Restaurant Review: GAD (Coffee Shop)

GAD stands for Gateway All day Dining, the name for 24-hour coffee shops in The Gateway Hotels across India.
Décor
GAD is a spacious well-lit restaurant, located beside an open courtyard with a lawn, garden and swimming pool. The dining room receives plenty of natural light from the courtyard alongside. The walls are spanned by Vaastu Mandala and other paintings, and there is a good-sized panel showing kite flyers on rooftops, representative of the Makar Sankranti celebrations.The buffet counters are in the centre of the restaurant, with tables set around them — some tables are located next to the windows looking onto the courtyard.
Food
GAD is primarily a coffee shop with an all-day menu of South Indian snacks, western food, Gujarati snacks and North Indian items, making it very handy for those who need a place to unwind and eat near the airport. Start with their Banana, Blue Berry or Seasonal Fruit Smoothie, which is their signature beverage. They do pretty good vegetarian and non-Vegetarian club sandwiches. The non-veg club sandwich has mainly chicken and eggs, but you could opt for the custom-made sandwich which has ham, salami or tuna with your choice from the available breads. Vegetarian filling options include roasted vegetables, gherkins and creamy mushrooms. For those who like South Indian food, they have a Gateway Dosa with fillings of tomato, basil and bell pepper, served with red and green chutney. The Paneer Kathi roll is also a substantial snack.
For a full meal, the house special soup is the Oven Roasted Tomato and Burnt Pepper, which is fairly hot. The Gateway Active Kebab is a good option for those who want a light and healthy Indian starter or snack — this is a platter of spinach, dahi, cheese/paneer and chickpea griddle cooked kebab served with a take on the salsa sauce. For those who prefer full flavoured starters, the Paneer Lal Mirch and Chicken Satay are top choices. Among the mains, they are strong on Indian dishes like the Kumb Palak, the Dhania Murg which is really good and flavourful, and the Martwan ka Gosht which has pieces of mutton cooked in five spices and mustard oil. If you like seafood, the prawns in Thai red or yellow curry are subtle. You can have this with rice or the Black Pepper Fried Flat Noodles. The Caramelised Lemon Chicken with Mushroom Sauce is another house special.
For dessert, they have a Chocolate combo —a really nice and light chocolate mousse, a rich chocolate brownie and a chocolate ice-cream. A more unusual dessert is the Pan ice-cream.
Plus and minus
GAD is a pleasant place to drop in for coffee with snacks and dessert. It has an extensive menu covering various cuisines and is one of the few restaurants in town with many healthy options. However, most of the food is just about acceptable.
GAD: The Gateway Hotel Ummed, International Airport Circle, Hansol
Timing : 24 hours
Meal for two :` 1,600
Rating:
Food: 3.00
Service: 3.00
Décor: 3.00