#MasalaFoodFair

The weather has had its ups and downs in the past few days; some may have enjoyed it while the others were rather disappointed.

#MasalaFoodFair was scheduled to be on Friday (20th) and Saturday (21st) but unfortunately the sandstorm played a spoil sport on Saturday & the event had to be rescheduled to Sunday; however that worked out perfectly for me as I was able to drive down to Dubai for the fair.

First things first, I personally absolutely loved the concept of Masala Food Fair, because as their name suggests, the event has everything you need in order to have a "Masaledaar" day, good music, live entertainment, bollywood stars and most importantly numerous stalls all around you serving food ranging from the east to the west of India under one roof, well not roof, given that it was at Zabeel Park, but you get the point.  

What I tried at the #MasalaFoodFair

Kulfilicious – Saffron Tea

Wow! The irony of me having Chai from an Ice-Cream stall, but in my defence it was the 1^st chai container I noticed and I’m glad I did, because it was exactly what I needed in that weather.

Price – AED 5  

The Kulfilicious Stall 

Appakadai - Appam and Chicken Gravy

The appams were fluffy, soft and fresh; however I was hoping they had more variants to it and had not limited themselves to just plain appams. It was served with Chicken Curry, which complimented the Appams well. 

Price - AED 12

Appam with Chicken Gravy

Yalla Momos - Chicken Steamed Momos

Now this is one place, that needs to, has to, MUST open a branch in Abu Dhabi, since there is no specialized Momo restaurant in Abu Dhabi. I've heard a lot about Yalla Momos and was quite excited about giving the chicken momos a try and was not disappointed. The Momos literally melted in my mouth, the stuffed minced chicken with the hint of garlic made the momos succulent. 

Price - AED 15 

Chicken Momos 

Mezbaan - Mutton Seekh Kebabs

The mutton seekh kebab was cooked to perfection; though it was not as juicy as I expected it to be. But I shall like to give them the benefit of doubt and maybe head to their restaurant their other kebabs. Oh and the servers were kind enough to serve us 1 extra plate as they were planning to shut their stall soon. 

Price - AED 10 

Mutoon Seekh Kebab

Kulcha King - Chicken Keema Kulcha which came along with with Chole and Tangy Tamarind Chutney.

The Chicken Keema Kulcha was hot and seemed fresh (Inspite of us ordering for this towards the end of the fair) and was stuffed lavishly with minced chicken. It was extremely tasty and very filling, although, the chole were bland and seemed slightly stale.

Price - AED 15 

Chicken Keema Kulcha and Chole 

Also I've to add that the chefs from Kulcha King were a part of a live cook off challenge, during which, one of them had made "Amritsari Fish" & I consider myself luck that I was given a chance to try this out because take my word on this, it was perhaps the spiciest & tastiest I've ever had & since spicy food is like candy to me, I was instantly in love with it. Hence I definitely plan on heading to Kulcha King to try out their food.

Live Cook Off - Kulcha King 

What I missed out on? Unfortunately the Mr. Sugarcane stall had shut down way before the fair ended and I couldn't try it out. Also by the time I got done with Kulcha King my appetite had given up on me and I wasn't able to try out the Butter Chicken from Dabbawalla which I've heard is quite good. 

Also a major highlight from the 2^nd day of Masala Foor Fair is the presence of Raveena Tandon who according to me is the yesteryears Nargis Fakhri, smart, stunning and witty. So inspite of Raveena Tandon being away from the limelight for ages now she was still able to woo the crowd just by being there.

Raveena Tandon (Image Courtesy - Twitter) 

Lastly like I said the event was rescheduled to Sunday which resulted in a very low show up which obviously was good for people who don’t like waiting in long queues to grab a bite, but at the same time, I really wish they were more people at the #MasalaFoodFair because it being a "Masala" event, you can trust the who's who of Dubai to be there. 

So overall I had a great time at the #MasalaFoodFair and was able to relish on some mouth-watering food and a little birdie told me that they plan on doing this more often, so yay! 

P.S. You can check out pictures from the event on Masala!

Wafi Gourmet - Nation Towers

A friend had recently suggested a place called Asia De Cuba at the St. Regis (Abu Dhabi) and had asked me to give it a try, so I decided to head there on a Friday evening with a few friends, but unfortunately since the much spoken about outdoor area at Asia De Cuba was shut (Due to the weather) we decided to come back there some other day.

But that resulted in my friends and I getting back to Square 1 in terms of where we could possibly chill that evening. But thankfully after spending a few fruitful minutes on Zomato we decided upon Wafi Gourmet which is at the Nation Towers (Besides St.Regis)

Now on entering Wafi Gourmet, we were rather amazed with how massive the restaurant was, they have an indoor and outdoor seating area, however the outdoor is not really in the open, its just surrounded with glass that overlooks Marina Mall/ Corniche. But the latter is where they serve sheesha, hence we decide to sit outdoors, as that's what we were primarily wanting to do.

We ordered for a Mint Sheesha and for a Mixed Platter with garlic dip and hummus. 

The Mixed Platter was a rather small portion and did no justice to it being priced at AED 80, it consisted of Mutton Seekh Kebabs, Chicken Shish Tawook, Lamb Kofta and the Arayes style bread. 

The Mixed Grill 

My personal favourite was the Chicken Shish Tawook which was extremely well cooked, the meat was tender and the seasoning was spot on. Also the mutton seekh kebab wasn't too bad either. However the Arayes style bread and Lamb Kofta were very average. 

The platter was served with a basket of khubz (bread) which was warm and fresh and was delectable on being accompanied by the garlic dip/ hummus. 

Moving on to the Mint Sheesha, the sheesha was very ordinary, it wasn't bad but not great either. This is priced at AED 56. Also an advise would be, don't forget to carry your ID cards if you look young, because they are quite particular about it.

Lastly the staff was quite friendly, however there was a slight language constraint. 

Overall it was quite an average experience at Wafi Gourmet and I would rate it a 2.5/5

Also 1 last thing to add, Wafi Gourmet follows an Arabic cuisine version of the Subway sandwich concept. You can choose your kebabs and dips and create your own sandwich which apparently costs you about 15 AED for a take-away and 30 AED if you plan on dining in. (And no I don't understand the logic behind this either)

P.S. For regular updates, you can follow me on Twitter / Instagram

Siddhartha Lounge - Grosvenor House

You know there are a few simple yet fancy words that you probably know off, but don't really end up using too often. One such word, for me, would be "Magnificent" I don't even know why, but I've never used this word, but today I will, because there is really NO better word to describe the place I'm reviewing today i.e. "Siddhartha Lounge"

So on a Friday evening, my friends and I were planning to head to Buddha Bar at Grosvenor House (Dubai Marina) but unfortunately they were fully reserved and so the bouncer suggested we try our luck at Siddhartha Lounge which was bang opposite Buddha Bar. 

Now when I initially heard the name Siddhartha Lounge, I being me, giggled to myself, because it seemed like 1 of those shady bars in Mumbai, you know like, Arjuna Bar/ Rameshwa Bar? But Siddharhta Lounge was clearly far from that. 

You are sure to be mind-blown by the view it over looks, which actually changes depending on which side you're seated at, so it could either be overlooking the Palm or the towers at Marina (Habtoor Grand etc) We were seated outdoor, which I preferred as it had an extremely cozy setup, with floor mattresses spread across stairs. However, the indoor area looked spectacular too with the classy white and golden decor.

THE OUTDOOR SETUP

THE INDOOR SETUP

What we ordered? We ordered for Stir Fried Chicken which was undoubtedly very tasty, but at a Desi-Chinese restaurant, because it had this very masaledaar thing to it, and we almost wanted to stab ourselves for ordering the dish, as it was exorbitantly priced. This dish alone costed us 180 AED *yup, you can point your gun towards me* 

Stir Fried Chicken 

We also ordered for a thin crust chicken pizza, which was originally not on the menu, but the server willingly accepted to make it on special request. The dough was fresh and the chicken was well cooked, also it was for 70 AED which was not as bad. 

Uhm yes that's what my photography looks like!

Now thankfully that was pretty much what we had called for food, post which we decided to just stick to drinking at Siddhartha and ordered for cocktails from their extensive list of cocktails. I ordered for two rum based cocktails and both tasted great. The alcohol & fruits were well-blended. It was neither too strong nor too light. Also the cocktails were priced for about 65 AED which is similar to any other lounge in Dubai. 

From my eye to yours ;)

Service? Inspite of being a girl, I couldn't stop myself from crushing over the stunning ladies who were servers here, and their gorgeous white gowns just added to their beauty. So yes, the boys are definitely in for some eye treat. Also I must add that it's common for these fancy places to have really hot female servers but unfortunately they either turn out to be extremely slow and silly or are extremely arrogant, but at Siddhartha, they were neither slow nor did they come across as arrogant. #Win

Music? The music playing in the background was great, exactly what we needed infact, as it sounded great and wasn't too loud, which is a good thing incase you're going here with friend to catch up or for a date (however the latter depends on you and your partners conversational skills) ;) 

Overall I absolutely loved it and would rate Siddhartha a 4/5 

For more updates, you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram

P.S. Most pictures in this blog post have been taken off Google, because clearly photography isn't my forte.

El Chico

Firstly this review has been long over-due, I had listed down pointers about the restaurant a while back and then never got back to it, thanks to my latest addiction of online shopping which very easily managed to distract me every time I tried completing this blog post, but now that I'm on it, let me tell you El Chico is what I'm reviewing today. 

El Chico has been at Delma Mall for a while now and has newly opened a branch at WTC mall, which btw I must say is becoming quite a hub for foodies.

So the other day, we decided to do family lunch at El-Chico (WTC) and I was rather shocked on entering EL-CHICO, because the restaurant has just about opened up and yet had quite a decent amount of people who were dining in, however the place is spacious and can easily accommodate a lot of people, so there was absolutely no complaining and we were instantly guided towards a table of four by the server. 

As soon as we settled down, we were given the massive menu card and a complimentary bowl of crispy nachos accompanied by mild salsa.

What we ordered? Top Shelf Guacamole, Chicken Fajita Nachos, Sombrero Platter, Chicken Chipotle, Chicken Fajita Quesadilla, Strawberry Cheesecake and Chocolate Lava Cake.

Top Shelf Guacamole - The guacamole, which is a mixture of avocados, onions, jalapeños, lime and black salt, is made fresh on the table for you, which is also what happens at Cantina Laredo, but take my word on this, it was definitely the best guacamole I've had. My dad was extremely fascinated with the man making the guacamole and was trying to figure out what goes where and how exactly do they make it, so I won't be surprised if he soon experiments and decides to surprise us with some home-made guacamole inspired by El-Chico. 

Top Shelf Guacamole 

Chicken Fajita Nachos - The bean & cheese nachos were topped generously with the well-cooked grilled chicken fajita. However the taste of the beans were slightly over-shadowing the cheese flavor, which is not something I would like in my nachos. But otherwise I quite liked the nachos. 

Chicken Fajita Nachos 

Sombrero Platter - I absolutely love platters, because that way I get to try more dishes :D So this platter was a mix of, fried mozzarella cheese, BBQ chicken wings and chicken strips. The mozzarella sticks were crispy but not the best I've had, the BBQ chicken wings however was extremely juicy and something we all enjoyed having. But amongst the 3 if I had to pick a favorite, it would be the crispy chicken which was extremely tender and literally broke into pieces on touching it. 

Sombrero Platter

Moving on to perhaps the most disappointing dish at El-Chico, which was the "Chicken Chipotle" which is basically supposed to be chicken breast topped up with cheese and chipotle pepper sauce. But unfortunately the only thing I tasted was SALT! Also the chicken wasn't cooked well and was extremely hard. 

Chicken Chipotle

Chicken Fajita Quesadilla - The chicken fajita quesadillas were spot on, it had the right amount of juicy grilled chicken fajita, pepper, onion and cheese. Infact I'm not sure what exactly is it called, but from a lehman perspective, the tortilla was wrapped in a slightly different manner as served in other mexican restaurants (Don't give me that blank look, you might know what I mean once you look at the picture below)

Chicken Fajita Quesadilla

Now inspite of being stuffed with all that we had ordered for, the desserts looked absolutely tempting (they bring a platter to your table with all the options they have, so you get a better idea of what the desserts actually look like) We ended up ordering for the strawberry cheese cake and the chocolate cake which was served with vanilla icecream and topped with chocolate and pecan. Both the cakes were simply out of this world. Infact the chocolate cake did the impossible and kind of took over the 1st place in my "Favourite Dessert" list which was earlier held by the molten chocolate cake from Chilis. Yup, its that good. 

Strawbery Cheesecake

Chocolate Cake

The Quantity? The 1 word to describe it is INSANE. Also going by my past experience, quantity is never an issue with Mexican restaurants. 

The Price? The bill was about 420 for 3 appetizers, 2 main-course dishes, 2 desserts and 4 drinks, which I think is not bad at all, especially for a family lunch/ dinner. 

The Interiors? The interiors are very similar to CHILIS (Which is a part of the same group of companies) however I wish they had added a little more Mexican touch to its interiors. 

The Staff? Extremely friendly and well informed staff. The latter is usually uncommon in newly opened restaurants, but here the server knew the in and out of their menu card. Also the manager   was kind enough to check on us before and after the meal. 

Overall I quite liked the place and will definitely recommend it, I would rate El Chico a 3.5/5 

For more regular updates on restaurants and other random things I indulge in, follow me on Instagram / Twitter. 

"Relax"ed at 12, all the way till 6 pm

You know first things first, let me tell you all how I absolutely LOVE brunches, but unfortunately due to whatever reasons, actually let's just say "hangover" reasons, my friends and I never end up going for any, be that in Mumbai or here in the UAE.

But this Friday, given that I had a less happening Thursday and also because the kind people at "Aloft" invited me and a friend for their brunch, I did end up going for a brunch, finally. It's a different thing that I reached here only at 3 pm, but hey, I did reach.

Now honestly Aloft is a place that has been on my mind for a while now, not so much for their brunch, but for the 1 of a kind, rain dance party that  they organize regularly here. However thanks to their invite, I did visit Aloft for their brunch at Relax at 12, and boy, am I glad or what.

Their lavish spread almost scared us, because we were bombarded with about 40 plates on our table with cuisines varying from American, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Japanese, Arabic to name a few.

From the number of items we tried, there were a few that absolutely stood out, namely, the golden beer battered fish, the crispy potato curlers, the Egg Benedict, the Chicken Satay, the Shrimp Tempura, the Vietnameseolls, the Shrimp stuffed Dim-sums and lastly the spicy Chicken Tikka stuffed in papad. Now unlike my usual blog posts where I go about explaining how each dish was, detail by detail, I wouldn't be doing that for this post, because  I genuinely feel my words would not do justice to these few dishes that I just mentioned, all I would say is if you're in Abu Dhabi and love food, you should not miss out on the brunch served at "Relax At 12"

But having said that, I would like to add that this place isn't vegetarian food friendly, and not the best option if you don't love to indulge in non vegetarian food.

Moving on to perhaps my favourite part about the brunch, which was the dessert, given that I'm not a huge fan of extra chocolate-y pastries, it's almost surprising that I was in love with the chocolate truffle here. It was heavenly, mouth-watering, toothsome, flavorful, delectable, inviting, and there, I've used every word I probably know to describe something that tastes good, so you get the point, right?

Lastly no brunch is ever complete without a glass of wine and some great music, and let's just say I enjoyed both equally and hence ended up spending my entire evening here.

However I was hoping the place was slightly more filled, because there were barely 4 - 5 tables that were occupied. So I'm hoping you do make it a point to visit the place and share this little blog post with your friends in Abu Dhabi as well, so that, we could proudly boast about a kickass brunch place in Abu Dhabi to our "Dubai" folks ;)

The brunch here costs you about 249 p.p. but that's inclusive of alcohol, so I don't see why one should complain.

P.S. If you're a Sheesha lover, they have alcohol based Sheesha's here, which could be a fun thing to try, but not so much fun for your wallet, since it shall leave you with 300 Dirhams less.

If you like this review and wish to follow my regular updates, you can follow me on my Instagram or Twitter profile.

Weekend Perfection - Taste of Abu Dhabi

Personally my idea of a perfect weekend involves good food, music and a few drinks never hurt, right? *wink wink* However, unfortunately Abu Dhabi does not have too many events that I could boast about which excels at all three simultaneously.

So I was instantly jumping with joy when I initially read about "Taste of Abu Dhabi" and couldn't wait for the first week of November.

Before I get into details about my experience at Taste of Abu Dhabi, let me give you a gist of what Taste of Abu Dhabi actually is, it’s a three-day food carnival featuring 18 of Abu Dhabi's best fine-dining restaurants, which offered mini-samples of 4 popular dishes off their menus. Also the cuisines were diverse; it ranged from Lebanese to Indian, Chinese to Italian.

So I decided to go there on Saturday with a few friends, and take my word on this, this event was way more than just food, it almost convinced me that I was not in Abu Dhabi, but in some European country. The food, the ambiance, the crowd, the music, it was all impeccable.

My favourites from the various mini samples I tried out were, Caramel’s TNT shrimp, Avasa's Chicken Tikka, Villa Toscana’s Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli, Holland Mini Pancakes with Nutella and the Oreo and White Chocolate Doughnut from Love Doughnuts.

• TNT Shrimp from Caramel - The TNT Shrimps were four extremely good looking, big crispy prawns topped with mayo and it was also a tad bit spicy, in a good way. It reminded me of the dynamite shrimps from P.F.Changs which is something I can swear by.

TNT Shrimp 

• Chicken Tikka from Avasa - There were about 4 Indian restaurants at Taste of Abu Dhabi, but the winner hands down was Avasa, judging by the crowd gathered around the Avasa stall at all times. The chicken tikka was extremely well done; tender & juicy. It was marinated in red chili & mint, also the quantity of this dish was far better than most dishes served at Taste of Abu Dhabi, and hence it was a clear hit.

Chicken Tikka Counter 

• Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli from Villa Toscana - Someone rightly said, don’t judge a book by its cover, the Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli failed to impress our eyes, but definitely created magic on meeting our taste buds. The quantity is less, but this pasta pocket stuffed with spinach, cream and cheese is definitely recommended.

Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli 

• Holland Mini Pancakes with Nuttela - My friend who is a recent Amsterdam return would shoot me down had I not tried out the Holland Mini Pancakes, because this is 1 place she has been raving about ever since she had gotten back. Initially I was rather shocked on seeing how tiny the pancakes were but the second I put the pancakes in my mouth, it literally melted and there I was smiling like a little child delighted with her candy.

Holland Mini Pancakes with Nutella 

• Oreo & White Chocolate Doughnut from Love Doughnut - Love Doughnuts had a lot of options to choose from, but I couldn’t possible resist the temptation to pick a doughnut with two of my favourite ingredients, Oreo and White Chocolate i.e. and I’m glad I listened to my heart and went ahead with this because I absolutely loved it. It was fresh and fortunately not extra sweet.

There was no time to click a picture of the doughnut :D 

So yes, that was a short, ok maybe not short, but yes a review of my favourite dishes at the Taste of Abu Dhabi. Also do note that each dish was priced between 15 – 35 Dhs.

However like I said earlier, this event was more than just food, there were stalls by Zomato  Reserve Out and SPG Hotels that caught our attention along with the fantastic band that was performing here, courtesy McGettingan’s

A tiny video I tried taking of the band performance 

Zomato had some extremely fun games at their counter like Food Pictionary, Kidney Bean Sucker - where one had to basically suck the kidney bean by the straw to an empty bowl for a minute and another game where one had to blindfoldedly separate the safety pins from a rice bowl. Oh and they were kind enough to give away restaurant vouchers and witty posters!

Reserve Out and SPG Hotels on the other hand was perfect for photo lovers like me, I’m sure the pictures below shall explain why.

Lastly there were also a lot of celebrity chefs like Jun Tanaka, Jenny Morris & Eric Lanlard who were not just seen giving cooking lessons and tips to the visitors but also were roaming around the event and were seen posing for selfies with a lot of their fans.

All in all, a lovely event and also a little birdie told me that they might just come back with it again in February, let’s hope that’s true. 

I liked it so I put a "Ring" on it : Buffalo Wings & Rings

I've had several restaurant reviews piled up in my head and on some random notepad files on my computer. So I thought I would start off with a relatively new restaurant I tried out recently, i.e. Buffalo Wings & Rings.

So we were 3 girlfriends catching up after a while and 1 of them had read about Buffalo Wings & Rings on the interent and suggested the place to us.


Buffalo Wings & Rings has a simple yet fun ambiance to it. The adorable bucket lamps hanging above each table caught my attention. Also I've to mention that the Punjabi in mean almost jumped on reading the tagline of the restaurant, that read, "Eat, Drink & Talk loudly" exactly what a Punjabi lives for, right? :D

Yup, that's what I'm talking about ;) 

The staff was extremely friendly and well informed about the food they served.

After a long debate on what to order, between my friends and I, we finalized and placed an order for 3 dishes, namely, Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla, Nachos Supreme and Boneless Chicken Wings.

The service was quite prompt and we got our food within 10 - 12 minutes of ordering.

The Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas stuffed with grilled chicken was medium spicy but extremely juicy, just the way a quesadilla should be, also fortunately, it wasn't over-loaded with tomatoes.

Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas 

Moving on to the Nachos, the tortillas were stuffed with grilled chicken coated with spicy sauce, tomatoes, onions and was lavishly laden with cheese & topped with sour cream, as seen in the picture below.

Nachos Supreme

Lastly, the much awaited chicken boneless wings were what actually blew our minds, because one, I absolutely relish on chicken wings, but somehow I prefer boneless chicken so I was quite glad that they had a boneless option. But getting back to the taste, we had opted for the crazy sauce which was extra spicy and juicy. This was accompanied by bleu cheese, which complimented the chicken wings.

Also do note that there are 5 other flavours to choose from, such as, Garlic Parmesan, Cheese, Lemon Peppar, Teriyaki, Roasted Garlic and Sweet BBQ.

Buffalo Chicken Wings - Picture Courtesy - Zomato

Now that we were impressed with the food we had called for and were done patting our backs with the decision made with regard to what we had ordered, we managed to find some space in our tummy and called for the strawberry cheesecake, which hit our sweet spot bang on.

Strawberry Cheesecake

The icing on the cake was that the place was pocket friendly & each dish was for about 35 Dhs.

I'm sure you know it already, but yes #TheAnorexicHog totally recommends Buffalo Wings & Rings.

I would rate it a 4/5

P.S. The filmy in me always manages to find a Bollywood reference to my post, so jisko khaana nahi mila woh jaake apni "Bhens" charaaye. Get it? No? #kthxbai