Make You Happy

Hi... this post comes after another long silence... but with great news.

There's this lovely site that I want to tell you about. Its called "Make You Happy" and you can find it at http://www.makeyouhappy.org

This is a site where you can make lists of things that you want .. for any occassion, be it your birthday or Christmas or a baby shower... You can share this list with your friends so they know exactly waht to get you. They can reserve things on your list that they have decided to get for you. 

I think its a wonderful idea.

Lets use it this festive season and spread some cheer...

Happy wishing everyone! :)

Reasons for the silence

Hey... After a long time....
couple of reasons for the silence... a. Our office moved to Turbhe (read.. wilderness) No more lunch outings! b. I'm on kind of a diet... trying to lose the extra 2-3 inches!
Therefore, there has not been much activity on the restaurant hopping front!
Until last Thursday, that is.....
We've been doing a bit of explorations in the Vashi-Sanpada area!
Couple of disappointments... Bombay Blue/Noodle Bar at Center One seems to have disappeared! And as we just discovered today, the Kobe Sizzlers place at Sagar Vihar in Vashi closed down almost 6 months back!!!
So lunch on Thursday was at The Creek at the Abbott Hotel in Sector 1, Vashi.... very good food... great ambiance. For once, there were new vegetarian Punjabi dishes on the menu (or at least they had new names). I had the Veg Ujala... rather yellow, but very nice. The Sesame Veg Seekh Kabab (the zero-oil variety) was amazing as well. All in all a very satisfying afternoon..

Today was another story! After the Kobe episode..we were quite dashed! Couldn't really look for new places so we decided to go to Chenab for Punjabi food again. Its right above where Kobe used to be and we've been there a couple of times before a few years back, but we did remember that it was pretty good.
But this time round..... um i guess we would bring our rating down by 2 stars from the original 3.5! Service was slow, the electricity went off (not really their fault), few flies were bothering us, food was only OK. I had the Veg Biryani and Raita. Can't really go very wrong with those! But the Gulab Jamun was horrible, yes... horrible! And it all took very long!

On that note... I hope for some yummy sandwiches for dinner at home :) Can't wait!

Cheers, people.....

Lunches and Dinners Galore

So yeah, I've been so busy eating out that I didn't have time to write all these days....
Some highlights:
We had dinner at Caravan Serai, Bandra. I give it 11 stars out of 10! Absolutely brilliant Indian food. If someone offers to take you there... follow blindly! Slightly heavy on the wallet but all worth it.
Then there was dinner at Golden Orchid, Bandra... with kids and all... Great food (this, coming from someone whose not much of a Chinese food fan). But the best part was that they gave us a room of our own that could hold about 12 people, so we didn't have to keep shushing the kids or anything. Great experience overall!!
Hmmm lemme see now... too many places to remember.
Street food... Not to miss frankies at Quality Store on Linking Road, Bandra.
Had some Sev Puri at Ram and Shyam in a little by-lane in Santacruz.... He's really famous there.
Then there were the tempting Dosas at Manju Dhosa on 16th Road, Khar (This is the new look of Mani's Dosa)..... Awesome as usual.
I think I've eaten out this month more than I've eaten out in the past year!!! Unbelievable.
Oh yeah... there was a lunch at Subway sometime in the middle... I was thrilled to see a Veggie Patty listed in their menu... but alas, they only had the Aloo Patty for me.... Have yet to come across a Veggie Patty in Mumbai's Subways.
Then one day we get home Sandwiches from Sandwizza in Santacruz Market. Was totally impressed by the professionalism of this little shack on the side of the road. Their packaging was amazing..... Truly international quality. The sandwiches are obviously absolutely amazing as well.
If I've missed something I'll come back and write it.....
Till then....
स्वादिष्ट खाना (Svādiṣṭ khānā) (As www.omniglot.com translates Bon Apetite in Hindi.... he he)

Lunch at Spice Tree

March 29, 2008. 1:30pm. Spice Tree, Hill Road, Bandra (W).
Or should I say Price Tree! Great food, but a wee bit overpriced. Loved the ambiance on a slow Saturday afternoon. Could watch the match (India vs SA test) on a little screen in a corner. Curious thing about the paintings... they were custom made, and each of them had the red chilli symbol of Spice Tree inconspicusously placed somewhere.
So, about the food then...
I had a slight cold and was craving hot soup, so I got the usual Cream of Tomato, which turned out to be just what the doctor ordered!
The Vegetable Kurkure were nice and crisp and were polished off by us in no time...
For the main course, I got the Vegetable Makkhanwala and Lachcha parathas, and G got some Manglorean Chicken which was not on the menu. They served that with Appams.
The lachcha parathas were worth more than a mention. Dripping in butter but awesome all the same.
We could not save space for desserts, plus we had to get back to work...
So till next time....
Guten Appetit!

Lunch at Red Box

March 21, 2008. 1:30pm. Red Box, Bandra (W).
Mmmmmmmmmmmm..... still smacking my lips and rubbing my tummy. Oh! Amazing food.
The menu was overwhelming in itself! Cuisine of the world. Everything from Lebanese to Italian, Mexican and what you will. It was really tough to decide what to get and what not.
We settled for Hawaiin Punch (the waiter called it "Haiwan Punch"), Falafel, Tuscany Bread, Salata Horiatiki (the waiter suggested another one though), Spaghetti Bolognaise for G and Baked Vegetable Mornay for me.
Hawaiin Punch: really good... not as sweet as it usually is.
Salata Horiatiki: Should've listened to the waiter! Did not expect it to be so full of cucumbers, tomato and onions! Pass!
Falafel: very good... a little dry.. could've have done with more sauce or Hummus or something.
Now the best part:
Tuscany Bread: this is a kind of Bruschetta with Tomato, Mozzarella and spinach. Wow! The bread was just right and crisp. The six big slices vanished from the plate in no time!
Spaghetti Bolognaise: This was definitely a hit. G evinced his approval by licking the plate clean! Comments like "Wow! This is amazing!", "This is the best spaghetti bolognaise I've eaten in a while!" were flying around. He said it was slightly spicy but that was good, and it wasn't even as spicy as the Arabiatta we had at Little Italy.
Baked Vegetable Mornay: Oh, I can still taste the divinity! Carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, baby corn in a white wine cheese sauce, served with fries and rice... Quite sinful, absolutely memorable. Great fries too.
Would have loved to try desserts, but you think we'd have any space left after wiping everything off the plates?
Great ambiance. Friendly people. Steeply priced, but worth every paisa.
5 stars, two thumbs up or whatever top most rating you want to give it.
Bon Appetite.

Snack time at Yokos

March 19, 2008. 7pm. Yokos, Santacruz (W).
The kids were out at the park, so thought we'd grab a sandwich somewhere...
The ideal time to go to Yokos is before 8pm.. no queue.
Thought the sizzlers were as tempting as ever, we resisted and called for a Russian Salad Sandwich for me and a Hamburger for G. They were ok and quite good (with a crispy patty) respectively. But the fries that came along..... oh! to die for. They're by far the best fries I've eaten in the past 7 years. Will make sure we take Adi there for the fries.
Iced tea: Could taste the tea in it for the first time.... :) It was good as usual.
They have new menus now, with brand new prices! G says he remembers having a sizzler at Yokos for Rs. 65, about 17 years ago. The same sizzler is now close to Rs. 350! So there.
Happy snacking...

I've found my calling!

After all this time.... I know what I want to blog about....
Its food. I thought since we go out to eat soooooooooo often, why not write about what we liked and what we didn't... so here goes.

Hello World!

The usual Hello World for Blogging.... will be more garrulous soon