Indian Culinary Route at Bangaluru Marriott Whitefield

Bengaluru Marriott Hotel, Whitefield is all set to take Namma Bengaluru on a gastronomical journey. Get ready to experience the tastes and flavors from regions across India as the hotel brings the whole country on a platter for Bangaloreans. 12 Chefs from 12 cities of India will put their expertise together to create some extra-ordinary magic with food.  From Delhi’s Chole Bhature, Pune’s Vada Pav or Aaloo Parantha from Chandigarh, Bengaluru Marriott Whitefield will have it all under one roof cooked by our talented team of chefs.

In a 7 day galore, the hotel will bring on table different dishes with an authentic taste of flavors and spices from across the country. The fine dining restaurant M Café will host a dinner buffet from 7th to 13th September with 13th serving the last lunch. The buffet will have a wide spread variety of delicacies from Delhi, Chandigarh, Musoorie, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Pune, Chennai, Lucknow, Kochi and Goa. Each chef will prepare 3 authentic dishes from their specific region consisting of a Main Course, Starter and a Dessert.

The Chefs who would be joining the bandwagon are Chef Deepak Rana from JW Marriott Mussorie, Chef Dinesh from JW Marriott Chandigarh, Chef Rohit Yadav from JW Marriott Delhi, Chef Ranjit from Marriott Jaipur, Chef Mitesh Saraiya from Courtyard by Marriott Ahmedabad, Chef Prashant Suryavanshi from Courtyard by Marriott, Hinjewadi, Chef Thirumal from Bengaluru Marriott Whitefield, Chef Madhusudan from Marriott Hyderabad, Chef Satish Reddy from Courtyard by Marriott Chennai, Chef Saji from Marriott Kochi, Chef Shanavaz Qureshi from JW Marriott Mumbai, and Chef Selester from Marriott Goa.

On September 7th, I joined Bangaluru Marriott Whitefield for a cook off competition along with other bloggers from Mumbai and Bengaluru and the competition was judged by Suresh Hinduja. In my team, Me, Adarsh from The Big Bhookad and Subhasmitha from The Flavours of Kitchen cooked Goan Prawn curry under the guidance of Chef Selester from Marriott Goa. Chjef Selester and other chef's who were guiding the bloggers, were hand-cuffed and were not allowed to touch. It was a good learning experience and really fun to cook in the Marriott Kitchen and have a healthy competition. This was followed by lunch which was cooked by all of us.

All the best to the entire team and Chef Raheel for the Indian Culinary route :)

Latin American Food Fiesta at Hard Rock Cafe

Is party on your mind and rains playing spoilsport? There’s only one way to get over the monsoon blues. Step into Hard Rock Cafe and let the month-long Latin Fiesta from August 7 till September 6, lift your spirits with foot-tapping music, crafted tequila cocktails and delicious Latin American food.
Latin America is home to a wide variety of culinary delights. Each using a distinctive combination of spices and fresh ingredients, and each known for popular regional condiments such as guacamole, pico de gallo, and pebre, every Latin American country has its own unique dishes and specialities to sample. I was excited to try these in Bangalore.

The cocktails served during the festival is highly recommended, Nita was with me during my dinner and she couldn't stop praising the cocktails. I started my evening with mocktail. Santosh, the bartender attended us who has been with Hard Rock cafe for over 10 years and crafted many drinks, he knows his job well. He made a watermelon and basil mocktail for me, which was really nice. The blend of watermelon and basil was just perfect. My love spicy mocktail is very evident. Every restaurant I visit, I make sure that either they serve me a spicy mocktail from the menu or else make one for me. I requested Santosh to make one for me which he politely obliged. By far, this was THE BEST spicy mocktail I have ever had, some mango and orange juice with a twist of jalapeno. Both the drinks were repeated and the spicy mocktail deserves a special mention. I requested Santosh and Vibhu, the manager at Hard Rock Cafe to add it to the menu.

Samosette of Spicy corn and cheddar cheese, crispy phyllo triangles stuffed with corn, mixed spices and cheddar cheese served with tangy pesto mayo. These were repeated on the table.

Red Rod Fries which had crispy fries topped with dry spice and a cheddar cheese sauce, jalapeno, spring onions, sweet chili drizzle served with tangy salsa. Its not very cheesy, but a little spicy so you can enjoy these over some drinks or beer.

Next was Spanish-influenced Fire Cracker - Crunchy Chicken Tenders, smoked chicken strips, with burst of spices and Spanish paprika served with sun-dried tomato and chipotle dip. The chicken strips were bland and can be enjoyed only with the dip.

Next dish was to fire up my taste buds, Char Grilled Tex-Mex Chicken Skewers which had char grilled chicken tenders marinated with Tex-Mex spice rub & tangy marinate, served with honey mustard dip. This was tasty especially during a rainy night to add spice to my tastebuds. The dip mellows down the spice.

Bahama Mama - Chicken Burrito was next, flour tortilla laced with roasted chitpotle chili ranch, smoky ragout of sweet corn, fresh dill and smoky baked beans, seasoned crunchy temders, shredded lettuce, mixed cheese and jalapeno served with spiced fries and tangy salsa. The burrito was fresh and very filling, get ready to share it if this is your order. The veg version was liked by Nita, as well.

I skipped Tijuana Chicken Sub Roll, a tantalizing blend of Mexican spices & tangy smoky salsa. It was on a hot dog bun served with fries and how much it tempted me to eat, but I couldn't as my tummy was full.

If you are into sea food, then the Orange Tequila Prawns, pan seared king prawns in corn taco shell, glazed with reduced spicy, tangy cilantro, orange sauce and flambeed with tequila. I did not taste this as it had tequila.

For vegetarians, the Brazilian Barbeque Veg Grill Skewers, sizzling skillet of BBQ glazed and spice-rubbed with Brazilian spice barbeque, cottage cheese skewers  served over chimichurri-spiced fajita onions and bell peppers is a must try. Nita, who enjoyed this dish was praising it.

To end a meal, dessert is a much. Walnut Brownie topped with chocolate fudge and vanilla ice-cream was on the table. This was much better than the last time I had it. The walnut brownie was soft and melted in the mouth. I would have preferred Tres Leches, a latin american dessert which taste much better but it wasn't on the menu

Chef Niranjan, Kitchen Manager Madhu and AGM Vibhu along with Santosh made sure my evening was awesome with good food and drinks.

The meal and the taste on the whole was very good but it had more of Mexican touch as I had some of these dishes during the Mexican festival held in September 2014, after all Mexico is the second most populated country in Latin America. The dishes are priced between Rs.375 - Rs.530. Enjoy the food fiesta like a Latino from 7th August to 6th September 2015.

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

Atmosfire, the party makers in Bangalore

Atmosfire is a unique concept is brought in by Barbeque Nation, the pioneer of live grills. They are the party makers. They take care of all the party needs, from setting up the grills to cleaning up the place, everything will be handled by them. All you need to do is to dial in to arrange a BBQ party at your preferred location or at their location in Indiranagar or Electronic city. The minimum number of people for the party is 10.

They charge Rs. 350 and Rs. 450 plus taxes per person for Veg with an Edge and Meat Treats respectively. These are the basic rates and you can upgrade it by adding more dishes to the menu. You can add cocktails to the party but you will have to bring the alcohol and the bartender would mix up some cocktails and the basic price is Rs. 100 plus taxes for 2 drinks.

I was invited to a BBQ party hosted by Atmosfire so here I will pen down my experience for you. For mocktails, I had a Cranberry Fusion and lime soda during my meal which was refreshing and also cleansed my palette.
























I munched on some Bruschetta and Garlic bread which are my favorite as I waited for the starters to begin. These both were good and I could be biased because I like them a lot.

In veg, I tried the Veg Shashlik which was enjoyed with the dip, nothing unusual but enjoyed best with conversations and friends. Dahi ke kebab were good and one of my favorites from the menu. Veg Satay was also good.

Lahori Veg Soya chunks was different to my taste and really good. One should try this. Texas Barbeque Cottage Cheese with coriander dip tasted good, though I am not much of cottage cheese fan.

 

My favorite of all was BBQ Assorted Fruits (pineapple /Pears /Guava/Apple). On a summer afternoon, some BBQ fruits are just heaven on earth. We repeated this with grilled pineapple many times.

In non veg, my favorite was Moroccan Char mole Prawns, I love sea food and Moroccan prawns was truly yummy and I enjoyed this the most. My next favorite was Coastal BBQ fish. With dip or without, fish was delish.

Caribbean jerk Chicken was next and with garlic mayo dip, it tasted the best even when the spices were not evenly covered. Peri Peri Chicken Drumstick was my favorite chicken starter but I do not have a pic of it, meat was well cooked and now my mouth is watering and need some of these.

Shark’s Steaks with pineapple mojo was next, I did not know that it was shark, but the hint of pineapple was good and tangy taste was nice. Tandoori Quail was a little sweet in taste and by now, I was not in a state to eat further so cannot write much on this.

Arabian Kafta Mutton did not impress me at all as the meat was hard and not cooked well. The dip served were Zulu Coriander, Garlic Mayo, mustard sauce and BBQ Sauce.

Kache Gosht Ki Biryani, Kothmir mirch murg, Shakahari boti, Paneer lavang latika, Dal Tadka with Plain Rice and roti, naan and paratha was for main course. I skipped main course completely as I was completely full with the starters.

For desserts, fresh fruit gateau and rasgulla was served. I enjoyed the fresh fruit gateau more as I love it and helped my self with another serving of it.

I had a great afternoon with friend's, having some delicious food and fun conversations. The team of Atmosfire were very good and efficient to set up the party for us and also to clean up the place quickly.

Their contact details are below if you need to host a BBQ party:
Atmosfire: No 501 Binnamanagala extension 1st stage, CMH Road Indiranagar Bangalore 560038
Phone: 080-45511013
You can connect to them on Twitter, Facebook or their Website