Juri Cafe & Bar, Jubilee Hills

Ambience often is one aspect which is left out of consideration by a lot, be it us diners or even some restaurants these days. However, it feels so good to see places like Juri Cafe and Bar getting the centerstage not just for some great food but their lush green outdoor ambience. Located right at the edge of Road Number 13 Jubilee Hills, Juri is a revamped version of the earlier Cafe Mocha, with a whole lot of new seating areas created along with a amphitheater setting for future events. A mansion turned cafe, Juri is a true amalgamation of aesthetics and serenity which would surely take your heart away as soon as you enter the place. The 350 seater cafe sports multiple seating areas, be it a private lounge, restaurant style dining area or a beautiful outdoor seating to enjoy a pleasant weekend.

The menu for the place was quite elaborate with each and every type of cuisine, be it North or South Indian or even Continental. While the non vegetarians had a field day with the menu, the vegetarians were the ones suffering as neither were they provided with enough options, nor were the variants provided as good as their meaty counterparts. For my lazy weekend lunch, the service began with a huge array of drinks which the place really excelled at. The cocktail pitchers are really a must try.

Heading onto the food, I made it a point to order atleast one dish from each of the cuisines they offered so for the non veg appetizers I went for Chicken 65, Patiyala Pomfret and Murg Rajoli. Each of the dishes had perfectly cooked proteins with juicy, succulent meats though my personal favourite had to be their Murg Rajoli which was a hotter and spicier take on the plain old Chicken Tikka. Patiyala Pomfret too had a good seasoning on the fish but what made the dish amazing were the additional condiments, them being orange and mustard mayonnaise.

The vegetarian section was quite disappointing in general as out of the Mezze Platter, Cheese Balls and Veg Nachos, only Mezze Platter could manage to make a mark on the tastebuds with the crispy Falafel and delicious dips. While the cheese sauce on the nachos was almost glue-like both in taste and consistency, even the Cheese Balls didn’t have that oozing cheese burst as is expected out of the dish. Another good dish for the veg came in form of the Thai Red Curry Soup which was just a perfect adaptation of the Thai delicacy in form of a soup.

Moving onto the mains, I limited my options to the non vegetarian variants and ordered for Nalli Nihari and Butter Chicken from the Indian side and Grilled Chicken and Textures of Sea for a continental touch. Both the Indian gravies were good with the Nalli Nihari taking the first place as the Butter Chicken lacked that luscious creaminess and tasted more tomato-ey. Both the continental mains were a hit with one having perfectly well seasoned chicken breast and the other having crispy fried delicacies from the sea. Being a seafood lover, my pick out of the two was Textures of Sea which had crispy fried Calamari and Anchovy with plump and juicy prawns and fish fillets.

The dessert section was again a 50-50 scenario for me where I saw the place serving some truly astonishing dishes like Caramel Parfait and Chocolate Mud Pie but also some abysmal ones like Churros and Lemon Meringue. The sole suggestion to the place would be to have another round of menu trials for the desserts and the vegetarian dishes as these are the only things that I personally feel are dragging them down. All in all, the place is truly paradise for the ones who like to laze around for their weekend afternoon for their ambience and is a must try for all the non vegetarians.

#Bar #Lounge #MultiCuisine