Restaurant Review | Rainforest Resto-Bar | Phoenix Market City

Since I’ve joined Zomato I’ve started nourishing my ‘wishlist’ almost daily and as a result I keep reminding myself about visiting these places ASAP. Recently I was keen to visit one of them specifically; Rainforest Resto-Bar. The more I was reading about it more curious I became to visit and finally I got my ‘ticket’ to my first ‘Jungle Safari’ in Phoenix Market City, Pune. How did it go? Hop in.

Ambiance:

I can’t call it just ambiance; it is a true forest experience for me. The décor is simply mind boggling along with the maintenance. Be it the entrance, the narrow alley to the main section, the little waterfall with a wooden bridge everything will take you to a jungle safari.

They have a gorgeous bar in front of the cave-wall at the center of the place. All walls are replaced with cave wall. While almost real looking trees have taken the place on floor hurricane lanterns took their places on ‘cave wall’ as source of light. All together it was more like a safari experience instead of food experience inside a restaurant.

Food:

Drinks:

Shanghai Sunset

Shanghai Sunset is a vodka drink mixed with fruity syrup; here in Rainforest they had raspberry syrup. Though I’m not a member of vodka club, the drink seemed to be good to me. It was not only visually beautiful but also tasted perfect with right amount of alcohol.

Entrée:

Thread Chicken

Thread Chicken is an unique preparation of simple friend chicken. Thin chicken strips are covered with julienned wontons and deep fried. This was one of the best Chinese friend chickens I had tasted so far. The wonton strips were crisp and well-seasoned on the outer layer and the chicken was well cooked yet tender and juicy. It is a general practice to over cook the chicken while deep frying and skip the seasoning while deep frying but Rainforest has done perfect justice to the dish.

Sesame Fried Thai Prawns

After having a delicious fried chicken we were on high for more appetizers and after almost blind scanning the menu in such low light we ordered Sesame Fried Thai Prawns. As soon as we could get the peep of the platter immediately we all thought of the same, what a disaster! While we were expecting crispy fried prawns we actually got blunt prawns coated with chunks of sesame seeds with a smoky flavor. It was served with spicy-tangy sauce and crackling spinach. Spinach has lack of seasoning and tasted bitter. Seriously it was awful.

Main:

Prawns Hakka Noodles

Nothing to talk about a simple Prawns Hakka Noodles. It was just the way it should be. That’s it.

Roast Lamb Chilly

It is seriously a shame when you have covered the pages of your menu with lamb dishes and you simply can’t present a well-cooked lamb dish on table. Lamb pieces were boneless but definitely not without fat. And lamb was treated pathetically by turning it dry and chewy, like rubber. Gravy was good in taste though I dint care to taste much.

Service:

Service is a key to turn any restaurant into a top notched one but sadly it is the most neglected part of many restaurants. And rainforest is not an exception; they presented us a theme restaurant not a top class ‘restaurant experience’!

First of all, the service was too slow to deliver your food. We almost forgot what we were looking for. We literally has to find someone to take out orders as the calling buttons were out of service. Though it was hard to understand whether the button was not working or nobody cared to show up. Anyway orders were placed and then there was a long wait for the food to appear; our glasses were almost empty before the appetizer hit the table. Later we again had to search for someone for the bill. As we were there in afternoon around 5 o’clock, I don’t dare to imagine the scenario during peak hours.

Pros:

Ambiance (undoubtedly),

Good appetizers.

Cons:

Quality of main food,

Cost,

Service.

Cost:

Cost for two people 2600 INR (cocktail + entrée + main + tax).

Verdict:

Will I visit the place again? Yes I will. I’ll come back for the sake of ambiance, drinks and for safer appetizers but definitely on ‘safe’ time zone. It was an unique experience for me which I will like to keep alive.

If you haven’t experienced the ‘Rainforest’ book your table on the next possible day. It is a must visit place for the unique environment they’ve created inside a shopping mall.

Rating: 3.5/5

Eat, Love, Enjoy and Repeat!