The Birdcage — Restaurant in Uttarakhand

Yes, I completely agree. Your only option is to unlock and unwind by doing things that interest you and give you the luxury of time unbounded by the ticking of your watch. It could be to read, write, play scrabble, go on hikes, indulge in spa treatments at their Potpourri Spa, try out new restaurants, visit the Starscapes Observatory for night or dawn viewing of celestial objects, or even sit around in deep contemplation reflecting on the purpose of your life. Enough reasons and more to zone out of your daily humdrum life and zoom in to nurture and nourish yourself. ||People normally come here for a couple of days or max 4. I stretched mine from 7 to 10. I was beginning to send out roots by the end of 4, happily settled as I was here. Cutting them after 10 led to a bit of a heartbreak.||It's heavenly to slip between the electrically warm covers on a chilly night at a height of 7'000 feet, even if it is in the month of April, crawling towards its third week. It envelops you in its toasty cosiness and lulls you into a blissful sleep. ||Yet again, a seasonal break in the hills as Delhi was slowly coming into the grip of its rising temperatures, which meant that an escape was imminent. And that's how I reached THE BIRDCAGE in Bhatelia, Mukteshwar, as the go to place. I have Google to thank for and the positive reviews of the resort. However, what sealed the deal was the patience and clarity that its owner, the experienced hotelier, Nishant Singh, gave to my numerous questions patiently and with clarity.||So, here we arrived on the 16th day of April in the year 2024, in time for lunch after being on the road for 8 and a half hours from Delhi.||The Birdcage, has an intimate feel, as the property is not large. Alfresco dining comes with rattan cane furniture and umbrellas. Indoor dining is split into 2. The smaller back area is either for personal get togethers and/or for cold winter days when the wood fired heater can be lit. The food here is to be raved about. Indian and Continental are on offer. The sensible option is that a solitary person can order a single portion.||There is an excellent selection of popular books of all genres. A collection of board games. And a well stocked refrigerator with personally chosen top quality wines as also beers.||6 rooms are built in a double decker fashion. Carbon copy of each other. In shades of grey. 'Apple', 'Jasmine', and 'Ivy', are on ground level with a bay window each for sunshine hours and their own little private lawn with chairs and a hammock. 2 tomato red, gaily coloured rocking chairs, occupy the outside extension from the room. ||'Peach', Cherry Blossom', and 'Plum', one level above, have a skylight each for night sky viewing. The balcony is occupied by the same rocking chairs. Privacy is maintained as each has its own separate entrance though the personal outdoor sit out, is on the ground floor.||Amenities offered are common to all. A digital locker, a mini fridge, and even an espresso maker. The softest of pillows, the comfiest of beds, making you feel contented as you lay thee down to rest.||The 'Apricot Suite makes it 7 rooms in all. Though as the name suggests it is a stand alone independent cottage. It has a wooden deck where you can vegetate with a book, if not taking in the mesmerizing views of the South Gola, snow covered, craggy mountain range.||Time travels slowly in the hills, so keep pace with it. What's the rush? Holidays are for time out. Enjoy...

Worst Birthday Brunch Ever

A great boutique stay is all about comfort, warmth and good food which might be homely but is still fabulous on the buds. Here is what the owner at Birdcage needs to realise. Sir, You have a great property and every single customer that walks in to your place is a potential future customer of yours even if they are there to have a humble meal on a birthday. I visited this place with my friends on my birthday and for that I had to wait a good two hours which we thought was ok because the place looked good and food looked better and it seemed worthwhile for a birthday brunch. We reached there only to be given the worst table and even when a better table got free we were not asked to move just on the account of hospitality. A bad table, its ok we thought. We tried to visit their indoor seating area to which the Owner argued and dint let us through. He cited Covid as the reason and we thought, That is ok the guy seems sensible and he is trying to take care of his guests. Now we are here for more than 30 minutes and apart from this very rude encounter with the owner, he dint once acknowledge our presence there. even though there were hardly 3 or 4 families there occupying the table and restaurant not being the most busiest this guy did not feel courteous enough to start a conversation with our table. Moving on to food, we ordered Ravioli (which was Tangy, The balance of the dish was completely off the charts and the size if the ravioli was like having a large dumpling), Pizza (Greasiest Pizza I have eaten in my life), Fish Fingers (which apparently had a great texture but had no seasoning at all), Pahadi Mutton Curry (Pieces of Mutton were raw and chewy) and Palak Paneer ( Have to say it was homely but then again lacked seasoning, Gosh Salt is easy guys you cant go wrong with that atleast). We had our food, unhappily ofcourse, but we did not complain and then a friend of mine ordered a plate of Salad, apparently only Onions which took ages to reach our table. This was like the nail in the coffin which made us eventually speak our thoughts out to the owner. Owner was too defensive and did not take any feedback in good stride and that I must say is the worst part about being at Bird Cage. Instead of taking the feedback, apologizing and finishing the conversation he started defending each and every piece. Mr owner let me tell you this, Not talking loudly is not the only politeness your guests expect out of you. Politeness is all about hearing your guests and impriving upon it. You cant simply say that we are boutique place and we only serve a few people everyday. Boutique place or not, you are operating a Kitchen and people walking into your kitchen are your guests and not the other ways round. you are not obliging the walk ins by by feeding them. They are paying for the experience you tend to deliver everyday. No hard feelings but the worst "Birthday Brunch" at Birdcage this year and This is not a place I would recommend anyone to stay at regardless of the beautiful...

Wonderful experience turned horrible!! We loved it when we reached birdcage, the rooms, the garden, the rocking chairs, everything was state of the art. Yes, the owner had built it with all his heart and sole. And probably that is the reason he expected guests to behave his way. But he never explained what his ways were. I could make out from his stares that he didn't like if we ordered dinner after 10 pm. So, next day I mutually decided on dinner time with his staff (and not my family!! :)). But I was OK considering they were short staffed. I was ready to pickup my breakfast plates and keep it at their counters, or ask what is available and we will order accordingly. Or we used to hold our empty stomachs till 9-9:30 am till they are comfortable serving us. But somehow I think we couldn't do our best to serve/ impress Mr Nishant and his staff, and he thought we were out of place and 'low standard', just because I ordered one extra dish for my kid for breakfast. I think the problem is they are short staffed, and they want to do a lot, but don't know how to manage breakfast, cleaning etc. Our bathroom hand towels were not changed for 3 days, even after requesting. Bathroom mat which had dead spiders on it was also not changed for 3 days. But we let it be. Didn't want to be a very demanding guest. We used to come back tired from our day long visits, and had the pressure to settle, order our sheeshas, finish them up, put kids to sleep, and rush for dinner. But we didn't mind, it happens in the mountains. We were ready to cooperate. But the 'owner' of the place was in a different mood the morning we had to checkout. He started reminding us from 8 am that checkout time is at 11, that itself I felt a bit awkward. We tried to be fully packed before breakfast time. But 1.) our kid was not ready by then. 2.) breakfast service was such usual slow that we had to wait for 20 mins for one egg dish or one tea. And then suddenly at 11, the reminder was standing right next to our breakfast table. Ultimately we had to rush back to ready our kid while their staff entered the room and packed all tiny bits that were left into a shopping bag. THIS was totally unexpected!! And yes, in those tiny bits was a wrist watch that we are not able to find in any of the bags now while unpacking. So, if u do plan to stay there, do check with the owner, if you as a guest suit him, if ur tastes match his, If your most disciplined toddlers also suit him. P. S. - don't ask for room service of food, else u will get a 'Nope' in the answer. Though I thank him for arranging Maggie for my kid for dinner once from his house. But all is in vein if they don't understand that checkout can get delayed by 10-15 mins with kids. Had they been ready to understand us here, we were all in, to cooperate here as well. All these things can be easily easily managed if u are experienced in hospitality business, or really want to serve ur guests. Otherwise, beautiful are...