Why You Should Make A Trip To Della Adventures-Lonavla & What To Expect

I am having a very tiring week. So far at least. So I shall alleviate it by posting about something that made me happy. Sort of. Coz I'd rather be there right now than at work. I'd rather be at Della Adventures in Lonavla precisely because it is raining and flying fox 1250 feet down screaming all the way is precisely the kind of thing that we should all be doing most days instead of heading to work.

While this is more of a food review than anything else, I think it's important for me to get one thing out of the way. I quite like the concept of Della Adventures. Eighty-six adventure activities, with some really weird ones included of course, all in one huge sprawling estate with amazing food thrown in and you have a seller.


So the food, first. Because I will discuss my issues with the place after we have spoken about the good stuff.


Della Adventures has 5 places where your taste buds will be in food heaven: Cafe 24 (the 24 hour restaurant, mostly fine dining, multi cuisine), PNF (mostly a bar), Carbon Cafe (beverages, drinks, bites, pastries), Creme Della (for vegetarians) and a bakery close to the Dirt Biking track.

We mostly zipped through the food places except for Cafe 24, which combines the menus across all their other restaurants and cafes so you can basically order everything available under one roof right here.

We hopped into PNF and caught sight of these saddle seats - quite funky. Women, you cant sit on those with a skirt on though.

We also hopped into Carbon Cafe. I caught sight of this and I deeply regret not trying it out. A flaky White Forest Pastry.

We went into the bakery which is where all the baked awesomeness happens and guys, the aromas are nothing short of overwhelming! There's pastries...

And buns and breads...

And cookies...

I could live in that place. Instead, we went off to Cafe 24. A dazzling crystal instillation horse marked the entrance. Some of us debated why there was a bed of hay at the bottom of the horse; clearly indicates how rabidly hungry we were.

Disclaimer: I am only going to talk about the food we ate, that is, food that P and I sampled. And of course, that also means you get to know about the vegetarian fare only. P clearly sensed that where there is a large set of people with thick fat menus, confusion is rampant. He ordered a Tamatar Pudine Ka Shorba right away to pass time while the rest of us dissected the menu.

He rates it 3/5 - nice, warming but he wanted it spicier. So he went ahead and...

Apparently, that did not help very much. I quite liked the shorba - not too thin, right amount of spice and the pudina did lovely things to the acidity of the tomato. Great balance. Meanwhile, along came a bread basket. We normally are very wary of this stuff - it's free and mostly tends to be cold, crusty hard and a bit stale. However, we could keep eating these breads. Soft, fresh baked, and with a pat of Amul butter? How the hell can you go wrong with that? I think I alone ate the breadsticks. They were okay.

By this time, most of us had made up our minds about starters. Why did it take us so much time? Well, they have a Breakfast menu, a Kids Menu, an Under-The-Weather menu for people who are feeling a bit off, an Indian Cuisine menu, an Oriental menu, a Continental menu, Pizzas, Desserts and pant...pant...you get the picture. P got this from the Oriental Menu: Diced Cottage Cheese Chilli Pepper. He loved it and was pretty pissed that it got passed around the table. "The non vegetarians are eating all the vegetarian food," he complained. Ok, I am kidding. He did not say that. He just wanted more of the Paneer.

Meanwhile, I ordered the Stir Fried Water Chestnuts. I am a maniacal water chestnut lover and can eat them in any form. These? I can travel all the way back for these. Spicy and saucy on the outside, juicy and mildly salty on the inside with a hint of watery sweetness after you swallow your bite, this was one heaven of a starter. I could have eaten it all and called it a day.

And somebody (god bless their soul) ordered the Aubergine Halloumi Parcels and what I am about to say will blow you away completely. P ate them. And LOVED them. Need I say more? Newbies, P hates aubergine from the deepest bottom of his heart and stomach. But he said he could have eaten another helping of these. Me? Well, I could live on these too. That lovely shaving of parmesan on top, the juicy but not overwhelming sort of tomato salsa bed and the perfectly crisp but soft centered roasted aubergines...this is great cooking. That garlic bread at the side was a bit unnecessary but well, we used it to clean up the plate :D

People got salads. There was this maha okay-okay beet root which I hurried to finish so I could get to the Waldorf...lovely blend of apples, pineapples, celery, walnuts, potatoes tossed in mayo. The green was not as green as I wanted it to be though. Just one iceberg lettuce, namesake...more greens?

But almost redeemed by the Horiatiki Greek Salad. Fresh, succulent and a great palate cleaner too.

Somebody ordered Hummus and Baba Ganoush. HUGE disappointment - bitter and grainy, these would have made a first time Lebanese food eater seriously shy away from trying the much loved dishes ever again. Some of us reckon that what was wrong here was the olive oil. It could not have been extra virgin, cold pressed. Clearly, something was very wrong with the dish so we did not consider second helpings. The lavash was nice, however. Crispy and well cooked. The pita could have been softer but compared to the dips themselves, it looked just fine and we mostly allowed it to pass.

The main course...more confusion. P wanted pizzas but those were not there. So he promptly settled for desi khana. Paneer Makhani. People liked this one after the large amount of firangi food that had been consumed. Rich, not too spicy, almost homely and the Paneer, lovely, fresh, soft and melt-in-the-mouth.

He had this with an Onion Kulcha. Which was more of an Onion Naan, because we understand Kulcha to be stuffed on the inside with the vegetable of choice. This was not. While it was good with the Paneer, it was also charred on the edges so we took care to discard the edges - not expected in a fine dining restaurant that.

I ordered several things for the main course, none of which seemed to be available. It was then that I decided to try the Mushroom Risotto. With great trepidation too because I am yet to taste a good risotto in this city. People somehow tend to think it's a glorified khichdi and forget that cooking a risotto is an art - you need patience, perfection and just the right knowledge of when the Arborio rice is done, al dente but tender to the teeth, the cheese and juices and wine combining to leave that heady flavour and silkiness in your mouth. BUT...will it suffice to say that I am still looking for the perfect risotto? This one did not match up and I felt it was reheated, the juices had dried up, it was hard to swallow after two bites. The garlic bread with was okay.

Some other food bloggers ordered Magic Mushrooms, which, although they were part of the main course, looked like...well, I will let the picture talk for itself. It came with a tartare dip. The mushrooms were strictly okay.

Then to desserts. One food blogger ordered a Bitter Chocolate Praline Mousse. Instead came a gateaux. Total WTH moment.

P ordered a Chocolate Walnut Brownie with Vanilla Icecream. Some of us found the Brownie too eggy - a turnoff. P ate it up promptly. Brownie and Eggs, what's not to love, he asked.

I got the Orange Souffle - again not what I expected because it came looking like two scoops of ice-cream topped with pineapple instead of orange cloves...BUT! Wow, what a dessert. I can forgive the Della folks for incorrectly calling it a souffle coz that is NOT a souffle but a gentle cream whipped with orange essence and orange zest. However, I'd like a bit of orange on top, not pineapple :) Fresh and a lovely way to end a meal. And please forgive me for crappy dessert pics, we had very bad light.

Now that I have told you all I could about what we ate and liked at Cafe 24 (recommended, try and make sure you check that your main course does not end up looking like a starter AND avoid the Lebanese fare - that apart, you are more or less safe), I have to tell you a few things about Della Adventure, the place, itself. First bit of advice is if you are pregnant, old or have neck/back issues, avoid this trip. Because the approach road to the estate is so, so, so, so bad that you'd rather walk the 1.5km stretch than ride in a car. A free hike before all the adventure, you say? You are mighty sporting then.

Now about the adventure activities: flying fox, rocket ejectors, reverse bungee jumping, dirt biking, horse riding, rappelling, zorbing are all expected and you will find them there. What you won't expect are activities like dog walking and cow milking. You pay and you get to take some exotic breeds out for a walk, from Great Danes to St. Bernard's. Little note from an animal lover here: the dogs and cows did not look happy to me. Does anything make it better if at the end of the day, you are caged?

Which brings me to the cows. I wanted to know, what if you pay for cow milking and then the cow isn't lactating? The answer was 'If you are lucky, you can do it", which is fine. At least I know they aren't doing something unhealthy to the cows to make them lactate across the year. Then again, why have that activity at all?

What should you be aware of? Two things: If you are going there with family that includes children and old people, the loos are adult-themed and very suggestive. This means, if you are not ready to have awkward moments, well...I am not putting photos up here because well, I have not exactly put an adult content warning as a disclaimer to my blog's visitors. If you are going with a bunch of your friends, then the washrooms will mostly pose no problem, you might actually find them funny. If you think that was a whole bunch of prudish talk, go in there with a child and then we can have that conversation :)

Second thing? The umbrellas, in case you go during the rain, which is when people go to Lonavla the most, are inanely expensive. Carry your own :)

That apart, a trip that you should make if you are into adventure sports (the place boasts of the only place in India that lets you night time rappel and has the longest flying fox span) and love good food. For more on Della, here's where you can check their website: http://dellaadventure.com/

Enjoy your trip and tell me how you find it when you go! Protect the back!