Taj….just a name now, or is it living upto its status?

Oudhyana-Vivanta by Taj, is no doubt a place with beautiful and peaceful ambiance, and boasts the tag of “Taj” very well, but apart from that, especially this outlet is a big disappointment in the name of “Taj”, -over hyped and ofcourse  over priced given the quality of food served.

where do i begin with the few highs or the extreme lows?? well, i had such high expectations with this place as the name suggests, and i have never been disappointed by any other branch in any other city, but this particular one in lucknow has shattered all expectations of mine.

before visiting this place, i was under the usual expression of it being spectacular, so as they save the best for the last, i did so while on my short  journey to lucknow, and well went to this place at night with my date, little did i know what was in store for us, that left us completely dissatisfied.

Ambiance:
the ambiance, once you enter with enthrall you, living upto its name, this branch too is huge, with loads of open spaces, beautiful chandeliers and flower arrangement adorning the ceilings and centre piece, unique abstract art decorating the walls, soft music being played in the background, soothing yet bright ambiance, all in all. they had a coffee/drinks gallery where few seats were arranged by the glass door over looking the pool beneath, here people can sit at length, order their drinks and get involved in deep conversations as the seats are placed at fair distance , so one gets some privacy of conversation as well, but having said that, its utterly difficult to catch the waiter’s attention from here.
next to it, right in the middle of the area is an open space where one can order food either from buffet or ala-carte, though here the space is a bit congested with tables placed close to each other…

service:
i don’t know whether this is their usual stature or maybe we went on a bad day, but the service was extremely poor and disappointing and the waiters were highly ignorant and full of attitude. while we were sitting in the gallery, it took us nearly 20 minutes to catch a waiter’s attention and ask him to get us the drinks menu, it took us another 45 odd minutes to call upon another waiter and place our order…..their drinks menu for a non’alcoholic is quite meager and one is left with no choice but to order the typical drinks with a different name and over the top prices….!!!

after getting highly frustrated i was in the mood of leaving the place right then and there, but it was already a lil late for us to drive to another place and dine so we decided to stay and have our dinner, even after moving to the main dining area, it was difficult for us to catch a waiter’s attention and place our order, the waiter who served us was really rude and seemed as if he is not interested in serving us at all. though their food menu is extensive with indian, italian, continental and thai opions available so its quite a vast variety from which one can choose from…after placing our respective orders, we had o wait for and hour to get served and start our meal.

food:
for drinks, we ordered full time lover(Rs. 325), which is an amalgamation of various fruit juices and coconut milk…..the drink was presented in an ordinary glass with no presentation at all, and tasted ordinary….not worth at all….i settled for plain water, atleast they cant go wrong with that and given the limited choice of drinks, there was nothing that i felt interested in, though one thing i must comment, their wine collection is excellent, but their initial lack of service spoiled our mood and well that was just the beginning…

because we spent nearly two hours there waiting, our stomachs were growling and so we ordered:
        thyme scented grilled chicken(Rs. 700): 2 breast pieces of chicken dipped in a brown sauce with sauted vegetables, the chicken was moist, given it was a breast piece but could have been more succulent, and it was served with the skin on, which is a total turnoff for most people, the brown sauce was thick and good, added to the taste, the vegetables were raw, not par boiled and sauted at all and lacked seasoning, and well being a thyme scented chicken, there was no essence of the same…..overall an okay dish but def. not worth it….the presentation was okay.
      chicken ravioli with orange jus(Rs. 675): a complete and total failure, the worst ravioli i have ever had in my life, the pasta dough was over cooked, dry and therefore was torn apart at various places, the ravioli was thick and chewy, difficult to cut through and swallow, the chicken filling inside was okay taste wise but really dry…..and the orange jus…omg!!! what a let down, it was supposed to be sweet and citric in taste, a combo was sweet and sor cuz of the citrus nature of orange, but it was firstly really thin in consistency given that jus are supposed to be a thickened reduction just to add to the texture, but in this case the raviolis were practically floating in  the us……and it was so damn sweet that a sweet dessert wouldn’t emit that much amount of sweetness, sickingly sweet for a person like me with a sweet tooth also to digest it, ultimately had to leave the pathetic dish with seasoning of chilly flakes and oregano, over the top sweet and weird jus, and overcooked and dry pasta…!!!

after such disappointment we were afraid to order the dessert, and so finally we called for the cheque, which surprisingly came quickly….!!!
so for 1 average mocktail, 1 okayish chicken and 1 extremely pathetic ravioli, the total bill came to be Rs. 2100, which normally wouldn’t have been bad, rather fairly decent given its Ta, but with such pathetic food and service….totally unworthy and over priced!!!

would def. never ever go back to this restaurant ever, and would highly recommend people to avoid the same, as the quality has gone down to the core..!!!