After a long day at work with busy schedules I
headed to Bandra Kurla’s famous hot spot; Yauatcha, which recently
celebrated its 1st birthday; is a haven for food aficionados, offering
Modern Cantonese cuisine and a wide array of international tea’s menu to
Mumbai’s High end section....
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There is more to this restaurant than just remarkably fresh good food…....
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For all foodies out there, Renaissance Mumbai
Convention Centre hotel is hosting special Arabian cuisine at Lake View
Cafe this month. ....
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Vile Parle's Irla lane offers some interesting versions of Indian snacks.....
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When we came to know that Fat Cat Café is now
under a new management and has been re-launched as At Fat Cat- Bar &
Bistro, we decided to check this place out.....
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Give your regular cocktails a makeover and create a new drink. ....
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Tender coconut water has been declared as
Kerala's official drink recently. So here are some awesome tender
coconut water combos and get set to experiement.....
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With Ramzaan going on, Executive Sous Chef Rahul
Dhavale of The Westin Mumbai Garden City gives us two recipes to relish
on. ....
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Dolcemente Italia, which recently opened its
first outlet in the city, is the new entrant in the world of healthy
flavoured yogurt and creative deserts with an Italian twist.....
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Chef Amit Chaudhary of Corniche, a high end
restaurant in Bandra, tells us three easy-to-cook corn recipes to relish
during monsoons.....
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It offers Cantonese cuisine and has tried to
introduce the international tea drinking culture with their special
Afternoon Tea menu.....
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The hotel offers a Sunday brunch with unlimited food and beverages and one spa treatment priced at Rs 1111.....
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Mumbai Mirror Online decided to visit the newly opened restaurant Jyran which offers Nawabi cuisine.....
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Pinky Vodka, with its mild hint of berries, is serious vodka like any other. .... |
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Here are the recipes of some simple ye easy to make wine cocktails.....
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Global Desi Tadka, a chain restaurant from
Ahmedabad, is the perfect new joint for family outings that has sprung
up in the western suburbs.....
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These combos replenish nutrients that the body loses during the day and nourishes it with antioxidants.....
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Curl up on the sofa and start sipping...here's how to brew the most flavourful and aromatic teas this season..... |
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A review on 2 month old city restaurant 'Kazan'.....
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Bartenders add fun and zing to drinks by giving them an Indian twist!....
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Thursday, April 18, 2013
Restaurant review:
20 years in the baking
Oven Fresh, that Shivaji Park oddity, turns 20 this year. The Mehta men tell us how they’ve stuck their ground
Born in 1993, Oven Fresh is an oddity in its location. Dadar is not a restaurant district. The few eateries that exist (Prakash Lunch Home, Gomantak) have a distinct Maharashtrian tilt. Fastfood MNCs like McDonald’s have stayed away. “People said I was going to drown my savings,” says Jagat. “When the oven arrived, they thought it was a safe and that I was opening a jewellery showroom, like a dutiful Gujarati. They wondered why the safe had a window!”
The oven became the star of the show. “Everything in the restaurant is made inhouse - the breads, the pizza base, the sandwich buns. I wanted patrons to see it emerge fresh from the oven, which is why the kitchen is at the centre, encased in glass walls,” he explains.
College kids started dropping in for a puff, and a curiously populated menu was pasted behind the cash counter in case you wanted to order while you waited for a table. Which you very often did. There was Chinese, Italian, Mexican and fast food, apart from the danishes and pastries.
But in the last three years, the restaurant has been inching towards sophistication. Gone are the syrupy soda floats. The menu has been chiselled to select flavour pairings within Continental and Mediterranean cuisine. The stir fries and house special nachos remain, but a tortellini with mascarpone in paprika orange butter sauce has moved next door. “We’ve moved away from artificial, sugary flavouring,” says Ronak, “and now source single origin chocolates, vegetables and other ingredients directly from their native countries. Everything is light on the palate.” They use an extra-dry French butter that doesn’t retain moisture, so the croissants are crisp.
The shift is subtle, and not advertised. The service (crockery and cutlery) is more flamboyant and the portions, a wee bit smaller. But Ronak doesn’t take it upon himself to educate his guests. “Our fondue always used gruyere cheese. People would take two bites and leave it. But when they ordered the same thing elsewhere, they realised that they were eating a plain cheddar cheese sauce, and recognised the difference,” he says proudly.
And yet, the price of a dish hardly touches Rs 400. “It’s because we don’t pay rent,” offers Jagat. “And we don’t offer frills - no valet parking, credit cards or home delivery. It sounds proud when we refuse, but we want to keep it simple.”
And they have no branches. “There are Parisian patisseries that have stayed put in the same place for 300 years,” Ronak says by way of comparison. “We’re only 20 years old. In the next few years, several international celebrity chefs are going to open restaurants in Mumbai. We have to be able to continue business in the face of this competition.”
The other adamant decision has been to turn and remain vegetarian. Old timers get nostalgic about the chicken burger, which they served till 2005. “We’re Jains, and when my late wife was very ill, she got sentimental. It was her wish that we stop serving non-vegetarian food, and we did over night,” says Jagat.
Deepak is the official taster, as are regular patrons. “We make small samples and ask guests whether they’d like to try them,” says Ronak. Deepak likes everything on the menu, “because everything passes through me, literally.” Jagat could be speaking for his locality when he says, “I grew up in Shivaji Park, so if you gave me a choice between a spicy misal and pasta, I’d choose the first.”
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Sunday, April 14, 2013
Pithas, larus sell like hotcakes in Guwahati
GUWAHATI: Traditional Assamese delicacies are selling like hotcakes on the eve of RongaliBihu in city markets. Though pithas (pancakes) and larustop the list, curd and rice procured from the villages are also in demand among Assamesefamilies settled in the city.
On Rongali Bihu, every Assamese family will dish out traditional pithas and larus to guests, a practice which continues for several days. "My family is here to buy pithas, larus and curd made from buffalo milk. All food items here are brought directly from the villages and are fresh. So, we are enjoying our time though we are away from our native village," saidSanjiv Borthakur, who is out to buy traditional delicacies from the vendors in the Ambari area of the city on Saturday. Flattened rice, which is served on Bihu days with curd, is also in great demand in the city.
The price of foodstuff served on Rongali Bihu is almost the same like last year. Larus made from coconut, sesame and jaggery were selling at Rs 4 per piece in the city. pithas made from grinded rice and sesame or coconut are being sold at Rs 4 per piece. The price of buffalo curd and milk cream was Rs 120 a litre and Rs 440 a litre on the eve of Rongali Bihu.
Most sellers who arrived in city markets with Assamese delicacies are from villages situated on the northern and southern banks of the Brahmaputra in lower Assam.
"There is a great demand for traditional foodstuff in Guwahati. We also feel happy by promoting Assamese delicacies during Bihu. It's good that the Assamese families settled in Guwahati are liking traditional pithas and larus," said Madan Kalita, a villager from lower Assam's Nalbari district.
Though many people don't bargain with the price of the traditional delicacies and are more than happy to get fresh pithas and laurs made in far-flung villages right here in the city, some feel the price is reasonably high.
"We have to buy one pitha at Rs 5, which is bit costlier. The cost of preparation must have been much lower," said Swarup Sarma, a teacher in Guwahati who is from Kamrup district. However, he said the price hardly matters in Bihu while buying traditional delicacies.
On Rongali Bihu, every Assamese family will dish out traditional pithas and larus to guests, a practice which continues for several days. "My family is here to buy pithas, larus and curd made from buffalo milk. All food items here are brought directly from the villages and are fresh. So, we are enjoying our time though we are away from our native village," saidSanjiv Borthakur, who is out to buy traditional delicacies from the vendors in the Ambari area of the city on Saturday. Flattened rice, which is served on Bihu days with curd, is also in great demand in the city.
The price of foodstuff served on Rongali Bihu is almost the same like last year. Larus made from coconut, sesame and jaggery were selling at Rs 4 per piece in the city. pithas made from grinded rice and sesame or coconut are being sold at Rs 4 per piece. The price of buffalo curd and milk cream was Rs 120 a litre and Rs 440 a litre on the eve of Rongali Bihu.
Most sellers who arrived in city markets with Assamese delicacies are from villages situated on the northern and southern banks of the Brahmaputra in lower Assam.
"There is a great demand for traditional foodstuff in Guwahati. We also feel happy by promoting Assamese delicacies during Bihu. It's good that the Assamese families settled in Guwahati are liking traditional pithas and larus," said Madan Kalita, a villager from lower Assam's Nalbari district.
Though many people don't bargain with the price of the traditional delicacies and are more than happy to get fresh pithas and laurs made in far-flung villages right here in the city, some feel the price is reasonably high.
"We have to buy one pitha at Rs 5, which is bit costlier. The cost of preparation must have been much lower," said Swarup Sarma, a teacher in Guwahati who is from Kamrup district. However, he said the price hardly matters in Bihu while buying traditional delicacies.
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