Tag: India Food Blogger

Feasting at Laila’s Cafe, Goa

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

A warm and cosy place overlooking vast green patches, a lady who cooks with lots of love and passion and the food that is simple yet amazing is what Laila’s Cafe all about.

Located at the Anjuna-Vagator road, Laila’s Cafe has been around since a few months now. Laila, who belongs to Hyderabad originally, had a dream to take its cuisine to different places and Goa became her new home. She wanted to introduce people to the authentic Hyderabadi cuisine and started curating special menus for home deliveries. Her home deliveries met with a great success and further encouraged her to open up a cafe. Her cafe serves Hyderabadi cuisine primarily and has a daily changing menu. She makes the weekends even more special by preparing some typical Hyderabadi delicacies. She balances a couple of Hyderabadi dishes with 2-3 North Indian dishes as well, in order to give variety and choices to the customer.

 

This weekend, we dropped by at her cafe as she hosted an EID special lunch. The menu comprised of:

Mutton Haleem- Haleem originated as an Arabic dish with meat and pounded wheat as the chief ingredients. It was introduced to Hyderabad by the Arab diaspora during the rule of the sixth Nizam and later became an integral part of Hyderabadi cuisine. Haleem is a stew composed of meat, lentils and pounded wheat made into a thick paste. It was served with fried onions and lemon to add that zingy flavour. I relished the same with a hot parantha.

Biryani- Biryani is popular across the country and every region has its own way of preparing it. That day we tried biryani which was primarily with Bangalorean flavours. Tasted very well.

Chole- A typical punjabi style of chole, which were savoured with paranthas.

Shahi Paneer- Another North Indian delicacy prepared to perfection.

Pulao- A simple pulao to go along with chole or shahi paneer.

Sheer Khurma- A traditional sweet prepared with vermicelli and milk, it was heavenly. I could have polished off 2 bowls of the same easily, but refrained myself from doing so. Its one indulgence, you will love.

Overall, I had a lot of fun and enjoyed my feast at Laila’s Cafe. Laila is also passionate about fashion collectibles and hence she showcases her collection along side at the cafe. So not only you can indulge in eating good food, but also indulge in some quick shopping. Do drop by and let me know how was your experience.

Here are my ratings:

Ambience 3.5/5

Food- 4/5

Service- 3.5/5

Value for Money- 4/5

Laila's Cafe Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Hanging Out at SummerHouse Cafe!

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

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.

Summer House Cafe Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Thai Khun at Kylin Express…!!

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Thai Khun typically means Your Thailand, and at an ongoing festival Kylin Experience at Holiday Inn, Mayur Vihar brought the Bangkok Food Street experience live for its customers through this festival. Thai Khun is on till Sunday, i.e. 6th of August. So do try and experience the same.

I personally loved my overall visit at Thai Khun, the concept, the ambience and most importantly the food, all were simply great. Concept wise, the moment you enter you are given Thai Baht, which you can spend to buy food from counters selling different items. There is a fruits counter which serves special Thai fruits and salads. Then a grill counter, dimsums counter, the curry station and others. One could explore each one of these and get food in exchange of the Thai Currency (artificial of course).

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The ambience was given a look and feel of local Bangkok food street with colourful Thai umbrellas and rustic stalls. Now coming to the food, I have never been a big fan of Thai food, but this food festival changed my mind set. I have to say that I have never eaten a better Thai food than this. Each and every item in the menu was absolutely amazing and what made me drool for them even more was the fact that they were priced very reasonably. It didn’t feel at all that I was dining inside a hotel, the prices were apt as per the theme, and did full justice to the street food concept.

My personal recommendations would be the Salads, all of them were simply flavourful. Try the Corn on Cob, Lemon Grass Chicken Satay( never eaten better than these), Chicken and Veg Dimsums (loved the way the were roasted to perfection, the smokey flavour was a true enhancer), Grilled Soya Chaap, and Pandan Leaf Chicken. This pandan leaf chicken is something you can’t afford to miss, the sweetness and flavours of pandan leaf on a perfectly grilled piece of chicken was a mouth melting experience and I loved it.

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For the mains I tried the Red Thai Curry Chicken with Sticky Rice and it was yummy! and I truly mean it, It was by far the best I  have eaten, and also one of the reasons was as contrary to the use of Red Paste or Green Curry Paste, here everything was prepared fresh, no pre-made pastes were used in the making of gravies, and that I think gave it a very fresh and appealing taste overall.

For desserts we tired the traditional Thai dessert Red Rubbies, which had Water Chestnuts and Coconut Cream and it was delicious.

I had an amazing amazing time exploring Thai food at Thai Khun and you too must make the most of it, so hurry up..!!
The Kylin Experience - Holiday Inn Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato