April 2015 - Barbeque Nation @ Pune, India

We visited my parents who have shifted to Pune as their building in Mumbai goes into redevelopment. Pune is a nice place ans with the expressway from Mumbai - it is a 3 hour drive from Mumbai.
We had a good 5 days there and decided to visit Barbeque Nation. We had heard a lot about this new food joint that everyone fondly talked about. So, yes this was part of our India visit and we were glad to visit this place twice in 5 days. In simple words - its a dining experience with a live grill on your table.

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We went to the Barbeque Nation that is located at Amanora Mall the first time and then the night before leaving back for Mumbai, we visited the one located at Kalyani Nagar.
The table has a huge square hole where the charcoal BBQ is set up. The wait staff is very friendly and they know the stuff. You do not need to ask for mineral water as that is only thing served there along with an array of other drinks.
The appetizers or the starters or the BBQ stuff is what you should enjoy at Barbeque Nation. They do have a buffet, but then its just like any other place.

We sat down and the waiter got the charcoal BBQ and set it up. Since my mother is vegetarian she was given a special green colored plate so that everyone knew thats the vegetarian in the group. And then the appetizers came pouring. There was fish, shrimps, chicken on skewers and for the vegetarian option there was paneer, corn, pineapples and mushroom on skewers. These are generally 90% cooked and then put on the BBQ to get fully cooked along with a nice char.

image sourced from Barbeque Nation website

image sourced from Tripadvisor

image sourced from Tripadvisor

They provide with a flag which helps the wait staff to know when to stop getting the appetizers and when we are ready for the main course or desserts. This flag reminded me me of the Brazilian Steak Houses back in the US where the food keep coming as long as the token is kept green and stops when it is turned to red.

image sourced from Tripadvisor

Along with the skewers on the grill there are other things that keep coming to your table like the mutton seekh kebab, chicken tandoori, cajun potatoes. They even got those cute potato smileys for Lil Miss A.

The buffet is just like any other restaurant with an array of veg and non-veg dishes and biryanis. You can order the Rotis and they get it fresh off the griddle or the oven to your table.

The desserts are fun with a number brownies, cakes, gulab jamun, kesar phirni and ofcorse the famous kulfi station. You can get a kulfi of the flavors mentioned in the menu and top it with various toppings. We had the paan kulfi with gulkand and the mango kulfi with rabdi

image sourced from TripAdvisor

We visited this place two times in 5 days - and that sums it up all.

March 2015 - Gajalee @ Andheri MIDC, Mumbai, India

In March 2015 we took a much awaited trip to our motherland India. I call it much awaited as it was a trip to India after 7 long years and Lil Miss A was visiting the country and its people for the very first time.
It was a short 3 week trip of which Mr. A was working from his India office for the first week. But, as always it was a wonderful time we had with family and friends and ofcrose good food.
Gajalee and Mahesh Lunch Home are a seafood lovers must visit place if you have one in the place you are visiting. The food is just lip smacking and finger licking good.
Mr. A and I had been to both of these places when we were dating back in B school. This was a visit with friends after almost a decade.
We met Mr. A's college buddy N and his wife S and then headed to Gajalee.
We knew the bombil fry was to be had. S became the person to order as she knew the menu. So, we ordered the fish kebabs, kombdi (chicken) wade (special puri), teesre (clams) masala, amboli (lentil crepes) and ofcorse the solkadi.

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Well - Lil Miss A liked the bombil fry. But, we found it a little bland. Especially since my Mother-in-law had made the most amazing bombil fry every other day as she knows I love that stuff. The bombil fry here seemed to be dipped in batter and deep fried.
Overall the other things that we savored were satisfying to the tastebuds and we would have it no other way.
The ambiance of the restaurant is simple and nothing fancy - but, food is what matters right?

If you happen to be a seafood lover who is visiting Mumbai. Do make a trip to this awesome seafood restaurant.

We look forward to our next Mumbai India trip to savor the yummy food here.