1400 hours, 3rd April 2015, Friday, Marol MIDC:
Hopes soaring, dreams abrim in expectant eyes
Hands clasped in hers, the journey itself awesome
Slowly reaching the land of wondrous delights
Beckoned warmly, the Sun City's Blossoms.
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The Prelude:
Blossoms is the restaurant of a three star hotel named Sun City, located in MIDC, Marol Andheri. It had its humble beginnings in one Mr Shantaram Shetty who started with a small restaurant in 2004, which over the years has grown into this magnificent property.
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The Event:
Sonam and I decided to take a break from the humdrum life, zeroed upon this restaurant as it serves lunch buffet only on Wednesdays and Fridays, and found ourselves occupying a corner seat in this location this afternoon.
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The Frills:
Nice soothing settings. Brightly lit and spacious. The buffet counter laid down at one end of the hall. A bar counter on another. Rows of cushy chairs and tables. Men in black hovering around. Personalized attention absolutely evident.
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The Philosophy:
I get to meet the heir apparent, Sanil Shetty, all of 29 years. Sanil, armed with a Hotel Management degree from Rizvi Bandra, joined this hotel in 2007 and is now involved in every aspect of the business. "In the hospitality industry, people are the most important resource. We take great pains in employing the right kind of people. People who are our kitchen staff have been with us ever since the restaurant was established. We are sitting amidst hot competition, Saffron Spice, China Gate, Tunga group and many others. We are here to make a difference with our quality of food".
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The Food: Spoiler Alert, this is going to be a heavy photo bombing exercise.
The Soup: Cream of Spinach for the Vegetarian-for-the-day wifey, Chicken meatball soup for moi. The former was ravishingly natural green in color, absolutely creamy and non spicy, the latter its diametric opposite - a clear soup, loads of chicken cubes, slight garnishing of coriander and red chilli - a ready prescription for common cold. Both were top notch as they come, and the opening was celebratory.
The Mocktail: Mango Punch it was, the presentation being as delightful as the fare itself. Thick mango milk served in champagne glasses with a stream of strawberry jelly running artistically halfway around it. My mind launched into an attempt of aerobics and calisthenics at the mere sight of this.
The Salads: Fresh Garden green salad, Chicken Hawaiian Salad, Potato chaat, Boiled egg lettuce salad, plain curds and Pineapple raita. Didn't get an opportunity to taste any of them, the better half could be seen enjoying the potato chaat (What's with the women and chaat, I wonder... but maybe that's another story).
The Tangy Delight: We were served pani puri on the table. The presentation was exemplary and unique, two stuffed puris perched atop shots - glasses. There was the tangy jaljeera filled in these glasses, and you had to simply pour it into the puris, and you were done. Nothing messy, nothing wasted and nothing gawky about it.
The Starters: The list goes as follows:a) Veg sheekh kabab, Paneer Hakka style, Corn Cheese Tikki, Tandoori Mushroom, Schezwan Veg Sesame Toast.
b) Chicken Achari kabab. Chicken sheekh kabab, Three pepper chicken, Fish fingers and Fish in Oyster sauce.
We were also offered some novelties like straight-out-of-Minority-Report Crispy Paneer - crunchy fried noodles holding cooked and lightly marinaded soft paneer cubes within. Superb presentation.
And then the fillet of seer fish was brought to us - well marinaded with a coat of salty tangy fiery masala, rightly shallow fried, well charred and served on a plantain leaf. Utter care was taken to see that we were served the choicest of slab with nary a bone within. This was a sheer gourmet delight and easily the best event of the day.
The Coolers: As if on cue, along with the fish was served a glassful of tangy, ice cold, fetchingly pink solkadi. This coconutty concoction was a perfect antithesis to the fiery marina and we could've guzzled up dozenfuls of this alone.
The Mains: This was an equally impressive line up as follows:
a) Paneer Makhani, Butter Dal Fry, Chinese Greens in Light Soya sauce
b) Murg Mussallam, Fish in Ginger Sauce
c) Veg Hakka noodles, Steam Rice, Mutton BiryaniThe heart was in its right place, the stomach wasn't. We abstained.
The Desserts: The premiumness reflected in this area as well. You had honeyed noodles, fruit salad, cut fruits and kheer, and a couple of heavily colored pastries. Or at least that's what I feared. And if that had been the case, I would've been irked to no end.Instead, here I was lavished upon with:Rasgulla (baked), Ras malai (with pistachio nuts floating on it), Gulab jamun (with rich mawa content), Gajjar halwa (garnished with nuts here as well), chocolate brownie (soft, a tad dry), Caramel custard, cut fruits and Strawberry and Tooty Frooty ice creams (having it after ages).
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The Epilogue:
Food and the Shettys have always made a perfect twosome. Like the Alpha and Omega, the sambar loving anna and his plateful of food form a perfect pairing. In the hands of a true blue Shetty, fiery flavors and masterfully spun masalas translate into luxuriously textured dishes. A true lineage will always thrive in even the worst of settings. With advantages like age, gumption, zeal and intelligence galore, the principals are only going to reach further dizzying heights.
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The Ratings, they go like this:
The Food Quotient: Food Quality: 4 / 5, Food Choices 4 / 5, Food Portions ---, Food Presentation 4.5 / 5
The Other Determinants: Location 3.5 / 5, Cleanliness 4 / 5, Warmth 4 / 5
The Hygiene Factors: Ambiance 3.5 / 5, Space Quotient 3 / 5, Delivery Time ---
The Conclusives: Food Price 4 / 5, Honesty 5 / 5, Overall Experience 4.5 / 5, Will I visit again 5 / 5
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PS: Bouquets / Brickbats can be addressed to sanjaynpunjabi@gmail.com or added here.
You may also visit my blogsite wwwsanjaynpunjabi.blogspot.com for a better representation.
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