'The Spice Island Flavours’ by Priya Bala at ITC Gardenia

ITC  Hotels under the aegis of ‘The Kitchens of India’ has been showcasing unique & undiscovered cuisines and cooking styles from across India. This time they present the food of Southern Tamil Nadu that has absorbed the influences of Sri Lankan culinary repertoires.

The award winning restaurant in ITC Gardenia’s culinary crown Cubbon Pavilion presents and brings to you “The Spice Island Flavours” under the aegis of Kitchens of India. You can discover a heritage which is divided by an ocean, but united by history. The cuisine is an irresistible blend of traditional recipe of Tamil Nadu melded with the spices of the emerald isle of Sri Lanka. It showcases Southern Tamil Nadu cuisine with Sinhalese influences.

Priya Bala is a Celebrated food writer, she specialises in food and travel, and is a passionate home cook. Her cooking skills have been inspired by her childhood in Sri Lanka, the cuisine of Madurai and the deep South of Tamil Nadu, plus her exposure to an array of international cuisines.

I savoured the fullest expression of their myriad spices and authentic ingredients over the preview of this festival. I had a special menu crafted for my dinner but during the festival you will taste more of sea food.

For starters, we had Ladies finger sambol which had crispy slivers of ladies finger, tossed with tomatoes and onion. Simple yet flavorful.

Next was Fish cutlets, fresh fish seasoned with ginger, green chillies and pepper, formed into croquettes and crumb-fried. The other ingredients over powered the taste of fish.

Devilled chicken was spicy and tasty which had cubes of chicken, chillies and onions tossed in piquant sauce. It was a hit on the table with people having this alongside their drinks.

Idiappam Kothu was next which had stringhopper shreds, tossed with masala, vegetables and chicken. This was my favorite from the menu, slightly spicy and burst of masala.

Chicken curry, Pineapple curry and Cashew curry was served along with Yellow rice.
Pineaplle curry was everyone's favorite as it had sweet-sour taste along with being spicy. Cashew curry wasn't gravy, it had tender cashew cooked with peace. Chicken curry was good and was semi-gravy.

For desserts, Curd & Treacle which is soothing to end a spicy meal. The entire meal wasn't really spicy but this dessert got back memories of having curd at home.

They have a lot more on offer apart from this sneak peak of the menu. This unique food promotion is on only at Cubbon Pavilion from 26th February to 6th March 2016. Relish it before it ends.

Dim sum trail and dessert platter at Yauatcha Bangalore

I have been to Yauatcha many times, I have also written a blog post about their new additions. As you would have read Yauatcha is an asian/chinese restaurant which serves great cantonese food which is one of the Eight Culinary Traditions of Chinese cuisine. Yauatcha is actually wordplay on the Cantonese phrase ‘Yum cha’, which means ‘to drink tea’- traditionally. But this visit was all about dim sum trail which was held during the 4th FBAB (Food Bloggers Association Bangalore) meet. 

You can avail the dim sum trail between 12 noon and 7PM. It cost Rs. 2000, all inclusive which is served for a minimum of 2 people. You can choose any 6 varieties out of 6 vegetarian and 7 non-vegetarian options. Yauatcha decided to choose 6 variants for the bloggers on the table.

Started with vegetable crystal dumpling and Chicken char sui bun. I have both of these in the past and they taste really good. The Chicken char sui bun is a little sweet but I have never had such a dim sum anywhere else so its turns to be my favorite. The Vegetable crystal dumpling was a clear dim sum where I could see the vegetables inside and taste good with a sauce.

Vegetable crystal dumpling

Chicken char sui bun

Baked vegetarian chicken puff, it contains egg and baked chicken puff was next. I got to try the Baked chicken puff and it was indeed good to taste. Oh by the way you read it right, the other one on the table was baked vegetarian chicken puff which was a vegetarian option. Prawn Har gau was next, a simple prawn dumpling filled with flavors.

Baked chicken puff

Har gau 

Fried turnip cake with vegetables was next on the table and is supposed to be their speciality. The vegetarians loved it while I did not like it much. Crispy duck roll and Crispy asparagus, pumpkin and corn roll was next. I have had the Crispy duck roll earlier and I still did not get the taste of the duck meat much. The veg roll was better.

Fried turnip cake with vegetables

Crispy asparagus, pumpkin and corn roll

Crispy duck roll

Chicken char sui cheung fun was the last one. The vegetarians had Crispy vegetable cheung fun. I am never found of cheung fun because of seasoned soy sauce. I would never mind eating the rice noodle roll lightly dipped in the sauce.

After this yummy dim sum trail, dessert platter was on the table. It had 4 desserts. Selection of macarons, Religieuse, Chocolate hazelnut mousse and Jasmine tea cake was on our platter. I guess the best way to enjoy the desserts at Yauatcha is when you share them. Having them all alone is no fun. Moreover they are amazingly good looking desserts. The dessert platter is priced separately.

It was a fun evening with loads of talking and dim sum tasting. Those craving to try only dim sums for their meal or pairing with tea, this would be the best option. 

The bunch at the dim sum trail

Mexifornia 2015 at California Pizza Kitchen

Recovering from a throat infection, I made my way to California Pizza Kitchen to enjoy the 'Mexifornia' festival. You can enjoy the on-going festival too, but only till 21st June. The exclusive menu starts from Rs. 305+ for one to savor the goodness of zesty Mexican cuisine with a twist of California panache.

The menu varies from appetizers, salad, pizza, pasta, CPK speciality and desserts. The options are not much to choose from. I started my evening with Aloha which had mango juice and peach syrup in equal quantity. I preferred it with no ice and for once, a warm juice did taste a little good.

Aloha

Mango Tango

From appetizers, I tried Chicken Tomatillo Chille, chicken strips tossed with garlic, onion and trio peppers in new Mexican green chilli sauce. This is a spicy dish so if you are ordering one, then make sure you mention the level of spice in the dish. I personally liked it, may be because after a long time I had something spicy and on a rainy night, this could be the best dish on the table.

CPK Nachos was next which had California style nachos with cheese sauce, jalapenos and tomatoes. I was expecting some beans as it is Mexican cuisine but to my disappointment there were none. Tangy jalapenos, cheese with nachos were a wipe out on table till the mail course arrived.

Corn and Jalapeno Empanada, sweet corn and jalapeno chilli with choose was baked to perfection. I found the filling less in the empanada's.

Southwestern Chille Chicken, grilled chicken breast with south west green chilli and cheese on a bed of mashed potatoes was good. The quantity of mashed potatoes matched the chicken. I usually have a problem with restaurants serving more mashed potatoes and less chicken. This was a balanced dish.

Chicken Asada pizza is one of the hot selling from the menu and I decided to try it out. This is spicy again because of new Mexican green chilli sauce. Cilantro pesto is one of my favorite topping on the pizza and clubbing it with sliced chicken would be the best one for me. This pizza has cheddar and fontina cheese and roasted peppers resting on their traditional crust.

In Pasta, I tried Fettuccine Heide. This is the spiciest dish I have ever had, also the spice stays on your tongue for long. I just couldn't resist having it despite the spice. Fettuccine wasn't available so I had this with penne in Mexican green chilli sauce tossed with garlic, onion and peppers.

New Mexican Basa fish in banana leaf was next. I have tried this earlier in many asian restaurants so wanted to see what CPK has to offer. It is baked and the taste was different than the asian taste. I always love seafood and my love for it made me try it.

Out of 2 desserts, my favorite Mexican Caramel banana Flan. A classic banana Mexican flan served on bed of vanilla sponge topped with banana cream and caramel sauce

Trio of chocolate mousse was good too but my love for banana dessert was more. Rich chocolate mousse flavored with three layers of Mexican white, milk and dark chocolate with hint of coffee served in dark chocolate cup. This was a fantastic looking dessert and my friends loved this more.

The entire menu was average with few good dishes though the options were more in Mexifornia 2014. I enjoyed my dinner. Hope you enjoyed reading my experience, Looking forward to know your favorites.

Lingering Lunch at Shiro with GourmetItUp experience

Mid week blues hit me and I wanted some change in my routine. Shiro was at my rescue service. I was invited by GourmetItUp for a review of the Lingering lunches at Shiro. I have been to Shiro many times and I knew my afternoon is going to be good with Chef Priyank taking care of the menu.

A little bit about GourmetItUp, it creates and curates customized food experiences. They are in their third year currently and have a strong hold in Mumbai, Delhi and Pune, entering the Bangalore market. They help in creating unique and exclusive dining experiences for its members, from off-menu meals to tasting experiences.

You must be wondering on how GourmetItUp works? Here is the answer: Diners register at GourmetItUp.com and browse through an extensive set of exclusive dining experiences. Diners can make a reservation at the click of a button and payments are made directly at the restaurant. Each experience clearly displays the menu, pricing and table availability and the GourmetItUp concierge can be easily reached via a call or live chat to answer any questions about an experience or to suggest experiences that best fit the occasion. 

I starter my meal with a refreshing mocktail names Orange and min virgin mojito. This is also Chef Priyank's favorite and has been on my order every time. It is refreshing and pairs my food well. During my meal I also had a mocktail with watermelon and soda.

The lingering lunches have 2 options for unlimited food apart from ala carte service. One can choose from Unlimited dim sums special and Unlimited Sushi and Maki special, both priced at Rs.850 plus charges and taxes. 

I started with the assorted veg dim sum platter which had Zucchini and coriander dumpling, spinach and corn dumpling, celery and pepper mushroom dumpling and chi chow dumpling. Can you believe that I enjoyed all the veg dim sums? I was very amazed with the taste and authenticity of the dim sums that I loved every bite. Without any dip, I enjoyed all, you can try with soya sauce or chilli paste which is served with it. Even I find it hard to believe that I enjoyed a veg platter more ;)

Next came the assorted non veg dim sum platter which had Celery and prawn dumpling, sui mai, hargau and chicken gyoza along with steamed chicken and shitake mushroom. I personally did not like marinated steamed chicken and shitake mushroom much. But the dumplings were amazing. As a prawn person, I loved hargau which had marinated prawns and steamed inside a translucent wrapper. While Sui mai had minced chicken and prawns and shitake mushroom steamed in a wonton wrapper. Given any weekday, I would prefer a dim sum special and have unlimited dims sums which floored my taste buds.

Steamed chicken and shitake mushroom

Next was Sushi and Maki Special. Starting with Veg sushi, I tried the cucumber, asparagus and shitake mushroom. I enjoyed the cucumber and asparagus sushi more than shitake mushroom. In non veg, I tried the red snapper sushi. I do not have taste buds for non veg sushi so I was hesitant to try tuna, spicy tuna mayo and salmon sushi.

Veg Maki and Veg Sushi (Left to right)

Non veg Sushi

Then came Maki. I have had Maki many times earlier but nothing tasted as good as Shiro. In veg, Crispy spicy avocado, vegetarian spicy California and Kappa maki was served which tasted exceptionally well. In non veg, california maki, tuna maki, prawn maki, new york maki, spicy chicken with shitake maki was served. I have developed a strong taste for Maki. I never knew they could be tasty especially when Chef Priyank has got his innovations too.

Non veg Maki

Ended my meal by having a cup of green tea which was very refreshing. I rarely have enjoy a good cup of green tea but Shiro did a fabulous job in bringing this lunch together. 

I had an amazing lunch taking my mid week blues out and raring to enjoy the weekend.

You can check the menu below for lingering lunch (ignore the spelling error in my name)