Gourmet Eat In - Cravings fulfilled!

I’m told, the Gourmet Eat In concept is a quite well known abroad. A young and enterprising married couple, Swati and Tanuj, have recently introduced this concept to Pune. You choose the Gourmet Kit you wish to cook (and eat) from the variety of Gourmet Kits available at their website. They then send you a neatly packed carton of all ingredients required for that dish, all measured to perfection, along with the recipe. One only has to follow the recipe and use the ingredients (some raw, some cooked) as instructed and the gourmet meal is ready without much effort.

Gourmet Eat In has a variety of selections to please all palates. It begins with breakfast kits of Pancakes with Strawberry Compote and Mediterranean Style Eggs, to salads and kebabs for the first course. It edges into the main course with burgers, pasta, pizza, Thai curries and select Indian dishes. The finale to the gourmet kits end in dessert with a Cheat’s Tiramisu, Death by Chocolate and a few other sweet treats. They also have a ‘Popular’ and a ‘Barbeque’ section on their menu. The Barbeque section has a good selection of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

The kits I chose to try were the Pancakes with Strawberry Compote from the breakfast kit, Tandoori Nights (Non-vegetarian) Pizza from the main course and the marinated chicken drumsticks from the Barbeque menu.

The Pancakes with the strawberry compote turned out really well. I wish, through, that they had saved me some time and given me readymade strawberry compote; to simply reheat, with a dash of water added. It did not take me too long to make the compote but, readymade compote would have made my life simpler, which is always appreciated. The quantity of the pancake mix was sufficient for seven regular sized pancakes. The compote, too, was adequate for seven pancakes and draped a fantastic sweet ‘n sour veil over the fluffy pancakes. I would happily rename the dish ‘Breakfast Bliss’. 

The Tandoori Nights (non-vegetarian) Pizza gave me sleepless nights. Sigh! It was easiest pizza I have ever made in my entire life and, damn, was it good, or was it good! Naah, it was neither. It was excellent! The pizza sauce had that wonderful herby hint of oregano and basil that tickled my taste buds delightfully. The quantity of cheese given was sufficient to satisfy even this cheese obsessed Bawi. In fact, I asked Swati whether they had sent me this generous helping of cheese because I was reviewing their menu. She replied that, that was the actual quantity sent in the Tandoori Nights Pizza kit which made me do the happy puppy dance! 

When I was to receive the second kit I placed an order for the very same pizza. I just could not resist the temptation! This time, of course, I insisted I pay for the pizza. (Swati was kind enough to say, ‘you don’t have to pay for the pizza’, but my Parsee genes would not allow that).

Lastly, I decided to try the Marinated Chicken Drumsticks. They have three marinades available for these ‘shapely’ chicken legs. :-) I chose the Indian Tandoori marinade. The chicken was very well marinated and all I had to do was line a baking tray with a double sheet of aluminum foil (optional, unless you are obsessed with your bake ware: I am) , brush with butter, arrange the drumsticks over it, cover with a foil and bake for 20 minutes. Then I removed the foil, basted the chicken with the remaining butter and baked for another 10 minutes. Voila! Dinner was ready! 

The drumsticks were delicious! The marinating had ensured that the heat of the spices ran deep into those babies and the meat was so succulent that at the slightest touch of the fork it fell of the bone in delectable juicy morsels. The carnivore in me rejoiced!

Gourmet Eat In kits are the perfect solution for people who come home tired after a busy day at work, for overworked and hassled mothers or for bachelors who like to cook but don’t (or can’t) because it’s too much trouble. Healthy, delicious, gourmet home-cooked meals don’t get anymore easier than this. Do give Swati, or Tanuj, a call and give these Gourmet Kits a try. You won’t be disappointed!

Note: As the couple is just starting out on this venture, there were a few small negatives which I pointed out to them in terms of recipe, cooking technique, ingredients, etc. I haven't mentioned them in this review for the simple reason that they have already been noted and the changes incorporated. I think that says a lot about them and their desire to make a success of this venture.

Swati and Tanuj Jindal

Gourmet Eat In
Click here for Gourmet Eat In 

Contact: +91 8888057841

Good Eats.. Indeed!

I received a pouch of miniature and two large Easter eggs a couple of days ago. The couple (Tessy and Nicky Picardo) who makes them requested an honest feedback and review. I couldn’t refuse. (Only a fool would refuse chocolates and I’m no fool. :-)) 

Tessy has been making goodies for Easter and Christmas for the past twelve years. The name she goes by is Good Eats by Tessy. When she began making Easter eggs she started out with 12 flavors. She now has 21 on offer. During Christmas she makes Guava Cheese, Plum cakes, Kulkuls and other goodies too. 

The miniature Easter eggs were in a variety of flavors; rum & raisin, pistachio, roasted almond, cherry brandy, amaretto, marzipan, orange, nutty nougat and many more. The large eggs (nearly the size of duck eggs), any of the 21 flavors, are sold at 125 each while the miniatures (assorted) are sold at 1800 per kilo. There are approximately 60 pieces to a kilo of these yummy babies. They also sell miniature eggs by individual flavor. The price for each (per kilo) then differs depending on the flavor. 

I consider myself a chocolate snob, if there ever is such a thing. (naughty grin) There are chocolates from Belgium chocolatiers which I would not touch with a barge pole, nor would I have them even if they were being given out free. These Easter eggs are made from imported Belgium chocolate and are truly worth their price. The chocolate used is of the finest quality and that fact dawns on you as soon as you pop the first egg in your mouth. From all the home-made chocolates that I have had, these, truly, have been the finest by far. The Cherry Brandy, Rum & Raisin, Amaretto, Marzipan, Roasted Almond, Pistachio and Orange were my favorite flavors. The Date & Walnut and the Peanut Butter didn’t do much for me but then that could be because those just aren’t my kind of flavors. If you happen to love peanut butter or dates they just could turn out to be your favorite. 

As I come to the end of this review, I leisurely pop another marzipan egg into my mouth. Please don’t give me disapproving looks for being greedy. :P If you try these babies, rest assured, you will be doing the same when penning your review of these chocolate eggs. Do give them a try: you won’t be disappointed.

To order please call Tessy or Nikky:  +91 9822508187

Address: Nikky Picardo, 2 Aden Villa, Lane opp Mahesh Lunch Home, Pune.

Pizza Hut – Pizza Perfect!

While shopping for a new pair of Reeboks, on a whim, we suddenly decided to have a pizza hence walked into Pizza Hut at SGS Mall. We ordered a Chicken Overload (with extra mushrooms - Rs 50) and specified we wanted a thin crust pizza. We wanted it really thin and crisp. We were politely informed that their thin crust pizzas were thinner than the rest of the pizza bases but wasn’t an actual thin crust and hence they wouldn't be able to comply with the thin and crisp factor. We placed our order anyways because we were hungry.

The pizza brought out to us was cheesy and delicious. The bread, though not the thin crust we wanted, was fresh and extremely satisfying. The only let down was that for the fifty extra bucks we paid for the mushrooms, the chef had barely sliced one whole mushroom over our entire pizza. I kid you not! All in all, except for being stingy in regard to the mushroom I could find no fault with the pizza. Will definitely walk in whenever I am at SGS mall.

Ambiance: 2/5
Service: 4/5
Food: 4/5

Address: SGS Magnum Mall, Moledina Road, Camp, Pune

Spice Kitchen.. A bland dim sum festival!

Spice Kitchen at JW Marriott, Senapati Bapat road, happens to be one of my favorite buffets in town. It has a classy charm that truly pleases the senses. 

There was a dim sum festival on (from February 15, 2016 to February 29, 2016) hence my bestie and I headed there on Saturday evening. The buffet at Marriott is well laid out but drinks, or drink packages, aren’t included (except, maybe, for the Sunday brunch) which make the whole experience a pricy affair. The past few days because they had a dim sum festival on, the buffet was even more expensive. It was priced at 1350 rupees, plus drinks, plus taxes which is why we ended up paying a steep 2000 per person. Paying the amount we pay when visiting a five star is not a problem at all. The problem arises when the food is not up to the mark.

The price of the buffet was hiked because of the festival and not one dim sum ticked the right palate box. The dim sums brought to the table were cold. They forgot to serve us the fried variety along with the steamed ones, and when they did serve them later (after being reminded), they were also cold. We sent them back requesting they bring us hot ones. The dim sums were absolutely nothing to write home about. The dim sum wrappers were thin enough but the fillings were bland and extremely dense. The prawn dim sum was a tad better than the rest. As for the fried lamb sesame ball, the coating was so thick and tough that we could not cut into it with a knife. Truly, the dim sums served were very, very, very disappointing!

The rest of the buffet was laid out as usual except that I did not see any smoked salmon or Brie or Camembert at the buffet counters. These days Marriott is getting stingy in regard to putting up pricy stuff at the buffet which is extremely unbecoming of an establishment like them. Usually when smoked salmon and our favorite cheeses are not served at the buffet, they make it available to us when requested. (Marriott hospitality at it’s best!) I guess they also extend this courtesy to us because we are regulars at the Spice Kitchen. It is indeed very sweet and kind of them to do so! That evening though, they did not have Brie or Camembert (sad face) and we had to just make do with the smoked salmon. 

We did not try too much from the Indian main course counter but the chicken starter (some kind of tikka) was delicious. We tried a bowl of steaming chicken coriander soup. It was perfectly balanced and was one of the best things we had that evening. We also tried the soy noodles and some chicken and fish dishes from the Chinese counter, all of which were very nice. We later polished off a thin crust pizza with loads and loads of stringy cheese. (Happy puppy face)

As the dim sum festival was on, the restaurant was quite crowded. The servers (usually extremely attentive) were often running around like headless chickens which lead to poor service quality. The guy at the waffle counter took our order and we waited nearly 15-20 minutes for him to serve us. He made waffles for tables around us but for some reason forgot our table existed. We were just too tired of repeating orders to the servers and hence decided to chuck the waffle and call for the check. We had to repeat our request for the cheque too. 

There is something for everyone at each counter at Spice Kitchen and we (my bestie and I) will definitely continue visiting them because of the food they serve and also, mainly, because of the way in which they treat us. But, will I go to Spice Kitchen when they have a special festival on; when servers are over-hassled and the buffet price hiked? I don’t think so! All in all, Spice Kitchen has enough food laid out to please most palates, both, at their regular buffet and at their Sunday brunch buffet. You won’t come away disappointed so do walk in and give it a try. 

Ambiance: 4/5

Service: 2.5/5 (the waffle guy and for making us repeat our requests – usually I would give them a 4/5)

Food – Dim sums: 1/5 (I’m being polite)
Food (Regular Buffet): 3.5/5 (based on Saturday evening’s buffet – sometimes the food at their buffet and Sunday brunch is so good that I would easily give them a 4/5)

Address: Senapati Bapat Road, Pune.

Tel no: 020 66832345 / 020 66833333