Posts Tagged ‘Downtown Atlanta’

World of Coca Cola Review

December 5th, 2008 Tushar Mathur

The World of Coca Cola attraction is one of the best places to visit if you are in Atlanta. Keep in mind that my visit was in early June of 2007 in the newly opened building right next to the Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta. Some of the negative reviews you may find from other people are based on the old building that I have never visited. Therefore, I can not compare the new attraction with the old one. In any case, I suggest you visit the website of the place doing a Google search to get the latest hours of operation and prices for admission.

To make this a more real world sort of review I will give you an account of my visit so you know what to expect. As you walk up to the building you will find a life size statue of the inventor of the beverage among a very elegant series of water pools and fountains. Once you purchase you tickets at the box office you may have to wait in line for a while if you go during peak hours of traffic. Once enough people leave the building they let in a similar number of people so overcrowding is avoided. You do have to pass through a security checkpoint with metal detectors. I suggest you take only your cell phone, camera, and keys with you to make for a speedy pass by security. All of the people at the facility were very friendly and polite. It was nothing like airport security that treats people like they are farm animals.

Once you walk though the front door you will wait again in a room with marble floors, a glass wall, and some artwork until a set of doors open up on the end of the room. The next room you walk into is full of ads and other memorabilia related to Coca Cola. A guide will greet you and once about 40-60 people are in the room you will have a question and answer session with the guide. He or she will also give some introductory information about the building, the company, and the product. Next, another set of doors will open up and you will be seated in a small theater to see a very short film about the company. Once this is over, the projection screen lifts out of the way and you walk down a small hallway into the main atrium. To your right you will see life size photographs of people from nations all over the world.

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Georgia Aquarium Review

December 3rd, 2008 Tushar Mathur

The Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta is supposed to be the largest aquarium in the world. It is big, and it is impressive. It’s divided into several areas, including a polar area, a freshwater area, a tropical area and an ocean area, with several activities and exhibits in each. There is also a large cafe area where hungry patrons can get food. We did not spend any time there, except we did have to go through and around it to get to some exhibits. The place smelled…well like cooked fish.

But the place has issues. First of all, it is quite a ways from public transportation and this involved lots of walking by young feet before we even got there.

The place is next to Centennial Olympic Park. It would be nice if they could at least put a crosswalk from the park to the aquarium. Instead, we had to walk up a block in order to walk back down a block to get to the entrance.

On a Saturday afternoon, the place was absolutely packed. And every single person had a season pass as the place is sold out. As season pass holders, we had to make our reservations almost a month in advance. Their reservation system allows about 400 people every half hour, but they were not checking these closely.

We went through the security point, where we had to empty our pockets and they checked bags and purses and put the wand over all of us. Then to the entrance where they scanned our tickets. Then in we walked.

Right away, at the entrance there were two large viewing areas to look at schools of fish, I think were some sort of tuna. Then into the real aquarium building which opened into a large open area. Hallways and passage ways led to the different areas. We chose the polar area first.

The polar area of the aquarium is where there are seals, sea lions and penguins as well as smaller displays of various cold water fish. The giant crabs were pretty cool. But, by far, the most popular exhibit in this section is the beluga whales. Swimming up and diving down with a sort of carefree laziness, these were simply charming. And big. There was a guy there talking about the whales. Throughout the aquarium they had large movie screens where they gave various facts about what you were looking at as well as numerous signs.

Next we visited the Georgia fish are. Here, they had a large tank to pet stingrays and small sharks as well as a sort of play area for kids.

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Haveli Indian Restaurant in Downtown Atlanta

September 5th, 2008 Tushar Mathur

This is One of a Kind Indian Food in Downtown Atlanta. The food is really great and truly Indian.

We live in a Northern suburb of Atlanta, so Haveli, which is located in Downtown Atlanta, is about 30 minutes away. But we had heard good things about it, so we had to try it for ourselves.

The staff came to our table and chat with us. The owner who is also the chef comes to our table and talks to us about how we like our food and then goes and cooks it a la carte. The waiters are extremely friendly, attentive and cordial.

We started off with an appetizer platter of different meats. It had Tandoori Chicken, Chicken tikka, seekh kabab, grilled fish (salmon) and Tandoori shrimp. The taste was awesome. We really enjoyed it.

For the main course, we ordered Chicken Vindaloo, Daal Makhani, Chicken Briyani and Naan. The Vindaloo was really spicy and tasty, we loved it. My wife liked the Daal a lot because it had this burnt flavor that she just loves.

The chicken biryani was good but I have had better though. The raita (yogurt) that came with it was pretty good. My daughter really enjoyed the mango lassi that the waiter brought for her and didn’t even charge us for it. Now thats service !! :)

The food is worth every penny (which isn’t that much) portions are extremely generous and is cooked to each individuals specifications (where else can you get that?), the restaurant is also beautifully decorated with a inviting atmosphere.

Unlike some downtown restaurants, Haveli has convenient parking which always a bonus.

All in all this is a good Indian restaurant, but since its 30 minutes away we would not visit it too often since we have better Indian restaurants close to where we live.  But if you happen to be in downtown Atlanta craving Indian food be sure to check out ‘Haveli’.

Here are some photos of the food we ate.

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