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Amidst imaginative paintings...
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With an array of Krishna Leela paintings that adorn the walls of Vrindavan, the restaurant at New Woodlands Hotel offers Western, Chinese and Indian variety...
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WHO CAN resist that name, Vrindavan? For anybody who has an inkling about Indian mythology, the name triggers a flood of associations — Krishna, Radha, Jayadeva, yadavas, gopis and that eternal love series in Geetha Govindam... the list is long.
But there is a snag. Such names are like double-edged swords that cut both ways. Automatically one's expectation goes up. We are in the divine zone here, nothing ordinary will do. Sadly at Vrindavan Restaurant (phone: 28113111), New Woodlands Hotel, Dr. Radhakrishna Salai, attempts to create the essence of the original ends with Krishna leela paintings and menus with Amar Chitra Katha like pictures. Not only that the food never touches the sublime, but also barely makes it to the average mark.
Despite the very ethnic name and ambience, the menu has a few Western dishes and a smattering of Chinese fare. Our choices from the videshi section were crepe mushroom (Rs.70), cottage cheese steak (Rs.75) and salad bar fare (Rs.80). The crepes were okay, though one could not escape the strong floury aftertaste of the pancakes. The price too seemed steep for two stuffed crepes. The choices at the salad bar were unimaginative. The vegetables were cabbage, carrot, beans, cucumber and potato and fruits, pineapple and sweet lime; surely the selection can be improved. Among the dressings, what went as the Thousand Island one was plain tomato sauce.
The cottage cheese steak turned out to be a paneer patty with a few veges in it, held together with besan. The tragedy was that the patty was too thick for the besan to be cooked with frying alone and so one could get the raw taste of the flour. The piercing acidity of the tomato-based sauce dumped on top of the patty didn't improve the situation either.
One turned to the tried and tested desi fare for solace. Here too, the beginning wasn't very auspicious. Paneer hariyali tikki (Rs.72) was tough and dry. Tadka dal (Rs.50), Kashmiri pulao (Rs.70), Bhindi do piazza (Rs.50) and Gobi mutter kaju (Rs.60) were average. The rotis, missi and tadoori were nice. What was most impressive that afternoon was the pomegranate juice. The price, Rs.65, was equally impressive, but the juice came without ice, water or sugar.
The desserts were Crepe suchards (Rs.65) and Gajar halwa (Rs.30). The first was ice cream stuffed crepe packet topped with chocolate sauce. It was quite nice, except for the floury aftertaste of the crępes mentioned earlier. The carrot halwa was just average.
MARIEN MATHEW
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
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Thiruvananthapuram
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