Review - Bhojohori Manna

If you have been through my blog earlier, you would know by now that I am an out an out Bengali cuisine fan. And since it is time for me to review my favorite Bengali restaurant in Bangalore, it has to be special. During the 5 years of my stay in Bangalore, Bhojohori came very close to my heart as I had some great memories and moments with my friends and loved ones enjoying and yum yumming the food served here. 

I would specially like to mention my best friend Malvika Sinha here as it was 'her' company that made the memories special and food even more yummlicious for me. We were frequent weekenders at Bhojohori :D and sometimes even visited during the weekdays. 

It is a simply done restaurant but I love the 'bong' touch in every bit of thing they do. Right from the furniture, to the wall paintings to the music ..aaahhhh sheer nostalgia!!

Coming to food, I must admit here that my menu for all my visits remained the same and I can repeat it even further going 100 years forward. So my all time menu was something like this:

Starters:

             

Pomphret Fry 

Fish Fry 

Fish chops

Main Course:

Mutton Dakbangala

Katla Kalia

Mutton Dakbangala and Luchi

Ilish Shorshe 

Dessert:

Ice -cream

The starters are simple yet tasty. The fish fry is kind of interesting with the way they fry it in spiced rice flour. The starters and the main course is usually accompanied with a shorshe (mustard seeds) chutney - mustard seeds ground into paste and cooked in mustard oil. 

Moving on to the main course, Mutton Dakbangala is an interesting name like the dish itself. Most commonly it is called Kosha Mangsho which has a very rich and thick gravy with many many spices and flavors. This is probably the best mutton dish I have had so far. In fish, we always ordered Ilish Shorshe. Ilish enjoys the position of being the most tasty and costly fish in a Bengali kitchen. This fish preparation is by far the best too. Next dish is Katla Kalia, another mouth watering dark brown gravy with Katla fish. Mutton Dakbangala  is best accompanied with Luchi (puri made in maida) and both the fish preparations go best with rice. 

Our yumyumming marathon always came to an end with the most delicious ice - cream in the world. This is a very special ice - cream that they get from Kolkata. It is a kind of think rabri frozen in tiny clay pots and quoted with melted cold jaggery syrup. The taste of this ice - cream is way beyond any description. Due to jaggery, it has just the rigth amount of sweetness and the rabri has a very smooth texture which looks frozen but it melts down your mouth and senses. 

My advise, pre-book your ice - creams at the time of placing an order because they usually run out of it.

The menu has good number of options and all the dishes are reasonably priced. For this entire menu for 2-3 people, we paid something around Rs. 800 - Rs. 1000 max. 

Rest all is a memory and only one thing remains - 'Aami Tomake Bhalobashi Bhojohori Manna'!!

Happy Eating :)

   

    

Easy Fish Fry

I follow www.indiafoodnetwork.in. It is a very interesting food network featuring many recipe videos. 

I particularly like recipes by Veena here as her recipes are very simple and easy to remember. Sharing here one of her recent posts of Fish Fry. Hope you will like it too!! 

Happy Eating :)

Review - Cafe Thulp Bangalore

So these were the days in Bangalore when I was a couch potato and was competing a marathon with no idea who to finish watching seasons of 'How I Met Your Mother'. This one episode totally dedicated to a Hamburger ruined my peace and left me craving for one. 

Bangalore is no doubt a food heaven and I had visited most of the popular food joints of all kinds and sorts but had not come across a good burger point up until then. Fortunately my flatmate happened to know this small cozy cafe in Kormangala 1st Block called 'Thulp' which apparently served huge and yummy burgers. 

Leaving no time for second thoughts, I rushed to my craving's rescue and landed at the cafe with my flat mates. The cafe was a simple yet spacious layout with good number of tables and a heavenly book of menu :)


For all the non - vegetarians/ carnivores and burger lovers, this menu and food is indeed heavenly I bet!!

My cravings went bad to worst going through the menu as it gives you an exhaustive list of Starters, Hamburgers (daddy of all the burgers with size of a quarter plate), Burgers, Pastas, Sandwiches, Desserts and Drinks. Finally the deal was closed with Spicy Garlic Prawn Cocktail (interestingly served in a huge wine glass with a dip), Chicken and Bacon Skewers with Teriyaki sauce (best I have ever had.. these are to die for), 2 grilled tender Chicken Burgers with Cheese and Bacon and a Beef Burger with Goan Sausage fry and grilled onions. 

All the burgers are accompanied with french fries, potato wedges and salads. The food was no doubt too heavy and filling but I ate to my heart's content. The chef deserves an applaud for the great food 'Thulp' is serving and it earns away extra brownie points for low prices. 

Thulp is for sure the best burger destination for me so far!!

Happy Eating :)

Review - Aromas of China still Lingering in my Mind!!

So this one fine day me and two of my friends planned to catch up for dinner after work. Tired of Indian food, we looked for some other cuisine and finally decided on Chinese food at Aromas of China. 

One strange thing I find in Hyderabad is that people in this city do not like or find the time to write reviews about places they have visited. So I take this responsibility on my able shoulders to review places I have and shall visit in Hyderabad. 

So coming back to my story, we wanted to go to a place where we can enjoy good food and my friends can grab a drink and yes of course all this should be light on the pocket. 

Taking the chance, we landed at the 5th floor of the City Center Mall at Banjara Hills at Aromas of China. It was a nicely done entrance with dim lighting. As you enter and proceed to find a nice comfortable corner for yourself, you will notice that the interiors are very tastefully done. 

So after we chose our cozy corner, we immediately hogged on to the two interesting things already placed on the table to munch - Kimchi and salad. This keep you busy until you decide, place your order and get your order served. 

I specially liked Kimchi out of the two. 

The menu is exhaustive and have many interesting things to offer. We chose to start with a Huaiyang Spicy Crab Meat Soup and eight treasure vegetable thick soup. I would like to highlight here that if you want to enjoy a good main course spread then have soup one by two as the quantity of one soup is more than enough for two. 

For starters we ordered Singapore Chilli Prawns and Drums of Heaven Hong Kong style. Both starters turned out really well and we could not keep away from biting our fingers. This was a wonderful start and had set out moods just right. Dim lights, slow music and pleasing staff just adds up to your evening. 

By the time we had to place order for main course we were already too full so we decided to order one portion of Chilli Butter Vegetable Noodles. In case if you are not too hungry, one portion is more than enough for 3 people. Honestly, the noodles were way too tasty and heavenly than its simplistic name. All in all we came out happy and full. My special thanks goes to the manager who took our orders as all that we tried were his suggestions. He is a very nice and a patient guy and if you explain him (even in details) what you are looking for, I can bet you'll go back happy. 

And interestingly after ordering so much, our bill came to around Rs.1500 which includes 2 beers as well. Good deal haa!!

I am going back to Aromas of China hungry for more :)

Review - Beyond Coffee!!

It's been 8 months since I have shifted my base from Bangalore to Hyderabad. It is still a new city for me and I am still exploring it, but with a twist! I believe, best way to understand a city's culture and its people is to understand its food, flavors and the way they serve it. So, in my expedition, I added yet another food destination to my visited places - 'Beyong Coffee' at Jublee Hills Rd. No. 10. It is supposedly Hyderabad's first boutique coffee house - cum art gallery.  

I particularly liked the ambiance of the cafe as it makes you feel comfortable and cozy the moment you step in. A small yet adequately spaced out lawn, with cane tables and chairs and some fancy seating greets you at the entrance. As you look around, you will have a smile on your face finding yourself confused with seating options as you see a lawn, a huge comfortable indoor (with ac) space and a terrace seating (this is specifically for Hooka lovers). 

So we opted for the lawn area and placed our orders. I ordered a Mocktail called Chagall's Dream which is a fresh, minty, lemony mojito with crushed ice and soda. Just one sip and you feel refreshed. 

Since we were too hungry we ordered main course directly. My friends are pasta freaks and hence, no prizes for guessing that they ordered pastas. So one of them ordered Masaccio which is Gnocchi (a kind of pasta shape) in basil pesto and sun dried tomatoes. The dish looked totally green in color due to peso and less appetizing but to our surprise, it tasted heavenly with its smooth texture and melted into the mouth. Another pasta was a non - vegetarian selection called - Bernini. It is a Fusilli pasta cooked with julienne chicken in creamy Alfredo sauce. Again another delight for our taste buds. 

Since I am not a pasta freak, I ordered Chicken, Lamb and Pork chops with boiled veggies and mashed potatoes. My dish looked appetizing; however, it didn't taste that great! Chicken and Lamb chops saved the day for me cuz pork was alarmingly disastrous. Totally under cooked and dry, it just pulled the tempo down. 

All in all this meal was again light on the pockets but didn't go down too well due to the pork disappointment. Keeping this one disappointment aside, it is a good place to spend your evenings with friends and chat around. 

Happy Eating :)

Torai ki Bhujia or Ridge gourd curry

This was my first attempt with Torai or Ridge Gourd. I just kept it very simple and to my surprise, the dish came out very tasty. Just a few ingredients and a great dish. 

Ingredients:

2 large Torai (peeled and cut into thin round slices)
1 big onion - julienne
2 tomatoes - sliced 
Salt
Red chilli powder
Red chilli flakes 
Cumin seeds 
Dhania powder 
Turmeric powder 
Mustard oil (any cooking oil can be used)

Recipe:

• Heat mustard oil in the pan and add onion to it. Saute it for 2 seconds (ideas is just to loosen the onion not to make them pink or brown) and add sliced tomatoes, torai and all other seasonings. 
• Cover the lid and let it cook on low flame. Keep stirring it every 3-4 minutes so that it does not stick to the pan and burn.
• Even after the veggies are well cooked, keep stirring them on low flame for goo 10 - 15 minutes to bhuno it well (this adds in a lot of taste to the bhujia) and then you can remove it from the flame. Your dish is ready to be served. 

Hope you will like it too.

Happy Eating :)