Feast revisited – The Jashn-e-Hyderabad Festival

Exactly a month ago, I had visited Feast at Le Meridien and enjoyed the food there immensely, so when I heard they were hosting Jashn-e-Hyderabad, a Hyderabad Food Festival, I simply had to give it a try. 

The regular Indian counter which normally holds dishes from various parts of India, was laden with Hyderabadi food served in beautiful shiny copper pots. Chef Yadaiah Bandaru has specially been flown in from Hyderabad to orchestrate this week long festival.

We were served a welcome drink; Gummadikaya Vadiyams, a drink made from Kokam. It was sweet and refreshing. 

As the air conditioning was on full blast at the restaurant (not complaining, I love it) we chose to warm ourselves with soup. I opted for the Gosht Ka Marag, a delicious, piping hot lamb soup. It was the kind of soup that one just can’t get enough of. I’m guessing it was made from the right kind of fatty mutton and bones that give a soup its soul! Sigh! After a while, I also decided to try the Bhuna Bhutte ka Shorba. This was a thick, creamy, delicately flavoured soup. I love adding butter to creamy soups, hence added half a knob of butter to the soup to up its satiety quotient. I have to say, though, the soup was delicious even without the butter. It’s just my crazy Bawi genes that cannot resist butter. (sheepish grin)

The Starters at the buffet were Dakhani Paneer Tikka, Chatpati Bhindi, Kabuli Chana ki Tikki and Phudina Machhli Tikka. From a counter other than the Hyderabadi food, I also tried a tikka similar to chicken haryali tikka, chicken popcorn and a heart-shaped potato-veg tikki. All the starters were fantastic! 

The chicken haryali tikka was soft and juicy. The Phudina Machhli Tikka, served with a wee bit of tamarind sauce and green chutney, was flaky and well-seasoned! The best part about the machhi (fish) tikka was that they used Betki fish instead of the more commonly served Basa. The Bhindi was truly ‘chatpata’ and the Kabuli Chana Tikki was crisp on the outside and soft within. Absolutely perfecto!

For the vegetarian mains the feast offered Tarkari Meloni, Bhagara Baingan (Aubergine), Mirch ka Salan, Paneer Tamatar ka Kut and Hyderabadi Subz Dum Biryani. I did not eat the baingan as I don’t enjoy the vegetable but I did try the gravy and it had a wonderful hint of mustard in it. Although, I’m not a big fan of mustard this did not overwhelm my taste buds and I found myself dipping a soft, layered Lachcha Paratha into this gravy over and over again.

The Tarkari Meloni was a dish of mixed vegetables: Green peas, French beans, Carrots and more. For all of you, who think this carnivore did not try the dish because it had so many vegetables, think again! :P I did try it and liked it too! This Methi leaf (Fenugreek) based dish was perfectly balanced in spices. I’m sure the vegetarians will love this one. 

The Paneer Tatatar ka Kut was a wonderful, tangy tomato sauce with melt-in-the-mouth Malai Paneer chunks in it. I rarely find places that use such good quality Paneer. I’m sorry guys; I did not try the Hyderabadi Subz Dum Biryani. With Kachhe Gosht ki Biryani on the menu, I just couldn’t get myself to opt for the Vegetarian version.
 

The non-vegetarian section comprised of Machhli ka Salan, Dum ka Murg, Kheema Kaleji Fry and Kachhe Gosht ki Biryani. The Machhli ka Salan was a delectable Betki curry but, for me, what stole the show were, Kheema Kaleji, Dum ka Murg and the Kacche Gosht ki Biryani. The Kheema Kaleji Fry was superb! The pieces of kaleji (liver) in the Kheema lent a wonderful gamey flavour to the dish and it was beautifully cooked. My bestie, tentatively, tried a wee bit of the Kheema but being unable to handle offal, winced at every bite that I went ‘ummm’ at. (evil grin) The rich gravy of that Dum ka Murg was to die for! As for the Kachhe Gosht ki Biryani, the mutton was tender, the rice extremely flavourful and fragrant and together, they sang a soulful rendition on my palate. It had all the makings of a GREAT Biryani!

Our desserts for the evening were Qubani ka Meetha, Sheer Korma and Gil-e-Behisht. The Qubani ka Meetha was deliciously sweet and because they had used apricots from Turkey, the dessert had retained its wonderful deep colour. 

The Sheer Korma was one of the best I have had in recent years with Seviya drenched in sweet milk and sprinkled generously with dry fruits. How can anyone not like that? Sigh! 

The Gil-e-Behisht was a new dessert for me. It was a kheer made with lauki (bottle gourd), rice and dry fruits. It had the makings of a good dessert but somewhere, down the line someone had erroneously used burnt milk for the dessert and that whiff of burnt milk immediately hit my olfactory senses. I requested our server to call Chef Mark and with a cheeky grin I handed him a spoon and requested him to taste the kheer. He did! I asked him what he thought of it. His immediate reply was, ‘burnt milk’. We laughed and applauded him for passing our “acid test”. Jokes apart; what I appreciated most was the honesty with which he accepted the error. Also, not wanting to serve something sub-standard to his guests, he immediately ordered to have the dessert taken off the menu for the rest of the evening. The integrity of that action was commendable! As I always say, mistakes happen in the kitchen, but when dealt like this, with efficiency and honesty, such behaviour that makes me return to a restaurant again and again. 

Let me clarify again: The Hyderabad Food Festival is available at the Indian food counter but the other food counters; Chinese, Continental, Salads, Breads & Cheese, Desserts were on as usual. We chose to restrict ourselves to the Hyderabadi Festival food for a change. We did try two three other things from the remaining counters and everything was delish. I have already reviewed that a few weeks back and thus am not commenting on any of those dishes again.

The Jashn-e-Hyderabad festival is on from July 9, 2016 to July 16, 2016. Please note: The festival is only on for their dinner buffet. Having spoken to the Chef for a few minutes, we were told they plan to change the menu every night. The buffet is priced at INR 1616/-, all inclusive. The ambiance, the food and the friendly service makes this dining experience such a pleasure! Two happy puppies trotted home at 02.30 AM with contented grins on their faces. :D

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

Address: Le Meridien, Next to Raja Bahadur Mills, Sangamwadi, Pune.
Tel: 020 26050505 / 020 66411111

Marrakesh – The Meaty Ramadaan Affair!

This was a Ramadaan feast organized by Marrakesh for a select few. After Ramadaan these dishes will soon be a part of their menu as weekly specials and so I decided to time the review with the ending of the month long fast.

Marrakesh has ten branches all over Pune and they specialize in Lebanese, Mediterranean and Mughlai cuisine. I have ordered in from Marrakesh, through an online ordering application, a number of times, but this was my first visit to one of their restaurants. As the group assembled at the Undri branch, we were served a welcome drink of Falooda. This was a much lighter version of the traditional Falooda and was very refreshing to the palate without being heavy on the stomach.

Under the watchful eye of Imran’s (the Manager) the servers brought appetizers/starters to our table. The starters were Mutton Boti Kabab, Tangdi Kulfi Kabab, Tandoori Fried Aloo, Chicken Shahina, Chicken Baida Roti and Mohammed Ali Road wala Shawarma. 

The Mutton Boti Kababs were delicious. I usually avoid mutton boti kababs because they tend to be too dry and tough but these were beautifully marinated, juicy and tender. Truly, very delicious!

The Tangdi Kulfi Kabab was succulent and to my palate the best starter of the evening. Just as I fell head over heels in love with their Makrana Kabab (they are on the regular Marrakesh menu), I fell equally hard for these creamy babies. As they had an extensive menu planned for us, I behaved myself and stopped at one Kabab but I could have given up every other delicious dish and just feasted on this. A request to Team Marrakesh; please, pretty please, get these on the regular menu. Gaurav Gite, I pray to God you’re reading this. :-) 

The Tandoori Fried Aloo was a specially added to the menu to give us a slight break from the non-vegetarian dishes being served that evening. The carnivore in me politely had one aloo (potato). It was well made but, as a hardcore meat-eater, I did not want to stuff myself with anything vegetarian. I, however, had no objections to the continuous flow of meat arriving at the table. *evil grin* 

The Chicken Shahina was tandoor’d chicken stuffed with chicken mince and cashews. It was a tad on the dry side but the flavours were intact. It would have tasted way better had the chicken retained its juiciness. 

Chicken Baida Roti, was the one thing that evening that nearly had me in tears; unfortunately, they weren’t tears of joy. I was enjoying the delicious Roti until the time a slim, sharp chicken bone pierced my gums with searing intensity. After that all I felt was intense pain. When I went ‘ouch’, Aniruddha sitting in front of me cringed sympathetically at my distress. They ought to be more careful but, chefs, are human too and I totally understand that sometimes these things just happen. :-) 

The Mohammed Ali Road Wala Shawarma was the only thing I touched very warily because I know Marrakesh adds raw cabbage shreds to their Shawarma. (raw/salad = pas moi). I tasted a bit of the Chicken Shawarma but because it was a teeny tiny morsel, I could not really judge the true flavour of this dish. It would therefore be unfair of me to comment on it. 

For the mains they served us Bhuna Murg Haddiwala, Hari Mirch Ka Murg, Raan Masala, Nalli Nihari, Dilliwala Korma and Kabsa Rice. By this time I was fairly stuffed with all the starters, hence I only scooped a spoonful of gravy from each dish with a piece of garlic naan (except for Raan Masala). 

Every dish had distinctly different gravies and they were all quite delicious. The garlic naan itself was so well made and delish that I could eat it just as it was, without any accompaniment. 

From the main course there were two dishes, though, that deserves special mention: Raan Masala and Kabsa Rice. The mutton on the Raan fell off the bone and was tender, juicy and mouth-wateringly savoury from all the garam masalas it had been marinated in. I love a spice hit on my palate and this was spot on! As there were too many meat-based dishes, the chef had chosen to serve us a vegetarian version of Kabsa Rice. The rice, though vegetarian, was so flavourful that even when had just by itself, was DELICIOUS! The taste of the Kabsa Rice and those Tangdi Kulfi Kababs was unforgettable; it will stay with me a long, long time. These are dishes I will most certainly return to time and time and time again. Sigh! 

Our desserts comprised of Simla Mirch ka Halwa, Jalebi Rabdi and Rasmalai-Suterfeni. My sincere apologies to the Chef but I cannot fib when I pen a review, the Shimla Mirch Halwa just did not work. I feel there are certain ingredients that should not be toyed with as dessert. This was one such instance. :( 

The Jalebi Rabdi, however, was rich, sweet and decadent as was the Rasmalai-Suterfeni. This was also a new and unique combination for my palate and I loved every bit of it! 

I look forward to ordering from or visiting Marrakesh over and over again because their food is the stuff that a carnivore’s dreams are made of. I also am waiting for the inclusion of the Tangdi Kulfi Kabab to their regular menu and the other Ramadaan dishes to their special weekly menu. Thank you, Aniruddha, Gaurav Gite, Imran and Team Marrakesh for being such wonderful hosts. It was a marvellous evening!

Address: 12, Budhrani Boulevard, NIBM Annex, Undri, Opp Marvel Sangria, NIBM Road, Pune (They have a total of ten branches all over Pune)
Tel: 020 30162315

Siddha’s – A newbie on the block

A Saturday afternoon had me walking in to check a new kid on the block. Siddha’s, owned by Vaneet Bhalla, a cafe which is barely a fortnight old. Situated in one of the quiet by-lanes of Salunke Vihar, at first look this cafe comes across as a bright, airy and as the name suggests, serene place. The interiors are quirky yet well done up with a tiny book section and an art section. They have board games like Chess, Ludo and Scrabble to keep adults and kids engaged while they wait for their meal. They also have a guitar that customers can strum on when in a musical mood. 

The menu at Siddha’s is vegetarian. They serve an eclectic mix of dishes; milk shakes, pastas, ice cream sundaes, soups, sandwiches, snacks and some South Indian and Chinese dishes. They also plan to have an off-the-menu weekly special for their customers.

They served us four drinks; Oreo Shake, Jeera Soda, Kala Khatta and a hot Ginger Lemon Tea. All drinks were balanced in flavour but the Ginger Lemon Tea stole my heart. The added honey took the tea to a different level. Refreshing and delicious are the perfect words to describe it. 

For soup and starters our host served us Manchow soup, Cheese Balls, Veg-Mayo-Slaw Sandwich, Cheese Burst Bombs, Mushroom Chilli Fry and Medhu Wada Sambhar. I tried a bit of everything and it was all very well made. The soup was hot and satisfying; though I would have preferred some more crisp noodles with it. The Cheese Balls had ample molten cheese within because of which this Bawi had a Cheshire cat smile on her face. The Mushroom Chilli Fry was spicy and it was one of the best things we had that afternoon. The Medhu wada was crisp; just the way I like it. The only thing I did not touch was the Veg-Mayo-Slaw Sandwich. Those who know me know why. Hint: *salad/raw food stuff* - enough said! :D

For the mains we ate, Veg Biryani, Veg Thali and Pasta in Pink Sauce. The pasta was cooked to perfect al dente level and had adequate sauce to go with it. The Thali comprised of Kali Dal, Mushroom Masala and Paneer Makhani. The accompaniments were steamed rice and a couple of soft chapattis. Dessert for the thali was a melt-in-the-mouth Gulab Jamun. All gravies in the thali were delicious, as was that Gulam Jamun. 

We ended the meal with a Chocolate Fudge Sundae, a Fruit Sundae and a Banana Split. I tried them all but because of the inclusion of fresh fruits I steered away from the Fruits Sundae after one spoonful. I’m not someone who likes fruits (exceptions being, mangoes and bananas), hence could not comment on the quality of the dessert. The fruit lovers at the table, however, loved it! As for the Chocolate Fudge Sundae and the Banana Split what’s not to like about such delicious desserts. Specially the Banana Split, it not only tasted wonderful, it was also very well presented and was a treat to the eyes and the palate.

If you crave a quiet, relaxed time with a loved one or if it’s a long fun-filled afternoon/evening with a crazy bunch of friends or if you want some peaceful ‘me’ time then you should surely head to Siddha’s. Team Siddha, thank you for being such wonderful hosts and be rest assured that I shall visit the cafe again, soon. 

Address: Borade Nagar, Wanowrie, Off Salunke Vihar Road, Pune
Tel: 020 30163489