thehungrybird

Nocturnal (Biryani247!)

Posted on September 16, 2017 by Pratyasha

The Hungry Bird’s back and cheeping! If you look at this blog closely, you will notice that the last time a food blog went up, it was quite a while back. Post June 2016 after starting MBA, my food tales here have been okay, kinda dismally low and the experience and standard – just not whip-out-your-pad-and-start-scribbling types. This is where I miss Hyderabad. And if you know me, I don’t do things unless something’s so darn good or evokes a total reaction from me. With that being said, I’d kinda like to introduce my peeps to this sudden new online ordering website Biryani247.com. During my internship in Mumbai, I loved being hyper busy for two months and hanging out with friends in the spare time and ordering in excellent food very late in the nights.

As a typical student, not just restricted to B-schoolers only, we can totally get the last part. I mean, we want great food, not always at 8 PM in the night but probably at 12:00 or 1:00 AM – or even 3 AM. (Hey anyone remembers that solid Thai Curry and Jasmine Rice at 4 AM in Mumbai – so deelish with friends all around). While we are at it, we want to be able to choose from a huge array, whether it’s a Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad, or Malaysian Chicken or even well cooked Mushrooms. Also, we’d like a home delivery service that has no faults. Whether you are at the Old Campus or New Campus, as per Raul’s philosophy, hey, equal and fair liberties when it comes to food options. And that’s how Biryani247 struck a chord in my heart. And there are very very less options in Bhubaneswar if you factor in all the above points. Super Late Night deliveries – check. Huge array of food – Check. Excellent Customer Service – check.

From what I’ve checked, the website’s a new food start up by the restaurant and serves a mean array of dishes that recently expanded its home delivery range. You go to their clean, efficient website, literally play around and shop for food, build up your cart, give it your details and choose any form of payment. If that doesn’t work call them up, order and go PayTm or COD or whatever. I’ve been ordering from this brand new place for two days continuously at different times, so I think I am entitled to review how it all is. No?

And they don’t have your typical items only. No, this place can make and deliver great wraps, salads, soups, Thai curries along with dry fried keema, sumptuous vegetarian starters and Tandoor delicacies. And not to mention – 5-6 types of Biryanis.

What I am about to show here, or write here might either warm the cockles of your heart or terrify the living daylights out of you, because you will be witnessing what a monster (or monster(s), two if I am counting Parul) orders. Well, End Terms were over, I’d not gone out in weeks, have been religiously working out since god knows when and that particular day, we were done with an ICSE styled Project Management term paper.

So when Parul went – Anyone up for Biryani247?

I was all Me, Me, Me. Let’s go shop for food.

And SHOP we did. I do hope my parents don’t read this fully now. We went a bit crazy. Two of our guy friends ordered a modest biryani for themselves. But have a look at what we got for ourselves, just the two of us (and we polished off everything, okay? – we just have big appetites and a pretty good metabolic rate):

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If you’ve recovered from the shock and want to read on further, this is what I ordered again the very next day – coz well, I was hungry. Again. Judge all you want brosss 😉

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I preferred to call ’em up to place my order, because that’s easier and sometimes that’s how I can predict how the customer service will be. To my happy surprise the guy on the other end of the line was perfect and extremely efficient. “Yes, we can customise your dishes – the way you want it.” “Yes, no worries you can Paytm when the delivery guy reaches the hostel” “Yes, we deliver to both the campuses in less than an hour” “Yes we have every dish on the menu”.

I was mentally singing ” Angellllll ” by Taher Shah.

So anyway, when the order came in, the perfect packaging again struck a chord with me. I’m a stickler for food being treated good if it’s travelling a long distance to reach its desperate people. Right now, I’m usually a semi-messy person, but I don’t like cold food that hasn’t been packed well – and then you go searching for spoons and all of that. No they took care of everything – including putting in saunf packets with the order. Cute.

Each and every dish was so well cooked and smelt great, and I’m not even kidding when I say there was almost nothing to complain about. Oh yeah, our gates close down by 11 PM so me and my friend had to get up, walk all the way to the main gates and get the package in.

It was very hard to point out my absolute favourites but I’d say that the Chicken Tangdi Kebab Biryani, Mughlai Paratha, Malaysian Chicken the mushroom dishes kinda stood out. Next time I’m only ordering the latter with some plain rice – and that would create heaven for my tastebuds.

I honestly have no idea if this place and the deliciousness and the convenience of it all has managed to go viral, but I totally think it should. 3.7 rating on Zomato only as of now? Excuse me?

For vegetarians and non vegetarians – bliss right here guys.

Good things come to those who wait

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Pratyasha

First of all, a dozen hugs to Pooja, who recommended this place. And we all, the hungry bozos that we are, were all “Yeah, why not”. Cafe Italiano is a spunky, cluttered, uncafe-like cafe that we decided to “grace” with our noisy presence. I initially thought that this was a bistro with air conditioning and waiters who’d wear uniforms and hand you menu cards. Oh boy. It was cute, but slightly run down shack with self service and only about a few people at the counter. But then most of the foodies had given it a 4.00 on Zomato and that totally intrigued me. That meant there was something more to it, beneath all the drab facade. Checking out restaurants is a lot like checking out people. < Puns intended.

So, in we strolled and snatched a couple of menus and got down to deciding what to order. That sucks, ’cause I don’t order A dish for myself. I like to get three. And maybe a dessert. And maybe a frappe in the end. I cannot thank my stars enough for having Deepshikha around. Others may raise eyebrows and what not, but she’d never. It’s all casual for her. Like, I say “I’m going to go get 6 packets of chips and 25 cupcakes, be right back”, she goes, all unblinkingly “Haan, me too, hold on, I’ll join you”. She and Srushti already know that it IS possible to eat whatever you like, whenever you like, sweat it out and that they all go so well together. Much love.

Back to the topic, Cafe Italiano looks a little run down, but that is the only minus point to it. Because when the food starts coming, in the form of well-toasted fat sandwiches, subs so stuffed with goodness that they look like they’ve been fed with steroids and botox, cold coffees with royal treatment you forget all the little blemishes that the cafe may have. And then you dig into the food. And dig in some more.

I think it’s safe to say that five of us ordered ALMOST everything on the menu. It was a shame that the brownies weren’t available or we would have piled them on to the list too. Out of everything, I loved the sandwiches.Toasted to perfection, stuffed with happiness and made the best crispy noise as you bit into one.And let me tell you, Cafe Italiano does not hold back. Oh no, the sandwiches are stuffed till they are bursting and they come with very sophisticated tomato and mustard squiggles on the side. Everything else was sumptuous. It was a good day, with the erratic rain and shine, competition launches, meeting friends and talking all kinds of “bullseeet” with the other friends. Food blogs aren’t food blogs without food, so here it is.

The Punjabi Factor

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Pratyasha

Aw, the hungry bird’s cheeping after a while.

Anyway, a group of us went out on this LONG let’s-check-out-Bhubaneshwar trek very recently and though most of us can’t quite feel our legs anymore, we do certainly have immense feels for the food that we ate.

Narula’s Restaurant is a pretty little place, located in Ashok Nagar and it’s easy to locate this badass out. Doling out some (well, more than some) mind blowing dishes, Narula’s has like a rating of 4.0 on zomato and tell you what, I’m not surprised in the least. Initially I did feel that the service was slow, and the music was too low, but it picked up pace and as the food arrived, we kinda forgot about it all.

The menu was spunky, a punjabi affair, with dishes like “Aloo ki Nazakat”, “Jugni Musallam” and what not. While I’m not too sure what the vegetarian gang ordered, I remember trying out their Hara Bhara Kebab and a Stuffed Paneer something and both were yum, to put it simply. Us hardcore non vegetarians went for the Pahadi Chicken Kebab, Patiala’s Special Chicken and a Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaarh Chicken. (Haha, it’s Raarh, actually).

Everything tasted top notch, with Butter Tandoori Rotis as the vehicle. A very special mention goes to the Patiala Chicken for being so sexy. Shredded chicken cooked in a medly of spices and folded into a large omelette, that was drenched in a creamy gravy – you couldn’t get better than that. You just couldn’t. Needless to say, we ate like pigs. Decent ambiance, kickass dishes, like-minded foodie friends all around you. Wouldn’t you?

pic credits to some new friends who were very very patient 🙂

Narula’s Special Patiala Chicken

Good-ie day to you (Review on Snackishq)

Posted on May 22, 2016 by Pratyasha

When it comes to food connoisseurs, experimenting with food is very important and also, the BEST part of being a food fanatic. I remember this one incident when on TV, one of my idols, Nigella Lawson, was reminiscing about her vacations, and she said that she doesn’t collect souvenirs from different countries. She in fact, buys the local food and snacks, to take home, and that, in my opinion is one of the best ways of knowing a country, it’s culture, and carrying a part of it with you.

Snackishq is trying out something along those lines, and their products would delight people who enjoy relishing new and different munchies sourced from every corner of India, (Without leaving the comfort of their homes) in a pretty assorted box, that changes every month. I have nothing against travelling, but the truth of the matter is, it’s not very easy to snag a trip out to so-and-so place, abandoning other things in the process. Unless of course, your work entails travelling and writing and eating. In which case, I am super jealous of you.

Coming back to the topic, the peppy Snackishq concept is the brainchild of some dedicated, food-loving and food-sharing people who have been working on this for almost a year. Every box has a combination of some of the best eats from India and none of them have a supermarket vibe to it. In the sense, you will find sweets, savouries and other quaint (and for the most part handmade) non- perishable snacks in modest amounts from some well-loved local places that have some history attached to them. And why this is so important? Umm, let’s say you’ve never had biryani before and you’re up for it. Would you rather eat biryani from a random generic food court or get a sample from the very city of its origin, that too from a most loved establishment? I guess that’s what they are trying to do.

I was very happy to have received a complimentary Snackishq box of assorted eats, and after trying out the products, I have to say that each and every snack in the box is of a very high quality and is delicious. What’s great is that, the assortment of products change every month, so you’re always given a nice surprise. I received – SKS Badam Halwa from Coimbature, Ellora’s Stick Jaws from Dehradun, Kayani’s Shrewbury Biscuits from Pune, Jouzi Halwa from mana Hyderabad, Banana Chips right from Alappuzha, Kerala and Caesar’s Chocolates from Kodaikanal’s Manna Chocolate Factory. Was very satisfied with the taste, though I have to increase my workout duration now 😛

Nice concept, cute packing and well curated products – I’m sure this venture will go very well. Looking forward to the day when you guys have international snacks onboard as well. All the very best! 🙂

Newton’s Law? Every buffet has an anti-buffet

Posted on May 8, 2016 by Pratyasha

I’m not kidding. I’ve heard of antipasti and anti-this and anti-that, but never have I heard of an anti-buffet. So what do I do when I get a delicioso opportunity to try out a special weekday anti-buffet at one of my favourite places that happens to serve my favourite cuisine? I say yes, thank you and head over to Mamagoto on the 28^th of April for all the pan-asian goodies that they dole out to eager, hungry little foodies like me.

I love all the #bloggerstable events. It always means fabulous food (on the house), excellent service, meeting fun people, indulging in great conversations, having something great to write about and the best thing is, you aren’t judged if you are completely psycho about good food and new food experiences. I remember this one incident when I was telling my friend about Tinder. I told him, I don’t minding swiping right if the profile picture consists of people posing with burgers/food or dogs. Got such flak for it. I’m sure my foodie buddies would perfectly understand. And my mother would. If she’s reading this. Haha. No, chill I don’t use Tinder seriously at all, Ma.

So, back to the topic. Shout out to the host, the quirky ambiance, and the nice group of people that I enjoy conversing with and most importantly, eating with. The anti-buffet at Mamagoto is a special weekday affair, with a very nice buffet-slash-a-la-carte thing going on. I mean it’s LIKE a buffet, a plethora of fragrant dishes, with every dish customized and cooked then and there. Get it? I think you just did. What was so nice about all of it was that, no dish felt boring. I guess when you cook really good stuff, and serve it up fresh and hot, put many such bowlfuls on the table, there’s scarcely any room for disappointment. As always, I love describing each dish and so, here we have it – some of my favourites.

Khow Suey –Loved the Khow Suey when I’d gone to Mamagoto for the very first time and loved it now as well. Utterly comforting, beautifully textured with fried onion, peanuts, chillies and spring onions, this Khow Suey was creamy but not too creamy – just right.

Veg/Chicken Dumplings–I’m the ultimate dumpling fan. Love the silky casing with the warm filling inside. These dumplings were really good, but so very delicate. I tried to pick it up, couldn’t. 😦 Beautiful play of flavours here, though.

Satay Chicken–Ah, the Satay Chicken with Peanut Sauce. How can one resist this? I’ve had some really good Satay Chicken at equally good restaurants and they all taste slightly different – the wonderful kind of different. Guess every restaurant puts it’s own spin on this classic dish. The chicken here was soft and tender with a great after taste. Absolutely my kind of food.

Stuffed Grilled Mushrooms–One word. Sumptuous. The softest mushrooms, still strong enough to hold in all that cheese and other flavourings were a hit with me. If you were in a GossipGirl series, in some gala, I’m sure these would be served around as the perfect hors d’oeuvres.

Thai Crispy Vegetables–For the love of all that is battered, this should be everywhere, every time. I’m a huge fan of battered goodies, and the little vegetable pieces were coated in that perfect tempura batter that I love so much. They were super crispy and did not feel unhealthy in the least. (I delude myself). This dish could be friends with everybody.

Fried Fish with Fragrant Chilli Sauce–I love seafood more than anything. The little crispy fish nuggets were cooked in a chilli based sauce that had great flavour without the excess heat. Sometimes, the fiery red chilly can ruin a dish for you slightly, but this did not. Not in the least. BIG thumbs up to the dish 🙂

Teppanyaki– The teppanyaki came in Chicken and Veg versions and you could choose your very own sauce from Ponzu, Hibachi and Sesame. My Chicken Teppanyaki in Sesame sauce was brill. Great presentation and a great combination of flavours. I hope they include a Prawn Teppanyaki in the buffet menu someday. *_*

Fish in Toban-Djan sauce–This was a part of the main course. Again, good flavours. Went so well with steamed rice. The gravy was cooked well and the fish was succulent.

Konjee Crispy Lamb– This could have been a tasty entrée actually. Crispy lamb dishes have always been on the top of my food lists and this tastes as good as it sounds! K-O-N-J-E-E.

Prawns in Red Curry–The prawns were a tad over cooked, but gravy was beautiful, emanating mouth watering aromas. Eaten with rice, this would soothe you well if you’re having a bad, grumpy day. Easily one of my very-liked dishes from Mamagoto.

Thai Green Curry–I used to snort when people use the word “bae” and all, but I take it back ‘cause I now know what feelings arise when someone says it. Thai Green Curry from my personal viewpoint is one of the easiest, versatile, tastiest, soulful and the most Asian-ey dish that I have come across. I have had many versions of this classic curry and they are all like different beautiful covers of a great song. So, yes. Thai Green Curry is my bae. Bite me.

I also enjoyed the Peach Ice Tea and the Spicy Lemonade that helped clear my palate and was very refreshing. There were several other dishes, like Chicken Wings, Kung Pao Potatoes, Stuffed Potatoes, Schezwan Chicken in gravy etc that tasted good, but the ones that I’ve specifically described were a notch better. Much better. The restaurant was pretty crowded and I can see why now. A huge pan Asian buffet with dishes cooked RIGHT then and there, very reminiscent of Asian street style food joints. And perfectly priced. Who wouldn’t be wowed?

Happy, Fizzy world

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Pratyasha

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When Snow White’s mother wished for a child whose face was as white as snow, lips as red as blood and hair as black as ebony, she knew what she was talking about. Red, white and black together have created some famous characters, or rather, beverages. Hint: totally talking about Coca Cola. This spiky, fizzy drink has been around for decades in almost every part of the world and goes with just about everything.

So what do you get when you combine this most loved brand with an equally popular brand that is known for its fine dining (Ohri’s)? You get Coca Cola Happiness World. Yes, that’s the name of the pretty bistro at PG Road, Sindhi Colony, Hyderabad that dishes out some pretty good eats in the form of shakes, mock-tails, pastas, pizzas, nachos and sizzlers.

I had a fun opportunity to be a part of the bistro’s one-year-anniversary event on the 17th of this month along with other hardcore foodies/bloggers, where we sat down for an evening full of good food and music. The restaurant had a cheerful, party vibe to it that day and Red and White were the most dominant colours. The whole place I realized, is like a shrine to Coca Cola in form of Coca Cola themed place-mats, framed pictures and some very nice live singing (Coke Studio!).

I have been to this establishment twice (thrice, if you’re counting this visit), and the first time I’d come here was when it was called as Eatmor and served all kinds of vegetarian chaats, shakes, pastas, sizzlers etc. But it was all vegetarian, though everything tasted pretty great. The second time was about three weeks back, it was like 2 in the afternoon and the service wasn’t too great, though the sizzlers tasted very nice. So, when I was invited to this event, I was intrigued as to what would be new this time. And I was very pleasantly surprised. The ambiance was that of a festive, happy one. Good food just kept on coming. And coming. And coming. The menu was huge and all of us enjoyed ourselves to the hilt. Anyway, here’s the menu!

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Here’s what I liked, in smiley ratings of course :

Classic Frozen Coke and Frozen Fanta – I’ve never had these before. They were like slushies, but with Coke and Fanta and it was all very refreshing. Will be a great hit during the summers. Honestly, I don’t really bother with the seasons much. So I’m guessing that they’d be a great drink during the winters too, when everything cold is more than welcome. I give this 3.5 🙂 out of 5 🙂
Mexican Chilli Nachos – I’ve always been the Nacho girl. Love ’em, and love all the different dishes that you make with them. It’s no wonder that I really liked this dish. Beautiful, golden, cheesy nachos, still warm, served on a small bed of lettuce. It was a modest portion and if you were to finish all of it, you’d be comfortably full. 4 🙂 out of 5 🙂
Chilli Cheese ‘N’ Toast – These were the slightly glamorous sisters of your basic cheese toasts. Overall a very good flavor, and were thickly anointed with cheese and spices. Too heavy, but what the heck. 4 🙂 out of 5 🙂
Chicken Tenders – I thought it was crumb coated Fish and I was enjoying myself until I realized that I was eating Chicken. Probably I was still in the frozen coke trance. Anyway, the Chicken Tenders were very tasty, almost like chicken schnitzels (but bullet shaped) and I went for second and third helpings. Salsa and sour cream dips were everywhere on the table to accentuate flavors. I give this 4.4 🙂 out of 5 🙂
Dreamy Durban Chicken Sizzler – I’m a huge fan of any sizzler. This was a huge affair with vegetables and spaghetti and well cooked chicken pieces on the top. Though the flavor and the texture of the chicken was very good, it was a little too hot. Had it not been that spicy, I would have enjoyed it better. 3.5 🙂 out of 5 🙂
Loaded Cheesy Fries – Who doesn’t like potato fries? From a personal point of view, I would have liked the fries to be more ‘loaded’ with cheese. 3 🙂 out of 5 🙂
Non Vegetarian Mac and Cheese – Good regular macaroni in white sauce served with chunks of spicy bite sized chicken pieces on top and some bread on the side. I think I quite liked the flavours. The flavour of the chicken was unusual (with the mac and cheese) but unusual never means bad. Yes? 3.5 🙂 out of 5 🙂
VIO’s Kesary Magic and Almond Pista Delight Shakes– VIO is the milk brand launched by Coca Cola recently, and we got to taste two of their flavoured milk products. I liked the latter quite a lot and the milk was very resonant of the pista flavour. 3 🙂 out of 5 🙂 as I am not into milkshakes much. Love savoury things :p
‘Tadakta Bhadakta’ Frozen Coke – Trust me, this tastes just the way it sounds. Most of you have had Masala Cold Drinks and this tasted like a frozen, more spicy version of that. This Frozen Coke was served in cutesy clay cups and had good, over powering flavours that cut through all the cheese that we’d been having lately.
Bull’s Eye – This was like a HUGE chocolate cake and a lava cake at the same time. Was served with some good ice cream. Dark, moist and chocolate-y, with the cool ice cream complementing the rich cake taste, I was in a happy chocolate heaven. If the dessert kingdom had a Khaleesi, this would be it. Looked so extravagant and powerful. Haha. 4.5 🙂 out of 5 🙂
Minty Water Melon Ice Cream Bomb & Alphonso Fusion – I was TOO full by the time the ice creams arrived and could only manage a few spoonfuls of each. The ice creams were soft and creamy and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to finish up dinner with something sweet and cold. 3 🙂 out of 5 🙂

All in all, I had a great time. We met the Chef and the Head of sales, indulged in some great food, clicked away and immersed ourselves in fun conversations. The goodie bag (picture given) that was given to all of us, was an added treat. It had personalized cans of coke (okay, Coca Cola), monogrammed aprons, cookies and the most exquisite chocolates. Also, we were gifted the special CC contour glasses that I’d always seen in the Cola ads and had been coveting. Shout out to the management, the host and the gang of foodies for this event. Another shout out to the singer that night, who sang soulful renditions of some great songs. Your fan base just increased by +1.

Wokay. The Hungry Bird is signing off now. Happiness World indeed. 🙂

Come Rain Come Shine

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Pratyasha

The only time I dedicate a blog post to a particular food establishment is when I’ve fallen head over heels in love with the kind of food they serve. And what better time than now (1 in the night) to write a piece about one of my current-favorites – Season’s Xprs. I know that this restaurant was around a while back, but I started my munch tales there about 3 months ago. The person I’d like to thank for leading me to this fine place? Moi.

I’m a hyperactive person and I hate sitting idle for more than 30 minutes. I joined MAD and Blue Cross of Hyderabad for Dogs because, duh, they are one of those organizations where you’ll be guaranteed a scrapbook full of great memories, and I wasn’t disappointed till date. Also, I did not want my weekends to be completely free. And since I love walking and taking a random bus back home once I wrap up with the volunteering activities, I get to notice all nice little bakeries and what-nots along the way. Do I stop at each of these places for a grub? Absolutely. And that’s how the Season’s Xprs, a brand new outlet in Ameerpet, caught my eye. First of all, the management is extra cordial and extra sweet. Secondly, the menu boasts of a wide range of munchies – from falafels and grilled chicken, to ‘Zinger’ burgers, mock-tails and shakes.

In the past few weeks, I’m not sorry to say that I’ve tried almost everything off their menu, save the mojitos. Such was the frequency of dine-ins and takeaways, that when I called the guy after a week to place an order, he told me he had been wondering why my tempo wasn’t the same the previous week. #Gluttonswag

Oh, and Season’s Xprs has a cute little eating place upstairs, done in a chic and clever way so it does not look cramped.

Without further ado, Let me tell you about my favourite eats from this nice joint and what actually is yum-mazing and what is pretty decent

Shish Touk Rolls – A pretty simple, but delicious Pita bread Roll stuffed with tender chicken and salad with tartar sauce. The filling is wonderfully fresh, and actually feels healthy (I delude myself)
Fish/Chicken Zinger Burger – Again, they do not feel heavy in the least. Taste super fresh and non-greasy. If they can serve the burgers with some crisps, I should be happy. Very happy.
Chicken Seekh Kebab Roll – The Seekh Kebab is quite juicy and moist and comes together well with stuffed salad and mayonnaise, all wrapped up in a soft pita bread.
Season’s Fried Chicken – Regular Fried Chicken but cooked and crumbed perfectly with finger licking spices sprinkled. I rate this 5/5 for the portion sizes, VFM and above all the taste that never seems to bore you. This, by far, is my most ordered dish.
Lebanese Grilled Chicken – Holy Schmoly. You can see the picture below. It blew me away ‘cause this was something I wasn’t expecting at all. It makes you feel like king as you eat it. And the chicken is absolutely tender and melt-in-the-mouth, but good god, so damn filling. ~~I ate this like a baby pig. No, an adult pig.~~
Pizzas – The pizzas are strictly OK, though the Value for Money aspect is good here. No qualms about the taste, except more toppings would have been welcome. I mean, the last time I ordered a Paneer 65 Pizza, it was too cheesy. And I’m not into too-much-cheese. (Pun intended)
Water melon Mojito – Very, very refreshing, though could have been a little less sweet. They have about 7 other mohitos and choc o lava cake and shakes, that I yet have to try 🙂
Veg Falafel and Chicken Shawarma – They certainly make a great eat when you are ravenous. Definitely not stunning, but they taste pretty good. J I’d recommend these as an appetizer before you can go further.

So, there you have it, folks. Season’s Xprs. Churning out amazing and ultra fresh eats since god knows when. Thank you for bumping into me, Season’s. Should I go for my MBA this June, I will miss you and the city a lot.

The Gag Files

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Pratyasha

I could wax eloquently all day long about food and good food experiences and more. I’ve never been an anti-food kind of girl. In fact, when I was a total fresher (as in, a toddler), I was always a dutiful child, happily eating everything and anything without even an iota of theatrics. Safe to say, I’ve had a nice long relationship with food. But I think I’d like to pay a homage to some kinds of food that were absolutely horrible. Here’s a small list of the terribles. (kept anonymous :p )

Manchurian Potato Curry – Miss X made this out of a recipe book and the first time she made it, it turned out really good – so good that I remember taking four helpings to eat with parathas. X was super pleased and made a HUGE vat of the same curry twice and thrice months later. I don’t know what happened. Her curry #2 and #3 smelt like raw ginger in cold oil, with about a dozen nigella, mustard and fenugreek seeds per square inch of the dish. Needless to say, it was gag-worthy but I ate my bowlful to not hurt her. Worst part is that she still claims I was probably acting out for no reason at all and that she’s going to make the curry very soon.

Unhealthy Corn Flake Bars – They do sound good, don’t they? Like Granola Bars, only more crunchy. Miss Y, is one of my good friends, and I just realized that I have a big bunch of very good friends – No singular best friend at this point. 😥 Oh, well. So, Y had THING made out of cornflakes, butter, icing sugar, condensed milk, M&Ms, milk powder, cocoa powder – all mushed in until they got rock hard and then she cut them into bars. They were super chewy, and super-super sweet. So sugary that you couldn’t make out anything or anybody else. And I can’t stand food that’s way too sweet. Later that evening, I went out on a 2 hour long jog. Sorry, Y!

Murgh Gulabari – I had this at this very glitzy, very swanky restaurant. We all fancied some good old Indian Khana and my far-off relative said that he would like to order his favourites if that was okay. Ofcourse, in came this beautifully decorated dish and it smelt like pink roses and perfume. Not into roses, but I wouldn’t have any qualms with a dessert that smelt like the above. You wouldn’t want something spicy and pungent to smell and taste like roses and rose water as well, would you? $:\$ I think not.

4.”Special Biryani” – Going to Puri (I clarify, the beach, because I’ve encountered a lot of illiterates when it comes to basic geography) has always filled me with sheer joy. There’s much to see, eat and buy at a leisurely pace. So, I went there recently with a large group of my near and dears and we stopped at this well known restaurant that serves homely and yet delicious Bengali food. Of course, Miss Z would choose Biryani over everything. The wait for that biryani was excruciating and poor Z was sitting hungry. Dum-dee-dum. Biryani was served finally and it looked resplendent. A closer look determined that it was convered with a bed of fried mustard, fenugreek, nigella seeds and rose petals. Yes, fried rose petals. And the whole dish was sprinkled with rose water and bits of saffron. Biryani gets the spa treatment. Alas, our taste buds did not.

5. Sprite Curry – Mrs. W cooks so well. I love her simple, no-fuss curries that are so comforting by the bowlful. Infact, I am very partial to her Soya Chunks and Potato curry that tastes like a dream. There was this one time, when she poured in an entire bottle of fizzy Sprite instead of water, and even after realizing that she’d added something weird to the dish, made us forcefully eat it and claimed that it tasted good.

6. GOGONUD Stew anyone? – Haha. This is a very popular inside joke amongst my sisters. I’m not too sure if the eldest knows about it, but my three very special girls and I had the first hand experience. It was honestly not a big deal – just me and the three sisters at a far-off relative’s house. The relative in question comes in with a bowl of steaming idlies, yummy looking chutney and a steaming of bowl of…..something. Have you ever tasted coconut oil in boiling milk, that’s been cooked for a very long time? The Steaming Bowl of Something tasted like that. I LOVE idlies and chutney, but THAT BOWL was scary. To top it all, we four were teenagers and pre-teenagers and were very conscious around that relative and couldn’t tell her anything, so we maintained a heroic face while drinking the stew, amidst short bursts of giggles. Want to know something scary? She used to pop into the room every 5 minutes, to remind us to finish EVERYTHING on the plate. With a stern face. As if we weren’t already too stressed out. The next time I play Truth-Or-Dare with anyone, Imma make you drink that concoction up in one go and watch your face turn purple and green and everything.

7. Quick Chocolate Milk – I’m surprised at how well I remember all the specific tastes and situations. Actually, not very surprised. I have the memory of an elephant and it’s funny, that I remember a lot of things that people don’t even expect me to remember. This was back when I was a kid. Miss Q was home with us and was babysitting us. She’s one of my favourite relatives. She made us some hot chocolate in the evening. It was a simple affair – Warm milk with a piece of melted Cadbury chocolate in it. I know it sounds good but she put the chocolate pieces on a steel spoon and put the spoon right on the flame, and after 10 seconds she put that spoon with the now-semi-burnt chocolate right into the glasses of milk to stir it in. The chocolate milk tasted NOT good, tasted metallic and burnt. I can still remember the taste.

And thank goodness, that’s about it. Phew.

puke

Foodplay

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Pratyasha

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I will truly go to food hell, if I miss out on a few utterly wonderful restaurants where I’ve had a great time eating, talking and more eating. I’ve always had a thing for the wild, quirky and yet earthy – and Mamagoto is all this and more. The name actually means – ‘to play with food’. Unless you are someone who lives, walks and talks food, you will not be able to appreciate the level of beauty and poeticism in this humble name. But that’s okay, you’re normal.
As you enter this cute establishment, you’re hit by the fact how simple and yet spunky the décor is. And then suddenly, you can see kitschy and quirky splashes of colour and adornment here and there. Almost feels like a fun playhouse. I see what you did there, Mamagoto. 😉
It was a special event that day. The pre-launch of the restaurant to be precise. I was pretty excited to be a part of yet another foodies meet up here (courtesy one of the biggest food groups of Hyderabad).
The best thing ever? To have a large, super pretty menu handed over to you by a courteous and a busy looking waiter so you can order absolutely whatever you like – and the food just keeps on coming, guys. #Every foodie’s favourite thing.
We all tried and tasted A LOT of dishes. A LOT. In another world, I would probably say what an embarrassing amount of food I’ve eaten and I’m such a pig, but nah, not here. Very proud of it and supremely happy to have tried out beautiful and interesting creations from Mamagoto’s kitchen.

What I’ve had and really liked (with my comments, if you’re interested 😀 ) –

• Vegetable Basil Cups – Great party snack and not so hard to make, now that you think about it.
• Crispy Chilli Potato – Potatoes are always FTW.
• Honey Chicken with Bell Peppers– Soft chicken with stir fried bell peppers have always been my love.
• Rock Shrimp Tempura with Ponzo Chilli Pepper– Battered non vegetarian stuff. Need I say more?
• Shrimps with dry red chilli– Seafood. Need I say more?
• Beach shack Soya Garlic Robata Marinade with Mushrooms– Never had these kinds of velvety mushrooms before. With the bundled asparagus rolls, the dish reached a new level of posh.
• Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce– Peanut Sauce. YUM.
• Grilled Fish with Thai Herbs– Thought it would be bland, but it was succulent and so feel-good.
• Traditional Peking Dumplings– Wonderfully aromatic dumplings with a fried ginger topping in chilli oil. Or, I THINK it was fried ginger. The most gorgeous dumplings I’ve ever had.
• Street Style Dumplings– ^ whatever I’ve written above. Increase the yum factor by 30 more points.
• Green Bean Salad / Thai Chicken and Water Chestnut salad– The night before Mamagoto happened, my cousin suggested that I try this out. And try I did. Refreshing, with a nice play of textures, from the soft chicken, to the crunchy chestnuts.
• Chiang Mai Train Station Noodles– Came in a HUGE bowl, with a lot of adornings on the side to be sprinkled on top. It looked like a rich, creamy curry, albeit it was a little too sweet for my taste.
• Fish/TenderLoin in Black Pepper Sauce– One of the best dishes after the dumplings. Crispy fish with a spicy black pepper sauce. Heaven.
• Mama’s Homemade Chocolate Cake– A HUGE slice of rich homely chocolate cake that I ate greedily. And I say that I don’t have a sweet tooth. Bwahah. Whattey fake.
• American Chunky Caramel Sponge Cake– Ditto. This cake had zero icing (the kind I like), and had that burnt caramel flavour resonating from it. It was served with hot caramel sauce in a pixie mug separately, to be drizzled on top and of course, ice cream.
• Coconut and Palm Sugar Ice cream– Was pristine and humble looking and helped me out of the food high that I was in.

So, as you can see. I did not eat much(!). Also, I do not have pictures of all the fabulous dishes. But that happens, when you’re busy eating and have little patience to fiddle with your phone. Especially when a canine has cracked the whole phone screen from top to bottom.

Planning for a nice cam soon so I can click away at spectacular looking food, pets and all the weird wonderful things in general. Wish me luck! And no, I won’t call myself a photgrapher or something. Relax.

Rooftop charm

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Pratyasha

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There’s a reason why people say TGIF. There’s a feeling associated with it. And that feeling keeps you rejuvenated and refreshed no matter how tired you get at the end of the day. When this state of mind is elevated even further, by spending a fabulous time with fellow foodies at a breezy rooftop bistro, sampling all forms of deliciousness – you know you have a great night in store for you. And what’s more, you can sleep till whenever the next day without too many excuses (If you’re lucky).
So, I went to Up The Bistro with a group of foodies on a fine Friday night (13th Feb). OMG, just realized, it was Friday the THIRTEENTH? Anyway, a good friend of ours was the host of the evening and he’d invited us to try out the restaurant’s specials in the form of a pre-set menu. I was half grinning like a Cheshire cat when I got the invite.

*Drum roll* Come Friday, and I reached Up The Bistro. It was a wonderful breezy night with the perfect temperature and a pretty nice ambience. Totally set the meet-and-greet-and-eat mood. Meet and greet PEOPLE, eat FOOD. Just so we are clear. It was a fun time though, meeting new people and bumping into quite a few foodies that I’d met before. Oh, and karma is a *female canine*. I took a nice seat that would ensure I got the first dibs on all the drinks and entrees that were to reach our table any second. For eating and clicking (A highly impossible feat due to the dim lighting and my recently broken phone). But no, Dharma productions did not direct my life with perfect situations coming into play. We all wanted to sit together and asked for tables to be connected and it so happened that I found myself somewhere in the middle. Boo me. But I wasn’t too disappointed; I ate like crazy. So did others.

I had Mocked Champagne and Passion Fruit Delight for drinks. Mocked champagne was nice, fizzy and fruity and Passion Fruit Delight would have been solid, had it been less syrupy, taste-wise. I’m thinking – lots of ice, mint, and soda with only a tiny hint of the passion fruit flavour would have been fab.

The soup – Chicken Tom Kha Hed, was warm, velvety with a slight coconut and lemongrass hit – sumptuous. Coming to the starters, I am only going to mention my favourites. The Malai Broccoli was a beautiful amalgamation of bite sized broccoli florets, cream and cheese. I’m going to try it out at home, post snaps of it, and eat it all while you guys watch. :p The next entrée that I really liked would have to be the Pesto Prawns. Loved the mild tang and the flavour of basil, and the fact how they were completely married with the flavours of the prawn. The Mylapore Fish Fingers served with two dipping sauces were very succulent, warm and crunchy – reminded me of Kolkata’s epic Fish Fry. I’ve loved such kinds of fish goujons for years and will continue to do so, till I die. The mushrooms and paneer entrees were tasty and moist, without any chewiness. The style with which most of the dishes (such as Murg Mirch Tikka) were presented were fun and innovative, although it could improve and be a trendsetter someday. Up The Bistro also had hookahs in various flavours and a decent live band for us (Cornerstone was the name of the band, I believe). I don’t do hookah really, so cannot comment on it. Shall leave that to the experts. 😉
I was too full after the huge array of starters (haven’t mentioned most of them here – only my favourites) to eat all the main course dishes. We got a good variety of vegetarian and non-vegetarian Indian gravy dishes to relish with some good Naan. I must say, the Mughlai Korma and Paneer Ki Daal were pretty delicious.

After dinner, we were served three to four desserts, Blueberry Cheesecake being one of them that I absolutely liked. I don’t have a sweet tooth at all. If someday, a guy I like asks me out for an ice cream or something, I’ll pass on that. I have to. The only sweet treats I can manage are a) Kit-Kat b) Cakes without icing c)Chocolate flavoured granola bars and d) the newest – cheesecake.
I am deviating from the topic again. Anyway, I got to eat only the cheesecake as I had an errand to run and had to leave early. Missed out on a couple of touted-to-be-epic desserts.
To sum it all up, Up The Bistro has a lot going on for it. They have interesting food concepts, hookahs, good presentation skills, nice décor and the live band aspect. I enjoyed thoroughly there, even though the food wasn’t absolutely spectacular. The ambience made the whole experience fun and chilled out. This new bistro can certainly up it’s ante with respect to service and food and it won’t be long before UTB is the talk of the town. Cheers.

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