Beyond Indus - Beyond Awesome

Was here as a part of preview of the Ola Prime restaurant week. I had chosen to dine here for the silliest reasons:

1. I turned vegetarian for two months and I believed if there was any cuisine that would appeal to me, this was most likely to be it. 

2. Forgot to add, not just vegetarian- but no desserts too. I assumed it would be easier to skip desserts when dining at a North Indian cuisine restaurant. A judgement I was grossly incorrect about and regretted when I saw my friend eat desserts like there was no tomorrow. 

About the food:
We were served with paapad and an in-house pre-meal appetiser. This appetiser or chips made from Indian breads was crispy and combined fabulously well with the hung curd-garlic-olive dip. 
Starters:

1. Brocolli Simla mirch or cheesy brocolli
This was well cooked brocolli with a healthy cheese infusion; never tasted anything better made of Brocolli. Loved it! 

2. Lal mirch paneer tikka
Moderately soft paneer chunks with a good spicy flavour. 

3. Hara bara kebab
Not my favourite among the three, but nailed it for sure. 

Main course:
1. Aloo tee wadi da bharta - on a normal day, I would have definitely never ordered a dish with potatoes in it, that too at a luxury diner. But this, is by far (when I say far, I really mean far) the most interesting and tasty use of potatoes I have come across in North Indian/ Punjabi cuisine. 

The curry is made with mashed potatoes and I literally had to snatch my share from the otherwise carnivore friend. 

2. Paneer lababdar
A perfect contrast for the aloo curry, even-though both aren't the spicy options. They nailed the lababdar and it had the right balance; it's one dish I love but find overbearing in a few restaurants - this was fortunately not the case here. 

3. Kadai vegetables
This was the extremes to which a temporary convert carnivore would go. That said, it was an extreme I was impressed with. 

Breads: tried pudina parata, chilli olive naan and garlic naan. As always, would rate the garlic naan best. 

Vegetable pulao - Typically, the vegetables are tossed in tawa and mixed to make pulao; this was possibly the reason for the vegetables being marginally saltier than the rice. A decent offering minus this inconsistency.

Desserts 
Did not eat them, but a part of me ached as I saw my friend having a mini-meal with my share of desserts included. 

Ambience
A relatively small restaurant if one was to judge by the carpet area. The interiors are however done gracefully and definitely sets the theme for the cuisine. 

Pricing 

The restaurant week is possibly the best time to try for cost conscious customers. But even otherwise, this is a place worth visiting on special occasions. 

On a summary note, this restaurant is the gleaming highlight in the last couple of weeks I have spent as a vegetarian and is one restaurant I would recommend all my north Indian cuisine loving vegetarian friends to try.

Aloft, Cessna Business Park - Bangalore

Was invited for a pre-valentines day special event hosted by Aloft-Cessna Business Park along with Food Bloggers Association of India and Burrp.This was also a big event for Burrp considering the launch of their new app and overall re-branding. Check out their app for more details on the trendy new look.

Being the late one as I always am starting to be, I walked in 15 minutes into the first session for the evening - a sampling of vodka infusions. The hotel had 18 flavours of vodka's and it would be unfair on my part to not list them all (for the world has to know the hardwork of a good drink man'a creations)

The flavours were as follows:

1. Rosemary

2. Orange & Rose petal

3. Coffee

4. Cinnamon

5. Green Chilli

6. Star Anise

7. Eucalyptus

8. Black Cardamom

9. Vanilla

10. Basil

11. Lemongrass

12. Seventh Heaven Tea

13. Galangal

14. Black Pepper

15. Mint

16. White Raspberry Tea

17. Rose in Bloom

18. Kaffir Lime Leave

I sampled three or four of them and must concede that the flavours blended very well and had a positive influence on the vodka. Lemongrass and coffee vodka are my recommendations from this section. 

Continuing with drinks and moving to the cocktails section, the hotel had four or five house special cocktails - ones I can recollect are tequila sunrise, flaming baileys-vodka and my standard order - whisky sour. The whisky sour was a little off while the flaming cocktail was as good as one can get.

Food: 

As we were sampling the vodka the service team stepped in with their starters, which included a mix of kebabs and dimsums. 

Kebabs:

1. Mutton turkish sheek - nice tender meat and a perfect sheek kebab. 

2. Clove infused chicken galouti kebab - absolutely stunning! For a chicken obsessed person who appreciates lamb best in galouti kebabs, this is definitely pampering of an extreme level. The kebabs literally melts in your mouth and goes perfectly well with semi crisp mini honey paratas they are laid on. 

3. Minted pine nuts saffron paneer tikka -

The paneer was delicates and vegetarians were raving about the dish. Personally, the benchmark set by the non veg kebabs unbreachable and hence this came across a regular fare. 

Dimsums - while I enjoyed the dim-sum spread, the sauces that accompanied was the highlight. I struggled to resist myself from finishing the sauces (read - tea spoon after tea spoon).

Soup 

Asparagus capuccino served with parmesan crisp

Having got onto the carnivore mood, this soup was a good veg pit stop. It was thick soup which and was paired with white wine. Finished it to the last drop. 

Main Course

1. Pan seared chicken served on a bed on sundried pesto risotto 

The chicken was a tad too dry for me and tasted better when had with an extra load of mushroom sauce. The risotto was good and the finely chopped vegetables  made it better. 

2. Grilled prawns - blood orange - mint flavoured corn mash - saffron aioli

Disclaimer - not a fan of large prawns and avoid it due to my inability to appreciate it's flavour. Hence don't consider my judgement for it.

The prawns had a overpowering seafood taste and found it a little chewy. The corn mash was pretty good and was the part of the dish I could relish. 

The main course was paired with red wine and the hotel does a good job in pairing food and wine. 

Desserts

The dessert was a surprise offering from the chef and all of us were awestruck with the presentation. 

Desserts of love as they can be called, was as much a pleasure for the eyes as it was to taste. 

Personally, I found the event as a great experience to interact with the city's leading food and thirst bloggers and was absolutely floored by a the hotel and it's service team's hospitality. 

Beyond Madras at The Dining Room, Park Hyatt - Velachery, Chennai (4/5)

This review is based on a meal on the house for which I was invited with my family. We were invited to try their South Indian Thali and the moment the PR mentioned that I realised it was my kinda thing. But however, considering a few recent experiences in some other prominent restaurants, I went with no great expectations.

Ambience (4/5)
With a moderately dim yellow lighting, the restaurant has a huge dining area. A part of the dining area (where we sat) had the open kitchen on one side and on the other side was the exit way to the open area facing their much hyped flying elephant outlet.

Despite the busy preparation scene at the open kitchen, it was no nuisance to the customers whatsoever - that is commendable.

The other dining area seemed much larger and was located further away from the entrance.

Service (4/5)
The staff were very informed about the dishes and pleasantly obliged to all our requests for refills. The staff also made sure we at least sampled the some of the delicacies that we might have otherwise skipped, for the thali was overwhelming for a dinner.

Refills came quick and also clearing of dishes were spontaneous.

Pricing
Since the meal was on the house, I would prefer not to score them on this factor.

However, their thali is at a slight premium to similar restaurants in a few mid segment 5 star hotels and much economical than the expensive ones.

Welcome drinks (4/5)

There were four options, nannari sherbat, more (buttermilk), rose milk and elumichai sherbet (lemon soda).

Since we were four of us, got one of each to try. All of them were of good standard, while the rose milk stood out for me - might be on account of my inherent liking for the same.

Starters
The starters included paniyarams, sabudana vadas and nethilli fry.

1. The sabudana vada which was less impressive on a standalone basis, tasted good when consumed with the chutney.

2. The paniyarams were good in the first round, but came out excessively oily when we went for a refill.

3. Nethili fry
Was standard. Since my brother (the only other non vegetarian in the team) and myself are not big fans of the same, the restaurant made a good gesture of serving chicken tikka's as substitute.

The tikkas were delectable.

Main course (3.5/5)
The thali was quite overwhelming considering the extensive options it is served with. I had limited appetite for vegetarian items in the thali and my views on the same are based on samples/small portions.

Breads (3/5)

1. Dhaniya dosai - was healthy and crisp. But I rushed through this to the other offerings, which I prefer over dosas.

2. Ragi idiyappam served with coconut milk
On a normal day, I would run away from a ragi idiyappams. But this, was one of their simplest and finest offerings. The coconut milk was perfect with its thickness and sweetness quotients and the ragi idiyappams tasted brilliant when soaked in the same before consumption.

3. Parotas
The parotas combined well the nilagiri chicken and lamb curry. However, it did not live up the flaky description it came with and could have been made better.

Since I love parotas, I had quite a few despite the flaws.

4. Aapam
Fine aapams, but the bread lost its curves before plating. I know that doesn't sound right, but there is no better way to describe it.

Curries (3.5/5)
1. Lamb chettinad - had delectable and soft meat cubes and a fine and thick masala.

2. Nillagiri chicken curry - this was a non spicy gravy and combined well with appam and parotas.

3. Fish curry - reminded me of one at a mess that I love, though a little thicker. Couldn't enjoy much for lack of appetite.

Veg curries:
Most of the veg curries would have best combined with white rice or the coconut rice (which was served later).

Paruppu urundai kozhambu was something I did not enjoy. The urundai was too thick and dry, and the gravy refused to penetrate

Rice item
Coconut rice - with limited or no appetite left, I had to limit my consumption of this simple yet brilliant offering. The only possible reason I could enjoy some of their veg curries was this rice offering.
Dessert (3.5/5)
First look and I thought I should give the desserts a miss; for it had all those items which I usually skip in the desserts. However, tasting them was a decision I would not regret.

1. Vattapalam - classic! This Indian version of caramel custard which is infused with coconut milk is probably the only version of caramel custard I would appreciate.

2. Banana cake
Was passable. Though it did do justice to the banana name in the flavour, its a dessert I would give a miss. The cake was denser than how I expected it to be.

3. Sakkarai pongal
A sweet that I usually avoid for its overdose of sweetness, but enjoyed here. With rich ghee infusion, this had a fine balance of sweetness and was to my preference.

Others in the group did not quite agree with my views on the sakkarai pongal as they believe it needed to be more sweeter.

On a summary note: An expensive, but elaborate thali offering by one of the premium hotels in the city. With several fine dishes and some healthy twists, it manages to stand out from its peers for the unique offering. Check it out!

Toscano, Lavelle Road (4/5)

Was catching up with my best buddy who was visiting from Bombay. He was one of my early food companions and together we have conquered several cities. Considering his fascination for Italian fine dining decided to take him to Toscano. 

Ambience (4.5/5)

This place has one of the best outdoor ambience in UB CIty- is my personal favourite. I have heard live performance are their highlight and unfortunately for us, we were visiting on a weekday. 

The restaurant was kinda packed and mostly filled with expats and foreigners. They have an extensive selection of wines and I am assuming that could be the reason. 

Pricing (3.5/5) 

Surely overpriced but the food quantity makes you think otherwise. We were full just with the starters and thats commendable considering our appetites.  

Service 

No qualms about their service. 

Food (3/5)

I ordered for a chicken starter and was looking for guidance from the staff. Was particular on not wanting to eat fried food and mentioned the same to them. My order was lost in dialogue and was served a chicken nuggets kind of dish. It was served with french fries and two dips. Tasted quite ordinary. 

Our other starter was a veg hand tossed pizza bread (four cheese piadana and oregano). This was dry and bland - did not completely suit my Indian palate. 

Dessert (4/5)

Chocolate kahlua mousse in almond tuile creme anglaise:

The kahlua mousse was amazing and the almond tuile was possibly the best crust to mount it on. The let down for me was however the creme anglaise. It pulled down what could have otherwise been a perfect dish by a few notches. 

Mocktail (5/5)

Mango zombie - easily one of the best mango mocktails I have ever had. Its a delight to watch the frozen mango puree melt and blend with the crushed ice. 

Though the food orders went wrong, I believe it is not fair to judge based on just their starters. Hence rating them 0.5 higher.

Yauatcha, MG Road (3.5/5)

Was heading out for dinner with my boys and zeroed down on Yauatcha based on one of their preferences. 

The restaurant is located in the top floor of 1MG mall and was largely empty when we stepped- I am assuming the scenario would be entirely different on a weekend. 

Ambience (4/5)

The modern themed restaurant has a simple yet impressive interiors. The place looked well maintained and the seating was comfortable. 

Pricing (3/5)

The restaurant is a fine dining joint and even by that standards could be considered 'expensive'. The food bill for 3 of us cost roughly INR. 6.5k (including liquor it was around INR. 11k) - haven't paid as much except at star hotels before. But yes, we ordered a lot of food! 

The portions were a mixed bag. While some dishes had adequate portions, items such as dumplings had just 3 or 4  smallpieces. 

To their credit, the prime property location and related costs partially justify the pricing. 

Service (3/5)

The staff was friendly and courteous at the beginning. However, two or three orders down we found them slightly interfering - didn't quite appreciate that.

While the suggestions for starters were top class, the main courses were below par. On service front, food was served within reasonable time and refills for sauces and water came easy. 

Food 

It might be injustice if I don't break the food down into starters, main course and desserts. Have rated each of these separately to help you decide on what to eat.

1. Starters (including dumpling) (5/5)

We ordered three sets of dumplings and two courses of prawn cheng fun. 

All of the dumplings tasted good and the sauces combined brilliantly with them. 

The stand-out dish would however be the prawn cheng fun. It had crispy fried prawns stuffed in a dumpling dough. It was cooked to perfection and being a non prawn lover- I could not resist indulging in it - definitely going back for more. 

2. Main course (2/5)

A very average fare. 

1. Penang style old town prawn noodle was excessively oily and tasted quite ordinary.  

2. Egg white chicken fried rice - ended up being a sort of sticky rice. Not really a fan of sticky rice! 

3. Stir fry chicken in home fry chilli sauce

This side dish order was good on a standalone basis. However, it failed to combine well with our rice order. 

Desserts (3.5/5)

The desserts score well on presentation and plating.

They tasted decent but are highly overpriced. I have to concede. they looked better than they tasted. 

1. Raspberry Delice - it is the house speciality and has been raved about by one and all who has visited this place. I found it a tad too bitter. 

2. Religieuse - a chocolate and hazelnut combination. 

The ice cream that came alone with the dessert was incredible. On an overall note, liked this order better than the raspberry Delice.