The Standard

 There are a few eateries we visit quite often. One of them happens to be The Standard, so when we went out to dinner a few nights ago, I decided that I’d cover it in my next post. Conveniently located in sector 4, it’s a stone’s throw away from the campus.

The standard is one of the more wallet friendly restaurants in Rourkela, which means that you shouldn’t expect the same ambience as Mayfair or Posh. That’s not to say that The Standard is a roadside hut – the restaurant is lined with open sofa booths that are lined with cushions. Unlike the flaming wok, it’s very easy to get in and out of the chairs and they don’t make any noise.

When we arrived, we were ferried around the restaurant twice as the waitresses couldn’t decide where to seat us. Things didn’t improve after that, but more on that later. The menu is a toss-up of continental, oriental and Indian. If you’re in the mood for Oriental, you might want to go elsewhere – there are only a handful of Oriental main course dishes and half of them are seafood.

Our order consisted of spicy noodle soup and spring rolls for the starter, followed by chicken biriyani, non veg stir fried noodles cooked in white garlic sauce and assorted vegetables cooked in lemon pepper sauce. The soup arrived quickly enough. It certainly lived up to its name of spicy but there was a distinct lack of noodles. There were hardly any in the soup. The spring rolls, however, didn’t show up until the main course arrived, leaving half our party hungry.

After a considerable wait, the spring rolls arrived with the biriyani, noodles and accompanying curry. Seeing as we had to wait this long, I was expecting the spring rolls to be very special and….they weren’t I’ve had worse but I’ve definitely had better. The noodle dish we ordered was very good. It was full of flavor and the meat was succulent. The assorted vegetables tasted neither of lemon nor of pepper. That’s not to say they didn’t taste good, they just didn’t taste like what they were supposed to taste, which was confusing.

My biggest gripe with these dishes would be the quantity. There weren’t enough noodles for two people and there was way too much curry. We ended up having to eat the curry alone as the noodles simply ran out way before the curry did.

Biriyani is a dish where you fry the meat before currying it with rice. It’s a dish that’s full of flavor. You can imagine my reaction then, when I tried some to find that it had no flavor at all. I’m not saying that it was slightly bland, it literally had zero flavor. I’m actually impressed at what they’ve achieved here. How do you fry something, then curry it and still end up with no flavor?

We decided to end the night with desert. The waiter informed us that all they had was gulab jamun and nothing else. On further questioning, he told us that they found vanilla ice cream and that they could serve us fried ice cream. Now, fried ice cream is supposed to be fried. This had a layer of fried batter placed on top, much like sauce. While it didn’t exactly match the description, it was tasty none the less.

From the awkward shuffle trying to find a table to half the starters being served alongside the main course, the service was very hit or miss. Some of the food was good, some of it didn’t live up to the expectations we had and other dishes were downright bad. If you do decide to eat at the standard, remember : what you pay for is what you get.

A Posh Affair

                                                     

Posh, located inside the Hotel Regency Inn is, as the name suggests, one of the more upscale establishments in Rourkela. Located near the railway station, right opposite Central Park (Blogpost : http://rourkelaeats.blogspot.com/2016/09/lunch-at-central-park.html), it’s approximately 7~km from the campus.

Posh was one of the very first restaurants I visited when I first came to Rourkela. Being one of the best places to eat in town, the ambience was, as expected, excellent. There is tasteful art on the walls, decorative dividers to separate the various diners seated along the walls of the restaurant and decorative soft lighting on the ceiling. The restaurant offers booths similar to diners for guests to sit in for privacy. The lighting here is provided by hanging ornaments with lightbulbs inside and instead of chairs, there are 2 sofa benches to relax after a large meal.

We were seated at a table at first, before being shifted to a booth as soon as one was available. The menu at Posh offers a wide variety of food, ranging from Russian Salad to various Indian Kebabs. They have a separate menu for Alcoholic beverages, cocktails and mocktails. My only complaint here is the lack of diversity on the desert menu – they mainly had ice cream based deserts and half of them were sold out!

We ordered a Kebab and Mango mocktail for starters, followed by Traditional fried rice and Hunan chicken for the main course. The Kebab was succulent and perfectly cooked – it wasn’t underdone, the meat was completely white through and through and it wasn’t burnt to the point where it was a lump of charcoal either. Every bite was a pleasant explosion of flavor, the meat complementing the tangy taste of the various spices used. The Mango mocktail was flavourful and refreshing. I would like to say that Posh serves good mocktails but a member of our party ordered a blue lagoon, which was promptly labelled as trash after drinking it so I’m going to reserve judgement here – some drinks are done very well and others are borderline undrinkable.

The main course arrived shortly after. There was nothing special about the fried rice it was good but nothing memorable about it. The curry, on the other hand, was very special indeed. Hunan chicken is julienne chicken prepared in a savory and sweet sauce along with vegetables. The curry was one of the best curries I’ve had in Rourkela – it was that good. There was plenty of chicken, the gravy was delicious and it was full of vegetables and bell peppers. I would definitely visit Posh again, solely for this dish, it was that good.

As I mentioned earlier, Desert was a slight disappointment. Compared to the rest of the menu, the desert section is sorely lacking in options. I ordered an ice cream sandwich (a favourite of mine) only to be told that they didn’t have it in stock, nor did they have any fruit salad left. In the end, we split a Tutti Fruity – another ice cream based desert that has strawberry and vanilla ice cream over tinned fruit, topped off with strawberry sauce and a wafer. The waitress mentioned that they were out of fresh fruit but the tinned fruit stood out like a sore thumb in an otherwise brilliant meal.

The service provided was impeccable. Our order was taken promptly and the food was served in an acceptable amount of time. Unlike my other experiences, there was no food spillage on the table or on me. In terms of service, I would rate Posh very highly.  

Unlike the Central Park, which has taken a sharp dive in quality as of late, Posh still shines as bright as it did when I first went there over a year ago. A combination of classy ambience, divine food and sublime service make Posh the place to go if you’re looking for a night out. Just remember to curb your expectations when it comes to desert.

Holiday blog post!

NB: The following post is about a location outside of Rourkela.

The first I’d heard about Burger Hut was a few months ago, when I was on the phone with my Mom. We were catching up on the day to day details of life when she casually dropped “Oh by the way, a new burger shop has opened up near our house”. Cue stunned silence.

One of the benefits of living in Cochin, the commercial center of Kerala is that there’s no shortage of eateries. Whether you want artisan pastries and tarts or dozens of different kinds of dosas, we have it all! But they all have the same problem : distance. It doesn’t matter if you have the finest steak in the world, if I have to endure a torturous journey to get to your restaurant, odds are that I’m not going to bother. That’s why, when I heard about a burger joint near my house, I almost cried of happiness. In retrospect, it’s a good thing I no longer live in Kerala. The presence of a fast food restaurant near my house would not bode well for my already shit health.

The first thing that struck me when I walked into the Burger Hut was how small it was. There were 4 small tables in a 2x2 grid, for a total seating capacity of 8 people. They had seats outside, but when your restaurant is located right beside a bus route, you tend to avoid eating outside. As a result, if you’re going with a large group of people, you may want to get a take-out

Something else that appealed to me was the prices. The burgers start at ₹39 for the cheapest burger and go all the way to ₹135 for their most expensive burgers. They even have free home delivery. At this price, you can’t really complain too much about quantity but when I got home to check the burgers I had bought for my brother and sister, I found that they weren’t small or miniature in the least! They were proper full sized burgers!

I didn’t have a full burger for myself – I took the healthy route for the first time in ages and ordered a chicken salad. It was lush and succulent with plenty of lettuce, onion and pieces of shredded chicken. One thing I would change, though, is the dressing. The salad was drenched in a strong dressing that overpowered my palate to the point where I would hold a forkful of food over the plate to get rid of as much dressing as I could before eating.

As for the burgers themselves : I took a bite out of my brothers and a bite out of my sisters to see what was what. They weren’t the best burgers I’ve had (nor did I expect them to be) but again, at this price point, there’s not much to complain about. The only complaint I had was the patty. They grilled the hell out of the patty to the point where it was tough and chewy. The burgers would have been so much better if they hadn’t overcooked them so much.

As for desert, on the menu they have an Oreo shake and what I assume to be a brownie with ice cream (the menu calls this ebony lava) however I didn’t have time to order desert so I shall update this paragraph if and when I go back for a desert. One final thing to mention is the staff : they were all very friendly and engaged in conversation with all the customers present when I was there. It did take them a little bit of time to make my order, but seeing as I’d ordered a small feast for everyone back at home, I can’t really blame them.

To slowly wrap things up, Burger Hut is where I’d expect a new restaurant to be right now. It’s got good food and friendly staff and it’s got potential but it’s not quite there just yet. A few changes here and there and maybe a bigger outlet at some point down the road and Burger Hut will be one of the eateries you have to visit if you come down to Cochin!

Ingesta - A rooftop experience

One of the many reasons I like rooftop restaurants is the view. The only thing better than amazing food is amazing food with a great view! So naturally, when I heard about Ingesta – Rourkelas own rooftop restaurant, I had to check it out.

Located on top of J.P Heights hotel in the Civil Township area of Rourkela, Ingesta offers a wide variety of food ranging from Burritos and chicken wings to various Hong Kong noodles. On arriving, I was slightly disappointed to find that, while it is technically a rooftop restaurant, it has walls and a ceiling – it is completely isolated from the outside, thereby losing the charm that a rooftop restaurant possesses.

Undeterred, I sat down and looked at the menu. As I mentioned previously, Ingesta offers a wide range of food which I am yet to see anywhere else in Rourkela. I decided to start with the chicken wings, curious to see how they would be prepared, followed by a chicken curry and noodles for the main course along with chicken alfredo pasta. I was slightly miffed at the miniscule size of the wings, but the number of wings provided made up for their size. They were prepared quite similarly to the chicken lollipops I get on campus, albeit the marinade was a few shades darker.

Moving on to the main course, the noodles were average – there was nothing to complain about but there was nothing that stood out either. What surprised me, however was the chicken curry I ordered. I found little chunks of tinned desert fruit in the gravy! This was slightly off-putting as the fruit itself smelled like it was going off, giving a funny taste to the curry. Thankfully, I didn’t get sick.

The pasta was delicious. There was more than enough meat, the pasta was properly cooked and the sauce was nice and thick, unlike other plates of alfredo I’ve had in Rourkela. Something that I usually find with alfredo here is that it is either too watered down and diluted or the cheese overpowers the palate. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case here. The pasta was definitely the highlight of my meal

Onto the desert section : or lack, thereof. As I was about to order desert, I was informed by the lone waitress that they didn’t have any available. One thing I haven’t mentioned yet is the service. Despite there only being a single waitress on duty when I went, I never felt that I was being neglected. The food was served properly, there was no spillage and the plates were cleared almost immediately after I had finished eating.               

I’m slightly conflicted on my closing thoughts : on one hand, the wings were nice and the pasta was probably the best I’ve had in Rourkela. On the other hand, I feel slightly robbed of the “rooftop experience” and the location of Ingesta doesn’t help. If you’re planning on going to Ingesta, be prepared to shell out a fair sum on transportation as Ingesta is located in the Civil Township area. That makes it difficult to recommend Ingesta unless you’re already in the area, looking for a bite to eat. While it’s certainly not the best eatery in Rourkela, Ingesta is definitely worth checking out if you’re willing to stomach the transportation costs and the funny curry.

Lunch at The Central Park

For those of you who don't live in Rourkela, The Central Park boutique hotel (referred to as CP from now on) is one of the best hotels in town. The ambiance is nice and sophisticated, the multi cuisine food is succulent and full of flavour, and the staff is very friendly. 

It was a friends birthday today so, naturally, we decided to go to CP to celebrate.

I usually order from the continental menu when I go to CP because they are one of the finest continental restaurants in town, but today was the last day of some Asian cuisine festival they were hosting so our entire group ordered various Asian dishes.

As we sat down, everything seemed fine. The conversation was flowing and everyone was having a good time. The waiters on duty provided us with a fried entrée along with a platter of sauces to eat while we made up our mind. Being the idiot I am, I took too much of the chilli paste and felt a searing pain in my mouth. Probably an omen of what was to come.

As a part of the Asian cuisine fest, CP had Sushi on the menu. Ever since I was small, I have loved Sushi. The obvious choice, then, was Sushi for the starter! I was confident that this being CP, the Sushi would be good. I couldn’t have been more wrong. If you haven’t had Sushi before, the rice used is a sticky kind of rice that keeps the Sushi roll together. The CP chef substituted this with what I think was curd rice. Yes, you read that right, curd rice.

 

After an abominable starter, I was looking forward to the main course. We ordered a Thai garlic chicken dish along with Lo Mein noodles. When the food arrived, I was surprised by two things : the abysmally small quantity of noodles and the general indifference of the staff. They didn’t serve unless prompted before hand and they were very sloppy. By the end of the meal, I had rice, curry, ice cream and chocolate syrup on my pants – all of which was spilt on me by the waiters.

The desert was interesting, but not because of the food. We ordered a sticky mango desert and a green tea cheesecake. Despite being called a cheesecake, it felt more like ice cream. It was frozen solid. The real entertainment, however, came from the sticky mango. It was so disgusting that we passed it around the entire table to see if anyone could stomach a bite and out of more than 10 people, only one or two people could hold it down. We decided to get a banoffee pie to try and salvage the meal as we’ve had it before and it’s delicious.

Again, I couldn’t have been more wrong. The pie they served was not the pie I remember. It was, like the cheesecake, frozen solid. Fed up, one of my friends ordered a waterchestnut cake. This thing wasn’t even a cake by definition, it was waterchestnut suspended in jelly. It too was passed around the table before being abandoned.

I’m actually saddened by how today went, in terms of food. The outing itself was great and memories were made, but I can’t help but feel a little sad at the dismal service and food that we had today. CP charges a premium for the ambiance, service and quality of food – all of which was lacking today. Earlier, I would have easily recommended anyone go there for a good time. Now, I’m not so sure.

So tell me in the comments below : what restaurant did you go to before the quality went down the drain?

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! As a self proclaimed foodie, I tend to go out and eat at a bunch of restaurants. So join me on my journey as I discover and experience different restaurants and try various cuisines!