Love, Love me do

Love, love me do.

You know I love you,

I'll always be true,

So please, love me do.

The Beatles sang about love very often, and even though (or maybe because) they were doped up for most of their lives, they nailed it every single time.

I am constantly amazed by the sheer power of love to alter and define our lives. Shakespeare said “love is blind”. Now that is something I (and everyone who’s ever been in a relationship with me) know to be true. For some quite inexplicably, love fades; for others love is simply lost. But of course love can also be found, even if just for one night.

And then, there’s another kind of love: the cruelest kind. The one that almost (but not quite) kills its victims, it’s called unrequited love.

Cruel yet delightful, Painful yet Intoxicating, How many of us know that feeling, when every compliment is magnified and every criticism however slight is enough to send us into a depression for weeks?

The Great poet Robert Frost once said "Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired." These poets write some good stuff, I wonder why so many of them are only famous after they die.

The most wonderful thing about love is, we can find it in the strangest places, like hanging on the door of a virar fast with the wind blowing in your hair, rushing through the stations of Bombay, a beautiful sunset walk, a quiet dinner with a loved one, a noisy evening in your favorite bar or even watching your favorite football team winning a trophy (again) in the company of your friends.

"We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can't just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it's going to get on by itself. You've got to keep watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it". – John Lennon, a poet who perhaps should have taken his own advice more often.

Love however, is not for the faint of heart! You only have to read the Agony Aunt columns in the papers to know that, the problems range from “we’re 17 and want to get married but our parents don’t approve” to “my fiance and I had oral sex, will she get pregnant!” the answer to that by the way is a resounding NO. (Thank you, Dr Watsa)

And of course there’s my personal favorite, the most COMMON one – “I’m in love with this girl but I’m scared of asking her because I don’t want to break our friendship”

What’s all this nonsense of "losing friendship" anyway? Who says if you’re rejected, you've lost a friend? Sure it’s awkward for a bit, but only if you don’t use your brains and insist on sulking about it. If someone isn't attracted to you, then that's that.

What we don’t realize is, we have been handed a GIFT, it’s not everyone who gets to love someone as much as you do, if it’s unrequited then so be it. A guy with a really long nose once said “It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” And he was right.

Anyway you know what they say, if at first you don’t succeed, try try again. Eventually you’ll get what you want, even if what you want changes.

I think it’s actually a little scary, we all SAY we’re in love, but how many of us are actually willing to give up all that we hold dear and plunge headfirst into love like the heroes of yore?  Young Lochinvar would be turning in his grave right now.

For that matter how many of us are willing to give up ANYTHING for love? We all think we don't have too, but sometimes we do

I'm no different,  in fact as an ex girlfriend brutally pointed out when I was writing this, I’m probably the last person who should talk or write about love.

But I do know what love is, in a vague sort of way,  love is when you can't stop thinking about someone, when they walk into a room, your mood lightens and you can't stop yourself from smiling, you make a fool of yourself around her and when you feel a bit weird in your stomach (no it’s not gas!)

There are so many different kinds of love in this world, Love for parents, love for children, love for friends, girlfriends wives etc etc. Oh and love for food! Specifically steak!

Love is a confusing emotion, it makes fools of us all, we don’t know exactly when we love or why we love, sometimes we don’t even know who we love. All we know is that we can’t live without the person we love, for however long we love them, and yet, we don’t tell them enough.

Sometimes we say and do things we regret very bitterly, but we cant undo them. So we pay the price and try and act snarky about it. But at the end of the day guilt fades, but love is forever.

This article has been written to make people laugh, I hope I succeeded in that, but I also hope that you all think about whom you love most and tell them. Because communication is basically what it’s all about. 

So many fights can be stopped with those three little words “You were right”

I meant "I love you"

I did!

Shakespeare also said “Such is my love, to thee I so belong, that for thy right myself will bear all wrong.”

Now that’s a showstopper.

Marriage

Wake me up when December ends!

Yes, I know the song says September, but I'm honestly dreading December. I know December usually means Christmas, presents, parties, New Years, and more partying! So you're probably wondering what's to dread.

 In India, December brings with it the onslaught of the wedding season.  And honestly I don’t like weddings, they make me feel old and too many people ask me when I plan to get married.

Now one of the very few advantages of being the eldest grandchild/child/cousin is that people rarely tell you what to do, maybe they would do it more often but they’re all scared of my reaction, I’m not exactly known for my polite, diplomatic refusals to do things and I AM known for my complete inability to care about people I don’t like.

So it came as something of a surprise to me the other day when my grandmother (Bengali side) told me I should get married. 

You see almost everyone who knows me agrees that my marriage (always assuming I could find someone insane enough to marry me) would be a bad idea – I have so many bad habits! The drinking and the overeating can be taken as read of course but then there is also my large assorted collection of friends who show up at odd hours, not exactly the cornerstone of a stable relationship, let alone marriage.

I managed to convince my grandmother that I would be unfaithful (a lie) and that I enjoyed being single (the truth. Kinda) and then moved on to concoct a fictional girlfriend who was half Muslim and half Nepali (she detests both, the racist) 

By the time I was done she was begging me to do nothing rash and trying desperately to find out if I was a) sleeping with my girlfriend and b) using protection. Perhaps unwisely I reassured her on both points; she seemed somewhat perturbed when I left.

This brings to mind another story, many years ago when I was at the same grandmother’s house I was getting ready to go for a party with a friend. My friend (just friend thankyouverymuch) was helping me roll up my sleeves when my grandmother (bless her) walked in on this cozy domestic scene, did a double take and asked me when I was coming home and did not seem to happy when I told her I wasn’t.

This might have had something to do with the fact that my friend was wearing a halter and a mini skirt but I wouldn’t want to be judgmental about my own grandmother. Although it is worthwhile to point out that I came to her house a week later with two friends who were helping me on a college project (by helping I mean they were doing it and I was providing my grandmothers printer) and she welcomed them like they were long lost children. Again, I don’t want to be judgmental but it might have had something to do with the fact that they were both in salwars.

Weddings by themselves are not that despicable. I mean they have really amazingly delicious food and free alcohol (No wedding crashers was fantasy, don’t try that in India). What I despise is the very idea of marriage. It all seems so sad for me, why do you want to get married? So you can have sex without old aunties judging you? They’ll judge you anyway. Financial security? Get a JOB. Emotional security? Friends are all the security you'll ever need.

Two people, who love each other, should get married. But how often do people marry for love? The first reason you should get married is so often the last reason people in India get married. The pressure starts young, for girls their parents start saving things for them from the time they're born.

I don’t like change, and marriage invariably changes things, if I like you enough I might make friends with your fiancé; I might even show up sober for your wedding. But what happens after that?

The happy couple becomes just that, you have an extra person at group dinners, late nights just won’t happen and you can forget about sleepovers. If that’s a part of growing up I think I can do without it.

OR

You could make an effort, you could try and make it work, you could accept the fact that your extended family just got a little bit bigger. And you can accept that, while everything changes, it’s how we react to change that defines happy endings.

Dining Companions - Insiya Nasrulla

Most of my favorite dining companions are men, that’s not because I’m sexist or anything but that’s because I can enjoy the food without worrying about neglecting/entertaining my fair (sometimes) companion

But there is a devastatingly beautiful lady who is both excellent company and a gourmet herself

Meet Insiya Nasrulla, she’s smoking hot and she loves rare steak (unbeatable combination)

My (repeated) advances aside we enjoy brilliant dinners, where we eat steak and drink wine or beer if we’re broke. 

She’s fantastic company, so much so that I enjoy her companionship as much as I enjoy the food we eat. (true story)

We’ve been to restaurants ranging from the very posh but disappointing Le Pain Quotidien to the really down market and still disappointing Smokin Lee’s.

What was not disappointing however was the sparkling company of one of the most charming people I have ever met.

The best time we’ve had has probably been in HRC Mumbai where we were given complimentary shots (of lemon juice!) by the obliging servers there.

All this apart, my favorite memory of our dinners is not the food on the table but the dancing eyes across the table, laughing at my lame jokes and adroitly spurning my advances.

Our friendship is dearer to me than all the food and flirting in the world.

Though I’d never admit it.

Steak Salad

So steak is something we both love, and I couldn't get her to send me a recipe, so I thought I'd share one of my favorite recipes which I'm sure she'd love.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 pounds beef sirloin steak
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 8 cups romaine lettuce - rinsed, dried, and torn into bite-size pieces
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• 1 small green bell pepper, sliced
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1/2 cup sliced red onion
• 1/4 cup sliced pimento-stuffed green olives

Directions

1. Preheat grill for high heat.
2. Lightly oil grate. Place steak on grill and cook for 3 to 5 minutes per side or until desired doneness is reached. Remove from heat and let sit until cool enough to handle. Slice steak into bite size pieces.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Mix in the cheese. Cover and place dressing in refrigerator.
4. Onto chilled plates arrange the lettuce, tomato, pepper, onion and olives. Top with steak and drizzle with dressing. Serve with crusty grilled French bread. Enjoy!

Party Tips - Be a good guest

The last post had my tips for throwing a good party, this one has tips for being a good guest at someone else’s party.

Of course how you behave at a party depends on how well you know the person but there are some general do’s and don’ts

Please Note: I have not always been anyone’s idea of the ideal guest and at some point or the other done most of things I've said not to do.

I realize that and I’m trying to improve.

Ok I lied about the second part. I just don’t want to be accused of hypocrisy.

1. When someone invites you to a party it’s REALLY rude to ask who else is coming, you are going because you like the host/hostess/food/free booze/whatever. Asking is always a little insulting. You’re bound to meet people you know there and if you don’t it isn't really hard to make friends
2. If you are lucky(?) enough to have a significant other who isn't invited then please don’t force the issue. Couples who refuse to go anywhere without their better halves are a bore in my opinion. (This might cause a few problems)
3. Always carry something, if only a bottle of wine. If you don’t drink (or your host doesn't  get juice or chocolate.
4. One hour after the invite time is the acceptable time for coming for a party. Two hours later is NOT and if you are going to be late then at least have the decency to claim that work delayed you.
5. Having reached the party don’t stick to the host. They will have a million things to do so let them do it. They will introduce you to a group of (hopefully) like minded people/mutual friends.
6. Don’t hog the conversation. Let it flow (guilty)
7. DON’T BLATANTLY LECH AT PEOPLE! IT IS LAME!
8. If you must hit on people at parties, please have the decency to do it well and with SUBTLETY (I name no names) And for god's sake stop if its clear your attentions are unwelcome.
9. While you may or may not “hook up” at a party it is a really sad reason for going to a party. *Instantly loses half my guest list*
10. PDA at parties with hook up/ significant other are generally frowned upon at houses which do not belong to me. Get a room for god’s sake
11. Here is where I might get accused of hypocrisy. Don’t get drunk and don’t make a scene. Parties are meant to be fun and if you’re lying on the floor passed out (without someone next to you) you can’t really have fun. You probably won’t remember it the next day anyway.

Parties are for meeting people you miss and having fun. There's no need to get drunk and act stupid.

Party Tips

I like parties, they’re a fun way to meet people, I don’t really like parties in nightclubs (can’t talk to anyone and I hate the music most of the time)
House parties on the other hand are always fun You can talk, dance, eat, drink, joke, make out, fight, make up, make out again (Ok the last 4 only happen at my parties)

So here are some tips for a fun house party.


Have a BlackBerry to help you with sending invites NO FB EVENTS! THAT IS LAME though I have done that before (sorry)

BAN people from messing with the music. (Avik this means you)

Invest in a decent pair of speakers

Google easy cocktail recipes (I’ve given some below) and make pitchers of cocktails

Theme parties are fun, but keep the theme simple so everyone can dress the part, e.g. Shorts and T-shirts

Keep small buckets around for people to puke in.

Plastic cups and plates ONLY

Have the local wine store’s number handy when you run out of booze

Make sure you talk to everyone, it can be a little weird going to someone’s house for the first time

Get simple finger food. Wafers and dip are a cheap way to go. Chicken tikkas by the kilo works too.

Don’t be too rigid about the guest list, if your friends want to bring someone, let them. It makes them more comfortable and you get to meet someone new. I know this can go horribly wrong (been there) but give it a chance.

Most importantly, remember the Idea of a party is to have fun. You don’t need to spend too much money (BYOB).Just some nice food and good friends.

And I have the best friends 

Easy drinks

Vodka Tang

The name says it all. You put (orange) tang inside a jug, add liberal amounts of Vodka and a tiny amount of water and ice and you’re good to go.

TIP: Adding some limbu to the pitcher really improves the taste

Love potion

Ingredients

Baccardi
Vodka
Gin
Sula Rose wine
Cranberry juice
Orange Juice
Old monk (just a little)

WARNING This is a potent drink that tastes surprisingly good.

Method:

You take baccardi, vodka and gin and mix them together in a pitcher till it is half full

Add the wine and cranberry juice till the pitcher is nearly full.

Add old monk and orange juice.

Get Drunk

Dining Companions - Bhavs

A very wise lady once told me that

“The best way to cook is to use the best, freshest ingredients and understand the way they behave, the way they taste, use all five senses at all times and make sure you add plenty of love” And then she told me this how every mother cooks.

Meet Bhavini Merchant, the youngest old lady in the world, also the reason I started eating vegetarian food (however rarely) and am now in love with cherry tomatoes, green peppers, asparagus and buffalo mozzarella. I love them for the colour, the texture and the taste that they bring to my boring (joke) non vegetarian meals

She’s not a dining companion in the sense that we don’t go out much. But I still have the fondest memory of the awesome snacks her mother used to make for all of us when we had our “meetings” These often lasted till 3 AM and one of the reasons we kept coming back (apart from the gossip) was the food! Just remembering that fantastic cheese toast (more like pizza on bread) makes me drool.

Whenever I make fun of her for being vegetarian and missing out on the finer things in life (like steak) she always reminds me that I have NEVER eaten anything bad in her house.

She’s also a fantastic hostess, always circulating, always taking care of her guests and best of all always smiling ,she also happens to give the best advice in the world, even if the advice is sometimes less palatable than the food, which is how we know it’s good advice

She’s your one stop solution for good food, good advice and (best of all) good advice about food.

Thank you for the memories, the advice and the food

Cheese Toast

Ingredients

Cheese
Onion
Capsicum
Herbs
Boiled Potatoes
Bread

Method

Make a dough with the above ingredients
Apply it to lightly toasted bread
Bake
Serve hot

Dining Companions - Bro

Dining Companions – Siddharth Bafna

Sid Bafna has been one of my best friends throughout my college years, and he is one of the few vegetarians I have fun eating with.

I still have the fondest memories of the super chana at his house, he has taken me to places I never thought I would ever get good food at, but I’ve always eaten well.

Through our college years we went through all the seedy places Churchgate had to offer. We gorged at places like Satkar, Mocha (when I had enough money) the canteen at the international students hostel, the university canteen and we were once nearly thrown out of New Yorkers (long story)

We were also nearly thrown out of Mama Mia once but that was my fault (longer story and involves French fries)

Siddharth also introduced me to Five Spice, a super Chinese restaurant in Fort where we ate almost every week.

Sid and Mohena gave my granddad a super birthday present when we all went out for lunch to Out of the blue for his birthday, he had so much fun he still talks about it.

We’ve also had many happy times at restaurants all over Mumbai and we’ve had great fun!

Some of Siddhath’s suggestions for places which serve good vegetarian food are

Voleare Colaba – super Greek Food and Pizza’s

Swati Snacks – almost everything on their menu is awesome

China Garden (Kemps Corner) great Chinese food

Joss – the best khausway in Bombay

Babulnath Dosa wala- Dosa’s (duh) and pani puri

Society (Ambassador Hotel) – The best fondue in the city

We’ve had brilliant parties at my house which were organized in 5 minutes with Sid ordering the food and picking up the booze on his way from town.

Here’s looking forward to many more!

Dining Companions - Dad

Dining Companions - Dad


One of the best people to eat a meal with is my Dad. Not only is he very knowledgeable about food in general, but his company always makes even the most boring dish taste better (this was put to the test for YEARS)
His stories of the weird food he’s eaten and the weird places he’s eaten them in always make me laugh.

Even accounting for the fact that I read at the table when we’re eating together, he still finds a way to make sure I take part in the conversations happening.
We have a cook in my house, whose an absolute treasure (also the reason we’re all so fat) we download recipe’s and dad explains them to her in simple hindi and viola! We get fatter! Our bacon roast beef and Honey Chicken are prime examples of this.

One of my favorite things about my dad is the gusto with which he lives his life. Obviously, this extends to eating as well!

It is completely because of his perseverance that I now eat fish! Also his patience at removing bone after bone for me!

One of my happiest childhood memories are of when we didn’t have a regular cook and Dad used to make breakfast for us on a Sunday morning, if your idea of breakfast is a feast of such proportion that you can’t eat lunch (or sometimes even dinner) then you would love the breakfast he makes.

When Sante’s opened in Pali Hill a few years ago there was no stopping my dad, he goes there every Saturday evening and practically buy’s up the place.

Our Sunday breakfast looks something like this

2 fried eggs per person/Scrambled eggs

Streaky or Back bacon

Spanish cured ham with olives

Belgian smoked ham

Bacon Sausages/Frankfurters

Cheese and garlic spread

Boursin cheese

And sometimes when Dad is feeling particularly happy, he makes akuri (see recipe below)

Akuri (feeds up to 5 people)

Ingredients

8 eggs
Half a cup of milk

Salt to taste

Milk and or cream

Half an onion finely chopped

2 gloves garlic finely chopped

Half teaspoon haldi powder

Half teaspoon garam masala

1 green chilly finely chopped

1 & half tablespoon oil, preferably from the just fried bacon.

METHOD

Break the eggs in a large bowl and beat them well till they are frothy

Add the milk and salt and beat the mixture well. Keep aside.

Heat the oil in an aluminium kadai

Fry the onions till slightly brown on a slow flame

Add the garlic and fry till onions are golden brown

Add the haldi powder, half the green chillies and garam masala and fry well

Make sure the flame is low and then slowly pour the egg mixture into the kadai.

Use a spatula and constantly stir the mixture, scrapping the bottom and sides of the kadai.

As the mixture starts thickening, lift the kadai off the flame for a few seconds, constantly stir the mixture and set back on the flame.

Again, just before the eggs are cooked, lift the kadai off the flame and allow the mixture to thicken by constant stirring, don't over cook the eggs. The eggs should be moist and only slightly firm. When served in a plate, there should not be any watery liquid seeping out to the sides.

Add the remaining chillies and some chopped coriander on top and serve hot with well-buttered toast.

Dining Companions - Delzad

Dining Companions – Delzad Avari

When you’re eating, 3 things are important for you to really enjoy yourself

1. Good Food
2. Good Alcohol
3. Good Company

Company is as important as the food, because you always enjoy food when you’re with someone fun

With that in mind, I’ve decided to come up with a profile of some of my favorite dining companions, and I’m starting with the best of them all.

Delzad Avari is currently training to be a cordon bleu chef in London, he used to work at the Taj and before that at Tetsuma which makes him the best dining companion a foodie could ask for.

Not only does he talk almost exclusively about food (the other things we talk about are booze and girls) but he knows the best places to eat AND if you tell him what you like to eat, he will suggest the perfect dish to suit your tastes.

Apart from being a good cook, he also happens to be excellent company, his stories of what really goes on in a 5 star kitchen may not always be true but they are always funny. He’s also really bitchy about people I don’t like, so our meals together are never boring.

Apart from disliking the same people we share a passion for steak, wine, old monk and making fun of stupid people.

We have a ritual, every month or so we go to China Gate Global Fusion and have the buffet there (which is totally awesome but that’s a story for another blog)

We start at 12:30 PM as soon as their doors open, we head to the starters and go crazy (again, will be described in detail when I do the review)

At about 1:30 PM after drinking copious amounts of green tea to help digest the starters we go in for the second round.

This time we attack all the starters we haven’t previously tried and Delzad makes me eat Sushi (I HATE fish) and introduces me to some obscure seafood I’m (hopefully) not allergic too. It’s at his prompting that I’ve eaten and fallen in love with Sushi and Whitebait Roe.

This course takes a little longer; by about 3 we’re ready for the next course, the main course.

Now the main course at global fusion’s nothing great so we just grab noodles and crab (Delzad not me, I’m allergic) and binge on the starters or dim sum again.

Like I said this doesn’t take too much time so we’re done by 3:30 PM and that’s when we attack their dessert, paying no attention to the scandalized servers who keep telling us that they close at 4.

We then leave at 4:30 PM with full stomachs and happy memories.

There are very few people I can spend 4 hours with without getting bored.

So thank you Delu! Come back soon, Global Fusion misses us!

Scrambled Eggs and useless information

Hello again,

Bet you didn’t think you’d hear from me so soon! I just thought I’d update you guys on what I’m working on for the next few months

Apart from “Restaurant Review’s” I’m working on a few more series, The last post is from “Terrific Takeout’s” and soon I’ll be starting my “Dining Companions” which is dedicated to the best people I’ve eaten with.

Just so reading this wasn’t a total waste of your time, I’ve included a recipe for scrambled eggs, with a slight twist.


Ingredients

4 strips of Bacon
4 Eggs
Butter (as much as your cholesterol level can handle say 250 gm)
1 Cup Milk
1 Cup Cream
1 Clove Garlic
1 Onion finely chopped
1 Baguette
Coriander


Method

Fry off the bacon in a wok, till it’s nice and crisp (so that the fat has solidified)

Chop the onions and Garlic and toss it in the same wok using the bacon fat for oil till they turn golden.

Take them off and put them aside

Slice the baguette and fry that in the pan as well.

Drain the excess oil (if you must) and start on your scrambled eggs

Break the eggs and whisk them with the cream and butter

Put them into the bacon/onion/garlic flavored wok and add milk, if you like silky scrambled eggs like I do, put a little extra milk (or cream)

Add the onions and garlic and let it simmer

Add salt to taste

Garnish with coriander

Serve with Bacon and baguette

Terrific Takeouts

So I haven’t been exactly active here (sorry) It’s been a crazy few months for me.

I really do want to keep writing, the only problem is finding the time, I’m working on that, and a new series called Terrific Takeouts.

A fun fact about me – I eat lunch out every day, this is partly because I don’t want to stress out my cook’s unnecessarily and mostly because I like outside food.

This brings us to my regular Chinese joint – Lucky Dragon. This is the place I order lunch from almost every day (Except Monday, when for some godforsaken reason their closed)

Its managed by a fun group of people led by Clinton and has the peerless Chef Clifford in command of the kitchen, if you tell them what you want, they are happy to cater for your needs (Eg: send me some hakka noodles with extra soya sauce)

Now that we’ve dealt with the personnel lets move on to the food.

They have great combos for the (hungry) working man like tossed noodles (150 for chicken) and pot rice (160 for chicken) alternatively 2 people can share a portion of their egg fried rice and any chicken gravy for a relatively modest Rs 220.

If you feel like going light for the day, they have excellent soups, my favorites are the Lemon Coriander and the Chicken Mushrooms

It’s an unpretentious place which serves good plain Indian Chinese food (if there is such a thing)

I recommend the Chicken Oyster Chili Garlic to go with the egg fried rice, don’t forget to ask for fried noodles to add that extra crunch.

They also serve very good lamb, but their chicken dishes are better.

The only things I have a very big problem with is that their closed on Monday which means that I’m totally lost when it comes to lunch for the most accursed of all days. And the fact that for some reason they don’t serve beef or pork!

Still it’s probably just as well for my health that they don’t.

Lucky Dragon

02224318077, 02265236877

+(91)-9820590188, 9821089495

OM SAI Co Operative Housing Society, Opposite New Era Mills Compound, Mogal Lane, Matunga, Mumbai - 400019

Butterflies in the Stomach

So one of the first things you notice about butterfly is that it’s tiny, but if it can produce cupcakes like that, then who cares!!

Butterfly Café is tucked away in a little corner of Union Park. You can go down Ambedkar Road and take a left. The road bifurcates after a bit and you have to go to your right. Take a left after that and Butterfly Café will be at your right, be careful though, it’s easy to miss.

There’s no décor to speak of, but like I said the venue is completely subordinate to the food. Or in this case weirdly-shaped mountains of delight!

Hands down the best thing on the menu is the Butterfly Special. The cupcake is lovely and moist, the icing wonderfully silky and each bite into the cake is rewarded with a dollop of chocolate ganache. Priced at Rs 75, it may be a little expensive but it’s a small price to pay for what is truly an orgasmic experience!

A really awesome cupcake for the wannabe foodie is the Red Velvet Cupcake. Its salient features are that it’s red (duh!) BUT it’s also really yummy, because it’s got this lovely cream cheese icing. I know that it might not be everyone’s cup of cake err tea but it’s really pretty good. The slightly salty icing and the sweet cake compliment each other really well. As with all the other cupcakes the texture of the icing is wonderfully silky.

They do a decent peanut butter cupcake and a really good hazelnut swirl. But the Butterfly Special is the one that makes the taste buds sit up and take notice.


Today’s Tip:

After 2 alcohol suggestions I thought we should get back to the foods I’d like to share he recipe for this simple snack I often make for myself on a Sunday afternoon when the maid’s are on leave.

Ingredients

1 packet of Monaco Biscuits

1 box of Boursin cheese spread

5 slices of ham

Method

Spread the biscuits out on a plate

Cover them with the cheese spread

Cover the cheese spread with your slices of ham

Ready to eat!

It’s a lovely little recipe; the spread has a smooth, creamy texture and flavor which offsets the saltiness of the ham and the biscuits. You can pick up the spread at most supermarkets.

Mia Cucina - My House!

We all have our favorite restaurants where when we walk in, the waiter knows our first names, our family history and whether or not we have regular or mineral water.

One of my favorite restaurants is Mia Cucina (my home) in Bandra.

The reasons I go there are varied, for one thing, it’s a two minute drive from my house and for another, I LOVE the food there.

Finding it is really easy. If you’re coming from Turner road, you take a right at the Pot Pourrie signal and go straight until you see Gold’s Gym on your left. You take a left and go into the lane leading to Pali Hill and Mia Cucina will be on your right.

The valet service is prompt and more importantly they don’t loose your keys or wreck your car while they’re in the process of parking it!

The décor is really simple and understated, and no this is not a nice way of saying ‘it sucks’. The restaurant outside is dimly lit and the tables are perfect for a small intimate dinner. When you go inside, things get a little more crowded.

The waiters are quick to take your order and the first thing you get when you sit down is a small roll of the most delicious homemade bread accompanied with a small pat of herbed butter. The bread is soft, with a light crust on the outside and is like a little slice of heaven!

A big let down is that they don’t have a liquor license so they only serve wine and like almost everywhere else in Mumbai the Indian wine is mediocre (Sula and Château Indage again!!) The imported wine was so expensive that I didn’t even try it (Rs 450!!)

I should say that I’m not really a big fan of Italian cooking, I can’t stand Pasta or Lasagna or Spaghetti. When I go to an Italian restaurant I generally order a steak, or if they don’t have it, a chicken and mushroom risotto. I also have a rule about eating pizza, which simply put is don’t eat it unless it has the equivalent of two pigs or a cow as toppings.(Meat Feast from Smoking Joe’s)

Now the starters are good, but not spectacular. I highly recommend you skip the starters and go straight to the main course.

They have a pretty decent steak-that’s what I had the first three or four times I went there. However I once went there pretty late at night and they were out of beef. The owner suggested I try the quarto formaggi (four cheese) pizza. I was pretty apprehensive of trying a pizza with only cheese (what, no meat!) But I was really hungry and too tired to argue so I just went with what he said and boy was I glad to do it!

The pizza crust was insanely good, not too doughy and not too brittle. It’s kind of like the perfectly cooked naan, with loads and loads of cheese on it.

I should tell you I’m not even a fan of cheese, I like my cheese to be light not heavy, but this was seriously sensational! All four cheeses are mixed together on the pizza, its slightly bitter and very heavy (duh 4 cheeses?) It’s impossible to finish a whole pizza (even for me!) At Rs 450, for a 10 inch pizza, the price is pretty reasonable.

I recommend the mushroom risotto, to which you can add chicken for an extra cost. It’s a rich, creamy risotto, the chicken is well cooked and succulent and the mushrooms add a lovely chewy texture to the dish. The dish is priced at Rs 400 + Rs 60 for the chicken

And now we come to my favorite part of a meal. Dessert!

Don’t even think, go for the Decadence cake and you’ll never regret it! The chocolate in that cake is among the best I have ever had, the only word to describe it is ambrosia!

The cost for this decadence (pardon the pun) is Rs 150.

A meal for two as described above without any drinks costs about Rs 1200

What I liked:

Food
Service(reasonably prompt)
Waiters(actually knew what they were talking about when they were suggesting dishes)

What I did not like

Tables are too close together
No home delivery
Very crowded even on a Tuesday night (I suppose that’s a good thing)


Today’s tip is another cocktail; I invented this for a girlfriend of mine who didn’t like any of the regular cocktails you normally get in bars

The Chocolate Bomb

Ingredients

1. 1 bar of cooking chocolate (you can use Cadbury’s in a pinch but this is better)
2. 4 tablespoons of sweetened cream
3. 2 scoops of chocolate Ice Cream
4. 2 Tablespoons of Kahlua (use dark rum if you don’t have any but it’s not as good)
5. Half a bottle of Brandy (Honey bee will do)

Method

Melt the chocolate in a saucepan
Once it’s melted add the sweetened cream
Stir well
Add brandy
Add Khalua
Stir again
Pour into two big glasses
Add Ice Cream
Chocolate Bomb explodes!

All Star Fry

All Star Fry

It’s high time I wrote a restaurant review; after all it’s what I’m supposed to be doing in this blog!

So it’s fitting that my first review should be of a place where I have so many happy dining memories – All Stir Fry.

This lovely little restaurant is located on the ground floor of Gordon House hotel and is very easy to reach; you simply tell the cab driver to take you to Colaba Causeway (via Regal cinema) take a left at Café Mondegar and the first left after that and your there. Gordon House is on your right.

The doormen and security guards are attentive and polite; the restaurant itself is very well lit, without being too bright. The seating is pleasant as well with wooden benches and tables. The only improvement I would make in the décor would be to make all the benches have backrests; this would make the dining experience much more comfortable.

The cocktail menu looked good which is always important! The names were creative and the descriptions gave a good idea of what the drink would taste like (crucial!) Priced between Rs 300 – Rs 375 they were reasonable too.

A big letdown was that they only served Sula wine and no other brand of Indian wine, which is sad because with the great selection of meats there, a good York Shiraz would have gone very well.

And now we come to the important part. The Food!

All Stir Fry is famous for its delicious Wok which priced at Rs 420 (with taxes) is one of the best deals in the city. It combines a buffet experience with a live kitchen and you can choose from different types of noodles and a wide variety of meats (lamb, beef, chicken, pork, salami, chicken salami) seafood (squid, prawns, fishcakes) and a HUGE selection of vegetables. They have other condiments like eggs, tofu and paneer too.

Some of their vegetable offerings include Pak choy, spinach, button mushrooms, baby corn, corn, spring onions, French beans, Chinese cabbage, broccoli and more.

Once you fill your bowl you go to the live kitchen where you can choose from a variety of sauces (categorized by the level of spice) and condiments (garlic, chilli flakes, crushed peanuts etc)

Again I must pay tribute to the menu which specifies what sauce goes well with different types of meat/vegetables.

Now of course you can order whatever combination that you like but here are some of my favorites.

Non – Spicy: This one works well with chicken. The spring onions and cabbage add a nice crunch which offsets the sweet sauce nicely. Chicken, Chinese cabbage, spring onions, paneer, mushrooms and noodles with ginger oyster sauce and garlic flakes are a good combination.

Spicy: This one’s good for beef/lamb. The pak choy and spinach absorb some of the heat and the crushed peanuts add a nice texture. Beef, pak choy, baby corn, spinach, mushrooms, onions with Takkoe sauce and crushed peanuts is a good mix.

Very Spicy (also my favorite): Keep this one simple. Pak choy and mushrooms absorb the spices nicely. Beef, pak choy, onions, mushrooms with Devil sauce and crushed peanuts is like finding heaven!

For each of the woks, I recommend the noodles, not the ultra thin or the pasta.
This is one of my favorite restaurants as it works very well for lunch or dinner.

Today’s Tip: My take on vodka and tang. It’s another Matheran recipe.

This is really simple and I don’t know why more people don’t do this.

Ingredients:

1. A packet of orange tang
2. A big (preferably glass) jug
3. A bottle of any decent vodka. NOT Smirnoff (Absolut is good)
4. Lots of ice
5. Water or soda according to preference.
6. 4 lemons

Method:

1. Pour as much tang as you like into the Jug, I use 4 tablespoons
2. Pour in your vodka, half a bottle is good
3. Stir well
4. Add juice from 3 lemons
5. Stir again
6. Fill your jug with water or soda
7. Add the juice from the 4th lemon
8. Stir again
9. Add your Ice
10. Ready to serve

Vodka tang is really good on a hot summer day. I prefer it with soda but it’s as good with water and the lemon gives it a really good zing. Try it out and tell me what you think!

Gourmet's Circle

The Gourmet’s Circle

Everyone likes eating good food. It’s an unavoidable fact of life like income tax or corruption!

Unfortunately, like most other unavoidable facts of life, eating really good food at good restaurants comes at a price!

In case I haven’t made it clear in my earlier post, I REALLY like good steak.

The cost of a top-class steak can range anywhere between Rs 600 to Rs 2,500 depending on whether you go to The Zodiac Grill or Blue Frog. Honorable mentions should go to Yellow Tree Café and Hard Rock Café which have decent steaks for around Rs 400.

Eating well however doesn’t have to be so expensive. All you need is a bit of innovation, a bit of creation, a love for cooking and a really good appetite! You also need really good friends, which brings us to the subject of “The Gourmet’s Circle.” Some of my closest friends who share a love for good food coupled with a horror for paying exorbitant rates in restaurant’s (unless accompanied by parents) meet up every month with the sole aim of drinking cheap wine, munching on homemade dip and wafers and cooking a decent meal of steak and mashed potato.

We take turns to act as host, (quite easy, host brings food everyone else brings dessert, wine, wafers etc.) and then we all cook. It’s awesome fun; three people, a whole lot of steak and tons of the most delicious garlicy, buttery, cheesy (and occasionally vodkaey) mashed potato, some garlic bread and a LOT of wine.

The steak can be bought from various places in the city; they all have really good beef.

1. Sante’s – Pali Naka, Bandra(really expensive but delicious)
2. Nature’s basket – Hill Road, Bandra (rib-eye costs Rs 600/KG and its awesome)
3. Farm Products – Colaba (reasonable and very good)

To complete our perfect evening the last time we met, we played loud music, drank a lot of wine (repeating myself am I) and ate a lovely cake prepared by one of our number (whose cakes look almost as good as she does, don’t know how she tastes but the cake was WOW!) I got the ice cream and all in all we had an AWESOME time.

The second meeting of The Gourmet’s Circle is this Friday, I will update the blog with the culinary delights we had soon after.

Tip of the Day

Today’s tip: The recipe for my Matheran Mashed potatoes.
We made this in my house in Matheran (a small hill station outside Bombay) using everything we could find, and it turned out to be really good. We had a version of it at our Gourmet’s Circle and it was much appreciated (well you can’t go wrong with so much butter and cream can you?)


Matheran Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

8 Potatoes

4 Cloves of Garlic

1/2 Kg of Butter

4 Slices of Cheese

5 tablespoons of Vodka

4 Cups of Milk

1 Cup of Cream


Method

• Peel, boil and mash the potatoes

• Crush garlic till it forms a paste

• Add milk

• Add Butter

• Add Garlic

• Add Cream

• Put the mixture on the boil and add the cheese when it’s hot, keep stirring until the cheese melts

• Add Vodka

• Add salt to taste

• Wait till the potatoes have cooked and serve hot.

Viola! Instant cholesterol!

Food

Food!

No one can live without it, and almost everyone likes it.

I live in Bombay, which is a foodie’s paradise.

The food the city offers ranges from sev puri at a tiny thela or cart to a steak in wine sauce at one of the most prestigious restaurants in the city.

I will be doing two or more blogs a week as time permits. My blogs will contain a food/drink tip at the end. Do leave a comment and let me know if you liked it or if you have any suggestions.

Today's tip: The steak with spinach risotto at Moshe's

The steak is cooked to perfection, with the thin red line present in every good steak. It has the right amount of juice and isn’t tough (unlike most steaks in the city.) Creamy yet not too heavy, the spinach risotto is a perfect accompaniment to the steak. The crisps add just the right amount of crunch synonymous with every good steak dish.

Hope you enjoyed this entry, I promise the next one will be bigger.