am generally too lazy to write reviews, but since arista is a relatively unexplored, and much-needed, place in the kharar area, felt this might be helpful to other zomato users.
we were a group of three (the other two being my parents, who are sightly finicky eaters), dining at this ground floor restaurant on a saturday evening. one of us was a vegetarian. buffet was the only option available, which suited us just fine.
the two best things first.
the ambience is lovely, which is obviously the first thing one notices on entering a restaurant. unlike many eating joints in the tricity, this place is quite spacious and hasn't crammed up tables all over the place. the decor is a little too shiny for my taste, but it’s in keeping with the overall appearance of the hotel and not particularly garish.
the staff was extremely helpful and attentive. while we were dining, a really large group came in, requiring slightly more attention for seating adjustments, etc., but we never felt like we were being ignored. but the slight inexperience of the very young staff is also apparent. i expect that in the next few weeks, as they grow more confident, this will be ironed out. especially the knack of knowing when the guest is looking for help from the staff and when he would prefer to do things on his own, is key to good service, and would need some experience.
coming to the food. the buffet had very respectable choices within the usual north indian - mughlai spread, along with some salads and one or two ‘oriental’ dishes. the starters were brought to the table, and were fairly good. the service again was prompt and non-intrusive.
between the three of us, we tried pretty much everything on the main course, and there are two dishes that need serious improvement. the thai veg curry was completely missing the characteristic pungent thai flavor. it anyway seems like an odd inclusion in the overall list of items, so they might as well do away with it, instead of having something that spoils the taste. the other dish that we didn’t like was the mutton gravy dish, which was too hard on the bone. i was told that patrons in punjab prefer it that way, unlike at other places where the meat is meant to come off easily. i am not sure that’s true, but well to each his own then.
the rest of the dishes were ranging from competent to really good. the chicken gravy dish (i am sorry, i am not very good at recalling the fancy names) was a stand-out and made up for the wrestling i had to do with the mutton. my mother actually enjoyed the paneer gravy dish, which must be the first time in years.
which brings me to the absolute cracker in the entire menu. even though the dessert choices were pretty limited - ice cream (i think vanilla flavored) and rosogulla were two of the three - the third item was mind-blowing. they have something called the mirchi ka halwa, which none of us had ever had before. with a very faint hint of capsicum (or was it actually green chilli?), the rich halwa was a highly satisfying climax to an enjoyable evening. i’ll probably go back just for the halwa - and if the management is reading this, would request them to pass on the compliments to the chef.
so, overall, a very welcome addition to the options available in this part of tricity. it’s a major relief that every time we have to take guests out for a meal now, we wouldn’t have to make a trip all the way to chandigarh.