Poolside Cafe — Restaurant in Mumbai

Poolside by VITS hotel – When you think of going to a good buffet place, there certainly are more than handful of options in the city. I usually feel they tend to focus more towards providing array of spread so that the customers can’t try anything twice (marketing strategy probably or to give VFM feeling by giving many choices) and in most cases lack on taste to large extent. Trust me you usually feel food was ok, but given that they have so many options you just “feel content” about that and go back to your home.

Was VITS’s buffet just like that? NO! It was something I unexpectedly happen to like it rather than any other places in recent times. On ambience, this buffet takes place on first floor by the pool side (as the name suggests) and it has lovely open setup which is very rare to see (see the pictures). The place however is covered from top and its very well air-cond. Overall vibe of the place is very pleasant, calming and soothing to just relax and have a good buffet with your loved ones. On service, from managers to servers, all speak one language i.e. customers satisfaction.

So in terms of spread of food, they have 2 veg and 2 non veg starters, 1 each veg and non veg soup, 7 (veg) indian delicacies, 3 chinese delicacies, 1 continental, 4 nonveg deilicacies, 6 salads and 6 desserts.

Starters: Pili mirch paneer tikka (Rating 4/5), Mix Veg Chilli (Rating 5/5), Lal Surk Murg tikka (Rating 5/5), Fish Amritsari (Rating 4/5) and chefs special Basil fish (Rating 4/5) – Overall starters were pretty spot on flavors, the freshness of dish and the perfect blend of masalas on each individual dish. Out of the lot, I really loved the murg tikka so much that I kept on eating them again and again, I think it’s the best starter out there, do check that out. Other best I felt was mix veg chilli which was basically mix veg with cheese coated in bread crumbs and dipped in chilli sauce in small glass like frame was a delight to have.

Soups: They had veg manchow soup and cream of burnt garlic chicken soup (Rating 4/5). I tried the chicken soup and it was a delight. Perfect balance of garlic and heat & the broth was done really well.

Indian: They had options like Paneer Lababdar (Rating 4/5), subz tikha dal (Rating 3/5), bhoona saag, baigan aur mirch ka salan, dal tadka (Rating 3/5), steamed rice (Rating 3/5) and peas pulao – Out of all those things I loved paneer lababdar in general as the curry was well cooked though little higher on sweet side still made well whereas the dals were pretty ok to my palate as it somehow lacked enough seasoning of taste, salt, etc.

Chinese: Korean fried rice (Rating 4/5), Chilli garlic noodles (Rating 4/5), stir fry Chinese green – Korean rice was packed with amazing flavors. Rice was cooked to perfection and it was really flavorsome, it felt more like a schezwan rice though not exactly that whereas noodles were lovely cooked and went well with the curries they had.

Nonveg: This consisted of Chicken biryani (Rating 5/5), Murgh Makhani (Rating 5/5), Punjabi fish curry, hot garlic fish – So I tried the biryani and I was pleasantly surprised by their offering. The chicken pieces were actually tandoored rather than usual boiled which added punch of flavors and the biryani was very aromatic. You should definitely try this out if available whereas the murgh makhani was yet another stellar offering from their side. Perfect curry needs balance of great texture of gravy, spiciness, sweetness, well cooked chicken and you are set. This was definitely a great quality murgh makhani I will remember from buffet.

Desserts: It had strawberry swiss roll (Rating 4/5), butter scotch mousse (Rating 5/5), Chocolate brownie pudding (Rating 4/5), Rasgulla (Rating 4/5), mix fruit barfi (Rating 3/5) and malpua (Rating 5/5) – Overall, great spread of desserts and they were not overly sweet which was perfect way to end the happy buffet. Loved each one of them.

My overall rating is 5 for great service, great ambience and ofcourse the most important part of any place i.e. food. I would certainly like visiting...

We Visited Spice Oasis restaurant at Ira by Orchid located near Mumbai International Airport. They have pool side dining. The ambience is welcoming and pleasant and just awesome with waterfall. They have both A la carte and buffet. We went for the lunch buffet. The spread was good they had Indian and plus Chinese dishes. We started our lunch with starters & soup.They were served on the table. Starters In veg they had Veg spring roll. It was tasty, crispy with stuffing of finely chopped vegetables toss in Chinese sauce. It was served piping hot on the table. Tandoori vegetable There were mushroom, broccolis, baby potatoes, baby corn marinate in spices and grill to the perfection. it was delicious. Chicken tikka It was chicken boneless pieces marinated with spice and grill to the perfection. My sisters loved we had request for repeat order. Fish Fingers It was crispy n tasty. Soups Chicken manchow soup It was thick soup with lots of shredded pieces of chicken, it was spicy, and it came along with fried noodles. Veg Lemon Coriander soup It was thin soup; it had finely chopped vegetable like carrot, broccoli. It was appetizing In main course Paneer butter masala Paneer is soft in rich tomato base gravy,it was topped with fresh cream It was mouthwatering, it tasted amazing with the naan. It was mouth watering. Aloo gobi, subzi for non paneer eaters. Tadka yellow dal

The dal was made with tomatoes and coriander it was flavorsome. In nov veg they had Hari Mirch ka Murgh Chicken in green masala cooked to perfection with right amount of spices. Kerala Fish curry Fish pieces in spicy tomato gravy In Chinese Shanghai Noodles It was ramen noodles cooked to the perfection; it was loaded with vegetable like bell pepper, carrot, cabbage and spring onion. It was delicious. Veg in chilli coriander sauce It had exotic vegetable like zucchini, baby corn. Broccoli, bell peppers in lip-smacking chilli coriander sauce. In Desserts Beetroot halwa, Strawberry ice cream, Both were...

Just last evening we were at this beautiful poolside restaurant at VITS for dinner! VITS has not really caught my attention up until now when I realised that they actually have such good buffets and a great Sunday brunch as well.

They have a Menu that changes every single day. We tried their buffet dinner priced at Rs. 1000 per person along with either one pint of beer or two mocktails.

They had a wide range of starters, soups, salads, main course and desserts serving cuisines all the way from Indian to continental to Chinese. For the starters there were three options each for veg and non veg which keep changing.

We tried the Paneer Shanghai, cheese shorts, tandoori Haryali aloo, Murgh kandhari, Chinese grilled fish and Mexican grilled chicken. For the soup they had the French onion soup and the lemon Coriander soup.

The spread of main course was humongous- daal ghost, Murgh Hyderabadi biryani, biristha pulao, daal lasooni, babycorn Mushroom mutter, subz anakali, Paneer lababdar and steamed rice. And this is just the Indian fare.

The Chinese fare had the typical noodles, fried rice and a gravy and also the Thai curry.

For the continental they offered a cheesy grilled fish, potato pepper blast, enchiladas and lyonnaise veggies!

And last but not the least - they had a good collection of both western and Indian dessert. There was Cham Cham, dudhi halwa, shahi tukda, chocolate barfi, pannacotta, white forest pastry, Chocolate walnut ball and coffee crunch tart. What more could one possibly ask for!

Their service was definitely 5 star standards. Both the manager Mr. Shahid Nasim, Chef deep Prakash and all of the servers kept checking on us and making sure that we were well taken care of. This was VIP treatment at its best. This place should...