Taco Bell, the Mexican food chain has opened its first outlet in Bengalooru (at Malleshwaram), India. Being an total foodie, I decided to pay a visit and cannot resist writing a review! Here it is...
What's Good
Unlimited Refill:
This is new to us and I have never seen an unlimited refill anywhere in India (or I do not know, please enlighten me if you do!). This is obviously an attraction, given that we love to eat hot crunchy food along with a sip of the cool drink. The refill comes with all the combos and box meals.
Service time:
I would say this is unbelievably quick, given the crowd and the amount of orders. The token system is good too and the display boards for the token numbers (for which food is ready to be served) are placed on both the floors. I grabbed my drink and sat in the ground floor until my number was displayed on the board. Awesome!
Food quality and hygiene:
We would never expect international food chain outlets to serve unhygienic food, would we? Well nothing needs to be said on hygiene. Food is served in neat boxes (like Domino's) and clean trays. The quality of food is really good and satisfies the appetite. They have tried to adapt to Indian tastes but without much success. One primary reason is the stuffing of Paneer into every dish they dole out? Need to wait and watch if it works for Taco Bell like it did for all pizza outlets!
Unlimited Refill:
This is new to us and I have never seen an unlimited refill anywhere in India (or I do not know, please enlighten me if you do!). This is obviously an attraction, given that we love to eat hot crunchy food along with a sip of the cool drink. The refill comes with all the combos and box meals.
Service time:
I would say this is unbelievably quick, given the crowd and the amount of orders. The token system is good too and the display boards for the token numbers (for which food is ready to be served) are placed on both the floors. I grabbed my drink and sat in the ground floor until my number was displayed on the board. Awesome!
Food quality and hygiene:
We would never expect international food chain outlets to serve unhygienic food, would we? Well nothing needs to be said on hygiene. Food is served in neat boxes (like Domino's) and clean trays. The quality of food is really good and satisfies the appetite. They have tried to adapt to Indian tastes but without much success. One primary reason is the stuffing of Paneer into every dish they dole out? Need to wait and watch if it works for Taco Bell like it did for all pizza outlets!
Décor:
The red and blue decor is a pleasing sight without too much colour striking the eye. The seats are cool (Mc D type) and can be a good hangout place until you get bored of the crowd looking at you for a place.
The red and blue decor is a pleasing sight without too much colour striking the eye. The seats are cool (Mc D type) and can be a good hangout place until you get bored of the crowd looking at you for a place.
Location:
Though my primary reason was to eat at Taco Bell, I really had a nice time at the mall (Mantri Square) where the outlet is located. Walk around the mall, eat the tacos and again roam around until you are bored. Then get into one of the many brand stores and see if you can strike a deal. A wonderful time pass with a promising food at Taco Bell to ward off hunger!
Value for Money:
Undoubtedly the prices are very reasonable, Taco Bell is sure to attract a huge following in India if they maintain the same prices for sometime. Probably even force pizza outlets to reduce prices :-). Following meal for four cost only 600 odd rupees and was filling enough:
Quantity & Menu
1 Quesadilla - fajita veggies
2 Topped Nachos
1 Grilled Stuft Burrito - Fajita & Paneer
2 Crunchwrap Potato Combo
1 Grilled Stuft Burrito Veg Combo
2 Volcano Cake
What's not good
Printed Menu shortage:
Though there are big LCD screens displaying the menu attractively, it would really be handy to provide printed menus for those waiting in the line. Because of the publicity, the crowd is large and the waiting line goes a little outside the shop's door, it would be better to provide printed menus to make sure people do not gaze at the LCD screens when they are at the counter and make the waiting time even longer! It was humorous (until I got real hungry) to see people grabbing any paper that you kept in your hands, thinking that’s the menu!!
No of counters to take orders:
Only two counters were active at the time I had been there. When asked, the lady at the counter replied "we have only one kitchen". I took a look adjacent to the counter where I could see Taco Bell staff working on automated cooking devices and it looked small for the 50 odd people who were waiting at the line. I still do not understand whether she meant 'this is all we can handle' or 'we would expand the kitchen soon'. But the message was that if they opened more counters (there were two dysfunctional counters too!), they would not be able to deliver food as quickly as they did now!
Only one refill counter:
The soft-drinks refill counter is available only on one floor. This makes it difficult for those who find a place to sit on the ground floor. Every time you need a refill (atleast one refill is required) you need walk up to the upper floor. I did not like holding the appetite to refuel the glass! There could be one more counter in the ground floor too. This would: 1) Reduce the crowd on the first floor, 2) Help enjoy the food without the pain of walking up and down in-between the indulgement!
Unavailability of complete box meal:
Though my primary reason was to eat at Taco Bell, I really had a nice time at the mall (Mantri Square) where the outlet is located. Walk around the mall, eat the tacos and again roam around until you are bored. Then get into one of the many brand stores and see if you can strike a deal. A wonderful time pass with a promising food at Taco Bell to ward off hunger!
Value for Money:
Undoubtedly the prices are very reasonable, Taco Bell is sure to attract a huge following in India if they maintain the same prices for sometime. Probably even force pizza outlets to reduce prices :-). Following meal for four cost only 600 odd rupees and was filling enough:
Quantity & Menu
1 Quesadilla - fajita veggies
2 Topped Nachos
1 Grilled Stuft Burrito - Fajita & Paneer
2 Crunchwrap Potato Combo
1 Grilled Stuft Burrito Veg Combo
2 Volcano Cake
What's not good
Printed Menu shortage:
Though there are big LCD screens displaying the menu attractively, it would really be handy to provide printed menus for those waiting in the line. Because of the publicity, the crowd is large and the waiting line goes a little outside the shop's door, it would be better to provide printed menus to make sure people do not gaze at the LCD screens when they are at the counter and make the waiting time even longer! It was humorous (until I got real hungry) to see people grabbing any paper that you kept in your hands, thinking that’s the menu!!
No of counters to take orders:
Only two counters were active at the time I had been there. When asked, the lady at the counter replied "we have only one kitchen". I took a look adjacent to the counter where I could see Taco Bell staff working on automated cooking devices and it looked small for the 50 odd people who were waiting at the line. I still do not understand whether she meant 'this is all we can handle' or 'we would expand the kitchen soon'. But the message was that if they opened more counters (there were two dysfunctional counters too!), they would not be able to deliver food as quickly as they did now!
Only one refill counter:
The soft-drinks refill counter is available only on one floor. This makes it difficult for those who find a place to sit on the ground floor. Every time you need a refill (atleast one refill is required) you need walk up to the upper floor. I did not like holding the appetite to refuel the glass! There could be one more counter in the ground floor too. This would: 1) Reduce the crowd on the first floor, 2) Help enjoy the food without the pain of walking up and down in-between the indulgement!
Unavailability of complete box meal:
When I ordered box meals, I was promptly informed that "Twistease", which are part of package, are "out of stock and have not yet arrived". I questioned whether the box meal price would be reduced and was again informed, much to my irritation, that I need to pay in full for the box meal (minus twistease) and without a replacement for twistease. Who would want such an amazing deal? Hence I settled for the combos that come with bell fries (finger fries), crunchwrap/burrito, soft drink (refill). Order extra for dessert, which otherwise would come in the box meal!
Overall rating:
Food: 4.5
Service: 4 (No of counters to order food pulled it down!)
Place: 4
Price: 5 (You won't believe until you visit!)
Suggestions:
1) Head straight down to the ground floor to catch a seat if the first floor is fully occupied and you are sure to get a seating within 10-15 minutes.
2) Do not miss out on the Topped Nachos, which is the best thing I tried here. I heard the crunch taco is good too!
3) Do not (have to) repeat refills of the soft drink! :-). Enjoy mirinda followed by a pepsi if you like to change it that way!
4) Reach a little earlier than your snack/lunch/dinner time. Expect atleast 30-40 minutes from the time you enter the shop, to see yourself enjoying the food.
Overall rating:
Food: 4.5
Service: 4 (No of counters to order food pulled it down!)
Place: 4
Price: 5 (You won't believe until you visit!)
Suggestions:
1) Head straight down to the ground floor to catch a seat if the first floor is fully occupied and you are sure to get a seating within 10-15 minutes.
2) Do not miss out on the Topped Nachos, which is the best thing I tried here. I heard the crunch taco is good too!
3) Do not (have to) repeat refills of the soft drink! :-). Enjoy mirinda followed by a pepsi if you like to change it that way!
4) Reach a little earlier than your snack/lunch/dinner time. Expect atleast 30-40 minutes from the time you enter the shop, to see yourself enjoying the food.
No comments:
Post a Comment