Khao Galli

The Scene
Housed in the first of many sky-scrapers dotting the Hi-Tech City (a popular misnomer for Cyber Towers), Windows Of The World (WoW) is your regular "food" place - an urban dhaba in an Aegean sea of bits and bytes. No frills, no designer cutlery and no adherence to recipes or even spellings on the menu card.

In the late '90s, WoW enjoyed the monopoly in being the only "multi-cuisine" restaurant, fast-food joint, home delivery and 'pack and leave' outlet. Today, Wang's Kitchen - across the street - and a few of the burgeoning many like Olive Garden, Ginger Court, Farmaaish, Pizza Hut, Domino's - down the street - take away sizeable chunks of the IT junta, and WoW caters to tired geeks, sleepy call center employees and hungry bachelors.

The Food
For a start, WoW serves breakfast starting 7 in the morning... a boon to the Cyber Tower populace. On a typical work day, this is where you'll find your average software engineer shooting the breeze and getting his caffeine shot for the morning. Breakfast menu revolves around a choice of 5-7 options, including sandwich, dosa, upma et al.

The afternoon meal is noisy affair with the 250-seater capacity filled to the brim, and many swarming in and about for their turn. A lunch buffet at Rs. 30 (yes!) is the easiest and safest bet. If that doesn't appeal your taste buds, read your menu card right and stick to the predictable and utterable.

Though "multi-cuisine" by self-proclamation, your manchow soup may closely resemble the leftovers of sambar silt, and the Kadhai Vegetables may taste a tad bit chalky. Bottomline to relish your meal: you are hungry and you don't care.

The show stealer is the Khubaani ka Meetha they serve at WoW - one of the best I've had in the city. Saccharine yet indulgent.

Early evening chaat preparations do 'hawking' business here, with people making a beeline to taste anything from the tangy mint water to the zing thing in the aromatic spices.

Dinner time is fly swatters zone. With most officegoers back into their cocoons, WoW seldom has a decent turn-out to boast at this hour. The menu is fixed with a biryani on list and a few other floating items that are shuffled whenever the manager gets an itch in his left palm.

The Verdict
WoW is your ground to test your cuisine quotient and intestines. Before food, you are busy guessing what fills your plate, and after food, you are left hoping your intestinal juices support the digestive cause... just this one time. Burp!