Buffet @ Mainland China, G.K.-II

The first time when I visited Mainland China G.K.-II, I was very much impressed by their food (to read about it have a look at this blog entry). And I had a glimpse of what they offer for their daily lunch buffet - which is served on second floor. So, today I again headed toward Mainland China, this time to taste their lunch buffet.

And it was wonderful – simply wonderful. They have huge variety for the buffet, so such a reasonable price. If their a-la-carte menu is genuinely Chinese, their buffet is one of the best Indian-style Chinese to get in Delhi. To start with, they offer dimsums – I tried both veg and non-veg ones. Plus they had four starters – 3 veg and one non-veg; I was able to taste only two of them (since I had to save myself for various main course dishes) – Chicken Drumsticks Hunan Style and Crispy Veg. They had 5-6 types of salads on offer. And I forgot to mention that they had soups on offer as well – one veg and one non-veg. Their main course continued the more-than-enough trend set by starters and salads. They had five main course veg dishes and five non-veg ones plus rice and noddles both in veg and non-veg variants. My last visit to their place was totally a vegetarian one, this time I stuck with non-veg variety only. The non-veg main course dishes had nearly everything to try – chicken, lamb, prawns and crab. I tried Prawns In Spicy Chilli Sauce, Crabs in Butter Garlic Sauce and General Tao’s Favorite Chicken. And they were all delicious. Having stuffed all this in my stomach along with beer, my next target was wonderful dessert and fruits section. They had 5-6 desserts ranging from ice cream to mousse and fresh fruits.

Really, it was a very rich buffet in terms of variety of Chinese dishes plus the quality of food as well. And all this for 375 (+taxes) bucks per person only. Mainland China is slowly becoming one of my favorite places for Chinese. Next time, I am going to go for dimsum treat only.

Contact info:
Mainland China,
Plot No. 4, Local Shopping Centre,
Masjid Moth, Greater Kailash - II,
New Delhi - 110048
Tel : (011) 40535525 / 26
Email : mlcdel@airtelbroadband.in

The Host, Connaught Place, New Delhi

The Host is one of the worst restaurants I have ever eaten in plus it is costly. It is a very old restaurant in the busy Connaught Place area. From its interior, staff and food it looks like they have frozen in time. The service is pathetic as well.


Their menu consists of Indian & Chinese cuisine. But they are bad at both - even roadside vendors can cook better food than these guys. Surely waste of money to go there - I have done it once. I went there just because I was exhausted while roaming around in C.P. and wanted to eat something. And my bad luck was such that I was standing in front of this restaurant when my stomach ached for food. And so it happened - and I am now writing here.


Do not go there. Walk a few steps and go for TGI Friday's in the same block.

Pearls Regency, Noida

Pearls Regency is situated in Ganga Shopping Complex, Sector 29, Noida. It is a place very hit with office crowd in the afternoons and with families in the evening. It has three portions - a Chinese restaurant, a bar and an Indian restaurant. In the evening there is a live ghazal program in the Indian restaurant, where you can ask for your choices. The ambience is okay but the food is cheap, good and quantities are big.

Best is to stick with Indian cuisine here. Try Murgh Sheekh Kebabs or Murgh Tikka for non-veg starters. If you are into vegetarian stuff only then go for Tandoori Bharwan Aloo. In main course, go for Paneer Tak-A-Tak Masala, Plain Dal or Malai Kofta in vegetarian. In non-veg stuff, go for Murgh Makhan Wala (Butter Chicken) or Rogan Wala Gosht. Accompany it with Pineapple Raita.
Wonderful stuff - good typical Indian food in reasonable prices. Liquor is also not too costly here. Do make sure that you do not order more than you can eat - they have good servings. Also ask for company discount - you would usually get 15-20 percent discount. They have home delivery options as well which is quite reliable. They offer 10 percent discount on home delivery as well.

Contact Info:-
Pearls Regency
R-253,
Block 1, Ganga Shopping Complex,
Sector 29
Noida - 201301
Phone: (0120) 2450061, 2450062, 2450063
Free Delivery Timings: 12:00 Noon to 3:15 PM and 7:00 PM to 11:15 PM

Tea Shop, Sector 37, Noida

Tea Shop in Sector 37, near the telephone exchange is one of those hidden places which become popular only through word-to-word publicity. It is a nice little shop run by Capt. (Retd.) Mehra and his wife. It is quite popular among young crowd - who come out to chill, chat and smoke there.

The place has sitting arrangements in front of the shop. It offers great variety of tea and coffee plus grilled/plain sandwiches and other eatables like cookies, momos, corn etc... It is wonderful place - one which I have visited numerous times and still visit a lot. Order any hot/cold drink from their menu and it would be fantastic. All the sandwiches are also wonderful specially the traditional onion-capsicum grilled and the latest chicken-salami one. There is also a sweet shop nearby, offering wonderful samosas.

If you are in Noida, then it is a place to visit and relax in your car while having wonderful tea/coffee along with hot eatables.

Pind Balluchi, Noida

Yes, the famous Pind Balluchi restaurant is now open in Noida as well. It is situated on the top floor of the Unitech's Great India Place in Sector 38A (in front of Sector 18). Since the Lajpat Nagar's Pind Balluchi is now closed due to sealing done by government, this is the closest Pind Balluchi for Noida people.

The ambience is surely not as good as the original one in Lajpat Nagar but the food is still the same. Classic punjabi food and pretty cheap - to read more about what good there, have a look at http://gluttonous-me.blogspot.com/2008/01/pind-balluchi-lajpat-nagar.html

Flavors Of Italy, New Delhi

This trattoria run by Italian chef Tarsillo Nataloni is a true Italian restaurant in New Delhi. What makes it wonderful is that it is as authentic as you can get to Italian cuisine in India. The restaurant has indoor seating (smoking as well as non-smoking areas) plus there is an outdoor verandah along a small green area. It is filled with wrought iron tables and gives you the feeling of road-side restaurant settings so famous in Italy. The menu includes a broad selection on Italian dishes along with wonderful pizzas. They have everything - Anitpasti, Salads, Soups, Panini, Pizza, Pasta, Risotti and much more. The pizzas are made in the wood-oven as well.

Do try their "Peri Peri Pizza" - it is wonderful and something which you will not get anywhere else in Delhi. All the pastas are worth ordering, specially the one in Napoli sauce. They also have the option for whole wheat pasta and pizza base for weight watchers.

One thing which I dislike a lot about the place is that their service is very poor. The staff takes a lot of time to even come to your table to ask for order and then takes a lot of time delivering it. Overall there is surely a need for the staff to get their service level up a lot. Worth a place visiting in spite of this. Also, the place gets a lot crowded in the evening, so make sure that you reach early. Meal for two would cost somewhere around 1000 bucks.

Contact Details:
Flavors Of Italy
49-54 C, Moolchand Flyover Park,
Rind Road,
Defence Colony
New Delhi - 110024
Phone : 24645644, 41550367

Berco's, Noida

Berco's in sector 12, Noida is one of the oldest restaurants in the city. It is a oriental cuisine restaurant, specializing in Chinese. Its Chinese cuisine may not be the authentic one but still it is worth a visit (a maybe more). If you are working nearby, then it is a really good place for a lunch. The place actually gets very much crowded for lunch - so start early (12:30 types) if you want your orders to be quickly served. Also, it is a good joint for having reasonably priced liquor - they have happy hours during the day (till 7 or 8 in the evening). I have been to this place many times because it is pretty close to my office.

On to food, as I said most of it is chinjabi food. But it is still very good - and surely looks great with good liquor/beer. In veg starters, you can try Crispy Corn Pepper, Spring Rolls and Crispy Chilli Potatoes. In non-veg starters, you can go for Juicy Chicken Drumsticks, Chilli Garlic Crispy Chicken and Chicken Kunchao. In veg main course, try Vegetable Holy Basil, Three Treasure Vegetables Hunan Style or Classic Thai Red/Green Curry. In non veg main course, one can go for Holy Basil Chicken, Mongolian Chicken or Chicken Peking Delight. They have some pre-defined meal combos as well containing salad, rice/noodles along with main dish in sauce of choice - which is worth the money.

Average cost per person is around 200 bucks (no drinks). If you go for combo meal, it would be much cheaper (only around 150 per person).

Contact Details:-
Berco's
R-1 Barat Ghar Complex
Sector-12
Noida
U.P.- 201301
Phone : (120)2545376 / 277
Mobile : 9350583325

They have other branches in NCR as well:

CONNAUGHT PLACE
G-43/3, Middle Circle, Connaught Place,
New Delhi-110001
Phone : 41513541 / 42
Mobile: 9350536583

JANAKPURI
R-2, DDA Building
Janak Palace District Centre
Janakpuri
Phone : 25532777 / 999
Mobile : 9350536712

KAMLA NAGAR
38-UA, Jawahar Nagar Bungalow Road
Kamla Nagar
Delhi-110007
Phone : 23854660 / 23856988 / 32905525
Mobile : 9350583279

PREET VIHAR
A-Block Market, LSC No.6,
New Delhi-110092
Phone no-65486551/64683651
Mobile no.9899795568

PITAMPURA
Pankaj Arcade Plot No 18, Road No. 44,
Rani Bagh Commercial Complex
Pitampura
Delhi-110034
Phone : 27011527 & 37
Mobile : 9350584711

VAISHALI
Ansal Plaza Opposite Dabur Factory
Vaishali
Ghaziabad U.P.
Phone : 95120-3261363 & 65
Mobile : 9350585044

GURGAON
S-01, Central Plaza Sector 53,
DLF Phase-5
Gurgaon Haryana
Phone: (0124)4143001-003
Mobile : 9911675299