am that no one from ophthalmology is available to look at me”

Doctor: “…. “

She was speechless. She asked me to fill out the feedback form. I have to admit, I didn’t. I was in a hurry to get back home.

However, I find it unbelievable that Max hospital denied me medical care,  by lying to me (knowingly or unknowingly) about the availability of a doctor – especially given that I was a in a lot of pain.

But it happened.

I am VERY disappointed in Max Hospital.

So, I was really happy to see that there are online businesses that let you shop for fruits and veggies from the comfort of your computer. And so far, I have tried two of them, and I will talk a little bit about both.

Disclaimer: both these services will be charging you more than the market rate of the goods you buy. I think that is natural. The pros are that you can order late at night, or from your office – it’s one task off your list of to-do’s.

The first and my recommendation from the two choices:

Farm2Kitchen (www.farm2kitchen.com) has a decently designed website and carries a very decent selection of fruits and vegetables. While on their website they say that they deliver to a limited number of places (and my location was not one of them), when I placed the order, it arrived the next day (they also offer same day delivery under certain conditions).

Another thing that they offer, which is a good idea is “Automatic Orders” – it’s like buying fruits and vegetables through a subscription service – you basically get a pre-defined bouquet of goods every week at a designated time. This way you don’t have to remember to order your most commonly used things.

Pros: the following is what I liked about Farm2Kitchen:

• Quality – the fruits that were delivered were of an excellent quality. Better than what we normally get from the local market.
• On Time – I received the goods I purchased on their site the very next day.

Cons: the following is what is not the best about them:

• Price – they are priced higher than the market and also their competitor.
• Progress updates – I wish they were giving better updates on my order. For instance, I would have liked to be called before the order left for my house the next day (what if I wasn’t home).

All in all, I still like them better, and will repeat with them.

The second service looks to be a more established player in this area, but doesn’t get my vote:

MandiFresh (mandifresh.co.in) is also a nicely designed website, and offers a comparatively larger variety of things that you can buy. I placed an order on this website as well, and the same fruits that I ordered on Farm2Kitchen.

Their stuff is priced lower on average from Farm2Kitchen – however, when they arrived with my order, it was sent back. The chikoos were all squished. The best part about it all is that the guy never came back with the order, and I wasn’t called by them – no apology note, or anything.

To top it all off, I received an SMS saying “your order has been delivered” – or something similar.

Pros: here’s what I like:

• Price – closer to market price, but looks like it represents the quality – or maybe it was a one-off chance with them.
• Better established – they have a lot of good things on their site which makes me think that they have a better handle on things – just need to improve quality.

Cons: what I don’t like:

• Quality – when I shop online, I expect that I will receive good quality since I am not physically present to inspect the purchase. They really need to improve this.
• Customer service – like I said, no one got back to me about the non-delivery/non-acceptance of that order.

For me at least, I am not ordering from them unless I am desperate.

If you try either of these services, or have tried them in the past, please do leave a note here on how you liked or disliked them. Thanks.

This is where Juassa comes in.

Juassa is located in the brand new shopping complex at the corner of the road to South City 2 (next to Fortune hotel; in front of Vipul Greens). For me, it’s a convenient 10 minute walk (gives me an excuse to walk as well).

The salon itself is great. Large area, doesn’t look crowded (bigger than most of the salons I have been to). Well lit, clean, and shiny (it’s new). The chairs were comfortable.

The guy who cut my hair was competent (I was happy with my hair cut). I was offered bottled water the moment I sat down to get my hair cut.

The hair cut was Rs. 200 (for men), which I think is very reasonable. I went on a weekday, and there wasn’t any waiting, but I am told (by my wife) that weekends can be crowded.

About the only thing that I didn’t like was that before starting, the guy who was cutting my hair got my hair shampooed. It turns out that the shampoo was charged extra (Rs. 100) – now if it was a charge, then I should have been given an option to say no. The way he simply asked one of his helpers to shampoo my hair made me think that it’s part of their process (in fact, that’s how I am used to it – this is what the other salons I have been to do).

Anyway, I will definitely be a regular there – since it is so conveniently close to home. No parking hassles. No driving hassle.

BTW: they have a full menu of services for the ladies.

Here’s a list of some places that I have been to personally – this list is a small subset of birding places around NCR. I have also included some photos that I took at these spots.

Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary

This is the most well known birding spot in NCR. Within 30 minutes of driving distance from most places in Gurgaon, it is also one of the most convenient to get to. Infrastructure wise also, it is one of the best developed birding spots. There is a hotel/restaurant by the name of The Rosy Pelican right next to it. The flip side is that because it is so close and well known, this place is also sort of a picnic spot. You can be sure of huge crowds during the winter months and over weekends. As one can imagine, that makes it not a bird watchers paradise.

But all is not lost. Most of the picnic folks come after 9:00 am. And the sanctuary opens at around 6:00 am. That’s when you should visit. There are several resident species in Sultanpur, but the place is best known for it’s winter visitors. Anytime between October and March is a good time to visit. Here is a shot taken at Sultanpur:

Okhla Bird Sanctuary

This is a place which is also a great place for bird watching and does attract a lot of migratory birds during the winter season. There is a large water reservoir here due to the Yamuna river barrage, and a nice motor-able road that goes around this area. This place is more of a bird-watcher’s spot and not many people got there for picnics. That makes it great. From Gurgaon, in the early morning it is about 45 minutes of drive (since you won’t meet any traffic).

The only flaw with this location is that you have to get lucky with it sometimes, since there are times when you won’t find too many birds here. There is a not a lot of resident population either. Here are a couple of shots taken at this location:

Basai Wetlands

This place no one knows about – other than the birders. It is within 10 minutes of Sultanur Bird Sanctuary, and is on a narrow road leading into the fields. However, during the winter season, you can find the most amazing migratory populations here. The whole of wetland has been created through water getting stalled in these fields and attracting thousands of migratory birds. Since the place is pretty remote, with almost no people movement in the area (only farmers going back and forth), it is an ideal spot for the birds.

This is a must visit during winters and is one of the only places nearby where there is a good chance of catching the resident Sarus Cranes (you might mistake them for people working the fields from far away). Here is a shot of Sarus that was taken a few weeks ago at Basai:

Bhindawas

This place is a little bit of a drive. It would take you almost an hour and a half from Gurgaon. The place is further on from where Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary is (so, it is possible to go to Bhindawas in the morning, and visit Sultanpur at Sunset on the way back). This place was a revelation (We only went there last weekend for the first time). It is a huge lake with a 15 km track around it. It is not at all crowded (we met about 5-10 people on the road across ALL of the 15 km). I would rate it the best destination for bird watching around NCR.

Also on in the vicinity are areas called Matanhali and Khaparwas – both of these place are very promising wetlands – with Khaparwas being absolutely beautiful. Here’s a quick list of species that we saw within the four hours that we were there: long-tailed and bay-backed shrikes, brahminy starling, indian robin, blue throat, black-shouldered kite, booted warbler, black-breasted baya weaver, sindh sparrow, greater coucal, common redshank, white-breasted waterhen, marsh harrier, peafowl, ashy prinia, pied bushchat, pied myna, pied kingfisher, white-breasted kingfisher, red-vented bulbul, purple heron, grey heron, pond heron, night heron, eurasian eagle owl, common honey buzzard, shikra, egrets, darters, cormorants, ruddy-breasted crake, ruddy shell duck, comb duck ,pintailed duck, purple swamp hen, brown-headed gull, common coot, common moorhen, mallard, grey-leg and bar-headed geese, jungle babbler, spot-billed duck, northern shovelers, sarus crane, common hoopoe, common stonechat, red-backed dove, black-winged stilt, and the list goes on.

If you counted, that’s over 50 species. Not bad at all for a half-a-day of birding. Highly recommended. Here is a shot I took at this place:

Other places

There are other areas that are worth visiting as well – most doable within a day trip:

• Dadri Wetlands
• Delhi Zoo
• KG Wetlands
• Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary

And many others. One good source is the Delhi Birds Group. Try and contact someone there and find the best places to go to at a given point in time. If you would like to know any information about the places I have been to, please feel free to leave a comment or drop an email. Enjoy your bird watching.

But, let me clarify a bit more.

Location: This place is located in MGF Mega City Mall (you know, where Spencer is). Easy to get to, and plenty of parking space since this is not a super busy mall.

Facilities: Nice modern, well decorated place. Good shower room; clean; good flowing hot water.

Therapist: I was attended by someone named Naro. She spoke good English, was attentive, did good work on the muscles, and put me right to sleep when she got working on my head.

Services: although I went in for some Swedish massage, they offer a number of beauty treatments too.

Experience: Okay, with the basics out of the way, let me quickly talk about my visit. When I got there, it looked like a popular place (not crowded) but there were plenty of clients already there, and enough traffic on a weekday to make me believe that they already have a lot of loyal customers.

Anyway, my total wait time before being moved to a room was less than 5 minutes. This is where the experience started going bad for a while. After I had disrobed, and put on a bath robe, I was asked by the therapist to wait for 5 minutes – I said okay. And I kept waiting for almost 15 minutes, and was just about to start putting my clothes back on and getting out of there, when in she walked, with a smile, and an apology, and a plate full of Christmas cake.

Apparently, just as I had got in, the staff was about to get together to cut a Christmas cake, and hence the wait. Well, the cake was delicious, and so I quickly forgot my wait time.

One thing I want to point out is that I was asked if I wanted water many times – right in the beginning, after the cake, post treatment (along with various options of tea). It is very important that you have plenty of water when getting a massage (and specially before a massage), and I have been to a number of places where they don’t even ask you for water.

The only other bad thing for me was that he bathing robe that was provided in the room looked to be previously worn (I am not saying it was, but it looked as if it was).

Go ahead and ask for Naro when you are there because she did very well while attending to me.

Click here for a list of Spas in Gurgaon.

The Early Learning Center is a UK based company which sells toys for young children. Their toys are designed to develop and enhance various skills that are vital for children at different ages (motor skills, hand eye coordination, problem solving, imagination, reading, social skills, etc.). These toys are also grouped by age-groups, so you are sure to get the right toy for your child.

The ELC store in Gurgaon is located in Ambience Mall, on the same floor as MotherCare – a couple of shops apart from MotherCare (the ELC chain of stores is owned by MotherCare). Its a decent sized store as toy stores go in Gurgaon, and so you are sure to find something for your child. We have been there a few times and have always come back with a purchase (its great for buying gifts too).

As I mentioned, these toys are great for developing various skill of your child. They are very attractive as you can see. I took the photos from the ELC UK website, but these are the actual toys we bought for our baby daughter from Ambi mall.

You can click on each photo to read description of that toy on the ELC website, and there are customer reviews there as well from people who have used them. Our daughter loves the toys, and spends a lot of time with them. The construction quality of the toys is pretty good, and the company claims to test them thoroughly before they are put in the market.

As is often the case of imported stuff, it is on the expensive side. There is a decent sized markup on the toys sold in the Gurgaon store from the prices on the UK website, however, IMO these toys are so nicely designed that we don’t have a problem in paying the price. So, the worth of the toys is a very subjective decision, though by no yardstick are these cheap. Additionally, I would expect that a store such as this should have knowledgeable sales staff, people who actually know about children and their needs. That is not the case, so if you are looking for advice on these toys, you won’t find people in the store very knowledgeable.

Bottomline: great toys which are on the expensive side. If you are looking for toys which you can be sure are safe for your kids, and fun too, the ELC store is one of the best bets in town.