All Posts By

Taher Syed

Chef's Corner

Naaz Anjum from Anjum’s Kitchen

One of my main intentions of starting a blog was to write about food and its origins along with the Chef’s journey, they are the main people who bring us these delicacies while toiling hard in the kitchen, whether it is a 5 star hotel or a home kitchen the painfully grueling hours of hard work often goes unappreciated. This is just a small way from my end to highlight the real stars of Food.

As I start my journey of meeting, interviewing & knowing these folks, many names come to mind who are amazing in whatever they whip up in the kitchen.

My First “Chef’s Corner” article starts off with Naaz Anjum of “Anjum’s Kitchen” Fame

It would be safe to say that her tasty food has been the talk of the foodie groups since inception and I have myself tasted many dishes made by her on more than one occasion.

Q: When did you first start cooking (Commercially) and what was the inspiration behind it?

A: I love to cook, learn and experiment with new cuisines as much as possible, it makes me happy to share that love of food with others. Started off my journey doing Feazt events that boasted my confidence and which translated into the idea behind starting Anjum’s Kitchen in June’16

Q: What has been your family’s contribution in your culinary journey?

A: Thankfully, I have a very supportive family. My pillars of strength are my Husband and Mother-in law without whom I wouldn’t have been where I am today. She taught me the nuances of making authentic Hyderabadi food. While I spend majority of my time in the kitchen, the other aspect of food which includes procuring the raw materials to delivery of the final product to our customers is looked at by my husband

Q: How has been the journey so far?

A: The Journey has just begun and it has been very exciting as well. Dealing with different types of customer requirements to different vendors and their orders have been quite a new learning for me

Q: How do you deal with negative comments about your food?

A: I always welcome constructive feedback which helps me correct any mistakes that I might have made unintentionally and grow on from there. Some negative comments & feedback did affect me initially as I was new into this field and didn’t know how to deal with it, but I am learning to cope with such situations with a customer centric approach. “ A happy customer leads to more orders in future”

Q: Which type of cuisine(s) are you good at?

A: Hyderabadi cuisine has become my forte and I also make excellent Veg & Non-Veg Chinese, Mughlai, Maharastrian dishes as well

Q: If you have to choose one dish that you make which can be termed as a must have or a show stopper?

A: Many of the dishes I make, have received tremendous appreciations like Double ka Meetha but if I have to choose one then I would go with Aurangabadi Naan Khaliya

Naan Khaliya has its origins from Aurangabad . It is prepared with mutton along with a variety of spices. Naan is a bread primarily made in a tandoor but different options available to make it at home without a tandoor as well, while Khaliya is a gravy  which has a mixture of mutton and various spices”

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Q: Which chef’s do you follow or get inspiration from?

A: I do not follow any particular Chef’s style of cooking via cook books or television as such. My inspiration and the greatest chef I know is my mother in law. Her words of wisdom and encouragement are the best things for me

Q: What lies ahead for Anjum’s Kitchen?

A: We have just started a new venture of taking catering orders for birthdays, weddings and other functions. Want to grow from there to ensure that dishes from Anjum’s Kitchen become famous all across.

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Naaz Anjum

I wish her all the very best for the future

~Palate Journals (Taher Syed)

Reviews

China Bistro

China Bistro has launched a crackling sizzler fest which would run till 13th of Nov ’16 offering a wide variety of Veg and Non-Veg sizzler options ranging from Rs.325 to Rs.625 exclusive of taxes. Following is the review of these offering when a bunch of us went for Dinner on 26th Oct’16

Ambiance: If you are passing by road no.1 towards Jubliee check post you can easily see two giant terracotta warriors at the entrance. The ground floor area is mostly used for Buffet and the first floor for A la carte options. Lot of feng shui articles, pictures of warriors, a huge sword gives a depiction of the warriors they had in their army

Service: This was my second visit, first being for a food event earlier. The service personal were quick in all aspects, from the time they greet you politely at the entrance to ensuring that you are seated comfortably was looked at accordingly. As we were there for the sizzlers, the management made sure that the waiters knew exactly what they were serving so that the veg and non veg options do not mix. The service was pretty smooth in spite of the restaurant being 90% full

Food: While we waited for our friends to join we were served with Orange Basil Mocktail which was refreshing and much needed for the gastronomical experience we were about to have

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Orange Basil Mocktail

As we were 9 people in total we decided to try all the 10 dishes on the menu so that we can taste each one

Chicken with 7 spice, Honey & Sesame: Sesame was a little extra than I had hoped for on some of the pieces and the honey flavor turned this dish into a sweet and slightly spicy one. One piece of the 6-7 I had was slightly under cooked but overall I loved the taste of it

 

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Chicken With 7 Spice Honey & Sesame

Sintu Soy Fish: Huge chunks of fish with a soy sauce topping and amazingly soft. The thin strips of capsicum added a tangy flavor to the dish and must try for fish lovers

 

Sintu Soy Fish

Sintu Soy Fish

Prawn Cheese Gillettes: Prawns made in crunchy patty style with a generous portion of cheese on top of it, along with diced green,yellow and red capsicum adding more flavor to it

 

Prawn Cheese Gillets

Prawn Cheese Gillets

Roast Lamb Teppenyaki: The word teppenyaki means usage of an iron giddle to cook food, we had thin sliced roasted lamb which was so soft that it was melting in the mouth. Boiled and diced vegetables like carrot, capsicum along with spring onions added a nice touch to it

 

Roast Lamb Teppenyaki

Roast Lamb Teppenyaki

Moya Lobster: This was the show stopper of the night, delicious pieces of lobster well cooked in something they called as Dynamite sauce. It sure did explode well on my taste buds. If you are a sea food lover then this is one of the best dishes to try

 

Moya Lobster

Moya Lobster

Chicken Dimsum Platter: They were serving 4 varieties of Chicken Dimsums as per their festive offer, but the management decided to add fish, prawns dimsums to the mix as well.

 

Chicken Dimsum Platter

Chicken Dimsum Platter

I have tried their Veg sizzler options as well

Vegetable Dimsum Platter: It was authentic in every sort of the way, Diced vegetables with minimal sauce and spices, however this was bland for my taste buds (I like them Spicy) so had to add the sauces to change the flavor quite a bit.

 

Veg Dimsum Platter

Veg Dimsum Platter

Buddha Almond Sizzler: Boiled Vegetables (Cucumber,Broccoli, Red chilli Etc.) with skinless almond. This was the tastiest of the vegetarian dishes I had for the evening

 

Buddha Almond Sizzler

Buddha Almond Sizzler

Corn,Water Chest Nut Cheese Cake: It consisted of Baby corn, Corn kernels, Water chest nuts, Capsicum, Cucumber. It was crunchy as expected but I would have loved it to be more spicier

 

Corn, Water Chestnut Cheese cake

Corn, Water Chestnut Cheese cake

Exotic Vegetable Teppenyaki: This was just a mixture of boiled exotic vegetables like broccoli, capsicum etc. with sauce. Didn’t find it that fancy

 

Exotic Vegetable

Exotic Vegetable

All the dishes were served with Steamed Bao bun

 

Steamed Bao

Steamed Bao

A meal is not complete without dessert so ordered a Chocolate Tsunami from their regular menu

A hollow circular chocolate mousse cake with a chocolate circular plate on top is served in a dish and hot chocolate is poured on top of it which essentially breaks the chocolate circular plate and fills the cake inside. A must try for all the chocolate lovers

 

Chocolate Tsunami

Chocolate Tsunami

Yue Yang Lychee: A lychee flavored sorbet which is an amazing palate cleanser after this meal.

  • Lychee Sorbet

Lychee Sorbet

Overall: I would recommend to try their sizzler festivities at the earliest and hope that the management incorporate them into their regular menu

 

  • China Bistro Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
Reviews

Hyderabad Social

Hyderabad Social is located in an upmarket area of Banjara Hills on Road no.12

Ambiance: There is inside and outside seating area, inside has wood panel work done all across , has quirky messages written in photo frames hung on a brick wall. A motor bike also added to the aesthetics. Then came the not so great things…Tables unclean, Sofa’s torn , vessel’s being used for buffet servings with rust on them , kitchen utensil Peel (with an extended handle) – A shovel like tool for stirring in big cauldron, (Kabgir) was used to scrap the floor of a sticky substance. No idea if it was to being used again in the kitchen  

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Outside section is primarily for Hukkah lovers or for people who love to sit in an open area. Afternoons might be sultry most of the times, evenings pleasant

Service : 16’th Oct was World Food day and I had lot of expectations on the “THE LATE LATEEF BRUNCH!”event that I had attended. Those expectations were cut short by an epic margin as a big restaurant like Hyderabad Social dished out poor quality lack luster stuff which I haven’t seen in any food event across all groups The management took the words late lateef quite literally in everything, event was to start at 12 and one hour into the event the table and everything else was still getting readied.

 

Food: 50 hungry people most of whom didn’t even had their breakfast were waiting for the starters which came in such small portions that it was only enough was 4-5 people, finally managed to get some in the 3rd and 4th round only to find the Chicken Malai Kebab so salty that I could barely finish one piece, feedback was given salt was lesser in the next round but no significant improvement in taste overall.

It was the turn of Chicken Angara kebab to get into the high salty mode as the new round had excessive salt in it. Couldn’t find the logic behind excessive salt usage in 2 different dishes. Golden fried baby corns were without salt altogether & the Veg spring roll had its wrapper with so many layers and very less amount of vegetables that it was difficult to understand if we are eating the wrapper or the veggies inside.

The Veg Pasta was wrong from the get go, the milk appeared to have been added when the pot was too hot as it had a burnt smell and taste to it.

The mock tail Virgin Mojito was the saving grace in the first round and when I tried it the second time it didn’t have any syrup , third time no lemon flavor at all as it was not mixed properly.

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 While the adults were waiting to pounce on the starters as and when they were being brought out of the kitchen, saw bunch of kids who kept on coming to the buffet table 3 times to take non veg starters but couldn’t get through the adults line only to return empty handed. I kind off lost my appetite after that and didn’t dare to try the main course or the desserts

Overall: The place might be doing great business on the account of hookah and young crowd it attracts, but not re-investing in keeping things in order and clean , service issues months after being open is not expected

 

 

Hyderabad Social Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Reviews

Vera Pizzeria

Vera Pizzeria opened its outlet amidst much fanfare and was the talk of the town when it came to their pizza offerings and buffet. Went to attend a foodies event and following is the review below

Ambiance: A two floored house converted into a restaurent with transparent glass all around which gives a nice view of outside surroundings, sofa setup and also the regular table setup was present

Food & Service: we started with mocktails first.The orders were mixed up royally and whatever we had ordered was ending up somewhere else and someone else’s orders were being served across to us, this happened inspite of us asking the waiter to write down our name and drink we had ordered. When it was evident that we were not getting what we had ordered I approached the mocktail counter where only one person was busy making mocktails and refused to acknowledge our order. Iced tea and Fresh lime soda never arrived at the table

Mojito (mint or green apple),Sparkling blue hawaiian,Mango mania,Fruit tango shake,Fantasy Blue Island

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Soups : Cream of mushroom soup, Hot & sour chicken soup both were okay

Appetizers : Garlic bread with cheese and Garlic bread with non veg toppings were the first tasty items to start the evening with.

Cottage cheese Shaslik, Potato wedges with cheese, Tomato balsamic Bruschetta,Coastal grilled fish, Indus Valley chicken, Creamy roast chicken
Grilled fish with lemon and butter were all good.

Pasta: Make your own option was present where we tried to add sea food onto the mix and it didn’t turn out great.

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Pizza is definitely their forte, as we had options of choosing our own crust, sauce and meat . I ordered for So cheesy crust with roasted tomato schezwan and spicy tandoori chicken topping and Pan crust with char grilled pineapple salsa with peri peri chicken. Both turned out to be delicious

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Dessert: Lime and basil cream tart, Double Chocolate Mousse cup, Hazlenut Praline Choux, Maple Walnut Cake, Less options and not so great in taste where Hazlenut Praline Choux was the only one I liked.
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Pro’s : Tasty Pizza’s, Appetizer’s and Good Mocktails
Con’s : Service issues and more desserts options

Vera Pizzeria Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Reviews

Charcoal

People and places have a way of surprising you, same is the case with Charcoal. When it first opened and was getting rave reviews all across, me and my friend happened to visit it one evening and order few of their signature dishes including Juicy lucy and were thoroughly disappointed to the point that we were sure that we would never return again.Small shack, no place to sit, not an easy place to find if you do not know the locale.
Come 2016 they shifted to a new place and expanded their menu and few fellow foodies urged me to try them once again , the below review is of my recent visit to their new outlet in Madhapur

Ambiance: As soon as you enter you see a black board on the wall which is their menu for the day. Indoor dining setup has 30-40 capacity, they have also have a small seating option on the outside which is favorable depending on the weather and okay with the traffic noise. A clear glass parition is present for the kitchen area where you can see the chef’s hard at work creating magic on the grills

Service : Depends on order to order. The meat patty that goes into the burger is freshly made so it takes time to whip up an order of your favorite delicacy . 20-30 min on an average. When you are about to place the order approx. time is told by them which is definitely a good practise, helpful when you are strapped for time

Food : We went there at Lunch time and ordered the following

Lamb & Pita: It was tasty but the pita pieces were a little harder than what I would have liked

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Then came
The Big Daddy: True to its name it was hugeeee and damn tasty – Everything that was in it screamed perfection

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Followed by:
Deviled Wings: We were warned that they are spicy and were asked if we would like water or a cold drink handy. It was spicy no doubt but manageable enough for me. My friend was a little flustered but enjoyed it as well.

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Last but not the least
Juicy Lucy: It was juicy and well made with the right kind of sauces. Delicious.

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All that we ordered were excellent.

“The forgetful experience” changed to “happy enough not to forget”

 

 

Charcoal Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Reviews

Smokey House – Beer & Barbeque

Barbeque House has been rebranded as Smokey House with almost the same food offerings as earlier with addition of liquor added into the menu

Ambiance: Place is located on the first floor (Long flight of stairs replaced with a lift), as soon as you enter , I recollected my previous visits here where the entire setup still remained the same. The nice wood panel work on the tables for the barbecue , leather cushion seats, sofa’s and private dining area for small gatherings

ambiance
Food: We started off with both the mocktails i.e Love berry and Virgin Mojito where both of them were good.

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Salads:
Tried their Russian salad, Cucumber salad, Chicken salad, Fish tikka salad and all were wonderful, the different sauces present besides the salad added a different zing to the experience

salads

Salads

 

sauce

Sauces

Starters:

Veg -Tried their Achari paneer tikka, Barbecue pineapple and Crispy corn. Crispy corn was the best one

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Crispy Corn

Non Veg – Spicy chicken tikka, Ajawani Mahi Tikka (Fish), Chilli mustard prawns, Lamb sheek kebab and Oriental Pepper chicken all the starters were nice. The oriental pepper chicken was the best among them

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we also had live counters where they were serving Mongolian and Pasta. Exotic meats like duck, rabbit, squid,shrimp were available.

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Tried all the meats with noodles/rice and it was made with just the right amount of spices as I had requested. Most of the live counter chefs tend to go with their experience and make changes but here he listened to everything I had to say which needed to be present in my dish

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Noodles/Rice combo with exotic meats

 

Main Course: Had a huge assortment of dishes

Bhuna Gosht,Methi Murgh,Crab masala,Paya,Chicken biryani were tried, Bhuna gosht was good but chicken biryani was not good as the rice lacked the flavor

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Paya, Chicken Biryani, Crab Masala

 

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Bhuna Gosht, Chicken Biryani, Methi Murgh

Paneer hara pyaaza and Vegetable in spicy black bean sauce were tried in veg section and both were delicious, gravvy was absolutely flavorful and went well with the butter naan’s

veg

Coming to the desserts section: There were many items like Gulab Jamun, double ka meetha, Ice creams on cold stone, pastries, custard but nothing evoked a wow response that garnered multiple servings. This section needs a revamp, having 3-4 varieties of Pastries just for numbers in dessert section is lack lustre. Some unique signature dish would be helpful

desserts

Overall: Desserts are the only item they need to work on

 

Reviews

Guilt Trip

First branch of Guilt Trip opened in Mumbai in 2012 by Yogi, Avinash, Chait, Sheeba and garnered an amazing response which lead to the owners opening another branch in Banjara hills,Hyderabad.

Here as well , it had a set of loyal guilt seeking followers who thronged to this place to satiate their craving for their lip smacking desserts. Expansion plans lead them to open this outlet in Madhapur area on the 21st of October. Additionally they have two franchises as well in Bangalore and Thane taking the Guilt trip outlets count to five overall.

To manage outlets & franchises at different locations needs skill and who better to do it than people who know their stuff, for example one of the managing partners Mr.Yogi Mendu has a Masters in finance and also heads a constructions firm. Planning and execution is his forte and it definitely shows.

Ambiance: An L shaped design with two entrances on either side of the road. The first one from the main road has the cash counter and display counter of all the delicacies, the second entrance opens to the dining area. From the decor to the entire setup inside is a class apart. Usage of black color for the walls and loads of mirrors adds a different feel to it.

Food: “Guilt Trip”  The name by itself screams that it is a place for amazing sinful desserts and the true testament to this fact are their legendary cheese cakes and cup cakes

My personal favorites : Red Velvet Cheese Cake, Blueberry Cheese Cake, Strawberry Cheese Cake – All three have amazing cream cheese on it , the texture , taste & quality is top notch. The crust is just crisp enough to break but not crumble with a spoon

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Blueberry Cheese Cake

 

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Caramel Cheese Cake

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Strawberry Cheese Cake

 

Tried some of their cupcakes and mini cupcakes as well and all of them are delicious.

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Guilt Trip Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Reviews

Moti Mahal Delux Tandoori Trail

Moti Mahal is a popular name in the north and having had many branches across India it was safe to assume that it would land here in the city of the Nawab’s as well. This franchise at Gachibowli is headed by Mr. Vivek Vardhan who I had met during my initial visit for a foodie event

Ambiance: It is a fine dine restaurant with dimly lit interiors which gives it an old rustic feel, from outside at first glance this might look odd but you gradually get used to the subtle lighting

Food: I have been reviewing restaurant’s on Zomato for about 2 years now and very rarely have I upgraded a score for an establishment from a 3.5 to 4.5 which is a significantly rare occurrence

What transpired and how it achieved it is in the review below:

My first visit to this place was an year back for a foodies event had me try Jaljeera with khari bondi , Chicken Manchow soup,Chicken spring rolls ,Tandoori Chicken,Fish amritsari,Dal Makhani
Butter chicken,Dal Ghost,Laccha paratha, butter naan , plain naan were given as part of the bread basket,Chicken biryani, Paneer lababdar , Dahi ke kebab,Veg navratan pulao,Gajar ka halwa

This time Vivek was attending to all of us personally to ensure that each and every dish that we were served was top notch,

Soups:
Spicy Tomato Soup – There was nothing special about the soup but it was spicy so I enjoyed it a lot

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Spicy Tomato Soup

 

 

Mocktails:
Strawberry Delight,Fruit Punch,Summer Love,Virgin Mojito – All the drinks were good but Virgin Mojito stole the show for me

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Virgin Mojito

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Strawberry Delight

Starters: Huge array of starters followed Kastori Kebab,Tandoori Chicken,Tandoori Fish,Dahi ke Kebab,Chilli Chicken,Mutton Gilafi Kebab,Murgh Malai Kebab,Paneer Tikka

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Kastori Kebab

 

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Paneer Tikka

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Tandoori Fish

 

 

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Murgh Malai Kebab

For once I can safely say that all the starters were top notch where Mutton Gilafi kebab was excellent. Gilaf means cover in Hindi/Urdu, as the name goes mutton pieces are wrapped & covered with an egg covering making it an excellent item to have as soon as you cut it open

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Mutton Gilafi Kebab

North is famous for Tandoori Chicken and we had to order that which turned out to be amazing, pieces were well marinated and juicy. Temperature in a tandoor is not constant and making sure that the chicken pieces are cooked correctly is an art and it was done flawlessly

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Tandoori Chicken

Dahi Ke kebab is a subtle dish which is supposed to a non-spicy and based on individual taste buds , you can use the green chutney to increase your flavor accordingly. I found it to be a good palate cleanser from all the spicy and flavorful dishes we were hogging

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Dahi ke Kebab,

 

Chilli chicken falls under the Chinese cuisine but the dish served here surprised me, spicy, hot and flavorful

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Chilli Chicken

 

As we were full with the starters itself I ordered lesser quantity of main course to avoid wastage

Butter Chicken,Mutton Rogan Josh along with Dal Makhani – Having had butter chicken in my previous visit I wasn’t expecting a great deal of change in the taste but to my utter shock this turned out to be one of the best dishes of the evening. Made exactly how it is supposed to be in the north where the butter in the dish leaves a slight sweet after taste

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Butter Chicken

 

Mutton rogan josh had soft mutton pieces and an amazing gravy which went well with the assortment of breads we were given i.e Veg Kulcha, Garlic Naan, Green Chilli Paratha, Butter Naan.

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Mutton rogan josh

 

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Garlic Naan

 

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Veg Kulcha

 

Dal Makhani was served in a small bucket like vessel with a generous helping of butter on top, this went amazingly well with the Zeera rice

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Dal Makhani

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Zeera Rice

 

Dessert had us try their Kulfi Falooda which needed serious improvement and the feedback was received positively

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Kulfi Falooda

 

 

 

 

Moti Mahal Delux Tandoori Trail Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Reviews

Diner’s Pavilion

Diner’s Pavilion had received rave reviews from a lot of foodies and when a foodie group(HOMP hyd) launched an event there. It was a no brainer that I had to attend it.

 

Location: 4th Floor of the building which houses Creamstone, this is an easy find in the Gachibowli area and visible from the main road.

Ambiance: As soon as you enter any restaurant the first thing that strikes you is the ambiance and they scoring the maximum in this department as it is elegantly designed with nice interiors. 2 PDR’s with TV’s for private gatherings/meetings/Corporate events. The main area has a big TV for public viewing , great for matches. Electric fire place is a nice touch, gives the feel of US homes where the TV’s are above the fire place so that they can be warm and watch TV as well.

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Metallic rings & innovative light fixtures and chandeliers, royal chair designs and all screamed hardwork and money spent to give this place a regal look

Food:  We had a fixed menu setup for the event where we were served Mocktails first: Black Avalanche, Peach and Apricot Delight. Both the drinks didn’t evoke a wow response, the black avalanche had its syrup in excess which made it quite strong, subsequent feedback it was reduced

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Black Avalanche, Peach and Apricot Delight

Starters(Veg): Cha Gio Chay (Vietnamese Veggie Crunchy Rolls),Punjabi Subz ki Tikki with Date and Fig Chutney. Cha Gio Chay was excellent and I must have eaten at least 10-12 pieces & Punjabi Subz ki Tikki was a little dry than I had expected

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Cha Gio Chay (Vietnamese Veggie Crunchy Rolls)

 

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Punjabi Subz ki Tikki with Date and Fig Chutney

Starters(Non-Veg):Togarashi Mahi- Mahi – A dry fish dish which was served hot and was tasty , Chilly Plum Chicken Wings with Sesame was good, Hariyali Murgh Tikka with Hari Chutney was the highlight of the afternoon where the chicken was tender and spicy, Rosemary Mutton Sheek with Garlic Cream sauce also was good as the minced mutton was soft and not chewy at all

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Togarashi Mahi- Mahi

 

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Hariyali Murgh Tikka with Hari Chutney

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Rosemary Mutton Sheek with Garlic Cream sauce

 

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Chilly Plum Chicken Wings with Sesame

 

Main Course (Veg): Phool Makhana aur Paneer kalimirch, Thai Massaman Mushroom & Tofu, Spinach & Cottage Cheese Enchilada – Veg dishes turned out to be better than I had hoped for

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Phool Makhana aur Paneer kalimirch

 

Main Course (Non-Veg): Lahori Karahi Murgh enriched with Creamy Yoghurt, Thai Green Chicken Curry, Greek Style Egg Plant, Zuccini & Lamb Lasagna with Breads, Naan’s Steam Rice & Basil scented fried rice. Lamb lasagna would have been better out of the entire lot , thick slices of eggplant kind off  ruined the taste

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Thai Green Chicken Curry

 

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Lahori Karahi Murgh enriched with Creamy Yoghurt

 

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Basil scented fried rice

Dessert: Qubani Cheese Cake, Flourless Chocolate Cake – Smaller portion were served which was a great idea to ensure no wastage, both the items, were nice

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Qubani Cheese Cake, Flourless Chocolate Cake

Good food, Great Ambiance & Excellent foodies in one go.

 

 

Diners Pavilion Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Reviews

Jonathan’s Kitchen

I always wanted to visit Jonathan’s Kitchen but due to few religious restrictions didn’t go there since they started their operations. Foodie group HOMP Hyd led by Javed Mohammed & Zubair chose Oct 2’nd for an event as it is a dry day and additionally requested the management to avoid serving any pork or beef items during the course of the event. Care was ensured in the kitchen so as to conform to the requirements mentioned by him.

 

For a place like Jonathan’s Kitchen which just started its operations in Jan’15 by Raashid Ali & having him at the helm is certainly praiseworthy for the excellent food that we got to savor during the event.

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Kiwi Kiss, Litchi Splash, Strawberry Passion, Aam Panna, Jal Jeera

“The Leisure lunch” as the event title went had many of its members coming in after the stipulated time so the people who had come in early got to know one another over some tasty mock tails. Kiwi Kiss, Litchi Splash, Strawberry Passion, Aam Panna, Jal Jeera. For me the Kiwi Kiss stood out as it was flavorful and tasty

Starters followed where we first received a wide variety of Veg starters, we didn’t complain as we wanted to try all the dishes on the event menu.

Achari Paneer Tikka was good but it didn’t have any spiciness that I had hoped for, Falafel Kebab were nice, the crispy corn pepper salt was the better of the three Veg starters.

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Achari Paneer Tikka

 

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Falafel Kebab

 

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Crispy Corn Pepper Salt

Non-veg starters had Nawabi Shikampuri , Satay Chicken and the Focaccia Al Pollo where all three were delicious but Nawabi Shikampuri stole the show for me. Repeated servings ensued till we were satisfied we had enough

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Nawabi Shikampuri

 

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Satay Chicken

 

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Focaccia Al Pollo

In the salad section we had the Ceaser salad (N.Veg) and the Insalata Roccola (Veg) where the former was the tastier of the two. Soups had Zucchini ala Parmigiana(Veg) & Tom Yum Goong (N.V) where I preferred the non veg version again.

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Caeser Salad

 

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Zucchini ala Parmigiana

Gorging on the starters proved to be an hindrance as I couldn’t touch the Veg main course except trying out 2 slices of their Margarita Pizza.

The Non Veg main course boasted of Penne Alfredo, Spring Chicken, Thai Red Curry , Chicken Burger, Mutton Biryani. All the 5 items turned out to be good where Spring chicken was the best as it was soft and juicy when it was piping hot, picture sessions along with having the entire main course present at the same time made the dish cold and less tasty later, no fault of the management in any way. Biryani is something which majority of the high end outlets falter on & fortunately it was better than what I had expected. Notable mention for the Thai red curry as well which was tasty but I would have preferred to have it with fried rice

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Penne Alfredo

 

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Mutton Biryani

 

 

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Chicken Burger

 

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Spring Chicken

 

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Thai Red Curry

Desserts section had Gulab Jamun , Blueberry cheese cake & Ice creams. Both the desserts were okay but didn’t evoke a sense of wow or that craving to have it multiple times.

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Gulab Jamun

 

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Blueberry Cheese Cake

 

Overall : All the items served were good , live music by Shawn Pereira DoCarmo was pleasant and easy on the ears and not a single dish could be termed as bad at all which was wonderful. Kudos to the admins for executing a great event.

A special mention for the kitchen staff along with Chef Naveen Nagaraj that ensured that every dish sent across was tasty, appealing, presentable and photogenic.

 

Jonathan's Kitchen - Holiday Inn Express & Suites Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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