Visakhapatnam Restaurant Guide> Bamboo Bay, The Park

Image 1: Soft lighting at Bamboo Bay

Image 2: Candle light dinner
Images by: Tanya Munshi

Text by: Tanya Munshi
If there's one place in Vizag, that you're looking to celebrate a special occasion like a birthday or an anniversary, then Bamboo Bay, at The Park is an ideal spot. Sit outdoors facing the beach for a beautiful breezy candle lit dinner...wow, this is the perfect romantic set up that is difficult to find in a noisy town of Vizag.

The food is excellent, surprisingly, as compared to the Aqua and Vista the Park’s in house restaurants. The Hyderabadi Dum Biryani is divine, with a beautiful hint of saffron. The mutton in the biryani was perfect, simply melting in the mouth. For starters, we tried skewered lamb which was done in Peshawari style and was brilliant.

This is an ideal venue to make a first impression on a business client or a would-belife-partner. How can I forget, this is also a perfect honeymooners paradise for a quite dinner under the star lit night, facing the beach.

On the flip side, I found this restaurant slightly short staffed, so be a little patient as the cheque may take some time to come to your desk. Interestingly, the staff here is less snobbish than in Vista. So feel at home at Bamboo Bay and enjoy a luxurious meal in a romantic setting.

Price wise, the food is value for money, considering the quantity of food served. A meal for two at Bamboo Bay will cost around Rs. 1,000/-.

Overall Rating:
Ambience - * * * * *
Service - * * * *
Presentation of food & drinks - * * * * *
Quantity of food served - * * * * *
Quality of food - * * * * * *
Price - * * * * *

Location:
The Park Hotel,
Beach Road,
Vizag – 530 203
Phone: 0891 – 2754488
Fax: 91- 891 – 2754181
Email: fb.iviz@theparkhotels.com
Website: www.theparkhotels.com
And http://visakhapatnam.theparkhotels.com/

Visakhapatnam Food Guide> The Park

Text by: Tanya Munshi

The Park, Visakhapatnam

The Park Hotel has a pool side open air restaurant called Aqua that serves mainly barbeques and kebabs, an indoor multi-cuisine restaurant called Vista and a South-Indian restaurant called Bamboo Bay.

Usually on Sundays, you can spend the entire day at Aqua from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm, for just Rs. 999 plus taxes, where you can have unlimited drinks (both alcohol and non-alcoholic), kebabs and barbeques and a buffet spread. You also get treated to a small head massage and can take a dip in the pool.

The ambience is amazing; it’s just that the food did not seem to be of the utmost quality as you come to know by the end of the day when you keep running to the rest room. So, it’s worth a visit once, but I would like to stay away from the Aqua Brunch as it is called at the Park for a while.

On the other hand, Vista has a buffet spread, that costs about Rs. 500/- inclusive of taxes. The good or bad mood of the chef seems to reflect in the buffet spread. There are days I wish I had simply gone for the ala carte in stead of trying out the buffet yet again. 

But there are days, the buffet is really good. Ala carte is better here, if you instinctively don’t like the buffet menu. That’s what I plan to stick by, though the ala carte choices are very limited, I think its safer that way.

But if you are planning on ala carte, I recommend – Grilled Rosemary Cottage Cheese, Rosemary and Chili Lamb or Pepper Lemon Grass Beef - they are totally delicious.

The service is however very slow, somehow they seem to be taking ages to bring your cheque. 

I have seen several diners (especially locals), boss their way around when they come with their families for lunch/ dinner. Maybe that is why the staff are happier while attending to foreign tourists, than the national tourists/ locals.

I recall an incident, where a friend of mine wanted to feed her 5 month old baby. We went up to the restaurant manager asking him whether there was any such arrangement for a baby room. His reply was, "Sorry Ma'am, all the rooms are full." I don't know whether the staff are trained properly at the Park Hotel, Vizag. We weren't asking for a room, we asked if there was any place we could go to, for feeding a baby. With no help from the restaurant manager, my friend had to go to the ladies rest room and feed her child and join us back for dinner. 

In the hospitality industry, it is crucial that the staff be absolutely courteous and help a client if it is a genuine requirement. Sadly, this point is hugely missed at the Park Hotel, Visakhapatnam.

Overall Rating:

Ambience - * * * * *

Service - * * * (very slow)

Presentation of food & drinks - * * * * * 

Quantity of food served - * * * *

Quality of food - * * * (depends on the chef's mood) 

Price - * * *  (steep for Vizag standards)

Location:

The Park Hotel,

Beach Road,

Vizag – 530 203

Phone: 0891 – 2754488

Fax: 91- 891 – 2754181

Email: fb.iviz@theparkhotels.com

Website: www.theparkhotels.com

And http://visakhapatnam.theparkhotels.com/