An Evening Affair with Comedy and Gastronomy @ Vivanta by Taj - Yeshwantpur | Bangalore

Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks @ An Evening Affair with Comedy and Gastronomy @ Vivanta by Taj - Yeshwantpur | Bangalore
Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks

Because of rat races all around, people work exceptionally hard to earn their daily bread (or at least most of us). Sometimes, it is best to let go, relax & unwind for better mental & psychological health. This time we experienced something very unique at one of our favourite go-to places in Bangalore: A Night of Comedy & Gastronomy!

Yes, you heard that right! The word comedy is loved by most as it is a light hearted mode of entertainment (with spare usage of abusive language) & laughter is good for the heart. This time around we were invited to Vivanta by Taj- Yeshwantpur to experience this one of a kind event.

Two well-known comedy veterans from Bangalore: Ahmed Shariff & Shadab Aziz tickled our funny bones till we were famished.

This was a complete package: the comedy show along with an exclusive Italian set menu dinner at Azure, curated by Exec Chef Agnimitra Sharma.

Without further ado, we’ll take you through the items we tried:

Pan Seared Scallops @ An Evening Affair with Comedy and Gastronomy @ Vivanta by Taj - Yeshwantpur | Bangalore
Pan Seared Scallops

Pan Seared Scallops, Chicken Consommé, Grilled Indian Sea Bass, Roasted Tenderloin Rib Eye, Slow Cooked Lamb Shank for appetiser, soup & mains.

For dessert we tried Panna Cotta & the classic Tiramisu.

Each individual can pick any one out of the list & leave the rest to the chefs to please their palate.

The scallops were fresh & perfectly done. Generally they bear a typical seafood smell but in this case, nothing! The presentation was amazing. They were served on shells with ratatouille vegetables. It also had a sweet after taste.

The consommé was very appetising. This lukewarm soup did not have a thick consistency but was high on flavour. It had chicken tortellini in it with finely minced chicken. Tasted delightful!

Saffron Grilled Pear @ An Evening Affair with Comedy and Gastronomy @ Vivanta by Taj - Yeshwantpur | Bangalore
Saffron Grilled Pear

Now for the mains:

The Indian sea bass or Tilapia was fresh & juicy. Generous amount of fish was served in this & the dish was well balanced. It had sautéed spinach, raisins & olives. Lastly, a bit of pine nuts for the extra crunch in each bite. The overall combination was smooth, well thought through & praise worthy.

The tenderloin chunk was massive in size. This preparation had cauliflower puree, spinach & braised potatoes. Yet another killer combination which tasted marvellous. Especially the cauliflower puree was lip smacking. The sauce had a homely feel to it. The only disappointment was that the medium rare tenderloin was over cooked.

Grilled Indian Sea Bass @ An Evening Affair with Comedy and Gastronomy @ Vivanta by Taj - Yeshwantpur | Bangalore
Grilled Indian Sea Bass

Tenderloin Rib Eye
Roasted Tenderloin Rib Eye

Gnocchi
Gnocchi

Lastly, the lamb shanks were too good to be true. The meat was tender & perfectly cooked. Moreover, the sauce was to die for. The sauce was so good that it was very hard for us to keep our hands away & lick the plate clean. It was served with mashed potatoes.

We also had the chance to taste the Gnocchi. It had loads of Mozzarella & Parmesan. They were smooth & the taste was as expected. This was pretty heavy on the stomach compared to the above.

Dessert time:

The Tiramisu must be tried. The consistency was equal throughout & it had the right amount of sweetness. Moreover, judging from the taste of the mascarpone cheese, it was made fresh. The rich aroma & flavours of coffee & cacao were evident.

Panna Cotta @ An Evening Affair with Comedy and Gastronomy @ Vivanta by Taj - Yeshwantpur | Bangalore
Panna Cotta

Tiramisu @ An Evening Affair with Comedy and Gastronomy @ Vivanta by Taj - Yeshwantpur | Bangalore
Tiramisu

The panna cotta came last. It had the right wobble & it came with berry compote. This was served with thinly sliced fruits as well. Very light on the stomach, very smooth mouth feel & the perfect ending to a fab evening.

We had the perfect evening comprising of a heavy dose of laughter & a satisfying meal. Kudos to the Azure team for arranging such a unique event.

The AI price for the set dinner is 2000 INR. Similar events are soon to follow & these are open to the public, so what are you waiting for?

We recommend visiting for both the comedy & the food, because they were equally good.
If you want more info, do ask us directly/via comments.

We’ll be back soon with something interesting.

Till then—LOL & bon apetit!

The Hot N Juicy Kebab Festival @ Paradise | Bangalore

Khada Masala Kukkad @ The Hot N Juicy Kebab Festival @ Paradise | Bangalore
Khada Masala Kukkad

So, what according to you is a great combination with respect to food?

For us, a plain & simple chicken stew with white rice does wonders! Sometimes, comfort food takes preference over others as it never gets old. We also love a spicy Bengali style mutton curry & white rice for that matter.

But this post is not about our preference: It is about what most people prefer.

Kebabs & Biryani anyone?

Now that must’ve caught your attention!

We were recently invited to a Paradise Biryani outlet near us to experience their ongoing Hot n Juicy Kebab Festival. First up, these varieties are available across Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai & Vishakhapatnam only.

Barkas Rubina @ The Hot N Juicy Kebab Festival @ Paradise | Bangalore
Barkas Rubina

Paneer Lollypop @ The Hot N Juicy Kebab Festival @ Paradise | Bangalore
Paneer Lollypop

Dhuandaar Pankhudi @ The Hot N Juicy Kebab Festival @ Paradise | Bangalore
Dhuandaar Pankhudi

Overall, they have come up with 22 kebab variants out of which we tried 12 (the new ones!).

Now, moving on to the kebab variants we tried & what we recommend:

Barkas Rubina: The prawn kebab. Heavy on the stomach, tastes incredible, cashew rich marinade. Highly recommended.

Mutton Shooleh: Tender & juicy mutton kebab, powered by cloves. Recommended.

Murgh Sarfiya Kalimiri: The meat is exceptionally well cooked with a delicate aroma of cardamom & visible specks of black pepper. The meat cut is praise worthy. Highly recommended.

Paneer Lolly: The paneer is soft & retains the flavour of the sesame covering. Slightly oily & has a crunch to each bite. For vegetarians this is one of the few options, so have all you want! ;)

Dhuandaar Pankhudi: The chicken wings preparation. High on spice and on taste. The smoky flavour adds to the experience. Highly recommended.

Tulsi Machhi @ The Hot N Juicy Kebab Festival @ Paradise | Bangalore

Veg Makhmali Seekh @ The Hot N Juicy Kebab Festival @ Paradise | Bangalore
Veg Makhmali Seekh

Murgh Sarfiya Kali Miri @ The Hot N Juicy Kebab Festival @ Paradise | Bangalore

Moti Fish Tikka 

Bharwan Aloo Mattar ki Tikki: Decent sized tikkis stuffed with potatoes & green peas. Tastes good, but nothing fabulous.

Zaffrani Murgh Seekh: Chicken seekh kebabs don’t get better than this! The aroma of saffron & the well-cooked & juicy chicken is all that needs to be said. Try it to believe it.

Moti Fish Tikka/Tulsi Machhi: Fish variants. Very tender & juicy & gets finished within seconds. The latter is exceptional. The aroma of Tulsi lasts long & is refreshing. It also adds a unique flavour to the kebab. Highly recommended.

Khada Masala Kukkad: Chicken kebab marinated with whole spices. This is a spicy prep but is absolutely mouth-watering. Definitely recommended.

Lastly, Mutton Seekh Kebab: Does not need an introduction. Decent level of spice, tender & juicy meat along with some Indian herbs. Good old taste but nothing distinctive.

We also tried other variants but these are the ones which stood out & we talked about them.

Zafrani Murgh Seekh @ The Hot N Juicy Kebab Festival @ Paradise | Bangalore

Mutton Sooleh @ The Hot N Juicy Kebab Festival @ Paradise | Bangalore

We also tried their Mutton Biryani which is a classic favourite. We’ve never been disappointed with their biryanis.

Well, that’s that! Their kebabs are certainly a treat & are priced appropriately. The festival is on till the end of this month.

If you love kebabs & biryani like we mentioned in the beginning, you should visit!

If you do, do let us know about your experience.

We’ll be back soon!

Till then—you know what to do ;)!

The New Menu @ Salt - Indian Restaurant Bar & Grill | Bangalore

Salmon Malai Tikka @ The New Menu @ Salt | Koramangala | Bangalore
Salmon Malai Tikka

Sometimes, we don’t wait & directly get what we want. When it comes to Indian Cuisine, we have a favourite which we have reviewed & also visited a couple of times on our own accord.

This favourite is none other than Salt-Indian Restaurant Bar & Grill, Bangalore & they’ve launched their new menu pretty recently.

We were invited for trying out these new menu items & as we had expected: we were not disappointed at all.

So, this time we bring to you the latest offerings from Salt! They have changed quite a few items on their menu but they have retained the ones which their patrons like the most.

Most of the items we were served were tasting portions so don’t think that’s the quantity they serve!

Kheema Pav @ The New Menu @ Salt | Koramangala | Bangalore
Kheema Pav

The New Menu @ Salt | Koramangala | Bangalore
Black Eyes Peas Soup

Since this is a post talking about the new menu in general, we’ll not discuss in details but just let you know which ones we recommend.

We tried assorted tasting portions including classic Kheema Pav, Tawa Mutton, Salmon Malai Tikka, Assorted kebab platter, main course & a selection of dessert.

The Tawa Mutton is a must try. It is served on a coin paratha & the mutton cooked with spices, tastes marvellous. Kheema Pav is the usual & nothing to stand out except for that the Pavs are soaked with butter.

We also tried a salad consisting of sweet potatoes & paneer. It was very well balanced & the combination rocked!

Along with the appetizers we had a couple of drinks. Since they were not serving alcohol at the time, we went with non-alcoholic beverages: Watermelon cooler & a plain Mojito. Both were very refreshing.

Starter platter @ The New Menu @ Salt | Koramangala | Bangalore
Assorted starters

The New Menu @ Salt | Koramangala | Bangalore

Assorted Kebab platter @ The New Menu @ Salt | Koramangala | Bangalore
Kebabs

Coming to the grilled items: The Paneer Zaitooni Malai Tikka was fabulous. It melted in the mouth & the creamy, spicy stuffing was marvellous. The Yellow Chilli Jhinga Kebab was juicy & mildly spicy. The prawns used were fresh & sweet. The Kache Aam ka Chicken Tikka is a Chef favourite & deserves to be so. The kebabs taste amazingly juicy with a mild aroma of raw mango. A bit more could have made it better. Lastly, the Lamb Methi Kebab is different than the usual lamb preparations we all have. It had a slight bitter aftertaste of the Methi/Fenugreek, but retains all the flavours of the lamb. The meat is tender & juicy.

Coming to the main course:

We recommend: Railway Mutton Curry & the Awadhi Gosht Keema Pulao.

The mutton curry is all about a burst of flavour in each bite. The mutton will melt in your mouth & the gravy is semi-rich. This is not a spicy preparation & can be enjoyed with rice preps or the breads served such as Baked Olive Naan.

The pulao tastes exquisite! We literally had the pulao without mixing with anything else. It is so flavourful with abundance of minced meat that it is a meal by itself.

We tried the Amchuri Bhindi Masala which was pretty good as well.

Railway Mutton Curry @ The New Menu @ Salt | Koramangala | Bangalore
Railway Mutton Curry

Awadhi Gosht Keema Pulao @ The New Menu @ Salt | Koramangala | Bangalore
Awadhi Gosht Keema Pulao

Dessert platter @ The New Menu @ Salt | Koramangala | Bangalore
Dessert Platter

Molten Chocolate Cake @ The New Menu @ Salt | Koramangala | Bangalore
Molten Chocolate Cake

Lastly, the dessert: the platter consists of Kesar Kulfi, Gajar Halwa Spring Rolls & Qubhani Ka Meetha.

We don’t like the last preparation so we won’t comment on it. The first 2 are to die for! The Kulfi has a proper creamy texture & perfect sweetness. The spring rolls are fully stuffed with Gajar Halwa & the richness in each bite speaks for itself.

If you visit, DO NOT forget to try the Elaneer Payasam from the old menu. That’s something which you won’t get anywhere!

That’s our POV of Salt’s new menu & apart from the good old items, we are sure these will impress as well.

We highly recommend a visit if you have a palate for fine Indian Cuisine.

We’ll be back soon with more grub!

Till then—be patient & bon apetit!

Wow! Take-Away | Pizza Hut


A shout out to all those who love Pizza!

This news is sure to excite you, unless you know about it already!

Pizza Hut has introduced a one of a kind offer for takeaways: Any day of the week, from 11 AM-11 PM & at any outlet across India, be ready to drool as pizzas are available at 50% off.

This offer is applicable only on Medium Pan Pizzas & come to think of it: Pizza Hut does have the largest selection of Pan Pizzas so, an array to choose from. This offer is available only on takeaways & not on delivery/dine-in. 

There are healthier ways to celebrate but a freshly baked pizza with freshly-cut vegetables & 100% mozzarella cheese always does the trick. 

The offer is on so, use it till your heart's content/till the offer expires ;)

Just a short wave of awareness from our side.

We'll be back again soon.

Till then- you know what to do!

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