SANJAY
PUNJABI
Facing East
JVPD Scheme, 13th Road, Near Juhu Gymkhana, Juhu, Mumbai. Phone No 022 2625 1125 / 1199
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2030, 14th June 2014, Saturday:
Ad hoc outing. It was a toss up between Hotel Peninsula Grand and this place. Ultimately, the nearness factor won out.
Reached here after a few minutes drive. Dimly lit place, no glass facades, all concrete. A wooden half door to push open. Oriental artefacts hung on the wall. And so were some age old plates from China. A lady in black at the reception. Taking down your registration. Guiding us to the nearby table, while you can see from a glass window, patrons inside in the AC section.
"We are full there", we were told. "We shall wait", we told them. Which led them to do some magic bit, and within moments we were escorted inside. Thank you.
We liked the two long red chosticks laid down for each patron. We were brought a bowl of khimchis and were treated with three types of sauces - sichuan, chilli and black.
The verdict:
Nopes. While the food might be good, this place is a falls way too short in terms of expectations - ambiance, service and price. During this visit of mine I was desperately hunting for one good reason why this place should be preferred over 5 Spice. And I regret that I couldn't find any.
Management of this hotel: My apologies for this downside review. I do want to visist you people again, you have to tell me why I should.
The ratings, they go like this:
The Food Quotient : Food Quality 4 / 5, Food Variety 3.5 / 5, Food Choices 4 / 5, Food Portion 4 / 5
The Other Determinants : Location 3 / 5, Cleanliness 3 / 5, Service 2.5 / 5
The Hygiene Factors : Ambiance 3 / 5, Space quotient 2.5 / 5, Delivery time 2 / 5
The Conclusives : Food Price 2.5 / 5, Honesty 2 / 5, Overall Experience 2.5 / 5, Will I Visit again 2 / 5
We decided to skip the soups. Called for Chilli Basil Chicken (INR 285), Ginger Veg Fried Rice (INR 245) and Garlic Chicken in Red Sauce (INR 345).
And waited. And waited. And waited.
It took them an enormously long period of time (about 30 minutes no less) and a couple of reminders before we got our food.
But then finally, the food did arrive.
The appetiser - the Chilli Basil Chicken was a huge platter of chicken, chicken and chicken. Soft, succulent pieces, cooked in a tangy and spicy thick sauce, loaded with green chillies and capsicum and basil leaves. Heavenly every bite.
The Ginger fried rice was again generous in quantity. Minced scallion, the green separated from the white, diced carrot, cabbage, ginger and garlic. And the result was drool worthy.
The Garlic chicken in red sauce was another story altogether. Though the quantity, again was extremely good, the taste lacked the twang. A wee bit too sweet and a whole lot less garlicky. Boneless chicken cubes in thick red tomato sauce with burnt chilly, the pungent garlic flavour was woefully missing.
We took our time finishing the stuff, and called for the tab. It arrived in a unique ladle like wooden container. My little one was disappointed to realise that the container didnt carry anything except the bill, the customary ginger sweets or the hard boiled toffees were missing.
The bill had been added a Service Charge component of 10 %, a practice which I abhor.
