From UCH to Uhhh…Alrite...this happens to be my first piece in my blog regarding a review of a restaurant, and I must admit (at the very start of this article) that it doesn't really seem to be the bestest of restaurants to start my restaurant - review writings with…
…nonetheless it seems important to share some information with the frequent visitors to Connaught place (CP), a renowned Lutyen property now a commercial business centre, in short shopping haven for Delhites, the Victorian architecture modeled after the Royal Crescent in Bath, England
In the middle circle of CP there is a queue of fine dine and wine restaurants, a Gourmet’s paradise as they say and this is where in E block nestled a heritage restaurant, United Coffee House.
It was not my first time I visited United Coffee House (UCH) but this time the memories lasted more than before, as bad memories stick better than good ones, as proven by research and studies (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20603272/). I was with M, my CEO, a veteran in Public relations and a holder of immense knowledge on almost any subject matter available around. I remember the last time I was in the same place with him and my other two colleagues; I hated the idea of having our evening snacks and drinks at this place as suggested by one of them. I had remembered when I was a fledgling in the corporate world attending to my first job in CP and accidentally had barged in from the door of UCH only to find my face covered with thick clouds of smoke, as soon as I had taken a glimpse of the seemingly drunk looking, pot bellied front table occupants, I had put off the idea of having my meal there.
Incidentally, I was here again, more or less for the same reason I was here the last time, this was the closest restaurant in the vicinity to a prospective client’s office we had been almost regularly visiting to in the last few weeks, plus who has all the time and energies to think of another option, so here we were at UCH…
As soon as we entered I was pleased to see the gentry this time, or at this hour of the day, people sitting across had casual looks, a foreigner reading her book, though a noisy place, the instrumental music they play at the backdrop seemed to have never changed since Bryan Adams days…
The classic motifs, an intriguing art form and the enormous chandelier near the bar are very typical of UCH, they again have never seemed to have changed to probably maintain or to retain the classic look of the era it belongs to…the room below kind of gives a bit of dark gloomy look…all the chairs at the ground level were occupied (oh… is this related to complacency of the staff), I was relieved, we had to talk, probably it would be quieter at the upper level, we were asked to take the narrow staircase that followed to a small room filled with more than few pairs of random tables and chairs
Apparently, M had not had anything since morning, and it was past 4 in the evening already, he had been too busy preparing for the business pitch, too earnest to have thought of having breakfast or lunch before he was sure he had delivered his hard work well in form of the presentation.
A disgruntled man (as he had a sad sullen sulking look on his face) came to us to help place our orders, he seemed in a bit of a hurry. We asked him what all was available as lunch menu, as we knew it wasn’t exactly the lunch hour. ‘Everything is available’ he snapped. A usually calm, composed M and a bit hungry would have ignored only if he would have not repeated his folly. As we ordered for a Masala Dosa for him, his simple choice as a South Indian and a steaming cup of south Indian coffee for me…(isn’t the place supposed to be living for its name…), the same UCH staff member waited to indicate – ‘is that all?’ We politely confirmed that was all. M asked how long it will take for Dosa preparations, he was told 15 – 20 minutes. After little difficulty we accepted this. Had we been to a place like Savarnah Bhawan, Sagar Ratna or even any other multi-cuisine restaurant, I wondered if they too would have taken this long. We asked him if he could in the meantime serve some plain water (and not packaged/ distilled one) before he could bring us our order, he rushed only to kept us waiting for his return. He came back only with my coffee. There were few more unpleasant instances in the same visit like not being able to offer another fresh cup (assuming it would be used by the other person and not the one who ordered it) for tea, I could have waited more for plain water, had there been no intervention by their senior staff member, more wait than usual for the cheque, overall not a tasteful experience at UCH…
Ratings from AJS:
- Food and Presentation: *
- Ambience & Decor: **
- Customer Service: *
- Value for Money: **
- Cuisines: Chinese, Indian, Mughlai, Continental, South Indian
- Facilities: AC, Both Veg & Non-Veg, Credit Card accepted
- Timings: 9 am - 11.30 pm
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