Mumbaites favorite hang out.

The energy,the food, the noise, the light and the glamour makes this place a favorite place for many of us in Mumbai.

Their signature drink the Irish coffee is something we all look forward to have when we are there.

The food is consistent with authenticity and a few fusions. The one fusion dish that i personally got excited about was the paratha stuffed with paneer and pesto, the dip that came along was salsa and melted cheese. Different isn’t it?

We had too much food to mention and all the dishes were awesome. Service was excellent even though the place is crazy and crowded.

Prithvi cafe is more of a concept and a must do when you are in n Mumbai. So go on and leave your footprint there.

An addition to the  vegetarians delight.

Other than the typical south Indian vegetarian restaurants in Chennai, I can count a few that have good multi cuisine vegetarian options.

Pakwan surely is a strong contender in this segment.

Every dish had a distinct flavor and was made to perfection. My personal favorite was the momo’s and the crispy corn fry.

The main course had good mix from risotto to Sizzlers to our own roti subzi.

The desserts were well balanced and not too sweet.

The mocktail counter was very colorful and lively, but I would have loved to have fresh fruit juices to be added to the mocktail, the over sugared syrups tastes very artificial and too sweet.

The decor is tastefully done. The private rooms for get-together is nice and luxurious.

I definitely would recommend Pakwan to my friends, specially my vegetarian friends who do not have many options.

Zeal Skybar at Vasai, Mumbai.

Who would have imagined the in the middle of nowhere, we could find a treasure. This is what I would call this place.

At night the view is absolutely stunning it overlooks the back water!

The food and drinks are par excellence! We had a drink with baileys and Khalua, this drink is served in a shot glass and needs to be had layer by layer. I personally loved it.

Since I was there after a big lunch, I decided to go only with the starters and dessert. Both the starters we had was made to perfection and the presentation proved that I ate it with my eyes before it touched my taste bud. The cigar role and Mini tacos were not only tasted yummy but looked yummy too!

The sizzling brownie with ice cream stole the show. super soft, super yummy and super sizzling with chocolate sauce.

Time for Mumbaites to look beyond Borivali and for fun time!

Malhar Tribes is a heaven for non-vegetarians (not sure how it is for veggies, since i did not try anything veggie)

Right from the welcome drink which is  Sol kadi (Kokum in coconut milk) to the Gadbad that was the dessert, I personally enjoyed every dish.

The mixed seafood soup was a good start for the whole big adventure we were going to have. The Seafood thali had everything I could think off, from crab to prawn to mackerel to crispy golden anchovies (Mandeli) to clams.The clam Pulusu was a new addition by the chef and it went very well with the neer dosa. The Clam sukka was typical mangalorean and a little spicy.

Going on to the meat. The brain masala was well balanced with perfect spice. The nalli  masala was exceptional and the Paya went well with the hard dry bread.

What was different and unique was the beetroot appam topped with bulls eye and chicken sukka. This dish was different and surely won my heart!!!

Way to go Malhar Tribes team, keep up the good work!

Kanafah also spelled kunafeh or kunafah is a Middle Eastern cheese pastry soaked in sweet, sugar-based syrup. It is a specialty of the Levant and Turkey.

My way of making the Kunafah with the ingredients available here :

Ingredients:

1 Packet of Long brown sevai ( I found this in Nuts and Spices)

1 packet of Amul Mozzarella cheese

1 Cup of Milk

1tbsp cornflour

1 ½ cup sugar and 1 cup water for the sugar syrup

¼ lemon juice

Few drops of rose water

2 tbsp butter

Chopped pista or almond

Few strands of Saffron

Method:

Soak the sevai in hot water for 2-3mins. Drain water and keep to cool. When cool massage with butter and leave aside.

Take sugar and water in a pan and cook till you get 2 string of sugar syrup. Add lemon juice, rose water and saffron.

Make milk custard by adding corn flour to milk and stirring continuously to avoid forming lumps. When thickened add rose water and leave to cool.

Baking method:

Take a baking tray and grease the base with butter. Divide the sevai to two portion. Take one portion and place it on the greased pan, press it lightly so it sticks well to the pan.

Pour the milk custard on top of the sevai evenly. Sprinkle all the cheese on top of the milk custard, place the other portion of the sevai on the cheese and press lightly. Garnish with chopped almonds.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 30-40mins.

When baked evenly and brown from top, remove and leave to cool. When cool with a spoon evenly spread the sugar syrup on the baked kunafah.

This dessert is not very sweet and can be enjoyed by all.

HighMix Mocktail Bar is at a quaint place opp Shree Mithai off Spurtank Road. This all veggie place has some awesome mix of Mocktails, crepes and waffles.

We tried quiet a few of their dishes since we were four of us. In the mocktails list we tried the  HighMix spice mocktail, which is their signature mocktail. This was the best of the lot. The Bar man’s special had a good mix of guava and kiwi. The Pinacolada was good too. The Saffron mocktail was too sweet for my taste.

The corn and cheese crepe was good with good amount of juicy corn and cheese. The lasagna was a bit of a let down, but since they are still at the soft launch stage they were open for feedback and agreed to improve the lasagna.

The Orange bee waffle and the chocolate vanilla crepe were very good.

Total bill Rs. 1686, this is without GST, since they have not yet got their GST number.

I am surely going again to check on more of their menu items.

Persian food at Ayna – Hilton, Chennai.

Persian food is seen as mother of mughlai food. If you love mughlai food it’s time to taste the Persian food, you will understand the shuttle flavours of Persia.The food that was served to us were exotic and made to perfection by chef Rahman.
We started with the soup.
Mourgh- Chicken & Chicken stock simmered with saffron & potato. This has a very strong cinnamon flavor and I personally loved it.

The non-veg starters has a variety of choice right from seafood to poultry to meat.

Non veg starters
Kebab Maigo Zafrani – Tiger prawns wrapped with saffron, lemon, olive oil & yoghurt. Huge prawns, tenderly cooked to perfection.
Mahi Ye Aflatuni- Fish with chopped scallions, pomegranate & orange juice. I personally did not like the dish and the flavor of the fish.

Joojeh Kebab- Chicken tikka marinated with saffron, wine vinegar, onion & curd. The chicken was laced with subtle flavor.

Mourgh Koobedah- Chicken Kebab, marinated with ground black pepper, garlic & saffron. This one was like any other normal kebab, nothing to write home about.

Kebab Koobedah- Traditional Lamb Seekh Kebab, mince marinated with ground black pepper, garlic & saffron. This one was one of favorites. The saffron flavor made this dish majestic.

Kebab Chenjeh- Grilled lamb chunks kebab of Irani Cuisine. The flavor in this kebab was distinct.

Shammi Ghushti- Lamb patty,Traditional shammi kebab of Persian cuisine. Very close to the shammi kebab we find in mughlai kebab

The veg starter for a change was very exciting too!
Veg starters
Zaffran Paneer Kebab- Cottage cheese marinated with saffron, pistachio & olive oil. The saffron flavor stole the show when wrapped around the soft Juicy paneer.

Gharth Tanuri- Farm fresh mushroom simmered with olive oil, Saffron & ground spices. Mushroom taken to the next level.

Felafil Abadan- Fried patty, Chickpea & potato with capsicum cumin. This was not one of my favorite, as I have had better ones and in the streets of Dubai.

Khubani Shammi- Shallow Fried patty, Potato shell stuffed with soft apricot. This was an exotic and different combination,that blended well and this truly excited my taste buds.

The main course has a variety of dishes you could choose from. Both veggies and the non vegetarian can savor the flavours.

Non veg mains

Magu Dopyaza- Prawns Simmered with Potato, Onion, lemon & Tomato

Kaliyan Mahi-Fish simmered with coriander, fenugreek, garlic, black cumin.

Khoresh Zereshk Morgh- Chicken and barberry stew with a rich taste of tomato & onion. This dish was slightly sweet and was not my personal favorite.

Khoresh Bademjan- boneless Chicken with eggplant, tomato paste, saffron & split chick pea

Khoresh Kalal Badam- Lamb simmered with almond & black barberry. This was my favorite dish, loved the succulent lamb with perfect blend of spices.

Khoresh Fesenjan- Lamb curry cut with Pomegranate & Walnut.

Vegetable Mains

Paneer Fasenjan- Diced cottage cheese simmered with pomegranate, powdered walnuts, mild spices.

Khuresh Bamiyan- Okra stew, onion, garlic, tomato & split chick pea.

Khuresh E Bademjan- Eggplant, dry milk, onion, walnut & saffron. The flavours of saffron gave a twist to the humble eggplant.

Khuresh E Gharth- Mushroom simmered with green peas, potato,salt & pepper

Makhlout Subzi Jat- Fresh seasonal vegetables cooked by ethnic Persian hands.

Dal Adasi- Black lentils (Whole Masoor) Concocted with Potato, Sumac Olive Oil. This Dal was par excellence, even better than an exotic Dal makhani.

Dal Hormozgan- White beans tendered with tomato gravy, Dill & garlic.

Pulao-Lamb Pilaf with Traditional Orange Flavor, Pistachio & Almond.

Bagli Mourg Polo-Basmati Rice & Fawa beans Simmered with Dill leaves & Saffron. In the rice choices this one clearly stood out.

Bademjan Pulao-Persian Pilaf, Flavored rice with Saffron, Sliced Potato &Eggplant.

Adas Subz Polo- Bengal gram pilaf, cooked with pistachio &seasonal vegetables.

Breads

Naan E Barbari (Irani Taftan, Topped with Poppy & Sesame Seeds)

Naan E Kirmani (Irani naan, flavored Herbs)

Both the breads truly proved a masters hand a work. The best bread I have had n Chennai so far.

Desserts

Halwa Takhmemorg- Egg halwa made with milk & nuts (Non Veg). The egg smell was totally camouflaged and it tasted like milk. I liked it.

Halwa E Sheer- Milk, Cottage Cheese & Nuts. My personal favorite was this dessert that was subtle on flavor.

Pudding Phirni Gulab- Milk & Rose Petals Pudding.

In all a royal lunch, when one puts the food ambiance, service and presentation put together.
This festival is open from 21st July to 30th July. Give your family a royal and exotic weekend.

A dozen of us flocked this place on a mid weekend for lunch.

We had made reservations and wanted our food to be served at 1pm.

The menu consisted of three varieties of Thali. Veg Thali, non-veg Thali and seafood Thali. We opted for the non-veg Thali. This had chicken, mutton and fish.

The ambience was amazing, the service was par excellence. Presentation of the food was picture perfect.

We started with the mutton soup and starters that consisted of neatly presented chicken65, sundal and curd vada. Followed by the huge royal Thali that had mutton gravy, chicken gravy and many vegetarian varieties, curd in earthern pots and butter milk. The highlight of the Thali was huge pieces of king fish fry. This also comes with idiyappam ( string hoppers) roti, tamrind rice, plain rice which can be had with sambar and rasam. Mind you all this is unlimited.

The desserts came in cute little bowls that were perfect for one person.

If you want to savour a good spicy southern Indian meal. This is the place to visit.

I make decent parathas, but rolling the parathas with hands instead of using the rolling pin has always been a dream for me.

Ingredients

For the dough:

2 cups wheat flour 

Water as required (do not make the dough too hard, will means use a little extra water)

1/2 TSP salt

2 TSP oil.

Mix all the above ingredients, make a ball, cover with cloth and leave aside.

For the filling:

200 gms paneer

2 medium boiled potatoes

Salt and black salt to taste

1/2 TSP jeera powder

1tsp chilli powder

1/2 amchur or dry mango powder

1/4tsp garam masala powder

Few corriander leave finely chopped.

Mash up the above ingredients and make balls and leave aside.

Method:

Take a portion of the dough roll it to Puri size sprinkle some oil or ghee, dust some flour and keep one ball of the paneer masala on it. Cover the masala ball with the dough and start spreading it with your fingers gently ensuring that the paratha and the masala inside is spreading evenly.

Take a pan and shallow fry the parathas. Drizzle ghee or oil on both sides.

Yummy parathas ready to be served with curd and pickle (optional)