If I were to state that dinner at this restaurant was one of the best eating experiences of my life, I wouldn't be lying. Apparently they do not accept reservations on weekends and so I had to wait for 45 minutes, however being a group of 4 friends, time flew while we placed our orders while waiting. And this is the first time I am experiencing a restaurant actually serving free 7 Up for its patrons waiting to be seated.
The atmosphere is brilliant. The place is dimly lit with fountains and stuffed dolls of animals all around. Its serene and lives up to its name of Rain Forest. There are speakers around which don't play music, but emit growling sounds. Indeed very well done!
We placed our orders while we were waiting so as soon as we were seated, our food was served. We had Chicken Wanton and Tom Yam soup. The former was like in any other resto, but the Tom Yam here is very different from the ones I have had at noodle house, Lotus or Bengarong. It was spicy but less thicker than most places and yummy. We went for 2 starters and they were the rock prawns and the ouiyuchi (or similar sounding) chicken. The rock prawns was DEFINITELY one of the BEST prawns I have had in my life. Its very good sized prawns in a cheesy sauce cooked to perfection. The ouyuchi chicken was chicken wings in some Manchurian cum chicken 65 kind of mix. Pretty neat.
For the main course we had Rain forest Steak, Chicken Lasagna, Chicken Shashlik and chicken stroganhoff. The Rain forest steak is some kind of chicken piece, breast piece I am guessing, that is stuffed with minced meat. Its served with buttered rice, fries and boiled vegetables. The chicken itself looked small, but I could not finish it because it was so filling and heavy. I am not a big fan of lasagna, but the other three guys were drooling over it, so I am guessing that it was good too. The shashlik and stroganhoff were also very very good. The shashlik is a about 4-5 pieces of chicken chunks grilled with vegetables and served on a bed of buttered rice, where as the stroganhoff is more like gravy and served with the same rice. The fact that the 3 dishes were dark sauces, but all of them tasted different is a strong point for the restaurant, so you don't end up eating similar tasting dishes in different forms.
We wished that we did not have that 7 Up outside, as we could have used that stomach space for something substantial. We were so full that we had no space for desserts.
Service was awesome. Half full water glasses were promptly filled and the waiters were courteous. I wish the guy taking the orders was a little more knowledgeable, when you ask him to suggest something, he keeps saying 'Everything on the menu is special'. Otherwise service is very good. The price is a shocker! When you pay Rs 160 for prawns, I really did not expect to see 9 huge prawns on the plate. Most dishes are priced between Rs 100 and Rs 200 and you get more value than what you pay for, both quality and quantity wise. Prices are honest and what you see on the menu is what it is, no service tax, VAT, luxury tax or anything, so you can pretty much calculate your final bill. Ours was Rs 1150, working out to be less than Rs 300 per head, and was probably the best value in a long long time. Worth every penny.
Revisit
Yes this time around we did have the rock prawns and the chicken lasagna again, and our new dishes were Grilled Prawns and Thangdi Kabab for starters, and Chicken Pepper Steak and Chicken Melanise for the main course. The Grilled Prawns are 6 pieces of tiger prawns with the shell partly removed, well marinated and perfectly grilled. The Thangdi kabab is the only Indian dish that we have tried at this place and going by the standards, looks like this place's Indian Cuisine should be right up there as well! It was nice big juicy pieces served with mild mint chutney and onions. As for the different main courses, the Chicken Milanese is a parmigiana like dish served with buttered rice, boiled veg and french fries. Tasted pretty neat. The pepper steak did not really taste like pepper steak, it was rather mild and it was served with buttered rice, boiled veg and a nice portion of mashed potatoes. Personally I feel when a dish is served with a generous portion of buttered rice, you could throw in fries instead of another good portion of mashed potatoes, but that's their way of serving. The dish was good and a sort of new taste to the tongue but maybe it could do with a different name. This time around when we did want to try the desserts, they did not have them! Have to wait for the next time I guess to try their desserts and the Indian cuisine there!
Food 9/10
Service 8/10
Ambiance 8/10
Price for the quantity served 9/10
Rain forest is located on 1st Main Road, GandhiNagar, in the beginning of the service lane on the side of Malar Hospitals, right next to the Indian Bank.Publish Post
The atmosphere is brilliant. The place is dimly lit with fountains and stuffed dolls of animals all around. Its serene and lives up to its name of Rain Forest. There are speakers around which don't play music, but emit growling sounds. Indeed very well done!
We placed our orders while we were waiting so as soon as we were seated, our food was served. We had Chicken Wanton and Tom Yam soup. The former was like in any other resto, but the Tom Yam here is very different from the ones I have had at noodle house, Lotus or Bengarong. It was spicy but less thicker than most places and yummy. We went for 2 starters and they were the rock prawns and the ouiyuchi (or similar sounding) chicken. The rock prawns was DEFINITELY one of the BEST prawns I have had in my life. Its very good sized prawns in a cheesy sauce cooked to perfection. The ouyuchi chicken was chicken wings in some Manchurian cum chicken 65 kind of mix. Pretty neat.
For the main course we had Rain forest Steak, Chicken Lasagna, Chicken Shashlik and chicken stroganhoff. The Rain forest steak is some kind of chicken piece, breast piece I am guessing, that is stuffed with minced meat. Its served with buttered rice, fries and boiled vegetables. The chicken itself looked small, but I could not finish it because it was so filling and heavy. I am not a big fan of lasagna, but the other three guys were drooling over it, so I am guessing that it was good too. The shashlik and stroganhoff were also very very good. The shashlik is a about 4-5 pieces of chicken chunks grilled with vegetables and served on a bed of buttered rice, where as the stroganhoff is more like gravy and served with the same rice. The fact that the 3 dishes were dark sauces, but all of them tasted different is a strong point for the restaurant, so you don't end up eating similar tasting dishes in different forms.
We wished that we did not have that 7 Up outside, as we could have used that stomach space for something substantial. We were so full that we had no space for desserts.
Service was awesome. Half full water glasses were promptly filled and the waiters were courteous. I wish the guy taking the orders was a little more knowledgeable, when you ask him to suggest something, he keeps saying 'Everything on the menu is special'. Otherwise service is very good. The price is a shocker! When you pay Rs 160 for prawns, I really did not expect to see 9 huge prawns on the plate. Most dishes are priced between Rs 100 and Rs 200 and you get more value than what you pay for, both quality and quantity wise. Prices are honest and what you see on the menu is what it is, no service tax, VAT, luxury tax or anything, so you can pretty much calculate your final bill. Ours was Rs 1150, working out to be less than Rs 300 per head, and was probably the best value in a long long time. Worth every penny.
Revisit
Yes this time around we did have the rock prawns and the chicken lasagna again, and our new dishes were Grilled Prawns and Thangdi Kabab for starters, and Chicken Pepper Steak and Chicken Melanise for the main course. The Grilled Prawns are 6 pieces of tiger prawns with the shell partly removed, well marinated and perfectly grilled. The Thangdi kabab is the only Indian dish that we have tried at this place and going by the standards, looks like this place's Indian Cuisine should be right up there as well! It was nice big juicy pieces served with mild mint chutney and onions. As for the different main courses, the Chicken Milanese is a parmigiana like dish served with buttered rice, boiled veg and french fries. Tasted pretty neat. The pepper steak did not really taste like pepper steak, it was rather mild and it was served with buttered rice, boiled veg and a nice portion of mashed potatoes. Personally I feel when a dish is served with a generous portion of buttered rice, you could throw in fries instead of another good portion of mashed potatoes, but that's their way of serving. The dish was good and a sort of new taste to the tongue but maybe it could do with a different name. This time around when we did want to try the desserts, they did not have them! Have to wait for the next time I guess to try their desserts and the Indian cuisine there!
Food 9/10
Service 8/10
Ambiance 8/10
Price for the quantity served 9/10
Rain forest is located on 1st Main Road, GandhiNagar, in the beginning of the service lane on the side of Malar Hospitals, right next to the Indian Bank.Publish Post
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