FOOD Archives - Page 20 of 21

Theobroma, Linking Road, Bandra

May 17, 2016

Theobroma Review

Rating – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A place synonymous with great brownies, that’s how so many people place Theos. I love most of the desserts here. Keep reading if you want to know which one’s are my favorite.

I love theos! And this is going to be a pure rave about a dessert called After 9 – a chocolate and mint pastry at theos. It is exactly as per the description – inspired by the delicious after 8 chocolate. The pastry is absolutely yummy. If you love mint flavored chocolates and / or after 8 then you will simply love this pastry. The top almost feels like the after 8 strips and the cake part is yummy too. And the white center icing part which is on top is also fresh and kinda minty. Probably is my new favorite dessert. Highly highly recommend this.

Gupta Chaat Centre, Matunga (E)

Chaat

May 16, 2016

Gupta Chaat Centre – Review

Rating – ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It was one of those off days when I didn’t feel like eating idli and dosa – yes, sometimes that happens to me! So I ate some nom nom from this place. Keep reading to know how it was!

Instead of the regular south Indian available so widely in this area, I felt like trying some chaat and sandwich. So I found this place via Zomato and decided to give it a go.

I have tried the veg toast sandwich here – like the typical mumbaiya sandwich – loads of butter, awesome chutney and piping hot.

I have also tried their chaat – pani puri, sev puri and dahi batata puri. All were really good.

The place is clean, hygienic and has so much variety – right from pizza to gola..from chaat to sandwich..Try this out if you’re in the area.

Farzi Cafe, Lower Parel

North Indian

May 16, 2016

Farzi Cafe Review

I got Farzified! Read about my exprience :0

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and half!

The word Farzi is so aptly used to name this cafe – a complete illusion for one’s senses where various textures, flavors and aromas mingle together and create something extraordinary! This is a place where you will get exceptional food that is twisted and made unique in its own way. I was invited to sample the food here and boy, it was a feast – both, visually and for my taste buds!

Recommend:

Farzi Tina

Raj Kachori

Naan Margherita

Farzified Vada pav

Experimenting with starters and drinks is the way to go here.

The first thing I was offered was Amuse Bouche – a palate cleanser. It’s believed that food when started on an undiluted palette tastes the best! This was mishti dahi essentially, with such a great flavor. It comes in these little katoris and your supposed to have it in one go.

I started with a version of Raj Kachori. This had dahi obviously, some imli chutney, green chutney and kurkuri bhindi with pomegranate on the side. One bite of this and I was like – Waaaaooowww! The imli chutney had a frothy texture and appearance, the Raj kachori was nice and crispy and then there was dahi flavored with spices which tasted exceptional. The kurkuri bhindi made for a good crunchy side with this dish.

Then I tried something that was essentially dal Chawal in the form of round crispy balls. Now dal Chawal is almost soggy food but the kurkuri outer covering and papad made this super interesting. And it had a salsa kind of flavor going on which added such a good zing!

Then I tried the Vada – the chutneys served with this were the real bomb! And the tempered chilli! And this was actually pav inside the Vada!

Then came a cane topped dish with something different inside – this was mini naan with the margherita pizza sauce and cheese. You must eat this immediately when it comes else it can become super chewy. But this combination was awesome!

Then there was samosa with the traditional filling but tempered with some white sesame and honey chilli sauce. OMG – I don’t like any fooling around with a regular samosa but this tasted pretty nice!

Then tried the tandoori paneer with a very thai green sauce kinda feel to it. I’m not too fond of thai so I didn’t care much for this. This was served with some mustard dip.

Then came some appam and a very heavy coconut stew with it – i didn’t enjoy this because I’m not a big fan of coconut flavored food.

After all these starters it was time to move to main course. But wait..first let me tell you about another palette cleanser! A huge tree like thing was placed on my table with 2 lollipops hanging out from its branches. These felt like kadhi (Punjabi besan kadhi – I’m not kidding) frozen and made into a lollipop. All fancy and did give me a fresh clean start to my main course.

For the main course I started with some spaghetti – aglio e olio style and this also came with some coconut thing going on. The spaghetti was so well done and I’m afraid that this was the first time I mildly enjoyed the coconut flavoring.

Then came some pav bhaji – not just regular pav but with focacia bread and it was called Ratatouille Pav bhaji! This bread was out of this world – I ate so much of it just by itself because it was so yummy. The bhaji I found a tad bit greasy. It is topped with sev and onion. The combination of sweet focacia and bhaji is definitely something different!

Then came some churma balls and some yellow dal. The churma balls feel quite heavy..But the dal that comes with them is superb. It also has some of that crispy chana dal with masala on top and I just loved it.

And finally came some mix veggies kofta in a rich creamy cashew and tomato gravy along with some ajvaini naan – the naan was exceptional. The kofta was quite tasty – anyone who loves rice cashew flavored gravy would love this.

Don’t judge me, but there’s still some dessert that I had! Started with a Parle G cheesecake – jee Haan Parle G along with some gems! And this was placed in a bowl with loads of chopped pista and a rabdi kind of thing. Very meh – not my type at all.

Then I tried a strange but rich Ras Malai – one mouthful and you would have a mixture of ras malai and rabdi.. The presentation was remarkable – especially the Caramel colored sugar top!

And finally I ate some planets from the solar system! This dessert was called the signature milky way big bang – it was almost created right in front of me! Liquid nitrogen churned ice cream and fruits and chocolate! Fruits included some blue berries, plums. The chocolate fudge pieces were exceptional.

Finally ended this super huge meal with some paan gujia – paan and cotton candy together..that’s 2 of my favorite things!

Ohh and I almost forgot to mention the drinks – I tried the green apple martini kind of drink – this felt so refreshing and light. I also tried their Farzi Tina which was sweet lime infused in fresh orange juice.

Farzi cafe is a must visit..at least once. And it’s going to be an experience and not just another meal outside. The ambience feels nothing less than a posh place. And the staff are super friendly and considerate. Special mention for Shahbaz – our attendant, who patiently waited everytime I clicked a picture.

Mani’s Lunch Home – Matunga East, Mumbai

South Indian

May 14, 2016

Mani’s Lunch Home – Review

Those of you who know me well, must know my love for South Indian food. So here’s another place I have been loving off late – Mani’s Lunch Home. Read my full review!

Rating – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mani’s is a gem. It’s a tiny place with really great, fresh and tasty south indian fare.

Recommend:

Upma

Mysore masala dosa

Masala dosa

I have tried the masala dosa, the mysore masala, the upma and the idli here and all are phenomenal. His sambhar is top notch!

The dosas here are the perfect combination of crisp and melt in your mouth. They have that crunch and are sooooo tasty. The aloo in the masala dosa is quite different than regular masala dosa. Not too spicy, not overly dry. And almost mashed to a large extent.

The mysore masala is the one with red chutney and filling inside. This is so famous and gets over pretty early.

The upma here is out of this world – very light..Not too much ghee going on. Has some tomato too. Served fresh and piping hot.

The idlis are amazing too – soft, fluffy and don’t reek of soda!

Recommend this place for a quick, inexpensive south indian meal.

Candies Review

Cafe

May 14, 2016

Candies Review

If you’re born and brought up in Mumbai, then you know what Candies means to us..right?!! Penning down one of my recent experiences at Candies. Keep reading!

Candies has been around for so long..The feel, the taste remains unchanged even after so many years. If you’re looking for a great place to chill, in Bandra and also something that’s not really pricey then come to Candies. But there’s a rule – you need to come early, whether it’s for lunch or dinner else most of their stuff is finished.

Recommend:

Chutney sandwich

Jam tarts

Veg spring rolls

Veg mini samosa

Vegas fried rice

Rich chocolate cake

Chocolate lava cake

I recently parcelled some stuff from here and ate it at home. I had their samsosas – 2 types. One was a mini samosa and the other was a Punjabi samosa. The mini samosa was quite yummy

Then I tried something that felt like in between veg crispy and pakodas – but it was so tasty.

Then I tried the veg rolls – one had a mix veg filling and the other had a corn and spinach filling. Both of these were very ok – the outer covering was way too thick for my liking.

Then I had their rich chocolate cake – excellent is an still not describing it perfectly. Dense and soft..and the icing was just on point.

Then I also tried their chocolate lava – excellent. But I remember it being slightly bigger in size earlier.

Great place. Cheap food. That’s how I describe candies.

Yummies Review

Chinese

May 12, 2016

Yummies Review

This is one of my favorite places for SST – Sasta Sundar Tikau food. If that’s the kind of food you love too, then keep reading!

This place has been my favorite for at least 10 years now – 10 years is a looooong time. Small place, great food, so much value for money. If you haven’t already been to this place then you must go.

I have eaten the schezwan rice and noodles, hakka noodles, veg crispy, dry manchurian – and everything has been great..even over the years. But my favorite here remains the paneer schezwan rice. And you always gotta ask for extra schezwan sauce here – it’s simply amazing. The schezwan sauce is slightly sweet and has a different taste to it.

You get great quantity. Best part – you get half portions too! And the sheer variety is amazing. Highly recommended 🙂

Hoppipola Review

Continental

May 11, 2016

Hoppipola Review

Sharing my experience at Hoppipola with you. Keep reading 🙂

I have never been to a Hoppipola prior to this and for a first time, my experience was pretty good actually. I was invited to check out this place and sample some food and drinks. The place is quite huge and I quite like the way they’ve done it up. Huge windows, sunlight coming in and for a change not too dark. They even have an outdoor seating which would be great in the evenings. And they also have some board games, so if you like that then you will like this place.

Recommend:

Drinks – Auckland Ice Freeze

Food – Harrisan Paneer and Smokin Carlos

Coming to the drinks – I started with some cranberry juice. Just simple canned juice and nothing special.

Then I tried some cocktails. I had heard so much about their presentation and they actually are pretty cool! First I tried something called Auckland Ice Freeze – this was essentially a kiwi flavored cocktail with loads of malibu. This came in a watering can kind of thing and was pretty huge. It was freezing cold with dry ice and made for a pretty good sight! This felt very refreshing. And malibu feels quite light. And plus I love kiwi so I quite liked it.

Next I tried the Drown in a bucket – this was a lot of tequila and apparently Peach and orange juice too. But the tequila was really overpowering! And so was the rosemary. The rosemary leaves were burnt slightly and that gave a very peculiar flavor. Nothing like I’ve tried ever before!

Coming to the food – I tried a lot of starters. First I had the Harrissan Paneer. This was so neatly presented! It came on this literally small khatiya which I found very cool. This had a mildly spicy kind of sauce going on.

Next I tried the Cheesy Chilitato. These were French fries and a whole lot of cheese – no rephrasing..French fries covered in cheese! Honestly I’ve had better cheesy fries so I didn’t care about these so much.

Then I had something called Smokin Carlos – these were jalapeño, corn and cheese cigars. And they were so delicious! Perfectly crisp, the filling was great.

I also tried some of their Arrabiata penne. This had really little sauce going on – more dry kind of pasta. And had a few veggies too – peppers and olives. I didn’t quite care for this too much.

All in all – it’s a great place to come and chill. Really good for big groups. Food is pretty decent. Cocktails are good. And you can even enjoy a board game here.

Woodside Inn Review

Continental

May 10, 2016

Woodside Inn Review

Some places bring back so many memories. And Woodside Inn is one of them. I revisited this place after so many years. Keep reading to know about my experience.

Woodside Inn used to be one of my regulars a few years ago..I recently visited this place after all this time and it feels so different now!

Came here for a quick bite. I ordered their Masala Omelette and the cucumber and watermelon fresh juice.

The masala omelette was perfect – non spicy as I asked for. It is served with some bread and rosemary potatoes. The rosemary potatoes were exceptional – the perfect amount of herbs. I asked for multi grain bread with my omelette and got 3 small slices.

The cucumber and watermelon juice was alright – I found it a bit watery. But may be that’s cuz I like fresh juice to be slightly thicker.

The ambience is great – it has a nice European cafe linda feel to eat. Love the dome shaped huge windows.

Totally going to come back here to try more stuff. Recommendations anyone? 🙂

Bombay Barbeque Review

Multi-cuisine

May 9, 2016

Bombay Barbeque Review

I have visited Bombay Barbeque about 3 times and have had a uniform experience across all of them – STELLAR! Read on to find out why I love this place so much.

This place is the KING of buffet style food. Variety is an understatement. Taste and flavors are exceptional. Service is like never before. Bombay Barbecue is truly on point in every aspect.

Recommend the buffet and going completely empty stomach for it.

Their buffet costs 700 bucks on a weekday. And it has everything that you can imagine. Right from chaat to their famous tandoori grill, from Italian to asian, from indian main course to pizza and an array of dessert – so much!

Let’s start with chaat. Pani puri, dahi batata puri, sev puri all of these are excellent. Nothing imperfect – pani puri is adequately sweet and spicy, dahi in dahi puri isn’t khatta and sev puri is tasty and how.

Their kebab and grill too has so much variety. On the grill are all kinds of veggies like potato, mushrooms, cauliflower, peppers, broccoli and also paneer. But my favorite is the pineapple. Never had anything like that before! They also give butta cut in small parts which is tasty and easy to eat. The makai kebab is excellent. Perfectly crispy. I am not the biggest fan of sweet potato, but loved it here.

I also tried their pasta – both red and white sauce. Red sauce was good – bell peppers in it and not overly spicy. The white sauce I didn’t care much about – I found it and bit gingery and less creamy in taste.

Their pizza – thin crust and not khakra like. Olives, corn, capsicum, onions and loads of cheese. Pretty good.

Tried their Chinese / Mongolian stuff too – noodles and veggies in hunan sauce and rice in sweet chilli sauce. Basically you can pick your sauce, veggies and rice / noodles and make your own wok kinda thing. This is quite decent.

After eating all of this, I obviously didn’t make it to the main course! But there seemed to be black dal, rice, some biryani, at least 3 different subzis including palak, paneer and mix veg types and some kurkuri bhindi too. And of course roti and naan and raita.

I did eat dessert though. Their live Jalebi counter is where you can get a fresh plate of piping hot jalebis which are sooooo tasty. There’s also gulab jamun, ras malai and basundi. And there are a lot of mini pastries like pineapple, chocolate etc. And ice cream. And probably more which I have missed due to over indulgence!

You also get a drink as part of the buffet – either a beer, or wine or a mocktail or fresh lime soda.

All in all – i love this place. The food is so good. And so is the ambience. Special mention for their staff – the most friendly, helpful and responsive staff I’ve seen and experienced. They truly make the meal a lot more richer. Absolutely recommend this place.

Emprino Review

Chinese

May 7, 2016

Emprino Review

Watch the full video here

Carter road has that one lane which is so buzzing – all you can see is food. Right from Shawarmas to Dosa to Chinese. And so I tried out this one hyped place called Emprino. To know about my experience, keep reading.

Finally visited this place which has been recommended to me by quite a few foodies. Emprino is on ‘the’ food street at Carter road. I came here for a late dinner and was quite happy with my meal.

Recommend:

Vegetarian Fried Wonton

Vegetarian Dimsums

Hakka sauce and wheat flat noodles

I wanted to order their wok and so I was asked to taste the sauces before I can select one for my wok – loved this whole try before you buy thing. I went for the hakka sauce – it was slightly fiery. That combined with flat wheat noodles and so many veggies like zucchini, peppers, broccoli. I quite liked it.

I also tried their fried wonton. Phenomenal is an understatement! Although they were slightly over crispy, I loved them. Amazing veggie filling inside.

And I tried the dimsums – the basic simple vegetarian ones. These too were exceptional. The outer covering was soft and not chewy at all unlike a whole lot of places. The inner filling didn’t feel kachha too.

Also tried paneer pieces in a slightly sweet kinda sauce. And there were some carrot noodles along with the Paneer – carrot looking like noodles! I didn’t care much for this to be honest.