Kolkata Street Food Festival at Monkey Bar

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It's that time of the year when Bengali's world over travel back to India to reunite with their loved ones and celebrate the Kolkata's biggest festival - Durga Pujo. The grandeur and the extravaganza of the pandals and the celebrations are spoken about world over and is a festival looked forward to not just by Bengali's but people of different religions and castes as well. Like all festivities, people flock to the pedals not just for worship but also to experience the Bengali gastronomy which is really sought after. 

While Pedals are known to have food stalls set up with some of the traditional bengali delicacies on offer; this year around; Monkey Bar decides to take us on a gastronomic trip down the iconic lanes of Kolkata. 'Next Stop Kolkata' is a special menu curated by Kolkata based home chef 'Its Misra' and Monkey Bar's head chef 'Deeraj Varma' will be available across Monkey Bar outlets in Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai all day from October 4th to 21st, 2018. 

What's different about this food festival is that Money Bar honestly attempts to showcase the classic and traditional street food available in the streets of Kolkata which became available as way back in it's time as immigrants from different parts of the country and world started to make Kolkata its base. It can be said that the Kolkata street food is not the local street food but an inspiration / ode to the global immigrants who have made Kolkata their home.

The menu's got the Chinese inspired prawn dumplings widely available at the Tiretti Bazaar area; Pork momo's widely available at the many Tibetan joints at Elgin Road; Kolkata-Style North-Indian Chaat of Moong Daal Pakodi from Vardaan Market ; Beadon Street Fish Roll and many more. Each dish available on the menu has a Monkey Bar twist to it and it does uplift the preparation for an enjoyable experience. 

During the preview, I tried a few dishes from the menu which includes the lovely deep fried fish fillet breaded on the outside and stuffed with a mince curried shrimp filling called 'Beadon Street Fish Roll' made popular by Mitra Cafe; 'Vivekanand Park Ghooghni' a dish of curried white peas topped with potato sali; normally served with Pav but here was served with a wonderful masala brioche bread.

Continuing the lunch, the Moong Daal Pakodi was served as a chaat topped with khatta-meetha chutney, yoghurt, boondi, sev and crisp fried curry leaves; a Monkey Bar take to the traditional Moong Daal Pakodi served on the streets at Kolkata. 'Esplanade Mughlai Porota' is served in 2 variants - stuffed with egg or with spicy mutton Keema filling. We tried the one with egg and it came served along with Paanch phoron baby potato. 

My top picks for the day were these next 2 dishes:

- 'Girish Park-er Shoitan Deem' aka Egg Devil - This was boiled egg encased in a Shammi Kebab mince instead of the minced potato encasing as available on the streets near Girish Park. Well, another great example of how Monkey does a twist.

- Chitpur Road Chicken Rezala - It's a mildly spiced and flavoured white chicken curry; silky texture getting its subtle flavours from cashew and poppy seed paste comes served with the triangle porota known widely in Kolkata as 'Teen Kona Porota'.

Then; Monkey's got to do cocktails too and so we have 3 cocktails inspired from the flavors experienced and time chef Dheeraj spent on the streets of Kolkata - 'Piara Peara' - Tequila based cocktail with Guava juice spiked with tobacco; 'Puchka Paani Capriojka' - Vodka, Gondhoraj lime, mint and puchka Paani (Pani puri water) and then the 'Thaanda Cha' - Vodka, chillied spices infused Darjeeling Tea.

I'm going back here for some of the above dishes and a round of keema stuffed mughlai porota. When are you headed here?  

Oh! You got to know this; if you hold an original driving licence from Kolkata each day you are in for a treat; courtesy Monkey Bar. 

Bon Appetit!

Address: #610, 12th Main Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Near Crosswords, Indiranagar, Bangalore

Phone Number: +91 80 4411 4455

Note: This visit to Monkey Bar was on invitation but the opinions expressed are solely mine and are absolutely unbiased nor influenced by the brand in any way.
Pictures Courtesy: Monkey Bar

New Menu Introductions 2017 - Smoke House Deli

Twitter: @nkandhari     Facebook: Review Of Restaurants     Instagram: Review Of Restaurants 

It's a new year, it's a new menu.. lots of interesting flavors, textures and ingredients. It's not just food but also some interesting cocktails and infusions. Experiencing this menu was joyous yet a task and believe me when I say that for the sheer count of Nee dishes we tried on this lunch table specially curated for media. 

Without much ado, let's get started with as it's aptly called 'Starters' / 'Appetizers'. We had 4 of them on the table with each very distinct from the other. My pick of them all was the prawn fritters tossed in spiced mayo and the Kashmiri Chili and cottage cheese flatbread from the vegetarian menu.

Drinks flowed in with each course. To start was a concoction of whiskey, angostura and orange bitters, Cherry liquor and a dash of lime. 

The roasted corn soup arrived with a dollop of sour cream and drizzle of truffle oil. I missed the flavor of truffle oil, and the sour cream missed marring well with soup which was otherwise good in both taste and consistency. Salad was refreshing with an assortment of lettuce, tomato, boconcini and dressed in a pesto vinaigrette. Like always I've always enjoyed salads at SHD and this time was no different; unfortunately, don't have a picture to share.

Cocktails on the new menu are concocted from house infused liquors like rum and gin. I tried the SHD Collin contained gin infused with kaffir lime leaves, lime wedges and peel; SHD spiced Apple daiquiri was concocted with both rum and Apple juice infused with cloves, star anise and cinnamon and finally SHD Cosmo which was made with gin infused with dill leaves. 

SHD Spiced Apple Daiquiri

Coming back to food, I loved the slow roasted cauliflower and mascarpone risotto in comparison to its counterpart Black pepper crusted chicken risotto. The former opens up in flavors as you chew it and progress with eating this dish. Another one from the menu I really enjoyed was the potato gnocchi stirred in a 3 cheese sauce with roasted vegetables. 

Rissotto

Gnocchi

As if this was not enough, next arrived the mains followed by dessert. For the mains, my top picks were the rosemary roast chicken which leads the way from an erstwhile menu signature I loved - half roast chicken and the perfectly pan grilled bhetki fish fillet, generously portioned with a crispy skin to crack through. One was a hearty portion of chicken, mashed potatoes, sautéed mushrooms with a poached egg drizzled with a jus flavored with rosemary while the other came served with a subtle jalapeño corn sauce creating just the required flavor profile. Between the chicken and the fish, it's just the need of the palate that can define the better one. 

The slow braised Belgian pork spare ribs lost out on 2 counts - the ribs could have been chunkier and fall off the bone and the bacon around the accompanying pork meat parcel should have been crispy. flavor wise, no misses here. 

Desserts were fantastic, be it the white chocolate cake with a lemon molten cake, prune crumble tart with dark chocolate mousse or milk cake dressed with toasted hazelnuts. They were rich, decadent, came with distinct flavor profiles. 

It was an enjoyable afternoon over good food from the kitchen of Chef Saurabh Arora and catching up with friends and I do look forward to getting back to Smoke House Deli for these new introductions and some classics; available at both their outlets in Bangalore - Lavelle road and Indiranagar. I urge you to do so too. An average meal for two will be Rs. 1500++; additional for cocktails.

Cheers!

Address: 
Ground Floor, No. 52 & 53, Lavelle Road, Bangalore 560011
and
No. 1209, Ward No. 72, Hal IInd Stage, 100ft Road, Indiranagar, Bengaluru 560038

Phone Number: +91 80 4051 5151 



Note: This visit to Smoke House Deli was on invitation but the opinions expressed are solely mine and are absolutely unbiased nor influenced by the brand in any way.

Israeli Delights at Nook; Aloft Bengaluru CBP

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This revisit to Aloft was much looked forward to for the history of experiences I've always cherished from here; be it the Launch of Aloft Bengaluru CBP, the stay at Aloft, their annual event 'Project Aloft Star'. 

Having missed numerous celebratory food festivals at Aloft; I was determined to visit back to create another memory of a really good evening at Aloft with a buffet celebrating the 'Taste of Israel' till the 28th of August by an international Chef. Chef Shachar having grown up in Israel, lived and worked in different parts of the world sticks to his roots of mastering the art of preparing and serving Israeli food. 

Falling on the Eastern belt of the Mediterranean Sea, the vegetation of this land is known to produce olives, tomatoes and the likes. The cuisine gets its influence from the Mediterranean region, and the influx of different cultures like Arabs, Jews and so on which happened with the formation of the independent state of Israel in 1948. 

The culture lays emphasis on family and sharing and this is clearly visible from the way food is plated to be shared on the table rather than plated for individuals. With this, lets move in to the highlights of the evening that showcase #IsraeliDelightsatNook #AloftBengaluruCBP.

The evening started with a note from Chef Shachar himself about Israeli food followed by an address from Consulate General of Israel who also happens to be the wife of Chef Shachar. This was soon followed by an array of kebabs and other pass around starters from the buffet spread at Nook that moved around the floor in the company of an extravagant spread of infused vodka and shots I have ever seen. 

Before we got to our table at Nook was another special act by a specialist from behind the bar who set up a Diablo trail of Jäger bomb in two forms - classic and Aloft's creation. 

What followed was the main highlight of the evening and sure did elevate the experience that evening. It was our turn to head to the table at Nook to Savour the Mediterranean, Arabic and East European delicacies prepared by Chef Shachar and the talented pool of chefs at Aloft Bengaluru CBP. 

It all started with an array of dips and breads from the buffet spread. Referred to as Mezze; this included Labne, Baba Ganoush, Amba, cabbage salad, Tahini and more. If this was not all, the buffet had a wider spread of different dips to go along with the breads. These dips were enjoyed best with freshly baked assortment of breads like pita bread, challah, Jerusalem Bagel and Fricassee. 

Mezze

Jerusalem Fricassee

This course did not end with breads and dips. There was more to go along like the fresh Israeli salad, whole baked cauliflower, beetroot carpaccio with a topping of white cheese, grilled egg plant topped with tahini and a serving of the freshest Tabbouleh salad I've eaten in a long time. Most of what I ate was vegetarian but surprisingly I didn't miss the meat yet. That's some good news for you vegetarians out there because there's a lot of vegetarian fare on this buffet.

Grilled Egg Plant with Tabbouleh

Baked Cauliflower

Beetroot Carpaccio

Up next we noticed a trolley being pulled towards our table and moments later chef showcased the preparation of hummus followed by a custom made hummus was served to me just the way I like it. This one came topped with boiled egg, olive oil drizzle, fresh lime juice, pine nuts and sprinkling of Sumack. 

It was not just food that stole the show this evening. There were concoctions to keep company and one in particular that kept good company to both food and me was the one in the picture below. The balance of the rum infused with coconut, the pineapple juice and the balancing mixes surely had me imagining an exotic beach destination vacationing.  

For mains, we headed back to the buffet counter and there was the warm and mildly spiced Israeli Pilaf which I enjoyed eating (by chance) with the fresh and cold Tabbouleh. Among the Israeli herb stuffed chicken, meatballs with olive and tomato sauce and fish tahina tomato, I least preferred the fish dish only because the fish used was 'Basa'. The whole food industry seems to be fixated on the Basa and I fail to understand why so? Aren't there any other fishes left to be caught? My recommendation - please don't do this as we love the real fish enough to settle for Basa.

That's not all, the live station had Shawarma too that was custom made to liking or the traditional way in which it is sold in the streets of Israel. You make the choice. For me this was nice but because I love shawarma, I was expecting more. One mention though - the meat / chicken was perfectly marinated with spiced and cooked to succulent perfection.

The buffet did not end here. There was more for the vegetarians amidst the buffet that extended to other cuisines like Indian, continental and Chinese to name a few. This course led the way to another important course of the meal and yes this reference being made is to the desserts. 

Strictly sticking to Israeli treats; sweets and candies were served to us on the table and the visualisation, the colours, textures and the variety was a real treat to have awaiting to be enjoyed. Without much ado, this large platter was relished with some treats bringing back memories of childhood. Another highlight was fig with fresh cream and caramel which was simplicity at its best.

For the grand finale, there was a creation of dessert art on a table sufficient for a community to share. This was a delight to watch as the team from Aloft put up a splendid show to create an art that was edible and delicious. This last one was for the joy of sharing.

So with this, I headed out for a long drive back home satisfied and happy with the evening spent at Aloft Bengaluru CBP relishing the Israeli delights at Nook. I definitely recommend a visit here for a lovely Israeli meal before 28th August for this special showcase is only on till Sunday evening between 7PM and 11PM all days of the week. Here are few more reasons for which you should make a visit - Shakshuka, Minced chicken liver, an Israeli street Favourite Falafel and more.

Address: Cessna Business Park, Sarjapur–Marathahalli Outer Ring Road, Kadubeesanahalli, Bellandur Post, Bengaluru - 560103

Phone Number: +91 80 4510 1010

Website: Aloft Bengaluru CBP


Note: This visit to Aloft Bengaluru CBP was on invitation but the opinions expressed are solely mine and are absolutely unbiased nor influenced by the brand in any way.

Monkey's Coastal Adventure @ Monkey Bar, Bangalore

Twitter: @nkandhari     Facebook: Review Of Restaurants     Instagram: Review Of Restaurants 

Culture of India is known for its diversity; be it languages, dance, music, architecture or even food. There is diversity across length and breadth of this nation and as you move from one place to another or one region to another, this diversity comes across in full rhythm. Keeping our focus on food, this can be experienced at Monkey Bar as it takes us through a delicious journey across the coast of Kerala through Karnataka for the reminder of this month of June. 

This gastropub is known to give a fine twist aka the 'Monkey twist' as it may be aptly called. So when monkey traveled the coast, his adventures led to creation of a menu of food and beverages called 'Monkey's Coastal Adventures' and like always the Monkey Twist' was evident and was consistently good. I set out to experience the Monkey's coastal adventure menu and here's what I relished enroute - 

Not creating a trail, I savored was Kuttari Salad, KP Tacos, Batak dosa, Prawn Ghee Roast, Mandeli fried fish and Ode To Molly. What's a journey without a few drinks to accompany, so from the drinks it was Soulful Khadi, Chilli Puli, Vanakam Panakam. The menu further offered an interesting array of dishes which include clam sukka, Monkee Eggs and Coast to Coast to name a few unfortunately which I couldn't try.

So let's begin this journey with an introduction to Soulful Khadi which was a concoction of Gin, kokum syrup, tender coconut, leaves and lime cordial for that perfect balance. The drink was well balanced and leaned towards the sweeter side and I quite liked the flavor profile. If you are the one who likes your drink to lean towards the sweeter side than the tangy side; this one is definitely for you. 

Soulful Khadi

What did not work so much for was this other cocktail called Chilli Puli which was a tequila based drink with tamarind paste and green chili to lend a flavor to the concoction. This for my taste buds was an overkill in terms of flavor and is good as a pass around drink just for the kicks of it. 

Chili Puli

What really had me wanting for more this afternoon was 'Vanakam Panakam' a whiskey-based cocktail which by the name of it was mixed with Panakam - a drink made usually made with jaggery, cardamom, black pepper and is known to be a cooling agent with a lot of health benefits. For the time being, let's forget the health benefits for this Panakam with whiskey had me clearly wanting more of it.

Vanakam Panakam

In food, we started light with a really refreshing salad of baby spinach, raw mango slivers, shaved coconut, peanuts, curd chilis and at its heart the Kerala boiled rice called the Kuttari Salad. This Salad was a big hit on my table and from what I hear has been receiving some raving response during this festival. The prawn ghee roast on the other had was stir fried in with spices and ghee in typical Kundapur style. The prawns were perfectly cooked in Kundapur spices with ghee and was served up with really crunchy garlic toasts. It wasn't long before this dish was cleaned up among the two of us.

Kuttari Salad

Prawn Ghee Roast

Batak dosa was Kerala style duck confit on bite sized set dosa topped with shaved onions and chutney. The meat was succulent and flavorful on soft and fluffy dosa (uttapam). The onion slivers gave a nice crunch to this preparation and complimented well with the flavor of the duck meat. Mandeli Fried Fish was white anchovies rava fried and served with an accompaniment of baby onion salan puree and plantain chips. Nice and comforting but not something to look forward to from the kitchen of Monkey Bar.

Batak Dosa

Mandeli Fish Fry

'KP' in 'KP Tacos' stands for Kerala Paratha which held Chettinad style pulled chicken with black lichen, baby onion salan, garlic pickle and finally topped with white radish slaw. Bang on flavors for a coastal Indian twist to a classic Mexican dish. We had no space left for mains but the bar had to be raised and so it was 'Ode to Molly' a dish with subtle flavors served as fillets of spice marinated seabass sitting on a bed of fragrant lemon rice surrounded by avial inspired vegetables and a turmeric-coconut milk sauce. This was quite a twist to the Kerala classic Meen Moilee and surely a good one with different textures and varied but subtle flavors to tickle the palate.

KP Tacos

Ode To Molly

I wish my stomach had more room for food to try out the Monkee Eggs a makeover of the popular egg puffs available across the smallest of the bakeries and the Monkey's version of a south Indian thali called Coast to Coast. Nevertheless, it was indeed a Sunday afternoon very well spent catching up with a friend over some delicious food, drinks and conversation.

The festival is on till the 30th of June and is available for lunch and dinner at Monkey Bar Bangalore and Delhi. An average meal for 2 without drinks will cost approx. Rs. 1200 ++ and with a drink each will cost around Rs. 1900++; definitely not heavy on the wallet.

Quick Tips:

I love Monkey Bar and it's a known fact. However, they're offering a really good twist to the classics from this region. There's enough for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. Beverages have cocktails on offer as a part of the special menu. 

From what I've tried, go here for the Kuttari Salad, Prawn ghee roast, KP tacos and Ode to Molly in food and 'Vanakam Panakam' and 'Soulful Kadhi' in cocktails. 

Bon Appetit!

Address: #610, 12th Main Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Near Crosswords, Indiranagar, Bangalore

Phone Number: +91 80 4411 4455

Note: This visit to The Fatty Bao was on invitation but the opinions expressed are solely mine and are absolutely unbiased nor influenced by the brand in any way.