Tag: Food Blogger

Sixth Empirica- Restaurant Review

Sixth Empirica, the latest connoisseur of multi cuisine food abodes the Main Club Road, Punjabi Bagh. Spread across two floors and a beautiful roof-top, 6th Empirica, the brain-child of the brother sister trio- Ankit Kapoor, Ekta Chhabra and Shweta Sehgal presents forth a lavish space for family and friends to enjoy a gala time.

I recently went to this place, though it was very far from my place, but as I missed attending the launch party, I thought I might at least go post launch for a food review session.

To my disappointment, the beginning was at a wrong note as the service was too slow, we were served the drinks and starters almost after one hour of wait. This is something I really want them to improve big time. This kind of a delay that too when not too many tables were occupied is not expected from a restaurant of this stature and should be rectified without a doubt.

Now coming to food, I was served Chicken Manchow Soup to begin with, along with an array of mocktails to taste. The soup was really nice and I loved their garlic chilly sauce which was served along with it. The mocktails too were nice, I personally liked the Kiwi and Strawberry one.

For starters, It was the Lebanese Platter, The Tandoori Non Veg Platter and Black Bean Fish Kebab for non vegetarians and Empirica Tandoori Kacha Aaloo Al Ankat, Empirica Paneer Tikka Parmigiana and Veg Kalmi Vada Kebab for vegetarians. The Lebanese Platter had 3 different types of chicken shish touk and the entire platter was good. The non veg platter had fish tikka, chicken malai tikka, chicken seekh kebab and chicken tikka, the chicken malai tikka and fish tikka were the best amongst all, did not like the seekh kebab much as I expected them to be really tender, but they were not. The chicken tikka was normal. The Black Bean Fish Kebab was just about ok, again I expected it to be really different and great, different yes it was, but not too great. In the veg selection I tried the kacha aaloo, which was actually too kacha, it was so difficult to break it even with a knife, I don’t know if oven baked potato is meant to be so hard and raw, at least for me, it doesn’t work.

The main course was better than the starters for sure and it is quite unusual for me, because at most places the starters top the chart. We tried the Gosht Nihari, Chicken So Changezi, Paneer Mughlai Lajawab, Veg Biryani and Dal Makhani, and these dishes were good. I specially liked the Chicken Changezi and Nihari in non veg and Dal Makhani in veg.

The Pineapple Halwa, which was served for dessert was definitely the best dish I that day. To conclude I would say that the food is average and can be improved and service like I mentioned needs a big time boost. They have ample space to cater to large groups and n number of customers, but without these improvisations, the decor and space won’t matter. I wish them all the best.

The Masala Trail Experience at Ansal Plaza

After a successful restaurant at CP followed by presence in the food court of DLF Mall of India, Noida, and a couple of other places, The Masala Trail by Osama Jalali found its foothold in the revamped mall of Ansal Plaza. Having tried food at both CP restaurant and Mall of India, I was fully aware of the speciality regional food that it offers and also certain what to order and what not to orders.

This time I started my culinary experience by ordering Amritsari Paneer Tikka, Mumbai Ka Ragda Pattice and the tried and tested Tower Chaat. The Paneer Tikka was nicely done, and I liked it. I ordered Ragda Pattice because I have been missing Mumbai food, though nothing can ever match that local taste, but this Ragda Pattice was quite nice. The spices were perfect, it was tasteful and delicious. The Tower Chaat undoubtedly one of the best dishes on the menu. We also ordered Spring Rolls, but I found them too oily so gave a skip. You can try the Vada Pao though, its nice.

Another regional food that I had been looking forward to try since long was the Bihari Litti Chokha, so I thought why not give it a try. To be honest, I found the taste of mustard too overpowering for my personal liking, though I loved the Chokha, but those who have the taste for mustard, admired it a lot. So if you don’t have an issue with the mustard taste, go ahead and try this one. Recommendations came in very strongly by my friends.

One of my friends ordered the Banana Poori, for me it was a dish probably I won’t have ever ordered myself, but I would have certainly missed something good if I didn’t. Thank god for my friend, she ordered, I tried and loved it. The Banana Pooris, with a hint of sweetness were so soft and good, that I did not even feel like trying the sabzi along with it, the poori in itself was more than sufficient.

A fantastic and must try dish that I discovered this time was the Triple Sack Rice, I mean it was a winner dish for that lunch. Three layers of goodness, crispy noodles, manchurian gravy topped with fried rice, it was a delightful dish and I personally recommend trying it for sure. Hakka Noodles were good too.

We also tried the Mumbai Tawa Pulao, which again was nicely done, but after having this Triple Sack Rice, nothing else could hold my attention.

For desserts, we tried one of their best, the Matka Kulfi, and also the Haji Ali Fruit Cream, which too was nice.

Overall I can once again say, that if one wants to try different regional food, Masala Trail is definitely the place where you can satiate your different cravings under one roof.

The Masala Trail Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Recipe-Duo of Vegetable Dumpling with Lemon Honey Dip

Who doesn’t love enjoying dumplings, so here is a beautiful recipe shared by Chef Anirudh Nautiyal from the Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, so don’t just enjoy dumplings, but make them yourself and then enjoy to the fullest

Ingredients and Measures

Carrot 10 gms
Beans 10 gms
Broccoli 20 gms
Cabbage 10 gms
Spinach 50 gms
Tofu 20 gms
Salt 5 gms
Sesame oil 05 ml
Garlic 02 gms
Light soy sauce 02 ml
Ginger 05 gms
Lemon 02 ml
Honey 10 gms
Spring onion 05 gms
Whole wheat flour 100 gms

METHOD

  1. Make dim sum dough by kneading whole wheat flour with water, add little salt to it and keep it covered.
  2. Now make a mixture of vegetables with ginger, garlic and light soy sauce
  3. In the other mixture, add spinach, pok choy and tofu…let the mixture cool down
  4. Now sheet the dough and make dim sum and keep it covered. Apply little oil to the tray so that the dim sum doesn’t stick
  5. Steam the dim sum and serve hot with lemon honey dip

The Town House Cafe, CP- a foodie’s paradise

If you want to enjoy good food and spend some cosy and comfortable time with your friends and family, The Town House Cafe is the place for you. The decor is minimalistic and comprises of huge and comfortable sofas, and some big windows overlook the busy outer circle of CP. I spent a rainy afternoon enjoying the delectable food with a few of my friends and I totally loved the experience.

Coming to food, here are my recommendations

Chicken Salami Tacos, a very nice preparation with chicken tikka chaat with some veggies wrapped in a chicken salami and shaped like a taco, its definitely a must try.

Poached Chicken Salad with Wasabi Dressing was another great starter. Though I am not very fond of wasabi dressing, but thankfully it wasn’t really overpowering the overall flavours and hence I liked it.

Chilly Chicken, Chilly Prawns and Chilly Paneer were all very good, hot and spicy, and when I say spicy, I really mean it. So those who don’t prefer spicy food, shouldn’t order these. I loved the prawns very much, so so delectable.

Chicken Seekh, Chicken Malai Tikka, Paneer Tikka, Mutton Galauti, Mutton Seekh, The Non Veg Platter are totally worth indulging in. Soft and tender meat, perfect spices, these dishes are any non-vegetarians delight.

The dishes I loved the most included the Chicken Bruschetta, Chilli Garlic Chicken Dimsums, Hoisin Chicken Dimsums and Falafel. They all were so good, and you really can’t afford to miss them, especially the dim sums. They were so juicy and tasty that you can’t have enough of them.

For the mains I ordered a Mixed Sauce Chicken Pasta and also tried some Dal Makhani with Butter Naan. Fish N Chips too were good, I can say that because I indulged in hearty two bites of the same, sharing from my friends.

The Tiramisu that I had for dessert was by far one of the best I have eaten in recent times. Please do try it. It was so moist and creamy and perfectly flavoured. I loved it completely.

 

The Town House Cafe Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato