Month: September 2011

Chettinad, malabari, Mangalorean, YUMMRAJ & Guest Blogger

Swagath – Mangalorean Seafood Specialist (Sector 29 Gurgaon, besides Bikanerwala & defence colony market, Delhi)

Contributed by carnivorous YUMMRAJ & Herbivorous Guest Blogger KRISHNA DORAI

In a nutshell:

Awesome place for some unique & excellent Mangalorean seafood & other South Indian Nonvegetarian cuisines – Also serve very good Vegetarian food

Restaurant website for menucard & other details: Swagath

Cuisine type: Predominantly Nonvegetarian but quite a few very good Vegetarian options as well.

Meal for 2: Rs. 600 onwards

Swagath Dining hall

Carnivorous YUMMRAJ says –

Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:

Though they serve Punjabi, Chinjabi, miscellaneous cuisines, they excel & specialize in Mangalorean Seafood – Rarely served by many others. One of the best in Town or rather the best. Chettinad & Malabari food is also very good here.

Lady fish & Bombil fry are dishes that we order even before the menu card arrives – They are that good & u never get bored of eatin the same stuff. Then there is a long list of fishes, prawns, crabs, squids & multiple cooking options in them. U r spoilt for choice & the food is unique & cool.

U have to mention in case u want ur dish to be less spicy / hot coz some of the curries might bother u otherwise. The staff is very helpful & overall the restaurant is quite a no frills place. …….. Not too costly as well …….. good place to go for a non veg dinner on budget days & also otherwise.

Detailed description: In case u have the time to enjoy reading:

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Bakery & Breakfast

Choko La (middle circle Khan Market Delhi , Galleria Market Gurgaon)

In a nutshell:

One of the best Chocolate makers in Delhi NCR, serves great breakfasts & miscellaneous super cool snacks

a wall display inside the store

Address & other details: Choco La

Cuisine Type: Vegetarian + Eggs

Meal for 2: Rs. 300 onwards

Beamed ceilings, Fans (they have a/cs too) & a very retro decor at Choko La

Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:

First discovered Chokola years back at Khan Market. One of the best chocolate makers in Delhi NCR – The Dark Hot chocolate drink (70% cocoa) is the best I have had in Delhi so far. There is a take away counter like Cake shops, a chocolate counter like the lindt showrooms & also an eatery.

What’s unique about food in Choko La is that they serve very good vegetarian versions of food from different parts of the World…… in addition to being one of the best chocolate related food makers in Delhi NCR.

Was delighted to find that the opened a branch in Galleria Gurgaon. I still have a feeling that the Khan market one is better – the rest are Franchisee run.

A signature product of Chokola, 70% cocoa hot chocolate – now served at Galleria also

In two visits we managed to try some Excellent subtle scrambled eggs, A very good Vegetarian version of Eggs Benedict, Superb layered Croissant, One of the best Lemon Tarts in town, Cool chocolate mousse, one of the best in town Baked nachos with Guacamole , salsa & cheese, a curious Curried coconut & carrot soup, a very average Black Forest cake & a finger licking good peanut butter cupcake.

Colorful Macaroons on display – U can buy them on order

Detailed Description: In case u have time to enjoy reading:

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Asian Cuisine

The Oriental Bloom (Near Bikanervala parking, sector 29, Gurgaon)

In a nutshell:

Pretty good live grilled food – teppanyaki

Restaurant facebook page : Oriental Bloom

Cuisine type: Both Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian but cooked on teh same Teppan in front of u.

Meal for 2: Rs. 1000 onwards

Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:

If u r passionate about food & cooking, u wud love this place – a live interactive grill where the Chef discussed with u & serves according to ur taste. U can surely choose from the options the Chef gives. We loved the chicken salt & pepper , liked the chicken in 5 spice, Lamb chilli sweet bean, super loved the fish in garlic sauce , highly appreciated the Chicken in black bean sauce & finally tailormade a coooool fish. The dessert was excellent.

The Chef stirring off the meats on the Teppan

Overall – a good place to have a cool hearty dinner. I am giving ‘Good’ (not ‘very good’) ranking to this restaurant coz my lamb & fish cud have been better. For chicken lovers, I guess this place is just toooooooo good.

Detailed Description – In case u have time to enjoy reading:

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Review of food sites

Writing reviews on Zomato – a blogger’s perspective

I have been writing reviews of restaurants on Zomato for about a month now & its been a nice experience so far. Zomato is the largest food website in India & that I guess ensures that the readership is huge.

So, after reviewing food in restaurants for months, here comes a review of a food website:

Continue reading “Writing reviews on Zomato – a blogger’s perspective”

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Italian

Tonino (Opp 1 MG Road, Between Chhatarpur & Sultanpur Metro stations New Delhi)

In a nutshell:

Romantic restaurant with excellent ambience & service, serves very good food but not the best in the category.

Address & other details : Tonino

Cuisine Type : Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian

Meal for 2: Rs. 3000 onwards (similar spread as described below) Beverages extra

Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:

Before the food is served, came the breads & a tiny bowl of dark green ‘Olive pesto’……. Simply awesome. For starters we had fairly good calamari aglio. Then came the super thin crust signature Pizza – Provencale (vegetarian) baked on woodfire in a stone oven that u can see in one corner of the Dining Room of the Restaurant. Very good Pizza I must say, especially after we topped it up with some lamb salami, homemade red chilli flakes & oregano. The Grilled sole in Olive oil was good but have had better elsewhere. The Chocolate Lasagna dessert was again excellent with layers of not too sweet chocolate (with a slight hint of salt) amidst a non-fluffy chocolate cake, topped with Vanilla flavored ice cream. Loved the experience overall – Tastes r great but cud have been even better – prices r on the higher side.

Detailed Description – In case u have time to enjoy reading:

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North Indian Snacks & meals

Bikanervala (sector 29, Gurgaon)

In a nutshell :

Pretty Good north indian vegetarian cuisine – jack of all trades masters of none.

Address & Company website: Bikanervala

Cuisine type: Vegetarian

Food for 2 – Rs. 200 onwards

Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:

This is one of the largest eateries in Gurgaon in terms of sheer size. It’s a very good place to happily eat out at low cost & buy sweets as well. I would not say that any of the food available is the ‘best I have ever had’ but almost all are good & surely much better than average. To list a few,poori subzi for breakfast, Ghar wali thali, Speciality Thali, Paneer tikka, Aloo tikki, tandoori platter, pao bhaji, kali daal, Jalebis, select bengali sweets, motichur ke laddoo, kalakand are some of the best that u get in Gurgaon. However, as I mentioned, I have had better in some or the other place (specialists).

They also serve Chindian (Indian version of Chinese food which the Chinese National have never heard about e.g. Veg Manchurian etc), South Indian, Bakery items (bekaar eee) & a lot of good bhujias in pre packs that u can buy over the counter.

Detailed Description – In case u have time to enjoy the read:

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About Food

My notes on Punjabi & Chinese Food in Gurgaon – The most popular food categories

Welcome to the Millennium city of India – Gurgaon. The name Gurgaon is derived from ‘Guru Gaon’ since Guru Dronacharya got this village as a gift from his royal disciples. The ‘Gaon’ referred to above, became a town over the ages & even today the old part of the city looks like any typical Indian small town. It is only about a decade back that the new city was built & this is visually different than any other city in the country with its numerous high-rises & swanky malls.

In spite of having a bombardment of Punjabi food on offer, surprisingly there is not one shop which serves an Amritsari macchi tikka as good as Makhan Fish shop in Amritsar or a Bhuna Baingan & Dal Makhani as good as Kesar Da Dhaba in the bylanes of old city of Amritsar. In case u have had the opportunity to taste the fantastic true blue Amritsari Kulcha on Lawrence Road, Amritsar, u wud hate to swallow down the breaded variety of kulcha that is served at most of the eateries in Gurgaon.

In fact, if u had been courageous to eat at Bajwa Ka Dhaba (opposite Highway King on Jaipur road), then u wud shudder at the thought of eating Punjabi in Gurgaon. I can’t resist telling the story of Bajwa ka dhaba – so here it goes………………………

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north Indian snacks (street food)

OM Sweets – Gurgaon (Sector 14,31 market)

In a nutshell:

Wide range of Superb snacks & great North Indian Vegetarian dinner in Gurgaon – However miscellaneous eateries in Chandni Chowk ,Old Dilli shops r surely better than OM.

Address & corporate website : OM Sweets

Cuisine Type: Vegetarian

Meal for 2 – Rs. 150 onwards depending on what u order.

Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:

This is one of the best ‘one stop shops in Gurgaon for a really wide range of North Indian Vegetarian snacks , breakfast and major meals. It has a ‘stand & eat’ floor & also a ‘sit & eat restaurant’. Some oof the items of OM which are best in Gurgaon – Chholey (with samosa / bhatura) , Jalebi (sophisticated version), Dhodha (second best), aloo tikki (sophisticated version) & tandoori paneer.

They also serve South Indian, Chindian (veg manchurian etc – which no Chinese worth his salt has ever heard of), Bakery (bekaar e), mocktail (do not mock pls) & many such things which they surely r not specialists r these r just fillers for people who like the eatery but want a break from North Indian.

Detailed Description – In case u have time to enjoy reading:

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Delhi, Gurgaon, India, Korean, YUMMRAJ & Guest Blogger

Gung the palace (bikanerwala parking, Gurgaon & also at Hauz Khas Delhi)

Contributed By carnivorous  YUMMRAJ for nonvegetarian &  herbivorous Guest Blogger  Krishna Dorai  for Vegetarian

In a nutshell:

Ur tastebuds will thank u for taking them to this place …… only if u have started to appreciate the tastes & flavors of the Far East.

Gung the Palace

Address & contact details – Google map – Gung the palace

the accompaniments that come ‘on the house’ with anything that u order at Gung

Cuisine Type : Non vegetarian & Vegetarian.

nice decoration at the entrance

Dinner for 2 : Rs. 1500 (without beverages)

Short Description:

At the face of it the dishes sound expensive – Rs. 600 to 1000 but when they r served, u realize there are around 6-8 different, exciting, cool & tasty accompaniments. The tastes, flavors & the whole experience in this place is memorable. We went for the mixed meat grill & to our pleasant surprise, a live grill trolley was brought to our table & we were served the food straight from the grill ……….. awesome.

Detailed Description – In case u have time to read & enjoy:

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South Indian

Murugan Idly – Besant Nagar Chennai

In a nutshell:

One of the best South Indian (Vegetarian) foods I have ever had anywhere…… bad luck they do not have a branch in Delhi.

Address & Contact – Restaurant website Murugan Idly

Cuisine Type: Vegetarian

Meal for 2: Rs. 200 onwards

Short description – In case u r in a hurry:

I had a strange experience with myself at Murugan Idly: My hands just resisted to stop – they kept transporting more & more of outstandingly delicious food to the mouth. The tastebuds wud thank them and ask for more & they wud oblige…… till the time the stomach imposed a curfew on the mouth & oesophagus!!!!!!

Lots of food between three of us – lipsmacking – ‘cannot stop having’ kind, freshly made & served piping hot – Started with soft, flavorful salty Paniyaram after dipping it in gunpowder that has been soaked in ghee. Moved on to super soft & sour idlis, 3 kinds of chutneys that I took 3 helpings each, a thick sambhar, crisp upper & soft inside medu vada with lots of full black pepper thrown in, A tasty Onion Utthapam, rava ghee onion dosa with a never before potato filling and as if this was not enough, a dessert of fantastic ghee-laden full of aromatic flavors Pongal. Honestly, I have not had so much food in any one meal in the last five years!!!!

Detailed description – In case u have time to read & enjoy

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