OLIVE BEACH.....

My sister is the gastronomic specialist in the family. Sometimes I think our family's love for eating out originates from her passion for trying out different cuisines and restaurants.
My sister comes and leaves home for school and college breaks all the time. But right before she leaves, we tend to do a family dinner at a nice place....its been done so often that it almost seems like a tradition.
This time it was no different, right before she packed her bags to London, we went to the famous Olive Beach in Diplomat Hotel. Now, I was going with high expectations for I had heard, read alot about the restaurant. It was pretty much the place to be for eating before Manre opened.
We ate out because it was warm and sunny ( yup...one of those winter afternoons :)).
I ordered a Bruschetta as my appetizer and a salmon dish as my main course. Imagine my disappointment when I saw my dishes arrive....OLIVE BEACH, which i had heard so often about and read about in different magazines...served the most atrocious bruschetta...their version of a bruschetta was : 2 sliced pieces of baguette with melted butter and a chunk of cheeze as a topping and the other was some vegetable that I cannot recall at this point ( Thank God for selective amnesia). My main course was more of a disappointment....my salmon wasnt made well at all. I don't know if they didnt cook it enough or if I got an old fillet...but it tasted really bad!!!!
The only saving graces of the restaurant was their dessert...thankfully the one thing they do know is how to make a good tiramisu, which just so happens to be one of my favorite desserts (along with blueberry or philadelphia cheezecake) and the fact that its somewhat affordable.

For this overhyped restaurant it would only be fair for me to give it 2 stars out of 5.

Shalom the Med Lounge...not so loungey on the pocket... my revelation in F&B industry of India

So this 24th birthday of mine, I decided I wanted a change of scenery in terms of celebration. I was willing to trade a nite of expensive drinks and over the top loud music for a more mellowed evening with friends. I decided the best place to go would be Shalom, the Med-lounge in GK-I. The restaurant definitely lives up to its name which in Hebrew means Peace. With the ambiance and music relaxing. It would be very hard for one not to sit back and take in the moments to come. My friends and I ordered a good variety of meaty dishes :)) My love for non-vegetarian dishes is quite known amongst my circle of friends. My recommendation would be the New Zealand Lamb Chops (although they put a decent size dent in your wallet). I ordered mine to be cooked medium-well done and what a good decision it was. The meat was cooked just right and I could feel its flavors in zapping in my mouth. Although spices and sauces were used, they thankfully did not overwhelm the flavor of the lamb itself :D
I think almost all of us ordered Lamb chops. Such was the impact of its taste.
We also ordered appetizers...a meat platter which included fish, chicken and mutton kebabs and two more kinds of kebab platters that I can't quite recall.
Their drinks menu seemed inexhaustive. They pretty much had it all...If you wanted to splurge on your loved ones, you had the option of purchasing a Dom Perignon or Dom Rose or if you were feeling the economic recession blues they had domestic liqour and beers to cater to your needs.

OVERALL, Shalom the Med-Lounge was a good experience and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a.) Good food b.) Exotic drinks c.) Good ambience .....Out of 5 stars, this one gets 4 stars easily. The one star is deducted for the service and the distracting tv screens ( that didnt show much).