Veggie Nook: Methi

Methi at MG road, started two years ago is a relatively new restaurant and finds its clientele for its pure vegetarian fare from amongst the dominantly vegetarian residents around the Paradise area. The restaurant can seat around 90 diners and the ambience with its well-spaced tables and chairs lends a relaxing environment.
From 7 to 11 am Methi offers buffet breakfast consisting of 15 items priced at Rs 79. The restaurant then runs from 11 am to 11 pm offering lunch, evening snacks and dinner at the appropriate times.

Though a la carte is provided, the restaurant is known more for its Thaali with its unlimited offer of food; the Bhojanam priced at Rs 95 and the Rajabhojanam at Rs 125. The Rajabhojnam consist of 19 items in all. It serves dal, dry and gravy curries, rasam, sambar, curd, dahi wada, sweet and fruit custard. Most of the fare is made of commonly available vegetables and has a taste of home cooked food. Care is taken of the quality of food served. An example is the sweet served. It is not the usual ambiguous sweet served with thaalis but one which is prepared with care.A very strong South Indian flavor underlines all the dishes on offer in the thaali.

Apart from the thaali, Methi also serves the a la carte. The a la carte offerings aren’t as uniformly appealing as the ones in the thaali. The lemon coriander soup prepared in a corn flour base with thinly shredded cabbage and carrots with a dash of ginger has a unique taste lent to it due to the addition of lemon grass. All soups are priced at Rs 70.
Amongst the starters the generally tasty Paneer Majestic disappoints you with its very oily and soggy paneer sticks. Baby Corn Adraki, one of the specialties of the restaurant has a thick base but tastes more like mixed vegetable curry. Methi Paneer Malai on the other hand is rather scrumptious. It consists of the fenugreek and the spinach leaves paste and has one inch paneer squares. This has a slightly pungent taste to it with a hint of mustard— a very unique preparation.
The rotis are priced between Rs 20 to 35. The stuffed kulchas again are quite thick and not thin or soft as they should be. The mildly spiced vegetable biryani again is good in taste. Some summer special mocktails on offer have amongst them a Banana Smoothie with its vanilla extract, yogurt, honey and ice. This priced at Rs 70 is quite nice and thick.
Home delivery for a minimum order of Rs 250 and within a radius of 3 km with a discount of 10% is offered. The fare comes to Rs 500 for two people. A small cellar parking space is available.
Pluses: The Rajabhojanam
Minuses: Lot of oil used in food
Food: 3/5; Ambience: 3.5/5
Located beside KFC, MG Road

Veggie Nook: Pizza World

A hunt for a pizza in the vicinity of Malkajgiri will yield none. In this scenario, Pizza World comes as a boon for the one with a penchant for fast food—specifically pizzas. You don’t mind that the outlet doesn’t have a proper dining space. Some chairs are strewn around casually. The place also has four tables. Pizza World is planned more as an eat-on-the- move outlet. This outlet which deals with pure vegetarian pizzas also sells ice creams and sweet corn. But the main offer in the menu is the Pizzas. Pizza World caters to the primarily vegetarian and middle class families in the residential areas in and around Malkajgiri and offers pizzas at very reasonable rates.
Pizza World started barely a year ago offers around 15 varieties of pizzas priced between Rs 55 for a Plain Cheese pizza to Rs. 90 for a Creamy Cheese pizza. A pizza quality is decided by the softness of the base and the 7” pizza bases offered here don’t disappoint you. The cheeses used here are a mix of Process Cheese and Cheddar cheese. What’s also unique here is that the vegetables are found under the cheese layer unlike the conventional way of vegetables used as topping alone. The tomatoes, onion and capsicum are layered on the pizza base upon which the cheese is spread. On top of this are used other toppings like corn, jalapenos, olives etc. The vegetables cooked under the cheese layers find a unique taste to them.
The Creamy Cheese pizza contains cheese, onions, capsicum, white pepper, tomatoes, olives and white sauce. The layers of cheese and the abundant white sauce used in the preparation smother the spices used within.
For people with a taste for a mildly spiced pizza, the Italian Veggie priced at Rs. 80 is the one. It contains cheese, onions, capsicum and topped with Italian herbs like thyme, basil and oregano. The herbs added lend just the right pungency to the pizza.
The alliance of Continental and Indian yields to you the Desi Masala Pizza. Priced at Rs. 85, it contains cheese, capsicum, onion and Indian spices. This pizza has a tantalizing sprinkling of some unusual and innovative combination of spices: carom seed (ajwain) powder which is added to take care of digestion, the inevitable turmeric, and powder of red chilies, coriander seeds and pulses. This very unique combination makes the preparation extremely yummy and is recommended as a must-try in Pizza World. It’s not spicy and can be had by the kids too.
The USP is the customer service that one finds in the outlet. This is proved in the faithful set of customers who return repeatedly and are willing to wait out despite a delay in service. Small things like giving water packets free to every customer adds to that special touch.
Pizza World is open from 3 pm to 10 pm. During summer vacation, the plan is to open earlier to cater to the ice-cream gorging kids on vacation. Parking space is available in front of the outlet.
Pluses: Customer friendly
Minuses: Time taken to serve
Food: 3.5/5; Ambience: Not Applicable
Located near gas company, at Anandbagh cross roads, Malkajgiri.