Best Lifestyle Blog of Goa
Nestled in the picturesque lanes of Latin Quarter of Panjim, known as Fontainhas, this cosy Caravela Cafe & Bistro, should be on your list of must-visit places in Goa. It is known to serve the best coffee in Goa and also offers some delicious savouries and desserts to give a great company to your coffees.
These cute little adorable Minnion characters have been loved by all age groups since long now. From stuff toys, to balloons, we even try to make them a part of our day to day life and if you love Minnions, The Minnion Cafe is just the place for you, and if you don’t love them, visit this cafe, and I am sure you will fall in love with both Minnions and the cafe.
Minnion cafe situated in the by lanes of Laxmi Nagar Market is like an underdog for cafes. It just opened a few months back and has been on a hype and to-visit list of many food enthusiasts. This hype is mostly due to the edge given to it by its owners, regarding the theme.
The ambience is quite innovative, with posters, paintings as well as a special wall portion for Minnions language dictionary. It gives a happy go lucky feel around the cafe which will appeal to children, youth and even elderly people. The vibes, the music, is all peppy and alive. The walls have been specially painted by hand and that rawness has its own appeal. They even have an area dedicated for playstation games which can be accessed for a very nominal amount. In fact the place is perfect to host private parties/birthday celebrations etc whether you have a small group of friends or a full-blown guest list.
Coming to food, the innovation has been kept in mind while developing the menu, simple things made with a twist are the highlight of the cafe.
For example, we tried the Nachos Pizza, Jalapeno Cheesy Poppers, Dhaba Maggi and Baked Paneer Tikka and each and every item was simply delicious. I highly recommend the Dhaba Maggi and Jalapeno Cheesy Poppers, they are not to be missed for sure. Try their amazing shakes to go along and I am sure you will enjoy this foodie experience to the core. Nutella Shake, Oreo Shake and Paan Mojito were the best and highly recommended.
Over all, I would not rate this place, rather visit it again. Which will tell you, how wonderful my experience was, that I am already planning my second delightful visit.
Recently when my blog completed 2 years, I though of celebrating the special day with my special friends and headed out to Summer House Cafe for the same. It was a Sunday evening, and Summer House was also organising a Salsa night and this gave us another reason to chose this place for our celebration. Music, Dance, Friends, Amazing Food, I mean what more do you need to celebrate an important day.
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Initially we settled ourselves on the Terrace and enjoyed some starters and drinks. The terrace was a very cool vibe to it and feels like a perfect place to hangout and chill with friends.
A veg platter, Oriental Spring Rolls and Falafel & Hummus made for our starters while Mai Tai and Junniper Pimms were our selection for drinks. The veg platter included Paneer Tikka, Roasted Pineapple and Stuffed Soya Tikka along with mint sauce, kachumbar salad and yogurt dip. The paneer tikka and soya tikka were perfectly done and spiced. Though the pineapple too was good, very juicy and nicely roasted, but I found it too spicy, if it would have been a little less spicier, it would have been better, as too much of spiciness doesn’t gel with everyones tastebuds.
Oriental Spring Rolls were to die for, crispy on the outside, stuffed with sautéed veggies, it was awesome. I can gorge on them anytime. Falafel served with Pita and Hummus were good too, though I would have preferred if the falafel wasn’t too dry. If eaten alone without the dips, it didn’t go down too well with me because of its dryness.
As for drinks, Junniper Pimms was a gin based cocktail with chunks of cucumber which give it a very refreshing taste and Mai Tai was a rum based cocktail, which had both dark rum and white rum along with orange and pineapple juice. Both the drinks not just looked good, but tasted good as well.
After sometime, we came downstairs to explore the inside seating and also enjoy the Salsa night. We ordered Bloody Mary, LIIT, a Pineapple and Red Bull based Mocktail and one other Pineapple Mocktail, both of which were amazing. Then we also ordered some Nachos to go along and sat ourselves in comfortable couches. The ambience downstairs is also very alive and quirky. Paintings, artefacts and random quotes on the walls, make for an interesting decor overall.
By 9:30, the place was buzzing with people dancing away to some great music and showing Salsa moves with their partners. Those who didn’t have partners, also found like minded people, who were all set to explore and thump their feet on the ground. It was an amazing sight to see so many people dancing, looked like many poetries in motion together.
We further tried a thin crust Bell Pepper & Onion pizza and loved it. To end our evening at a sweet note, Banoffee Pie made for a perfect companion. The taste still lingers on. Well in the end all I can say is that I had a perfect evening spent at Summer House Cafe and for me this place will always remain on my go to list when hanging out with friends.
Chaayos has been my all time favourite place, it has such a cool and amazing vibes that I love spending time with family and friends, catching up over a cup of tea and some lip smacking snacks. Also I love the fact about Chaayos that they keep experimenting with their menu, and hence every visit is full of a surprise. New items are kept added to keep the monotonous away whereas the hot selling dishes are always retained.
Over the weekend, I went on to explore the current rage, the Monsoon Special Menu and it was totally worth it. The new dishes added in the menu are apt with the theme and each one of the items taste awesome. You will have a tough time choosing which to have and which to let go, I suggest go with a bigger group of friends and get your hands on everything 🙂
Bund Samosa, a very typical old Delhi charm and a popular street food that finds it place even in homes especially during monsoons. Yes we may not typically have samosa in a bun, but samosa wrapped in bread slices is a common thing. Here at Chaayos, the same home like flavours were beautifully crafted in a soft bun stuffed with a crisp samosa and dollops of chutneys and it surely made for a delightful preparation.
Masala Kulcha with Kulhad Chicken was another amazing preparation, loved the presentation and also the taste. The kulchas seemed freshly prepared and were really soft, the chicken masala was a well cooked, loved the thick tomato gravy.
How can one not have pakodas with tea and that too on a rainy evening, or afternoon, or any time of the day for that matter, the pakodas platter at Chaayos is just amazing. Loaded with Kanda Bhajiyas, Paneer Pakodas and Mirch Pakoda, its a true monsoon delight which you can’t afford to miss.
The other two things that I totally got bowled over by were, Loaded Chicken Open Parantha and Kadhai Chicken Sandwich, both these dishes were remarkable. The open parantha was absolutely delicious and I regret not having it more. I really could have digged in for a couple of pieces more, but nevertheless, now I know what i have to go back here for. Words can’t justify this dish and hence you have to go and figure out for yourself, if you don’t eat it, you surely are missing something.
The Kadhai Chicken Sandwich was a unique preparation where in kadhai chicken was stuffed in soft bun bread and this one again is worth relishing with a cup of tea of your choice.
You must try their Shahi Chai, which is a special monsoon edition, its not like a regular tea, in fact its a thick custard like version of tea made with condensed milk, and can be enjoyed like a dessert after the savouries.
Also don’t forget to indulge in some piping hot Jalebis, crisp, tiny jalebies served in a kulhad are worth every calorie.
My love for this place can only keep increasing, so all I can say is, just got for it and experience it for yourself.
Cafe Southall tucked away in the Tolstoy Lane, Janpath is just the place you need to unwind, with your family or friends. Its a lounge cum cafe with a very rustic and raw appeal and is yet extremely comforting and premium. Its an idle place for your sunny afternoon lunches or some vibrant and energetic evenings. They have live music events pretty often and offer some lip smacking North Indian, Continental, Italian and Asian food. One of the highlights of the place is that it is huge and spacious. The seating is very comfortable and a big bar is adequate enough to handle any kind of rush.
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I headed out here with a few friends on a Sunny Sunday afternoon and it was just perfect. We began by ordering Chicken Caesar Salad, Murg Malai Tikka, Pesto Fish Tikka and Corn & Fennel Tikki. Highlighting the best things first, the Pesto Fish Tikka was superb, thick pesto marinated coated over cubes of fish, grilled to perfection, this dish is surely a must have, I am sure you will enjoy it. Murg Malai Tikka for me is a staple, I have to kinda order it wherever I get it as I just love the creaminess of it and even here it was done fantastically. Very soft and tender chicken pieces with oodles of cream, loved it. I was a little apprehensive about the Corn & Fennel Tikki as I don’t like fennel’s taste as such, but surprisingly in this corn and fennel tikki, fennel’s taste wasn’t overpowering and the tikki was nice, corny and crispy. Chicken Caesar Salad was just about normal, it could have been a little more juicy and flavoursome.
Next we tried Multani Paneer Tikka, which was very soft and nice, it has a very mild taste and very easy on tongue. Andhra Style Prawns were something my friends praised a lot, but somehow I didn’t feel like eating prawns that day so gave it a miss. Amritsari Fish Tikka, was another delightful dish that we all enjoyed, fried fish in a crispy batter served with chutney, this was an amazing one and must be tried for sure, you will find it little different from how it is served at other places, at least I did. Chicken Dimsums that we tried were juicy and extremely well prepared. We were still hungry for some more tikkas, so we ordered a non-veg platter to satiate our greed 😉 and it was a beautiful platter indeed. Fish Tikka, Chicken Tikka, Malai Tikka and Seekh Kebab.. all in one platter, who would not want to have this one, sheer bliss for non-vegetarians!
Rajma Galauti Ke Sliders were the next dish that we tried as our first step towards the main course and it was really nice, especially the rajma galauti, I however found my bun a little stretchy but my friends begged to differ as theirs were all soft, so may be I was the chosen one, but nevertheless this is one dish that you must try, it was really good.
Before I talk about the main course, let me tell you something about the drinks, well I tried three different mocktails and all of them were simply wonderful. Strawberry Orange Slush, Pomegranate Mint Cooler and Green Apple and Chilli and I cant say one was better than the other, because all of them were equally good.
The main course included Butter Chicken, Dal Makhani, Rogan Josh, Methi Malai Mushroom and Kadhai Paneer. Every single dish was totally upto expectations, but for me the winner was the Rogan Josh. It was one of the most perfect Rogan Josh I have eaten in recent times. This is definitely a must try for all mutton lovers.
Bringing our culinary extravaganza to an end, we had Blueberry Cheese Cake and Hot Chocolate Sundae, both of which were amazing, especially the cheese cake.
Overall the experience was fantastic and we had a lot of fun enjoying good food and awesome drinks. Its surely a place one must visit. Enjoy!
Cafe Gatherings is a cosy little join tucked away in the Super Mart 1 of DLF Phase IV, Gurgaon. Space is a constrain at this place, but for a small group or a cosy couple outing, its just perfect. I recently visited this place and found it really amusing.
For me its a small intimate Dine-in Eatery.
Though short on seating capacity the place exudes great warmth and cosy ambience giving you a very comfortable feel and the food too is great.
We started with the Peri Peri Chicken which was really done to perfection with the right blend of spices.
The Fish Fingers was another delicacy well done, crisp on the out and really soft inside, really a mouthwatering dish.
The Chicken Morsels as the name suggests were just that very lovingly done by the chef. Real juicy morsels of chicken with a very distinctive taste.
Pasta Arabiatta and Spanish Cannelloni were the pick of the dishes. Truly Delectable!!!!! I mean the taste of the Spanish Cannelloni still lingers in my mouth, it was so good.
For the mains we tried the Thai Curry & Rice, another delicious preparation perfectly done.
I enjoyed myself thoroughly at Cafe Gatherings and you must give it a try, you won’t be disappointed.
Truly a great gastronomic experience.
Cha Bar, Delhi’s favourite tea cafe organized “Flavothon” a food lovers meet with Executive Chef Abhishek Basu from The Park sharing tips on multi-dimensional cuisines complemented with some exclusive teas from the extensive Cha Bar menu. Flavathon introduced some mouth watering dishes in their new menu.
Cha Bar, a brain child of Ms Priti Paul, backed by the decades of experience of the Apeejay Group. Cha Bar was created as an integral part of the 90 year old Oxford Bookstore.
Cha Bar provides its customers the experience of browsing through the wide selection of books at leisure, sipping a cup of tea of your choice with some savory snacks being served.
There was the Erachi Pathri which was really delicious. The Turkish Sigara was another crisp one with both veg n non veg variety. The Cocktail Sausage Roll was a delight.
Absolutely wonderful was the Dahi Bhalla, very soft and the curd was really refreshingly delicious.
They also had the Spinach and Feta Cheese Quiche and Some delicious Chicken n Cheese Toasties which were absolutely mouth watering.
There was a wide range of desserts like Gulabjamun Cheese Cake, Flurry’s Heritage Chocolate Boat, Pineapple Colada Muffin, Coconut Cookies and Chocolate Rum Balls to name a few paired with some exotic teas like Arabic Spice, Bollywood mix, Cha Bar Blend, Moroccan Mint and a host of other varities to choose from.
A special mention here for there Filter Coffee which was really superb.
From desserts, for me the most delectable was the Gulabjamun Cheese Cake,really worth dying for followed by Rum Balls which were a real treat.
The quite ambience and the mouth watering snacks provided a great sense of tranquility. Highly recommended for a really surreal experience.
About Cha Bar:
Cha Bar is the first of its kind urban contemporary space that created a rage in Kolkata in year 2000, turning tea from a dry page in history to a lifestyle drink! Ms Priti Paul’s brain child backed by generations of Apeejay Surrendra group’s experience in tea plantation business, Cha Bar was created as an integral part of more than 90 years old iconic Oxford Bookstore in city centre Park Street. The concept was expanded pan India integrated into Oxford Bookstores and customers loved the experience of being able to browse at leisure, leafing through the books of their choice, over a cup of tea from the wide selection available at the Cha Bar or simply unwinding with friends sipping the rejuvenating beverage, iced or piping hot!
Whether one prefers a rich, full-bodied, strong flavor, or a light fragrant taste, the Cha Bar offers a wide and enviable choice. Cha Bar believes that there is indeed nothing quite like a good cup of tea so every cup of blend we serve has journeyed, be it from the dhabas in India or from across the Globe from other cultures. Today, Cha Bar offers this experience at Oxford Bookstores across multiple stores in Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi.
From the Flowering Teas, Organic Teas, Herbal Teas, Diet Teas, Fruit Teas, to an exclusive range of Darjeeling, Nilgiri, Sikkim and Oolong, complimented by the best in Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Moroccan, Russian, Sri Lankan, South African and Thai Teas – make up more than 150 varieties on offer to create pure joy for our customers as they browse through a book by their favourite author. Cha Bar’s Menu boasts of exotic and cultural blends like the Moroccan Mint, South African Rooibos, Decaf Teas, Green Teas and Ayurvedic Teas with healing powers and all of them are popular amongst our patrons. Special category of ‘Chai Hindustani’ and the Cutting Cha has been reinvented here at Cha Bar. Single Estate Virginal Teas from our Plantations in Upper Assam are also served here in a truly contemporary setting delivering an experience that has made Cha Bar a preferred destination. It was in April 2007 that we first brought Bollywood Masala Mix Cha, Truck Drivers 100 Mile Ki Cha, Katakali, Formosa Oolong, Yellow Tea, Emerald Green, Vervain Blue, Jasmine Pearl, Chinese Lapsang Souchoung, Verbena Tea, Licorice Tea, Fruit Melange, and Japanese Genmaicha to our Menu.
To complement the collection of Teas, Cha Bar offers a wide selection of Ala Carte savories such as fresh wholesome salads like the Mediterranean salad, classic Caesar salads with a choice of dressings that are perfect for a nutritious meal. Scrumptious finger foods like muddled nachos, chilli cheese toasties, keema samosas, onion pakoras, sev tikki pav are the ideal appetizers to share with friends and family. Other tit bits include the classic English tea sandwiches, pita wraps and rolls, house special soft centered muffins, freshly baked cookies and cupcakes, home-style special cakes and pies like the carrot and walnut apple and cinnamon pie is perfect to round off tea-time or take away. Other delightful savories include Falafel Hummus in pita pockets, Lebanese Choley Frankie in spiced pita wrap, vada chutney, chicken and vegetable pot pie, potato fry basket, Chocolate Croissant Roll, Muesli and Parmesan cookie and Seasonal Fruit Tart.
The stylish and relaxing ambience of Cha Bar can make hours go by browsing through our huge collection of books while one is spoilt for choice with an assortment of Teas blended and prepared with precision, and after exhaustive research, with personalized and informed service. The space dedicated to the Cha Bar adds to the experience. The natural colors of all material generate a serene, placid, refreshing and a comforting environment. The unique design and concept incorporates the original textures of wood, steel, glass, aluminum, onyx which are uncoated and exist in their original beauty and contours. The predominating color white used in our latest Cha Bar in Connaught Place offsets the brilliant mélange of hues of the Oxford Bookstore Connaught Place – the active space brimming with energy.
A unique feature of the environmental graphics across all Cha Bars is the Tea-Pot wall which displays the different traditional tea-pots from across the world. This not only creates awareness about the tradition of tea-serving across different continents but also adds an interesting design element adding to the ambience of the space. It also showcases how different Teas in our menus are served and promotes the dying truck art of Pakistan and the Bollywood poster art of India, for which special artists are commissioned by, Ms Priti Paul, Director, Apeejay Surrendra Group and herself an art aficionado.
Oxford Bookstores which houses Cha Bar is fiercely passionate towards raising funds, raising public consciousness and sharing responsibility towards one horned rhino conservation in India’s North Eastern state of Assam. Oxford Bookstores and WWF-India Partnership seeks to enroll customers of Oxford Bookstores and Cha Bar in the cause of conservation. When customers of Cha Bar choose our Single Estate Assam Teas, a portion of sales of every cup they sip, matched by Oxford Bookstores, helps preserve the life of one-horned rhino and their habitat in Assam as part of one horned rhino conservation efforts by WWF- India. Every time they buy a book, they directly but voluntarily donate towards ‘Give Back to Nature ‘programme of WWF-India, specifically supporting the Wild Wisdom quiz, India’s only national level quiz to sensitize and generate awareness among children by fostering a sense of competition, pride and knowledge of Indian biodiversity.
Cha Bar Menu is refreshed regularly with additional varieties of exotic Teas and scrumptious snacks with in-house experts at Apeejay Tea Group with experience of nurturing tea in our plantations dating back more than a 100 years and renowned Chefs of the Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels with nearly 5 decades of experience in fine hospitality and award winning Food & Beverage offerings.
About Apeejay Tea Group:
Apeejay Tea Group is amongst the largest producers of tea in the country with 17 estates spread over 50000 acres in Upper Assam producing 25 million kilograms (approx.) of tea. It is a matter of great pride for us that Harrods, London has appointed Apeejay Tea as its sole India partner for sourcing Indian Teas. An exclusive collection of our single-estate teas, Sessa, Khobong and Pengaree, are on Harrods’ prestigious shelves. Typhoo, our FMCG brand is UK’s third largest tea brand and an over 100-year-old iconic British brand retailing in nearly 50 countries globally including India. London Fruit & Herb, Heath & Heather, Melroses and Ridgeways are some of our other International brands.
About Oxford Bookstores
Established in 1919 Oxford Bookstore is the best equipped ‘base-camp’ for journeys of the mind offering its customers the widest range of outstanding titles and consistently courteous and informed service for close to a century. Today, with India’s first dedicated Children’s bookstore, Oxford Junior, India’s first of its kind tea boutique, Cha Bar, India’s only literary festival created by a bookstore, Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival, Oxford Bookstore offers booklovers access to the very best in publishing enhanced by a variety of events which salute books, visual & performing arts and celebrate the word. Oxford Bookstore measures its success by the smiles on millions of happy customers that the brand has served over the last 9 decades. There are a few treats as sumptuous as a visit to Oxford Bookstore in India. Each time you walk into our iconic store in Calcutta where the brand started in 1919, its charm leaves you wanting for more. Our fleet of 200 happy to help expert booksellers and informed hosts work day and night to bring to customers world class reading experience be it through our books or our fine teas and live by the brand’s motto – Much more than a bookstore – at every store, be it Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore or Bhubaneswar. In December 2012 Oxford Bookstore took a chapter from its growth story in India by launching, Katakali, its first overseas bookstore in the luxurious Taj Palace Hotel at the foothills of the Atlas Mountains in the exclusive palm-filled oasis of the Palmeraie, Marakkech. In April 2013, with the opening of its most architecturally crafted retail store in a stunning new destination in Delhi’s historic centre, Connaught Place, Oxford Bookstore carved out yet another incredible space for quiet browsing, reading and contemplation. Its growth story continues…
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