Honestly speaking: we have been to so many food festivals that we have actually lost count! This time, we bring to you news about another special & unique festival which is running at Nook, Aloft Hotel, Cessna Business Park, Bangalore.

The Cuisines of the Coast festival highlights the food available in the coastal regions of India: mostly Kerala & Goa.

We’ll make this one short & sweet so you know what to target if you visit!

With their infrastructure, they could have made this festival larger than life but it did not quite live up to our expectations.

A few highlights of the festival: Tender coconut water, Chicken Cafreal, any crab preparation you can get your hands on, Kerala Paratha, Chicken Kola Urundai, Sea Food Bar & the two insane prawn preparations we tried!

Apart from this there is a regular buffet with the normal items which are irresistible. The prawns were marvellous, especially the Prawns & Mango salad preparation. The dish had thin slices of mango, with big poached prawns & micro greens. It tasted heavenly and the prawns were mildly sweet even after perfect poaching.

We tried the Nandu Varutharachadu which was the crab preparation. It was spicy with loads of masala and tasted exceptional. The problem was with the meat which was non-existent.

The tender coconut water is a heat buster and it is always a good idea to take a sip before entering the buffet battlefield. The Chicken Cafreal met expectations and it was exactly the way it should be. The longing smell of coconut milk always feels good!

The Sea Food Bar was a bit disappointing. The prawns, squids, octopus & clams were simply boiled and served with sauces. It would have been much better if they were stir fried at least.

The Kaalan Milagu Piratti, a spicy Mushroom preparation with pepper had a tangy taste & had loads of onions. The Mushrooms were big in size and the overall preparation was pretty spicy. A similar preparation with prawns was served which tasted even better!

That’s about it from the festival point of view. About their regular buffet spread: Don’t forget to try out their fish preparations, especially in the starters section. Also, their Chinese starters are top notch but their Creamy Alfredo Pasta is just irresistible!

About the desserts: Have a look at their Rasgulla bar. Their pastries are worth a try but the Puli Pitha was the star dessert of the festival. It is a Bengali classic prepared with milk & wanton like things in it which are stuffed with coconut, kheer etc. It was the real deal.

This festival is on till the 26^th of this month.

So, if you have seafood & spicy coastal cuisine in mind: you know what to do!

We have given our recommendations so, do let us know about your experience if you decide to crash.

While you're at it, do check out their refreshing mocktails & cocktails. This festival does not have any designated drink other than the tender coconut water.

We’ll be back soon with another food festival.

Till then—live to eat & bon apetit ;)

Anyone in the mood for some Hyderabadi Cuisine?

Well, the land of the NIzams have a lot in store when it comes to food and not everything is super spicy!

In this post we’ll talk about the Hyderabadi Food Festival, which is on at M Café, Marriott Whitefield Bangalore. This time they’ve mixed things up a bit and the outcome was rather pleasant.

So, moving forward:

For this festival, the setup is just outside the M Café entry so you can sniff up the aroma well in advance.

We tried a whole lot of items from the special festival menu and the regular buffet and almost all of them deserve praise!

From the festival menu, the must tries are:

Starters: The Paneer & Lamb starters along with the Ulte Tawe ke Paratha

Their Haleem had a smooth consistency and was super heavy on the stomach! The taste was unparalleled and this was the culprit behind us getting full. It has shredded meat all over, with caramelized onions & a shallow fried egg on top. It was literally mouthwatering.

The Paneer starter was well done and soft. The Paratha along with the lamb starter tasted heavenly. The lamb was slight spicy and tasted similar to a mutton chaap but was boneless.

From the mains: The Lamb preparation called the Dakha Gosht and the Paneer Pista Korma deserve a try! The fact is, one you try these you might not be able to stop!

The former is cooked with lentils & is spicy and heavy but super delicious. The latter is a rich paneer preparation which is green in colour and the creamy consistency felt great with the soft cubes of paneer.

Biryanis: Chicken, Mutton & Veg

Vegetarian Main Course Preparations

Haleem & Fish Tikka

The Biriyanis tasted different and were pretty decent. They were prepared in a different style and were slightly spicy.

Now it’s time for dessert.

Everything is worth a try but the special ones were: The paper type dessert which was fun to have. Its name is very complicated though. The Cham Cham was spongy and tasted good. A little less sweet and it would have been much better.

Desserts Counter

Lastly, the beetroot halwa was amazing. The colour, crunch added by the almonds and the taste was top notch. Moreover, it had the right amount of sweetness as well.

There are many things to explore in this festival and we have merely given a glimpse of what we feel is worth a shot.

That’s all from our side!

The festival is on till the 25^th of this month.

Do let us know about your experience if you visit.

Till then—rock on & bon apetit!

Cheung Fun anyone?

Well it’s time for something new again and this time we bring to you a Cheung Fun festival. We have tried Cheung Fun before, but this is the first time we have been to a festival dedicated to them!

So, this time we were invited to Zen, The Leela Palace Bangalore for experiencing this festival. Even before we get to the food, the grandeur & simplicity of Zen is enough to transform any experience. Such an ambience always has an effect on dining because it is the entire package which matters.

Not only did we indulge in a luxurious dining experience, but also most of the items deserve praise.

Moving on to what we tried:

7 varieties of Cheung Fun were on the tasting menu out of which 4 were non-veg and 3 were veg.

In non-veg, there was Chicken, Prawn, Angus (Beef) & Pork whereas for veg: Asparagus, Crispy Vegetable & 3-way Mushroom.

So, we’ll take you through the highlights of this tasting menu.

The must tries from the non-veg Cheung Fun are:

The Steam Chicken & Black Pepper Cheung Fun & the Steam Angus with Spicy Hoisin Cheung Fun. In both the cases the meat was tender & retained all the flavors of the sauce. Black pepper is a magic ingredient and although it might sound surprising: The chicken was the best of the lot! The flavors & the taste complemented perfectly. The beef was cooked exceptionally well as it is rare that it melts in the mouth. The Hoisin sauce goes well with beef preparations & the sweet and sour taste worked wonders.

The Crispy Prawn Cheung Fun was presented well & tasted great. The flying fish eggs on top gave a burst of flavor. The sauce and the Cheung Fun did not quite blend well, we believe and did not quite cut it.

The BBQ pork Cheung Fun had the best sauce out of them all, but the meat did not quite retain the flavors as expected.

We tried only two of the veg: Mushroom & the Crispy Veg.

The latter had quite a variety of vegetables in the roll & everything was well balanced and slightly crunchy. The former was mind blowing! There were 3 varieties of mushrooms in the Cheung Fun and all of them could be identified distinctly. An amazing preparation! The sauce, the truffle essence & decent sized mushroom chunks were the secret to its success.

That’s all from the festival menu.

A special mention to the litchi sorbet & the Wasabi cheesecake which were both outstanding! The sorbet was so good & fresh that it felt like we were having fresh litchis. The cheesecake was made with fresh ingredients and one can make that out with one bite. The layering & the sweetness was perfect.

Hope you had a great time reading, because we sure enjoyed eating ;)

This festival is on till the 15^th so, quite some time left. If you have Cheung Fun/Chinese on your mind: say Thank you!

We’ll be back soon with something tasty soon.

Till then— chillax & bon apetit!

*New Cuisine Alert*

If you are a regular reader of the blog: Firstly, Thank you for your support. It is because of you, that we get the motivation to write on.

Secondly, you must be aware that we love to try out new kinds of food and write about them!

So, this post is all about the ongoing Rajasthani Food Festival at M Café, Marriott Whitefield, Bangalore. Although we have tried Rajasthani food before, we have never a part of a complete experience.

We have been to M Café before for other festivals but this festival is different from the others: the food is actually authentic & one of the best food festivals we have experienced.

For those who are well versed with this type of cuisine, we recommend visiting by the 6^th of April as the festival ends on this day. Whereas for people like us who do not have much of a clue but are willing to experience: this is a golden opportunity!

We had the pleasure of interacting with Maharaj Bhik Singh, a special chef from Marriot Jaipur who gave us a walkthrough of all the items. We’ll be talking about the highlights only. There was nothing worth complaining about as everything was perfectly executed. The only thing one needs to be careful about is that there are certain items which are an acquired taste & the first hit on the palate might not be a pleasing one!

So, now about the food:

Pan fried noodles with krapao, fried egg and nori leaves

There are a few types of cuisine which are so vast that the possibilities are endless.

So, this time we are going to talk about an ongoing Pan Asian Food Festival with such endless possibilities at Nook, The Aloft Bengaluru Cessna Business Park. This was our first time at Aloft and the experience is definitely worth talking about.

Since Pan Asian has massive variety, the Exec Chef Sandeep Kumar has tried various combinations so in all probability if we try out the same festival any other day all the dishes won’t be the same.

Assortment of Sushi's

The festival runs till the 24^th so since there is not much time left, we won’t talk about the food in detail but just a short overview of what one should look out for.

There were a number of items which were served only to us, apart from the buffet.

From the starters section:

Fried Calamari

So what cuisine are you guys in the mood for?

We know that we have been craving for Italian food for quite some time and finally we received the chance to fulfil our craving! We have recently been to the ongoing Italian Food Festival at Sphyre, The Gateway Hotel-Residency road, Bangalore. So, are you guys ready to take your taste buds on an Italian trip?

Whatever your answer is, do read on ;)

We have been to this property before and although it is not huge, it has a separate charm of its own.

For the current festival, their Sous Chef Tushar prepared some extraordinary authentic Italian delights. It was indeed a pleasure being a part of this as the food was of a different level altogether.
 

So, coming down to the food:

The menu is very elaborate and so we tasted bits and parts as recommended and served by Chef Tushar.

First up, we were served the Minestrone and Lentil soups and both the soups were super appetizing. The best part was that all the flavours were individually distinguishable. The consistency was perfect, with fresh ingredients and a touch of herbs!

Aranchini

Then we tried the Aranchini and the Fried Calamari. The Aranchini had a good bite to it and the cheesy Arborio rice was well balanced and delicious. The fried calamari was crisp fried with a uniform colour. The calamari was well cooked, slightly chewy and this was a perfect snack.

Next up, the pasta: Tortellini Chicken in Tomato Sauce and the Penne a la norma.

The tortellini was excellently made: the shape, the minced chicken stuffing with cheese and herbs and of course the sauce! Be it garnishing, the consistency of the sauce or anything else it was absolutely perfect.

Chicken Tortellini

Pasta a la norma

The Penne a la norma was as expected. The pasta was Indian al dente and it was a good dish overall.

The Pumpkin Risotto deserves praise! The Arborio rice was perfectly done and the creaminess of the pumpkins was absolutely delightful. The combo is definitely something to relish.

We tried two pizzas: spinach and eggs for non-veg and mushroom and olive for veg.

Pumpkin Risotto

Egg and Spinach Pizza

Mushroom and Olive pizza

Both the pizzas had a thin crust with loads of Mozzarella. They were not overloaded with cheese and toppings as originally that is not the purpose. The toppings were generous and both the pizzas stood out. The eggs served in the pizza were sunny side up and it was great to see and to eat!

The mushroom and olives is a tried and tested combination and tasted the usual.

After this we tried the Grilled Salmon with Traditional orange sauce and the desserts.

The salmon was fresh and grilled to perfection. The sauce was slightly sweet and acted as a perfect palate cleanser before dessert. The orange sauce was absolutely lip smacking and added a citrusy zest to each bite. This dish is definitely a must try!

Grilled Salmon is traditional orange sauce

We forgot the name: It had layers of Aubergine and parmesan

Gnocchi with blue cheese sauce

For dessert we had the Tiramisu and the Ricotta Cheese cake. The Tiramisu had a delicate touch of coffee, as expected. The best part was that no flavour was overpowering. The sweetness, layering and the taste was perfect.

The Cheese Cake looked like a thick slice of pizza but was soft. It was mildly sweet and had a creamy finish.

We finished our Italian meal on a happy note.

Apart from the above mentioned items, we were also served a gnocchi with blue cheese which was out of which world! It was super creamy and melted in our mouths. The blue cheese sauce was indescribably amazing!

Tiramisu and Ricotta cheese cake

So that’s all from our side folks!

The festival runs till the 15^th of this month so if you love Italian food, this festival is a must try!

Do let us know about your experience in case you visit.

We’ll be back soon with our tasty adventures ;)

Till then—stay tuned and bon apetit!

Shubho Bijoya!

Last year roundabout this time we gave a couple of posts and labelled them as Durga Puja and Diwali specials. This time however, there was no such post fitting the occasion. But history does repeat itself and we had the privilege of visiting The Marriott, Whitefield and this time for their Bengali Food Festival.

So, this post is dedicated to all the Bengali people in the house and in general for everyone in love with Bengali Cuisine.

Their caption is exceptionally catchy and it goes by: There is a little bit of Bengal in “Bengaluru”.

This festival is taking place at the open air dining space at The M Café.

The setup is quite nostalgic for people like us who have migrated to other cities for their jobs. It was a heart-warming gesture from their side. Enough with the sentiments: we can always catch a flight and go back home so here comes a short and sweet version of what this festival has to offer.

If you are not familiar with Bengali cuisine, then just have faith and eat whatever you feel is good and you will not be disappointed.