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?