Sunday Morning Breakfast - Jalebis

If there is something which can tempt me to rise early on a Sunday morning it has to be the idea of a breakfast feast. With the last weekend being one of a family reunion what better way to spend the Sunday morning then to have a breakfast out on the terrace.

What's on the plate?
Garama garam Jalebi, fafdiya (farsan) and some kachumbar with green chillies.

We got this stuff from Dave Farsan Mart, near Babulnath Temple. The idea is to be there very early so that you can get the fresh, hot and of course if you go there after 9am or so - there is very little chance that you may get anything at all.

Energy Drink - Cloud 9

Tried the new energy drink in the market - Cloud 9. Enriched with Pomegranate this has a little wacky taste. Without the energy additives I think it would do as a fruit juice with your morning breakfast.

Not my choice and I would stick to the Red Bull as my energy drink.

Chatpat khana at Opera House

What: Chatpat road-side khana peena. Bhel-puri/sev-puri. Dosa wala. Sandwich wala. Gole wala and Khicha wala.

Where: Near Babubhai Jagjivandas Showroom (there is also a shut-down Dawood Shoes store) at Opera House. Opposite Marwari Vidyalaya.

What's a Khicha?
It's a papad like thing but made of rice and a little harder. It's used like a pizza base is used and is made tasty by adding tomato, onion, sev, cabbage and masala. Served hot this is a great evening snack.
 

And of course a good evening snack can't end without something sweet so don't miss out slurping out those golas.

Woodside Inn - My choice of a watering hole

On a casual Saturday night wife and me intended to have a drink before we dig into our dinner. Woodside Inn is a place which is close to home but something we had not tried ever since they revamped.

At about 9ish when we entered this little 2 level place we surely had no hope to get a seat ( they just have 3 tables on Level 1 and about 6 on Level 2-but that's more of the dinner place). But that didn't bother us. The place was very inviting, good music and finding some space we sneaked ourselves onto the bar and got our first round of drinks.

We didn't order anything to eat but from what was moving around the dishes looked appetizing. The bar gives you a nice ring-side view of what goes behind making /serving those drinks including how to make those salt-rimmed glasses and serving the wine in chilled glasses. A learning experience indeed.

You could see a few regulars stuck in the corner - somebody reading a book over a couple of wine glasses and the other doing his internet surfing tucking into fancy foreign beer (they have a great collection and I am going to try it on my next visit).

I was very comfortable with the place and we intend to make this our watering hole - and next time have dinner too.

Pastries from 210 degrees

Thanks to good friend Ankit we were introduced to a pastry shop in the Churchgate area - Samrat's 210 degrees. On Saturday I treated the family to some tasty treats from this little place.

On the left is the Swiss Truffle which was tasty but a little dry and recommended eating would be with a scoop of Vanilla ice-cream. And on the right is the Chocolate Mousse Cake - soft and delicious. All pastries sold here are egg-less.

At a time when most pastry shops don't sell anything less than a 100 bucks these are a great deal at Rs.60 or so and there is no compromise on the size or taste. So next time you are around the place drop in treat yourself to one of the many delicacies.

Food of India - So much to eat

There is so much out there yet to be eaten and relished. Incredible India.

Sunday Lunch at Pizzeria

Yes, sometimes I can beat the laziness and help myself to enjoy the Sunday lunch with a group of close friends. So braving the terrible October heat we arrived 20 mins late at Pizzeria while my dear friends, for a change who arrived earlier than us. Thankfully no waiting and we were seated right away.

Leaving the food ordering to the rest of them I made myself comfortable to take in the sights & sounds of a very different afternoon I was enjoying outdoors. Very quickly arrived the "all time favourite" - Bombay Masala, and then it arrived again. It seems we were so much in love that we managed to get two of them - One thin & crisp and yet another with a thick base. If you haven't eaten this one at Pizzeria, you've missed a lot - so next time you eat there make sure you get one of those.

Sorry, but I was too busy eating and didn't end up with a photo of one those Bombay Masala specials. But here is something to get tickle your taste-buds.

Samosa at Punjabi Karachi Wala

Eating out with the office team is always an adventure. About a month back I visited this dingy place called Punjabi Moti Halwai Karachi Wala at Fort in Mumbai.

Now a single look at this place is surely to put you off if you have not read or heard about this place. I went along only because my colleagues had tried and tested it.

What did we eat?
We called for Samosa and Channa Masala. The chutney is salty and watery like a syrup to drink with the dish.

       

Recommended Eating
Samosa, channa masala, chole bhature and lassi (malai maar ke).

Absolutely cost effective place this is popular for executives from area eating lunch or grabbing their evening snack with a BIG cup of tea to wash it down.

Idli for Breakfast

Interesting breakfast items have always been a challenge at home. I can't seem to eat anything heavy and go off to work. So I need something light & easy on the stomach - No deep fry and nothing spicy.

Nitika cooked up this colorful idli made of par-boiled rice and "moong dal" (split green gram). Add spring onion and carrots to it. The chutney is a non-spicy coconut and coriander mix.

This dish was a definite hit and it's being added to my regular items for breakfast.

Maggi Cuppa Mania Insta Noodles

I just finished eating the new Maggi Cuppa Mania Insta Noodles (Flavour: Chilly Chow Yo!). The packaging is good which makes the packet truly mobile. The noodles are hard & flat more like pad-thai noodles but taste good and a bit spicy make it fun to eat.

But what's strange is that when you make the Maggi packet they taste fresh, soft and nice. However the cup noodles feel a bit hard in spite of a good 4 minute of boiling water soaking. Maybe because they don't get the cooking heat into them.

Recommended eating: For a bachelors meal kit, quick evening snack or a mid-night meal. Get some and stock your kitchen because you never know when hunger can call.

Foodie delights from my recent holiday

I am back from a holiday and I thought I would tempt you guys with some updates here.

Singapore
My cousin is in Singapore and he invited us to Holland Village which is supposed to be a local hangout and as such does not feature in most of the tourist guide. This is a rather interesting ONLY pedestrian street full of watering holes and multi-cuisine restaurants.

We shared a bottle of Spy Village Chardonnay 2006 white wine at Tangos. After which we moved to Cha Cha Cha, a mexican outlet right opposite. I ordered the Longansito [Spicy King Prawns with Mexican rice]. It was a hearty meal and we were stuffed, but my brother told me you can't NOT have the chocolate mousse at this place. And boy was it delicious - it was yum!

On our last day in Singapore we were shopping at Vivo City Mall and had lunch at cedele cafe. I ate a Rosemary Chicken Sandwich which was sweet and I don't think I will have one ever again. But it was good to taste the other things one the table - cold pasta salad, carrot soup (I didn't like this) and the wild mushroom soup which was nice.

Phuket
Lunch in Phuket was probably one of the best meals we had on the trip. terrazzo at Holiday Inn is a fabulous beach-facing restaurant serving a wide variety of cuisines. We feasted on the pasta & pizza, thai green curry with a chilled glass of watermelon juice and a decorated coconut.

Written on the drinks menu at terrazzo:
One drinks for two purposes. Either to cure a thirst or to ensure that one is not thirsty.
Prevention is better than cure.

While the family shopped at Phuket's Central Festival mall, I made myself comfortable at au bon pain with a Ice Blended Mocha Blast.

Bintan Island
We were staying at the Bintan Lagoon Resort which has quite a few eating options. The breakfast at Kopi-o had a wide spread of breads. Chocolate croissants, white & brown breads. The live egg station served up some yummy mushroom & tomato omelettes.

After a lovely morning spent at the beach and pool we had a late lunch at the hotel's Terrace Restaurant & bar. The margarita pizza was loaded with cheese. Although the heat was a bit too much to handle I think it was a beautiful setting for the afternoon.

 

For dinner we went to Pasar Oleh Oleh - a little tourist attraction with lots of souvenir shopping and some interesting eateries. At the Bintan Idol Cafe N' Restaurant I ordered for Claypot Chicken which tasted really fresh and nice. The chicken pieces were delicious. The Mongolian Prawns which were fried crispy and although tasty I think fried prawns get a bit difficult to sort out. The onion rings were nice too.

Wow, that was a wholesome holiday indeed - lots of good food and nice fun. Can't wait for my next holiday.

Restaurant Review: Jasmine Moon

Living in South Mumbai sometimes has a downside to it. There are limited restaurants and if you start liking something there is a good possibility that it will shut down soon. And so, every time you want to dine out the search begins for a place the taste buds would have not touched before.

Last Saturday night a few friends decided to experiment a new place called Jasmine Moon located bang in the middle of Colaba Market. The surroundings tend to put you off especially if you land up there during dinner time. Anyways being familiar with the place we all crawled into this tiny triangular shaped chinese restaurant with the center table given to our group.

The asparagus soup was a disaster and trust me I have tasted much better soup in some clubs of Mumbai - Radio Club (next door neighbour) being the best example. The Crispy Mixed Vegetables was strictly ok. Main course comprised of Burnt Garlic Rice (I think the best dish of the night), Tofu in black sauce (nice soft tofu but the sauce was tasteless - no salt, spice). The Singapore styled noodles seemed they were sun-dried before serving and only a good helping of soya sauce with chili sauce helped us eat the damn thing. To spice up things we ordered the Vegetables in Schezwan sauce (extra spicy). I don't know what the chef was thinking but he just sprinkled the dish with a lot of raw red chili pieces and sent it out. Not that the dish would have tasted any better but the chili made even more difficult to push it down the throat with the chili hurting you. In general the food was bland, tasteless and boring if I may call it. The fresh lime soda I ordered to help me wash down the dinner tasted like limbu pani made earlier in the day.

Conclusion: The place lacks a location advantage and does nothing to appeal the diner. If the chef does not do something seriously soon to improve his dishes he is going to be unemployed soon. Unfortunately this place does not even make it my "nice home delivery Chinese place".

Restaurant Review: Mangi Ferra (Juhu, Mumbai)

Having Saturday off from work has it's advantage. One such Saturday Nitika and I decided that we must try and dine at a suburban joint since there weren't many in South Mumbai which we had not experienced already. A few searches at burrp made us decide that it would be Mangi Ferra that night.

Mangi Ferra is an Italian resto-bar settled in one of the by lanes in Juhu. The dimly lit place kind of makes it difficult to read their menu which uses a very fancy font. Although they have a wide range of wine to select from they serve only the house wines by the glass which can be disappointing if you don't have enough drinkers at the table.

We started the meal with the wok tossed mushrooms in cajun spices. A good change over the typical mushroom in olive oil. When ordering the main course I was excited to see the Ratatouille on their menu. I had never had this and to be honest after watching the little mouse movie I wanted to surely taste this one. We ordered the vegetarian dish and it was served with some tasty corn polenta. If you've never had this, go ahead and try it the next time. The pizza capricciosa was a regular thin and crispy - nothing special but nice.

It's a rather popular joint and weeknight reservations are recommended. A pricey place where a meal for two will cost you Rs.500 per head and that's no alcohol included.

Choco Fudge Fantasy at New Zealand Natural

If you are a chocolate freak, you're going to love this one. It's Choco Fudge Fantasy available at New Zealand Natural Ice-Cream in Atria Mall, Worli.



What's got into it?
Chocolate Dutch, Chocolate Mud Caramel, Chocolate Fudge, Chocolate Caramel, lots of whipped cream, chocolate crunchies showered on the top with nice chocolate sauce and a chocolate stick to lick on.

It could have been made a little more colder by larger scoops of ice-cream but then aren't we getting greedy there. They have a Double Scoop Sundae (Rs.130/-) and Triple Scoop Sundae (Rs.170/-) on offer. Go get it, that's what I am going to say for this one.

Eggless Strawberry Muffins

Nitika made the weekend rather interesting. She baked some delicious Strawberry Muffins. Nice, very nice.



Recipe courtesy: Madhavi at My Veggie World.

Review: Falafel's Veg Humus House

There is a new place in town - Falafel's Veg Humus House. Located opp. Regal Cinema in Colaba, this one is a small place with limited seating capacity and kind of cramped up so ideally not recommended for a group of more than 5-6. As the name suggests it's a Veg place so don't expect the kheema and chicken falafel's you may have been used to in other fancy places.

What did we eat:

• Original Falafel - Recommended. Huge, tasty and satisfying.
• Hummus with Hot Mushroom - very tastefully done, not so spicy as the name suggests but well oiled makes it a not-so dry experience.
• Potato & Mushroom Sambusac - Avoidable. had a stale taste and smell, don't know if it was supposed to be like that!

Also recommended is the Tabule but it was out of stock when I went there. And if you are looking for a change from the colas, get the lemonade - nothing great but different. Unfortunately didn't get a chance to taste the desserts.

Conclusion: A nice place serving some decent lebanese food, moderately priced and makes for a good evening bite or a quick dinner plan. Limited veg items may tend to get boring if you happen to go often.

Free home delivery from Lamington Road - 2301 8000, Gowlia Tank - 2386 8000, Colaba - 2283 6000.