Hotel Radisson, Kharadi

In the inhospitable locality of Kharadi, the newly completed Hotel Radisson stands as a haven if you are looking for a nice meal. Its two restaurants, the coffee shop Carmine and the Great Kabab Factory, offer the only two fine dining options in the area.

Since the Great Kabab Factory is not open for weekday lunch, we reserved a table at Carmine for their lunch buffet. At Rs.250/- a head including taxes, the buffet is reasonably priced and definitely a good option. With high ceiling and tall windows, the coffee shop situated on the ground floor, has a pleasant and open ambience. The buffet does not overwhelm you with many options and is quite appropriate for a weekday office lunch. The luncheon crowd consists of office execs from the nearby IT parks.

Coming to the buffet menu, there were the usual two soup options - the egg and chicken clear soup was decent enough. There were 4-5 salad preparations available, the apple and chicken mayo salad being the best of the lot. The main course was well thought of with a mix of cuisines and without being very heavy on the stomach. The chicken dhaniyawalla was very well prepared and tasted awesome with warm rotis, the tofu dish was palatable (I have never been too fond of tofu), rice and dal makhani good as usual and jacket potatoes with bacon and . They have two live counters - a noodles counter and a pasta one. Both the noodles and pasta perparations that we tried were very tasty with the right mix of sauces, meat and vegetables.

The dessert counter was quite creative with the cinnamon fruit cobbler winning the prize. The chocolate brownies with chocolate sauce and a sprinkling of chocolate shavings was also irresistible. Besides this, other choices included a pineapple pastry, chocolate mousse and rabdi as the Indian dessert.

Carmine is definitely worth visiting if you are in Kharadi and looking for lunch options in the neighbourhood. Radisson hotel's other restaurant, the Great Kabab Factory, is open only for dinner and weekend lunch and at Rs.900/- a head, is quite expensive. Still, these places are a welcome addition to Kharadi's culinary landscape and hopefully a sign of things to come.