Naked Pizza opens in Nairobi

Much acclaimed across many other countries, NAKED PIZZA finally opened its first store in Nairobi at the end of 2012.

Last night, Nitika and I decided to try it out. One line review: Different and nice.

A quick check on reviews and 4square tips you know that something you surely need to try is their famous Superbiotic pizza. The first bite and you know this is not the pizza sauce and mozzarella loaded typical standard offering. A delight for your taste buds and the parsley makes it yum.

We also tried the greenhouse. Not bad.

Greenhouse pizza at Naked Pizza, Nairobi

It would have been nice to have ended the meal with a little dessert. Maybe some cupcakes or little chocolate pudding. But they don't have anything on their menu. Don't know if that's an international standard.

Oh yes! they don't serve any ketchup or mustard sauce.

They focus a lot on delivery so the outlet isn't very big but yet manages to seat about 40 people.

NAKED PIZZA is digitally very active, so if you want to know something before you order or go there give them a shout.

twitter: @nakedpizzakenya
facebook: nakedpizzakenya

They also have a loyalty program in partnership with Niko Happa. Every 3 check-ins get you something NAKED. Sadly, all the scan does is make you send a pre-set SMS. Nothing fancy.

Their first and only store is in Westlands and I really do hope they come closer to my place for us to be able to order a lot more pizzas. 

Bandra Ride: Moshe's & San Churros

It's said that an empty mind is a devil's workshop but in my case it becomes more of a foodie. For reasons, that I shall not get into here I have been off work for a while and have been enjoying the "me time". And a part of this free time has also been trying to satisfy various food cravings and dining at some interesting places. 

So we picked Thursday Night for a drive to Bandra and meet a long lost and soon to be married couple friend. Sancho's had been the second choice and after learning about the 45 mins wait, it remained second. Moshe's the first choice was picked and we took the rickety elevator [we called it the world's fastest] to the 1st floor where Moshe's is located. This outlet is a little more spacious than the one in Cuffe Parade. It doesn't have the outdoor seating but in this summer heat I am not sure if that's to be missed. 

I always enjoy dining company who take on the responsibility to order the starters and make good recommendations from their previous experiences. So we started the evening with some jalapeno cheese fondue and labneh with grilled pita bread. I've not been such a fondue fan, so I think I over-liked the labneh. 

There are some cuisines where sharing is just not happening. You order a dish, eat it by yourself and there is complete satisfaction. Thanks to my 2 month stay in Kenya, I had enough of pasta and I skipped it for something more interesting - the Sicilian Risotto. I would have killed my friend who said it looked more like 'masala khichdi'. ghadero saalo. And I think it was a good meal choice - highly recommended. 

Other dishes which came to the table were - Oven Baked Crepe Roulade, different and exotic. The Corn Polenta although I didn't enjoy the 1 bite, wife said it was nice. The all popular Moshe's Penne was nice as always, said the recently engaged friend's bubbly to-be wife. Cheers! 

The black currant ice-tea was a disaster. I don't know how could they go wrong only to realise I ordered the Fizz rather than an ice-tea. Avoid it. Better stick to the ice-tea.

Service was prompt and although it was a busy evening I liked the fact that we were not being pushed into ordering or completing our meal. I think we sat there a full 20 mins after our meal was done thinking if we should go for the desserts or no. Not because we trying to balance our calorie or sugar in-take but because we had decided to do a short trip to the near-by new spanish dessert/coffee shop - San Churros. 

"Churros" are simple fritters that look something like a big “French fry,” but taste nothing like one. They are the Spanish equivalent of doughnuts. Instead of a ring shape, like a doughnut, churros are long straight or slightly curled lengths that usually have ridges. Eaten while warm and sprinkled with sugar or drizzled with honey. 

From: About.com

So they serve Churros in 3 sizes - 4 6 and 9 pieces with a choice of 3 sauces but you can order only 2. We picked milk chocolate and dark chocolate. The 3rd one I think was White Chocolate. Not the most satisfying dessert so if you're looking for something more exotic and wholesome see the other items like a 7 layered chocolate cake or the huge tiramisu serving. Go for it! 

It wasn't the best season to relish it but the hot chocolate with spice and cinnamon is awesome. Told the wife we must come back on a lovely rainy evening or winter night to enjoy this one. 

San Churros is a delight in a city like Mumbai thanks to the spacious seating area. You've got to order your stuff at the cashier on ground floor and then can choose to occupy the huge comfy chairs and sofas on 1st floor till they deliver your goods. Was a bit noisy, but I'll just blame the vacation time which got all the kids out even at that late hour. 

Pali Village Cafe - Good food in a torn down interior

We count ourselves lucky when we get the chance to try one of the new eateries in the suburbs. And at our rate of trips to Bandra we manage to find a new one every time. This weekend it was Pali Village Cafe.As soon as I tweeted about my dinner plans, they followed me back on twitter.[Pali Village Cafe on Twitter] Interesting ... but the conversation didn't go forward.

Firstly, a big thank you to them for seating us in good time even though we reached there much earlier than our scheduled booking. I think the dry day helped.

For all the popularity this place enjoys I was stunned to see a very rugged, unfinished interior decor of the place. Most of the walls are not even white-washed, forget painted. The wine racks are the ones you see in godowns. Furniture was nothing fancy either. Actually the chair was a stunner.

But I think this is the new taste people seem to enjoy. Anyway, the ambiance was beautifully dim lit and some very interesting crowd walked in and out. A visual delight ;-)

We started with "The Greek Salad" and Pita bread with red pepper humus - yummy and the salad is a must try. The bread basket is nice with some very soft bread slice, sticks and mini buns. I like the butter re-fills which kept coming without the asking. For the mains, vegetarian offerings are limited so while the wife selected the Mushroom and pepper risotto I tried the Grilled Chicken. The risotto needed some spice and I think some chili flakes took care of it nicely. The chicken breast was a good selection, soft and fleshy. Just that the sauce was a bit tangy. A black currant ice-tea was a good choice since we could not try the Sangrias [dry day].

Being a Saturday evening, I want to excuse the rather pushy waiters who were dying to clear off the dishes from our table and get us to the next step as soon as we were done. Would have been nice if they gave us some time to enjoy the experience a bit more relaxed.

The menu is designed for an all day cafe - pizza, sandwich and lots of mocktails/smoothies. But the pastas come during lunch and dinner time only.

Location is a blink and miss, so drive slow once you reach the Pali Naka and look for a cream colour uniformed valet drivers. And that's it.

Conclusion: Not wow if you are a vegetarian so go there with meat eaters, enjoy the ambiance and the wide variety of wine collection.

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.

California Pizza Kitchen at Dubai Mall

Few months back we had a little family holiday in Dubai. Usually this city is known for its shopping havens, but I have always enjoyed Dubai for its massive and awesome food options. Here is one very recommended outlet - California Pizza Kitchen.

We dined at the Dubai Mall outlet and their outdoor seating is lovely. you can see the waterfall and the little artificial lake where the big light & water show happens later in the evenings. The mood is too casual so I think the service takes a bit of hit there. But the food is nice, very nice.

Veg Pizza - nice, cheesy and soft.

Cesar's Salad - Yummy.

They have refills on most of their drinks, but if you want to have something different, try the Signature Italian drink - they don't do refills for it but its DIFFERENT.

View from the restaurant

Villa 39 - Restaurant Review

It was Dad's birthday so we decided to dine at Villa 39 - a new Italian restaurant near Regal Cinema, Colaba. Walked in late but were glad that we were immediately seated. It was a corner table and we could feel that the AC was not as pleasant as in the other portions of the restaurant.

Villa 39 has some great interiors - the grey/silver and white with lots of mirrors really make the place very sexy. It's bright and nice - not that typical yellow diffused lighting. Makes it very interesting.

We were shown our table and I spotted that there were no glasses, no napkins and the candle was not yet lit. Well, maybe they just cleared it out and things would start getting. Only the candle was lit & then we had to ask for water twice ... napkins came in only after the starter was served.

In general the quantity servings I thought were rather poor and it would have been very very helpful if the waiter would have advised us to order accordingly. Of course they did offer to bring in some food but by the time the meal had come we were rather irritated for having to ask for water & napkins over and over again. The food was NOT cold but COOL - so negative marking for that too.

Oh and yes - the meal was waiting on the table for almost a full 5 mins because we were not given our dinner plates after knowing that we had 3 dishes to be shared among the 5 of us. I actually walked to the Kitchen door and snatched the plate from his hand. Felt sick and finally called in the Manager to give him an earful on the bad service experience. And in my dad's words - we were a neglected lot in one corner of the restaurant.

If we did like something it was the fusilli in pesto sauce. The rest I won't bother to comment because you can't just enjoy that overly priced food accompanied with such lousy service.

We refused to pay for the polenta lasagna [it was cold and the server made a khichdi out of it] and at that moment the manager said we had the option of not paying the bill at all. My dad refused and we asked him to revise the bill with just that item less. And I too thought it would be unfair not to pay for the rest of meal when the food was just fine - but badly served.

So I'll you skip the place for a while and see if some good reports come in, then maybe it would be worth the money.

Bellagio Bistro – Restaurant Review

Italian food is a challenge because you might get it everywhere but very few serve it the right way. Even the Udipi restaurants give you cheese & veg pizza with loads of grated Amul cheese on the top. But then you know that’s not the “pizza” you want to eat when you want an Italian meal.

Bellagio is a little place next to Asiatic Library (Fort, Mumbai) which serves some decent Italian dishes. Had been there on my birthday last year and went back again a month ago when they SMSed promoting their new Wine Menu. The menu is although limited at that time, I am sure they will build on it. Also keeping the food prices in  mind I am sure they won’t have the expensive range on offer so soon.

 

For starters we called for the Potato in pesto sauce which I though was a bit too pungent and could get better. The hot stuffed mushroom is nice and recommended.

The 3 grain risotto was interesting because like most other places where the risotto is a dry serving this was nice and sticky. Also have the aglio olio – nice preparation.

The upper section tends to get a bit noisy so if it’s just 2-4 people, the lower section is much more quieter. I have seen the owner around both the times so giving direct suggestions and feedback is a good idea. They also have a dessert counter – some pastries, mousse etc. but never got around trying that bit.

Bellagio Bistro
Botawala Building, 2/12 SBS Road, Opposite Old Customs House, Fort, Mumbai
Landmark: Near Asiatic Library
Phone: 22660066

Under the Banyan Tree - Restaurant Review

UTBT was a chance option on Sunday evening. I think we were early so got a table right away. but by 9 we saw that the place was getting crowded.

The youngsters of the area a bit of nuisance around this place, since it's a very popular teen hangout - they are smoking, laughing away and doing their car skids etc. Kind of disturbing a bit.

Ambiance is nice - but A/C tables are limited, so in humid weather outside seating could be an issue. But a few tall fans threw in appropriate breeze.

What we ate?
Jalapeno cheese fritters - yum. Should have.
Humus with pita bread - not bad.

• Mushroom Pate - yum. Should have. (pic uploaded)
• Mushroom wrap (pic uploaded) - was very tasty but the wrap seems to have hardened after a few re-heats in the microwave, I think.
• Italian Connection - dad says it was nice.
• Pasta in pesto sauce - could have been a little better. very hard boiled, I thought.
• Wild mushroom & thyme Risotto - was kind of sad, I thought. In crude terms - it needed some tadka. Was a bit boring, could have done with some spices etc.

Dessert offerings are limited - not much variety if u are not a chocolate person. The mousse and vodka cheesecake tasted very artificially sweetened. I am not sure if the others looked any better either.

So overall a decent food offering, but service lacks a bit - had to push the waiters around a bit and hey don't jadao too much english poor guys just about manage to understand the dish names - so avoid asking too many extra questions.

For the 5 of us we paid Rs.1200, which was not bad. Of course the servings are just about ok to fill individual stomachs so I don't expect sharing to be really workable.

Recommended for casual dining. Avoid large groups - could get a bit messy.

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.

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: 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.