I love New York City.

For the sense of independence it brought to me.

For the maddening pulse of Manhattan. For the crowds in Times Square.

For the one room apartments with wooden floorings and white washed walls. For the self sufficient grocery stores. For the self sufficient Starbucks. For self sufficient everything.

For the screening of independent films. For the walks in the snow, in the rain and the cold. For the summers in Central Park. For the plays, the literature, the music, the concerts and the culture.

For the cuisines and the restaurants.

For the clothes. For the stores on Fifth Avenue. For Grand Central.

For everything that the city offered and for everything that it did not.

For its character. For its spirit.

For there is but one New York City in the world.

One may love it, one may hate it. But one will never get over it. Such is the city.

Such is New York City.

Picture courtesy: A flickr page

Review- Brunch at The Oaktree

The Saturday was rather bad. Wasn’t it? I mean the air conditioning in the house was barely working and I didn’t feel the effects until I was sitting right beneath it. Did all of you guys stay locked in your respective rooms drinking lots of liquid and avoiding looking outside till the sun sets? Did you draw your curtains? Good. That is exactly what a person with common sense would have done.

However, there are some uncommon enthu cutlets like R and I who got up, bathed, and merrily went out in the sun and the heat to try out a brunch buffet at yet another place. So there we were, at The Oaktree, with the sunscreen dripping off my face and R looking for ways to convert his full pants into half. Considering the state we were in, they received us rather well asking us to choose a table of our choice in the somewhat empty restaurant. So we chose and sat. And looked around blinking and trying to adjust to the minimal lighting which was quite strange for a brunch ambience. The person serving us was very very keen on us getting pasta and salad from the bar. He suggested we do the same even after we had inspected the spread on the bar and settled with two omelets. He insisted that we first get the live pasta and live salad before we get the cold cuts and a bread basket. R had to tell him off rather sternly for him to shut his mouth and get us the assorted cold cuts and bread. The meat was rather tasteless, except for the pork salami. The bread was nice and warm. The omelets were done well and except for the extra oil on the surface.

For the main course, there was no buffet. Which we liked cos that meant that the food would be fresh and made to order. They offered grilled chicken, grilled fish and grilled tenderloins and I am sorry to say but I really did not look at the vegetarian options. So we ordered the chicken and fish both of which tasted nice but nothing extraordinary. They came with a side of spinach and mashed potatoes. The spinach had more salt than necessary and the mashed potatoes tasted like boiled potatoes served with salt and pepper. That’s not the way you mash your potatoes now, do you?

So with the main course out of our way, we headed for the desert bar. Which looked very tempting and colorful. And which proved to be a disaster. No wait. D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R. We tried everything. And not one thing we could finish. The cakes, chocolate and cheese both, were terrible. Really. Tasted stale and were not moist. The miniature donuts were, well, pretty bad. Stale again. So were the pastries, the soufflé, the custard and the parfaits. I wonder why everything was so stale. Where did they get their stuff from?

So all in all I would say, that it seems unnecessary to spend Rs.750/- on a weekend brunch at The Oaktree. I am not going back. I have no intention in chewing tasteless meat and being served stale desert in a darkish looking place with smarty-pants waiters on a summer afternoon.

But what do you think about Oaktree? Have you been there? Do have a different opinion?

Am also thinking of starting a sort of a bar to rate the restaurants I try out. How about a scale of 1-10? And I could rate them on service, food, ambience, rates and cleanliness. What do you say? We can do with some genuine reviews for restaurants here. Should I go ahead with that?

Review- Sunday Brunch at Drift

I have been way too lazy to write over the weekend but I simply must tell you about my Sunday brunch in Epicenter (Gurgaon).

Epicenter has started with the Sunday brunch recently. It begins at 10.30 and has the most awesome spread of breakfast ever complete with the usual American feast and some Indian options like Paranthas (made to order), veggie cutlets et al. The food over all is excellent, reasonably priced and the staff very polite and attentive.

However, the ONE thing that I think deserves special mention is the freshly baked black forest pastry. It’s made in house and has just the perfect amount of cream on top and just the right moist cake underneath. It goes really well with the vanilla ice cream that they serve. I had only one helping of that (a very generous one at that) and would have had at least one more if I wasn’t already bursting with the all the goodies I had stuffed myself with.

Overall, I highly recommend the place. And yes, it’s good for both vegetarians and non vegetarians. A vegetarian friend of mine (S) with whom I went today would vouch for that. Also the breakfast buffet does not need any reservations. They have ample space and you can just walk in.

And FYI- Epicenter is run by the same guys who run and manage India Habitat Center (Lodhi Road, New Delhi). On Sundays, the chef from American Diner in IHC comes over to Epicenter to cater to the breakfast buffet.  It is the restaurant, “Drift”, which hosts the buffet. Seating is right outside the restaurant.