Sunday lunch at Carnivore

Carnivore is the famous restaurant in Nairobi which serves a wild variety of game meats. They call it the Beast of a Feast offering meat of ostrich, crocodile and camel roasted over charcoal and carved at the table.

For many years they served probably every kind of meat you could find in a jungle; but since 2004 things have changed and meats of Giraffe, Zebra and some others are now not available there.

At this Sunday lunch, we were a mixed bunch - A few who wanted to eat every meat available, Me - who wanted to try just a few and then some Herbivores who wanted NO meat. So we choose to sit in the area which offers the ALL YOU CAN eat meat offerings which is a fixed price and they serve both veg and non-veg meals.

They called him the medicine man

Dawa

A pumpkin soup and some DAWA wet your appetite before you attack the massive meat offerings. After the server has placed the mountain of sauces & salads, the FLAG is put up - indicating you are now ready for the meats.

Sauces & Salads

Soon the carvers start appearing and bring the many meats. So, what all did we eat? I stuck to chicken and lamb and tried the ostrich meat balls which was nice. I really liked the leg of lamb BUT didn’t enjoy the chicken gizzards, preferred the usual Chicken Wings. I tried some Turkey for the first time and liked the taste of it.

Carver

All in all the meats are very well cooked and it was much edible than I had thought.

If you think you’ve had enough, its time to put down the flag so that the server can clear up your table and bring in the desserts. Lots of variety and after all the tasting - my choice was the best - Choco-Chip Blondie.

Black Magic Gateaux 

Choco-chip Blondie

Before you call the bill, enjoy the afternoon and get yourself some Kenyan Coffee to close the meal.

They call it the Hell 

Carnivore has a wonderful ambiance. Wide-spread, you have the option for both indoor and outdoor seating. Make sure you book a table since they are busy on weekends. The service is prompt and they let you sit easy and relish your meal without being pushed off.

Saturday Lunch - Dal Tadka, Potato & Capsicum with rice

This morning I woke up with no weekend plans. Of course there is the movie watching, reading, lazing and a bit of work if the mood is right. But the day needed some more excitement. 

So I decided to treat myself for a good lunch. And the menu was set - Dal Tadka, typical potato and capsicum ka sabzi just the way I like it and rice.

For Dal Tadka I checked online and used this recipe

For my favourite sabzi I checked with the ladies back home. Of course I also had to take some guidance on how to go about the pressure cooker operation, which was a first for me.

The Dal Tadka had some black elements floating in it - My guess is the onions were overcooked. So need to get them off earlier. Also I don't know why it couldn't get the nice yellow colour. Maybe needed more turmeric powder. 

I think a good attempt made and some new skills added to the bachelor cooking.

Anokhi Cafe, Jaipur

A must do on our list when we visited Jaipur. Thanks to our local cousin there, we of course weren't going to miss this one. It's actually a little cafe attached to a store popular for it's block printed fabrics. A major attraction for the French and English who love to dig into the organic offerings at this quiet little place.

Dishes are limited and offerings are not many. You've got to be there in time because most days they are all cleaned out for the day by 4PM.

Penne Arbiatta - organic as it can get, nice fresh basil leaves to bite into. tossed in olive oil. but could have been a little more spicier.

Three bean salad - crunchy and a dieter's delight.

Mascarpone Cheese Cake - yum, just dig into it. And ideally order/pick your dessert choice as soon as you get there or else by the end of the meal you might just have an empty shelf to stare.

Falafel - a little dry, but the dip is delicious with it.

Also must have the Aubergine Pine-nuts Feta cheese pizza and try the Ginger Soda. For exact location see the website - Ankohi Cafe.

Restaurant Review: Corriander

This afternoon my colleague and me decided to beat the Mumbai heat and step out for lunch. He took me to a place I had not tried before [and it's a shame considering it's 100 meters from our office]. Corriander is a little eatery located just at the foot of the flyover opposite Kamala Mills, Lower Parel.

Healthy food is what they promise to serve. There is no a la carte service and you gotta pick from among the 3 offerings - Executive Lunch [Rs.75], Value Meal [Rs.60] & the Light Meal [Rs.45]. And there is some other nick-knacks like lassi, papad, meetha etc. But at 1.30pm they had run out of quite a few things by then.

I choose the Executive lunch which comes like a packed meal - 2 sabjis, dal, roti, rice, papad and butter-milk. And this is the most power-packed meal - the rest are all lighter versions made out of this offering. And as per their brand promise - the food is healthy. Limited use of oil and masala, healthy sabji like dudhi and palak on the menu. I saw that the menu changes everyday which is good if you wanna be a regular. They also offer tiffin service - call them to find out more.

The place is really small so don't think of going there with your office gang. It's a place for a really quick meal on the run with a max of 4 people.

Corriander
Madhav Bhavan, B-Block, Shop No. 6, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai
Landmark: Opposite Kamla Mills Compound
Phone: 65176902

Apologies for not having any supporting images for this blog post.

Bites of Mahabaleshwar

A holiday is not complete if you are not eating more & something different than what you eat back home. A recent trip to Mahabaleshwar with friends was all about that - eat, eat some more and just eat.

Strawberry Den (in the market)
Ideally strawberry preparations are served good in any of the places in Mahabaleshwar, but we seemed to like this place in particular. He seemed to make his mixes with total focus and the right amount of ingredients. The milk-shake and strawberry+cream are a must haves. While at this place you must also try the french fries.

Hirkani Gardens
After strawberry if there is something you should not miss there it is the corn dishes. Have the corn pattice, corn roll and a meal will give you corn sabji and roti also. We tasted the corn dishes on previous evening at Hill View near the lakeside but seem to prefer this place for it's taste and quantity servings.
The place also offers you a chance to walk through their plantation and pick your own strawberries. But we missed it because we reached there after sunset.

When in Rome do as the Romans. So when if you are surrounded in a Maharashtrian hill station what better way to start your morning then to bite into some local breakfast dishes. We had the kande poha, upma, vada pav, misal pav and some tea to wash it down all. The lal watery chutney served with the misal is an atom bomb so eat at your own risk.

Hotel Panorama
Order whatever sabji you want to, but don't miss the parathas - huge, buttery & fluffy, they will leave you with a stomach full & satisfied having such a rich preparation.

Olive Garden at The Brightland Resort
A rip-off, a freakingly expensive place this lunch outing kept us wondering what we paid so much money for. At an approximate cost of Rs.900 per head (no alcohol included) we thought this place was not just worth the price tag. Thankfully the food was nice and that was the only comforting factor. Maybe it was just our experience, but would love to know what other's think about dining in here.

Can't wait to travel again and enjoy some more food delights.

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.

Lunch @ Not Just Jazz by the Bay

The first Saturday of a lovely monsoon was indeed very interesting. For a change the lazy me decided to take the better half out for a buffet lunch at Not Just Jazz by the Bay - her favourite. This is a very proper Soup, Salad and Sandwich place - which to me is not all that satisfying, so I felt all this time. But my visit here changed my opinion. For about Rs.250+ taxes (per person) this is indeed a worthy lunch. For soup we had the corn chowder with a bit of tabassco this felt nice on a rainy afternoon. The salad bar is awesome when it comes to choice. Of course the vegetarian fare is large but the non-veg eaters too get a good choice of tuna, chicken and ham. After the salad which you surely can't finish in just one round so I suggest taking a few more of those, you can then move on to order your choice of sandwich. I picked the Honey Mustard Chicken grilled sandwich which was a nice choice over the regular chicken tikka. By the time I finished the sandwich I was FULL and realised this is not such a light meal after all. I was expecting a lot from the desserts but there was only the chocolate mousse which I thought should have been a little more cold. So I think they could have done a bit more interesting stuff on the desserts.

Verdict: Recommended for a lovely lazy afternoon. It's a bit loud so don't expect a lot of sweet happenings as the tables are also very close to each other. Large groups should avoid this place because you would be a little disturbing to those around. Is typically filled with couples, ladies and a few random office colleagues.