Okay so here goes my first post :)
I promise my next post would not be as long as this one. Pls be patient and read this lengthy post as there is a lot to write about this experience of mine.
I promise my next post would not be as long as this one. Pls be patient and read this lengthy post as there is a lot to write about this experience of mine.
For long we have been wanting to go to this restaurant called NAUTANKI GALI by Ohris Group. But we have kept it for a day when we were in a mood to enjoy ourselves not minding our budget because the buffet at Nautanki Gali is priced at Rs.300 excluding taxes whereas other decent buffets are offered for well within Rs.250
AMBIENCE:
I have heard from some of my friends that this restaurant's ambience is designed very differently and that kids quite enjoyed it. Like most of its restaurants, Ohris went with a theme for this restaurant too (may be they believe that both food and ambience should be crowd pullers) and the theme for this restaurant being a typical street of an Indian town or village with some quirkiness.
As you enter you will find Rajasthani folk singers performing and a kat puthli show (Traditional Puppet show). Quirky pictures and witty lines(with weird spellings) on the walls, a portrait of Anarkali as ladies washroom signboard, movie posters, around dozen framed portraits of some characteristic rural Indian faces and buckets turned into waiting seats welcome you.
Inside the restaurant you will find tables set up in different stalls which are typical on an Indian small town street like the ladies tailors, photo studio, chai wala, shop selling steel utensils. The craze seems to be to find a place inside an Auto rickshaw turned into a table. There are tables made from sewing machines, tyres etc. We all are familiar of a big old tree in the centre of the village where the older men gather and discuss village politics, read newspapers etc. At Nautanki Gali the starters are lined up under such tree, a realistic looking indoor artificial tree.
One thing that catches your attention as you enter the restaurant is the huge partition made up of a large number of tea glasses, goli soda bottles and cycle wheels.
The attention paid to detail in keeping up the restaurant's theme is amazing. Nautanki Times - a newspaper that adds wit to current issues in the news becomes your table mat. The coasters, menu cards and bill box all designed according to the theme
Overall the ambience is inviting and interesting. You would have fun eating here if you are with a group of friends or family. Having said that this place is not for claustrophobic people and people who would like to eat their meal in serene, peaceful environment. The crowd adds to the already loud interiors and might make you feel irritated if you are not in the best of your moods. It would have been nice if they had planned it in a bigger space that would have made it look a bit more interesting. For now it lies on the edge of being chaotic.
None the less it is a lively place and must be visited to have some fun.
FOOD:
Unfortunately, as I had no idea of starting this blog when we went there, I do not have pictures of the food. But the food tasted excellent and there was a huge spread of dishes on offer for the buffet. There were many choices for the starters. The menu of that day was:
Chicken Shorba, Veg hot and sour soup, Tandoori Chicken, Apollo fish, Chicken dimsums, Veg dimsums, Cheese balls, Mustard chicken, Medu wada, Some paneer stuffed kebabs (Don’t remember some names, Excuse), Hariyali Kebab. And in main course there were Naans and pulkas with a chicken curry and mutton rogan gosh. I did not see what was offered in veg. Next time I will make sure that I give all the information. And then there was veg pizza, noodles, Chicken Biryani, steamed rice, curd rice, Semiya Rice and some traditional sweets. There were two types each of veg and non-veg salads.In desserts there were different types of fruits, fruit cake, 3 flavours of ice cream, Raj Bhog, chocolate fountain. Also there was a chat stall and 3 different types of mock tails(there was Chaass)
You would not find so many items for any other buffet and may be that’s why the price of Rs.300. But our bill for one person was Rs. 388. That implies 30% taxes. Really 30% ???? Don’t think we pay so much tax at other restaurants. My other contention is that when we are paying so much could not they afford to have boneless chicken instead of two chicken items as starters.
SERVICE:
Service was not that great. There were no soup spoons and dessert spoons on the buffet table and they were not provided on the dining table also. We had to search for the waiter and request for it. Another thing that annoyed me was, when we went to get our desserts helping, the waiter had put the bill on our table without even asking us. I understand that there are many people outside waiting for tables and we are not wasting time inside either. He should have shown some basic manners and asked us whether we would like to have the bill. And after paying around Rs.400 finger bowls were not provided.
VERDICT: Though the service requires improvement, the food and the ambience are good.And it is a lively, playful, colorful place with good food. So according to me it is a MUST VISIT RESTAURANT.
If you have come till this point, thank you so much for reading patiently. Do share your opinions. One more point to be mentioned there is a huge line of people waiting outside the restaurant so make sure you book a table in advance.
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