Barista Lavazza - Park Street

Barista Lavazza Espresso Bar, with its designed orange walls and cushioned wooden chairs gives you the perfect taste of Italian coffee. Take a pick from some of the lip smacking delicacies from menu and give a refreshing start to your day or even while taking a break in the evening. It’s a good place to hang out with friends over coffee and some snacks. You’ll surely like the coffee here, though it comes for a price, given the brand name. Also when you have to pass some time for some reason, you can just sit here for hours (if its not too crowded) and have coffee as your companion while surfing the net over your laptop or reading a storybook. Sandwiches cost around Rs. 89 and beverages in the range of Rs. 70 – 150. There is a guitar, if you want to play with your friends; also a wooden chessboard for customers to play. Barista sells chocolates, soft-toys, key-chains, coffee mugs, coffee maker, coffee beans and other coffee related accessories as well. There are two floors to accommodate tables for customers to relax, though only a few of them have comfy sofas associated with them. The meal for 2 is economical as compared to Barista Lavazza standards; it costs Rs. 351 inclusive of taxes. It consists of two sandwiches- each two slices (from a choice of chicken tikka, paneer masala, smoked chicken), two beverages (from choice of Hot coffee and brrista cold coffee) and also a dessert (choice of chocolate excess and apple pie). There is meal for 4 as well, which is around Rs. 550-600. For more information on menu and store locations (Total 11 in Kolkata), check their website http://www.barista.co.in/users/index.aspx

Machaan - Mani Square Mall

Machaan, a unit of Mainland China group, is a unique experience at Mani Square Mall @ EM Bypass. A big grey elephant and the tribal men with spears and gear piques your interest as you come inside through the main entrance- then you enter a jungle instead of a restaurant as is evident from the pictures I have uploaded alongside. The place is dark with dense jungle foliage covering most of the space. And for company you have an elephant, giraffes, crocodiles, and monkeys, parrots, squirrels, bears staring at you from tree-tops and an Anaconda! However unfortunately they have invested/wasted lot of money on interiors & its maintenance which starts irritating you after some time as you can’t even see the faces of persons sitting with you or the food that is served or the menu card properly. They serve to every table complimentary spicy papaya chutney, pudina chutney, Onion chaat, Papaad and pickels in brass utensils regardless of what food you order. The waiters are dressed in Cheetah skin color clothes and sounds of various animals / birds are played in the background to add to the jungle ambience. There is a balcony in the form of a tree house, which however has tables for 4 persons only. The waiters are attentive and change the plates, cutlery after starters, main course and also clean the tables at regular intervals. The toilets are located in forest caves and have a dungeon type entry, but the wash-basins were not clean and didn’t have proper taps. Drink pegs cost from Rs.400 to 800 inclusive of taxes. I would like you to try out the Campfire Gosht Shorba for soup, which tastes like mutton daal. In the main course you can take Hunter Chicken, Junglee masalo ka Raan (Full) (Really soft and tasty mutton), Dahi Gosht, Junglee Masale ki Murgh and Dal Machaan; alongside which you can have tandoori roti or Green healthy naan (corn & methi stuffed- its delicious). Gulab Jamoon would be nice for desserts. The quantity of the mutton/chicken dishes are more than enough for 4 persons. The food cost for two persons (without drinks) is approximately Rs. 1200- 1300 inclusive of taxes. The weekdays buffet is priced at Rs. 500 (Non-veg) and Rs. 450 (Veg) inclusive of taxes. Visit their group of restaurants for more information: http://www.speciality.co.in/

Location: 4TH Floor, Mani Square, 164/1, Maniktala Main Road, EM Bypass, Kankurgachi

Contact No.: +(91)-33-66346432
    Prices Updated Mar 2013
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