Biryani and kebab Festival at Howard Johnson, Bangalore

Who doesn't love BIRYANI? Me, as I am very particular about the taste and do not like every biryani which is served. So I was very apprehensive to attend the sneak peak of the Biryani and Kebab festival at Howard Johnson, Bangalore. Firstly, Howard Johnson is located in Hebbal and is a business hotel. The festival starts from 12th August and ends on 23rd August 2015.

On a sunny Saturday, I made my way to the hotel to try the kebab's and Biryani's. I started with the veg kebab's. Subz Shikhampuri, assorted vegetable patties stuffed with hung curd and cheese which is grilled to perfection. Bahori Kebab, kebab made from spinach, yum pounded with aromatic Indian spices. Aloo Nazakat, potatoes stuffed with dry fruits, mashed potatoes and green peas cooked in tandoor. Paneer Gul Mohar Kebab, cottage cheese stuffed with Kohya, Dry fuits marinated in Indian spices and cooked in tandoor. I was impressed with the veg kebab's. They were cooked well and tasted very good. The veg kebab's are priced at Rs.275

Next were non veg kebab's. Starting with Galauti Kebab, kebabs from Awadhi kitchen made from fine mined lamb marinated and smoked with aromatic spices and grilled. This was perfect. Next was, Labe-e- Mahi Muskan, succulent pieces of fish marinated in curd and spices cooked in tandoor. By far, one of the most tastiest fish I have ever had. Murgh Gillafi seek, chicken sheekh kebab marinated with cheese, Cashewnut and coated with bell papers cooked in Tandoor was very tasty too. Maas Ke Shole, scrumptious pieces of baby lamb marinated with Indian herbs and spices, cooked to perfection. The non veg kebab's were a lot better, I am being biased as I enjoy non veg more ;) The non veg kebab's are priced between Rs.275-300 plus taxes. Apologies for not clicking pics for the kebab's as they were very tasty and I was busy relishing the taste.

I really enjoyed the kebab's a lot so my expectations from the biryani were much higher. 4 veg and 4 non veg biryani were served, out of the 5 biryani's each available for the festival. I only tried the non veg biryani as I am not fond of veg biryani at all. The non-veg biryani ranges from Rs.325-350 plus taxes.

Lamhen Biryani, delectable lamb dumplings and basmati rice combination cooked with aromatic Indian spices was served. Minced lamb was perfect for my taste.

Thallesary Fish Biryani, fresh water fish cooked on slow fire with basmati rice along with delicate spices. I did not like this biryani, may be served a little hot and with some salan, it should be better.

Awadhi Murgh Biryani, chicken biryani cooked on 'dum' with long grain basmati rice and hand picked spices. This was my favorite out of all the biryani's I had.

Kolkotta Biryani, perfect combination of juicy lamb, potato and rice with Bengali masala. This gave me a homely feel as I like potato in my biryani.

Andhra Murgh Biryani, a spicy biryani made with chicken and khada masala. This wasn't served during the sneak peak.


The veg biryani which are available for festival are Subz Noor Mahal Biryani, Ambur Biryani, Hydrabadi Subz Biryani, Dolma Biryani and Chaman Biryani. The veg biryani ranges from Rs.310-325 plus taxes. Each biryani would be served with soup, salad and dessert of the day.

A watermelon mocktail and Virgin Sangria was enjoyed during the meal. Virgin Sangria was a perfect blend of juices. One of the best places to enjoy this mocktail in Bangalore. And for dessert, I enjoyed every bite of Rasmalai as it is my favorite and was made very well.

The chef and the team were very open to suggestions and reviews for improvement so that they could make the food delectable when the festival starts. I am sure, the suggestions were taken and incorporated. Hope you enjoy the festival :)

Taste of Arabia at The Ritz-Carlton, Bangalore

I enjoy food festivals a lot as I get to taste different cuisines which otherwise might not be available for me to relish. This time I was invited by The Ritz-Carlton, Bangalore for a short festival 'Taste of Arabia' in association with Air Arabia at 'The Market' which is on till the 17th May. I skipped the bloggers table and chose to relish the lavish buffet spread of middle eastern cuisine which was crafted by Chef Rami Alkamet. Chef Rami is a master in Arabian and Mediterranean cuisine and he has got his signature dishes for the Bangalore crowd.

Choosing the buffet spread was a good option as I get to experience what a customer will get on his plate. Taking a look at the buffet, I was impressed with the variety. Looks like The Market will be my next favorite place for buffet.

Stepping in late, I started with few yummy dishes on my plate. Lamb tagine, Chicken tagine with olives, Lamb moroccon stew and Shrimp tagine. The meat was cooked well and tasted good too. Chicken tagine with olives had a tangy taste and Shrimp tagine was my favorite.

Lamb tagine

Lamb moroccon stew

Chicken tagine with olives

Shrimp tagine

A good spread of fresh hummus was also there. I tried some veg starter too and my favorite was Khus khus with caramelized onion, it was light and a little sweet. I wouldn't mind another serving of this. Potato with coriander, eggplant starter, Chicken salad and Chickpeas salad was also good.

Hummus

Hummus

Chicken salad

Chickpeas salad

Eggplant

Potato with coriander

Khus khus with caramalised onions

For main course, I was too happy to see some of my favorite dishes on the spread. I started with Lal maas, Badami murg, Subzi methi malai. I had these with pita bread and some fresh roti. Lal maas was very good but I do not have a good picture of it.

Badami murg

Subzi methi malai

Pita bread

Fish

Veg

It was a little too late for me to enjoy the remaining spread and also desserts. Hopefully next time I will eat I faster ;) But I don't regret eating any dish. Arabian food is very rich and heavy, but tasty. I love Arabian food. I was too engrossed in relishing every dish and the spread truly became my favorite. Wish the festival was a little longer so that I could enjoy this again. The lunch is priced at Rs. 1500+taxes and dinner at Rs. 1600+taxes.

Marrybrown Chicken festival

I have heard of Marrybrown but never really had or tried to visit them. Recently I got to know that they are having a Chicken festival. So I thought I should give it a try.

When I received the Marrybrown Chicken festival hamper, I found many things in it with some different flavors. Some fusion Moroccan with spicy Peri Peri along with tangy Brazilian flavors were introduced for our taste buds.

I love wraps more than burger so I started with Moroccon wrap followed by Peri Peri wrap then Brazilian wrap. I loved the Moroccon wrap and the spice in me loved Peri Peri. Brazilian did not suit my taste much compared to other wraps.

Then it was time for some burgers. I tried the Hotouch Chicken Burger in Moroccon flavor, a Fish burger for the seafood lover in me and Veg Burger in Peri Peri flavor. I can never imagine liking a veg burger more than non veg but I truly loved it. Global flavors in the wraps and burgers gives a tongue a ride around the world.

You can also have some Fried chicken, Chicken Drumstick along with Chicken poppers, chicken strips, Chick-a-bomb, Buffalo wings, Chicken lollypop, Cheese corn nuggets, Veg fingers, Potato wedges, French fries, etc from the festival menu. Food is served hot and you better have it hot :)

Marrybrown Chicken festival is on till 15th January and they have introduced over 40 new items in their menu. Head to the nearest outlet and try the one you like.

White Elephant - A Thai experience

I was recently invited to White Elephant on 100 feet road, Indiranagar to review their menu. On getting to know that it Was authentic THAI restaurant, I was not at all excited as I have tried some 'Indianized' thai food and was not impressed by it. But yes, I was eager to try authentic thai food to decide if I like the cuisine or not.

Entering into a quiet and cosy place, I was pretty much impressed with the interiors, decent and simple with dim lights and table spaced well for everyone to have their private conversations. A huge idol of seated Buddha has a calming effect. I started my evening with a Heart Breaker which was mix of grape, cranberry, lime and blackcurrant. I also tasted Dark House which had hazelnut, vanilla, cola and ice-cream. I was not very impressed with the mocktails so I went with the usual lime juice at the end.

Cocktails had by others:

























Lot of people judge a place with the firs sip/bite they take, I would suggest you to not judge this place by that. Wait till you taste the food.

For starters, Khao Pod Thod Naam Prik Pow, Pla Yang, Kai Hor Bai Taey, Manfrang Tod Samros, Choop Bong Thod, Koong Phat Prik Horm Sab and Yum Woonsen was served. I am sure most of you wouldn't understand anything until I describe the dishes to you.

Khao Pod Thod Naam Prik Pow came first, a veg starter. It is babycorn tossed with Thai chilli paste served in rice tartlets. Rice crackers are a great munchkin so this was an advanced version which was good to start with.

Pla Yang was next which was a spicy skewed grilled fish. Oh, this tasted well and I wouldn't mind another serving of it. it was spicy and full of flavors.

Kai Hor Bai Taey was served which was marinated chicken wrapped in a pandana leaf. If this was had before the fish then I would have liked it even more but I loved the fish. Standalone, this dish was good, chicken was cooked well and the flavors of pandana leaves was evident.

Manfrang Tod Samros, is crispy fried potatoes tossed with tri-flavor sauce. Potatoes are my fav veg starter and my comfort food so I will be completely biased in saying that I loved this.

Choop Bong Thod had crispy fried vegetables which were tossed with Thai chilli paste.

Koong Phat Prik Horm Sab had prawns tossed with chilli, onion, garlic in tamarind sauce. The tamarind sauce gave a tangy flavor to the prawns and was loved by my taste buds.

Yum Woonsen is a spicy glass noodles salad. We tried the veg version and I guess this would taste the best in veg and not chicken.

Time for main course, I was impressed with the starters and hoping for better main course. I went with the suggestions of the Chef for main course. I had Kaeng Keow Whan, Kaeng red, Khao Hom Mali, Steamed noodles and Prawns with lime and garlic. Back to explanation ;)

Kaeng Keow Whan is Thai traditional green curry and we had this with fish, served it with steamed noodles. This was ideally the best combination and tasty green curry I had.

 I guess the fish did the magic too. Kaeng red is Thai red curry had we had this with chicken, served with Khao Hom Mali which is jasmine rice, mid taste of jasmine can be tasted.

Chef's special, prawns in lime and garlic was good but other dishes were better.

Veggies enjoyed some Chef's suggestion too which they relished.

During some days, guest would be stunned with magic show by Rakesh Syam, an international famed close up magician from USA. With every jaw dropping act, he left us stunned with his 10 years of experience. This is a special surprise one would get at White Elephant.

Magician in action

After stunning acts by Rakesh, it was time for desserts. Gruay Thod, Tub Tim Grob, Sankhya Fak Thong and ice-creams was served.

Gruay Thod were deep fried banana with honey and sesame seeds. Preparation time>Eating time. I personally like this from the time I had it at Hanoi Vietnamese Cuisine. So this was yummy too but I would want a scoop of ice-cream to accompany it.

Tub Tim Grob is a dessert where water chestnuts are served with sweetened Jasmine flavored coconut milk. I have had this at Tim Tai earlier and loved it more at White Elephant. The sweet content was exact to my taste which me have an extra bowl ;)

I also tasted Sankhya Fak Thong which contains egg. It is a traditional pumpkin custard with coconut ice cream. I wouldn't prefer this over the above two.

Chocolate, coconut and jack fruit ice cream was served. Though I like jack fruit as a fruit as such but the ice-cream did not impress my taste buds but I loved the taste of chocolate and coconut ice-cream.

Jackfruit

Chocolate

Coconut

Over all a good experience, great food, stunning acts by Rakesh Syam made my Saturday evening special.