Hotel Review - Le Meridien, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Kota Kinabalu is not a large town though it has a reasonable flow of tourists mainly for water sports or to trek Mt. Kinabalu. It has the largest airport in Malaysian Borneo and that's the reason why many tourists stop here.

The Le Meridien here seems to be an old property. The decore was a little outdated and it could do with a little upliftment. Having said that, it stands good on most other parameters.

While checking in we were informed that the double bed room which we had booked was not available and we will be given 2 single beds. I was on my anniversary with my wife, and there was no chance of accepting this. So they offered to change our room later at night which was done promptly.
The hotel is not extravagantly large, but has facilities like swimming pool, a fitness center and a spa.
They also have a couple of restaurants, Circle- their coffee shop where breakfast is also served and Flames - the steak restaurant. Both are located on the ground floor.
They also have a bar by the pool on the 2nd floor.

 The view from the room was pretty poor as we could see the by lanes of this small town. The room in itself was not bad, it was spacious and had a table to write on apart from the bed, which was quite comfortable. The bathroom had a tub apart from the shower and a mini bar was in the room itself apart from a kettle and ironing table.
I woke up in the middle of the night to sounds of some machine and a constant clatter after every 10-15 minutes or so.
I stepped outside the room to check the source of the sound, and looked in the bathroom as well, the sound was coming from within the room itself but i couldn't figure out from where.

After spoiling half an hour of my sleep i realised, it was the air conditioning which was so noisy, it was startling.

The breakfast has a decent spread including bakery products, oriental and a little indian cuisine too. They had a counter for fresh juices and choice of eggs too. Taste was average, but manageable.

The location is good, as it's right opposite the waterfront and in the midst of shopping, spa, and nearly a dozen restaurants/cafes. The airport is hardly a 15 minute drive from here.
A strong smell of seafood emanates once you step out of the hotel, this is attributed to the big market opposite, and it can be a turn off for many.

The staff is courteous and helpful, they got me a cab at 4 in the morning when my agent missed our pick up.
Value for money is quite good and travellers from europe/u.s might actually find it very affordable.

Overall, if the property gets a little refurbishment, it could work out well. Not a delightful stay though. Rating - 3/5

Hotel Review - Sheraton Bangalore

The Sheraton Bangalore opened it's doors to guests about 3 years ago at the prestigious Brigade Gateway complex.
One of the finest hotel chain the world over, Sheraton has a simple and elegant decor.
Nothing is too jazzy or noticeable and that is the beauty of the Hotel. The large lobby has a small cascading waterbody on one side and the reception desk at the other side. The ground floor also houses their lounge bar Durbar as well as the 24 hour coffee shop - Feast.
Other dining options include Bene - Fine dining Italian cuisine and Persian Cafe - Persian cuisine obviously.

I've already reviewed Feast, and the same cafe serves a fine and large breakfast buffet as well comprising south indian, a bit of north indian, international and deli apart from fresh fruits and juices. Live counter for eggs as well.

The check in and check out was smooth and quick, no hassles there. Key cards are required to go up to the guest rooms, which ensures privacy and security of all guests.
The infinity pool is located on the 4th floor and is open to sky and offers views of Iskcon temple.

The rooms are spacious and have all modern amenities as expected. Floor is fully carpeted and neat. Beds are comfortable and most people would be able to sleep well. The view on offer depends which side the windows are facing, but mostly some part of the city is visible.

The bathrooms are not very big, and the most irritating part was no faucet in the loo.
Many of the Sheraton's around the world also have faucets and i don't understand the concept of not having it in the bathroom, how can it possible be a hassle for anyone if the option of toilet paper is provided anyhow.
A couple of water bottles are given complementary, and rest will be chargeable.

The service is as expected from a star hotel, though we had a very short stay of 15 hrs and didn't experience much of the service.

The hotel is right next to one of the biggest mall in Bangalore and has a beautiful manmade lake right next to the premises and the world trade centre is also adjacent. The location is a big minus if one has to travel frequently to the city centre or towards whitefield/electronic city.

It's a part of SPG and starwood members would get some additional privileges maybe.
Pricing is competitive for the quality offered and i can say we had a pleasant stay.

Rating - 4/5

Food Review - Samarkhand, Infantry Road

Any north indian food lover who has been living in Bangalore for few years would know of Samarkhand. It has been around for ages, and we've been going here for several years now. Although it had been quite a while since our last visit.
We went here recently for sunday lunch, and in case you didn't know it already - don't try going here without a reservation on weekends cos they get a lot of crowd.

The decore depicts afghani, north western cuisine. Huge boards of mughal warriors adorn the walls around you, and seating is also different, bit low in height and not very comfortable.
The presentation of the menu card is very unique as the beverages menu is printed on a copper bottle, and the food menu is in the form of a newspaper with news from the northwest frontier intermitting the food listing.
The service is decent enough, waiters are attentive even though they are busy. Now coming to the main attraction - the mindblowing food

We usually always have the chandni kebab which is an amazing chicken starter, but this time we tried the baluchi boti kebab for a change. Our veg starter was the lachile subz kebab, which was minced vegetable tikki topped with fried thin vermicelli. Yes, it looked very different, but also tasted unique and was very tender.
The mutton too was soft and had lovely flavours from the marination.
The lassi is thick and heavy, so it cant be taken as a light beverage. Probably half a meal in itself.

For the main event, we ordered a corn methi palak, a rather poor idea in my opinion as the dish needs to have something extraordinary with such simple ingredients, but it didn't. Plus it had a sweetness which was not interesting for a gravy.
The murgh peshawari though was a lovely dish, the gravy tasted really nice in itself and the chicken was perfectly cooked.
Apart from the rotis, we also had a naan baluchistan, which had lots of mutton stuffing and it was yummy. Went really well with our chicken gravy.
Unfortunately we were too full to try the desserts, but i'm sure they would also be equally good.
The pricing is on the higher side, but quality of food really justifies it. If you are a non vegetarian, it is the right place for you.
Add to that the amazing consistency in quality, and i'd highly recommend Samarkhand for good afghan cuisine.

Rating is a near perfect 4.5/5

Food Review - Nagarjuna, Koramangala

Although i've visited most of the other branches of Nagarjuna, this was my first time to the Koramangala outlet.
When you go to an eatery like this, you expect the same consistent food across, but small differences do happen.

The seating is quite large and if you are going on a weekend, be prepared to wait a while before you are seated.
They don't block tables for you during rush hours.

The ambiance is ordinary, nothing special.
We ordered meals and biryani as always. We also tried a baby corn sholay kabab, chicken 65 and a nati kodi curry to go with it.
The chicken 65 was more like chicken kabab, 3 legs of roasted chicken in a plate. I have never seen this style of chicken 65 and i'm assuming they served me chicken kabab stating it was 65.
The baby corn... well the baby had grown old and died long before it was served to us. A Soggy, stale and cold starter.
We informed the waiter immediately to which he replied "In andhra food, we don't make anything fresh sir, thats why it is like this".
This one line had us all reacting differently.. mom was surprised, wife was angry, i was laughing...
Anyway, the meal and the biryani were better, all elements of the meal tasted good, but the biryani was not upto expectation as it hardly had 2 small pieces of mutton.
The nati kodi curry was a coconut based gravy with lot more bone than chicken, and not memorable at all.

Overall, we didnt really enjoy this outing at Nagarjuna as much as the previous ones, so we'll probably stick to the jayanagar or residency road branch the next time around..

Rating - 2.5/5

Food Review - Zaica, Indiranagar

Our search for north Indian cuisine in Indiranagar landed us at Zaica on a sunday afternoon. Located on the 100ft road above staples, it has sufficient seating but it's always better to come with reservation on a weekend. The decore is simple and not very eye catching.

They serve buffet as well as a la carte, though the emphasis was more on the buffet. We had a look, but didn't find it very interesting so opted to order instead.
We started off with makai motia seekh and reshmi murgh tikka. Surprisingly both looked quite similar, but taste of the starters was different. The kababs were not dry and had a juicy texture.
We had some fresh lime soda along with the starters and that was quite nice and refreshing.

For mains we tried the maheer paneer, which was triangles of paneer stuffed with green peas in a nice tomato gravy which was a bit bland, but flavorful. The dal bukhara, was black dal but not really the authentic dal makhani as it was not cooked long enough and texture was not creamy as expected.
Murgh do pyaza had soft pieces of chicken and it tasted nice because of the gravy it was made in.
We had the gravy with amritsari kulcha which was filled sufficiently and was soft and well baked, as were the tandoori rotis.

The pricing is justified for Indiranagar standards and service was quite good considering we were with a noisy baby, the staff took extra care to make sure we were comfortable.

It was not a memorable meal by any standard but the restaurant can be visited again if we happen to be in that area. Not clicked any photos also as there was no visual appeal about the food as such.
I'll rate it as 3.5/5 now. 

Movie Review - Shaadi ke side effects

The second movie by Saket Choudhary after his directorial debut 'pyaar ke side effects' tells us the story of Siddharth and Trisha which is a hilarious topsy turvy ride through the ups and downs of a marital relationship. 

Siddharth is a struggling music composer who is stuck with making jingles for now, and Trisha is also a working woman. 

Their life is smooth thanks to a simple funda which Sid follows- "If I make a mistake, I say sorry. And if she makes a mistake, ....... I say sorry". By virtue of this formula, they can be labelled a happily married couple. 

Enter the side effect of shaadi, an unplanned baby.

Sid's life now goes for a toss as he grapples with understanding the baby's emotion and those of his own wife while balancing between work and family life.

The relationship between him and his wife suddenly takes on a different proposition and Sid finds himself a little left out of things.

Through a series of funny sequences we soon see his friends are avoiding him, he is sleeping on the couch in the hall and discussing children's potty colours at a birthday party.

His rating starts to go down with his wife which is further complicated by the entrance of a smart and friendly neighbour Shekhar, played by Purab Kohli who is instantly liked by Trisha. 

Desperate to make an impression he gets in touch with Trisha's brother in law, played by Ram Kapoor, who is shown to be the perfect family man.

During the 'husband guidance meeting' Ram has to leave for the airport but forgets his phone at home. Sid follows him to hand over the phone, but discovers in the process that he goes to a hotel room instead of the airport. He is naturally surprised when confronted by Sid, but unveils the secret of a happily married life- he spends 3-4 days a month at a hotel so that he can be himself. Eat what he wants, drink what he wants and just relax without the nagging of his wife.

Sid loves this formula and follows in his footsteps. He soon finds himself relaxed and more loved by his wife, and life seems perfect. 

The first half of the movie has some awesome moments like when Sid tries to be involved in Trisha's pregnancy by guiding her with the help of a manual and eventually spending a couple of days with a water baloon tied to his tummy to feel like her. 

Since Sid is not at home most of the time, they eventually end up getting a maid (Ila Arun) to help Trisha with her household work, and paying a hefty amount as salary to her. As a result Sid has to save on his hotel bills and looks for the cheaper option instead, he shares a room in a P.G.

His roommate happens to be Vir Das, who is a junkie and a struggler and their encounters bring out some funny moments too. 

Though Vir Das's role is limited, it has its own importance in the movie as the man who helps Sid get into his second coming.

As the second half trudges on, we find out that Ram Kapoor is involved in an affair and a disgusted Sid decides to confess to Trisha about his alternate life. From this point on the movie enters into a laborious 20 mins or so where finally everything sets right and they get back to being themselves.

This is a problem all too common with Indian movies, where the first half is wonderful and the second half becomes a real drag maybe because the directors and writers havent thought the script through to the end completely. Also, these movies need some ruthless editing and taking off 15-20 mins 

The movie is fun for most part and has some very good comic moments. Also Vidya and Farhan both play their parts to the hilt and in particular Farhan is brilliant in the movie as he gets into and out of trouble, and i can't think of an actor who could have played the role better. The supporting cast such as Ram Kapoor, Vir Das, Ila Arun also excel in their roles. The music is good too. Apart from the dramatic ending, the movie does well and tackles the subject in a humorous manner. 

We need to understand that it's not a movie to draw any lessons from, but mere entertainment.

Rating - 4/5

  

Food Review - High Lounge Bar, WTC Brigade Gateway

Touted as the highest lounge bar in Bangalore- High Lounge at the 31st floor of the WTC building is chic and slick, but does it make the cut?

The entrance from the ground floor of the WTC is large and manned by guards who will tell you that stags are not allowed inside, so all you boys better call and check before coming here.
Also, if reservations are not made, they don't offer you a table, but you can stand by the bar counter.



Once you get to the 31st floor via the glass lift, you pass through a designer neon lit passage with wood design on one side and get to the main door. Upon entering you will see that the place is divided into two zones, one up front is the bar counter and further inside you have an open seating area with a helipad on top.
The lounge bar is covered by glass on two sides and offers marvelous views of Bangalore city and the nearby Iskcon temple.



This wall in the open section is covered by creepers and vines and looks very picturesque, also the seating is varied and interestingly laid out.

We stood by the bar and were promised to be given a table later. Sadly even after an hour we weren't given the table even though most of them were unoccupied. Guess they were just acting a bit pricey, being a new place.

The staff at the bar were quick and efficient, tossing up cocktails and drinks in a jiffy. We had a few drinks mainly sticking to the basics, and were asked to pay immediately before moving about. Drinks are expensive obviously but pricing is not out of the roof.

To go with our drinks we tried a veg spring roll which was nice and crisp and the filling was also good. They serve oriental cuisine, but we were getting tired having stood for an hour and half and didn't stick around for food.


The crowd surprisingly was rather uninteresting. Most of the guests were in their mid 30s and 40s, and the young hep crowd was missing even on a saturday night. Part of the reason might be the pricing, and also we were out before 9.30, so maybe post that it gets more loud and happening.




We'll be back for sure to experience more of the food and service, and if nothing else just for the view which is the best part.

For now i rate is as 3.5/5