Wonderful Evening at Harry's Whitefield

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If you've been to Singapore; Harry's bar needs no introduction for it is the most famed bar back there with 27 outlets in operation. With huge expansion plans in India, Harry's is off to a fiery start here with the 3rd outlet having been launched in Phoenix Market City, Whitefield Bangalore after witnessing success; first in Indiranagar followed by Koramangla. It doesn't end here coz. if I hear it right, 2015 will witness the launch of more outlets across Mumbai and other cities in India.

Taking their expansions very seriously, Harry's has been roping in highly specialized and renowned personalities to spearhead both the bar and kitchen. Right from the first outlet, Shatbhi Basu has set up the bar scene at Harry's India and now, Celebrity Chef Vicky Ratnani has been roped in to head the kitchen for the brand in India. While Shatbhi aims to put the drinks ahead of the food, Vicky strives to put the food ahead of the drinks. In this wonderfully competitive team at Harry's who wins? Well, it clearly is 'We the customers' for we get the best of both worlds - 'Food' and 'Beverages'.

Shatbhi Basu @ Harry's

Me with Vicky Ratnani @ Harry's

In between all this, I got to enjoy the best of both the worlds at Harry's Bar and cafe, Whitefield. Vicky's magic wand has clearly done its tricks. This evening was one delicious evening of enormous spread of fabulous food and amazing cocktails. Marinated olive and feta in a jar was the first to arrive and the flavors were bang on. Asian classic Chicken Satay made an appearance standing in a glass. I loved the delicious peanut sauce and the chicken was so tender; it just melted away in my mouth.

On the vegetarian plate, there was whole mushroom stuffed with ratatouille and cheese. Not a fan of mushroom specially in it's direct for; this dish was my vegetarian favorite of the day. It's weird for me to be writing this but I highly recommend this mushroom plate to be on every table for the vegetarians. Another hit among everyone on our table was the watermelon and feta salad. 

Whole Mushroom stuffed with Ratatouille & Cheese

Water Melon & Feta Salad

Fisherman's basket was a basket full of crispy fried fresh and assorted sea food. This dish is something we munched on pretty much al evening. The batter was seasoned with spices, was really light and crisp (reminding me of the Japanese tempura batter) and the fish, prawns and calamari were soft and fresh.

Fisherman's Basket

Vietnamese spring rolls were light and easy on the palate. They were rice paper rolls with a filling of crisp, light and crunchy veggies, toasted peanuts and chill soy dip. A delicious eat indeed with a nice crunch coming in the end from the tasted peanuts.

Vietnamese Spring Roll

Thus far, every snack served was a fine blend of global cuisine, comfort food, bar snack and gourmet treats. This affair continued as a lot more food came fresh and hot from the kitchen as we continued to sip on some interesting cocktail concoctions. With loads of food, I enjoyed the company of 2 new concoctions - 'Sex on Pattaya Beach' and 'Blood on the Rooftop'. Both the drinks were perfectly balanced; a great example of a good drink where the liquor is not overpowering the other flavors yet giving the required buzz.

Blood on the Rooftop

Sex on Pattaya beach was a wonderful rum and watermelon drink; 2 ingredients when together are hard to go wrong. Blood on the rooftop was a mix of multiple white spirits and topped with red wine; hence the name. The liquor was there and so was the wonderful and subtle aftertaste of the wine. Both drinks are available in 3 sizes - 500 ml, 1 and 3 liter.

Sex on Pattaya Beach

Our quest with food at Harry's progressed with vegetarians flipping on the potato wedges which were beautifully crisp on the outside and soft and mushy on the inside and wasabi cottage cheese squares - wasabi coated cottage cheese, wrapped with spinach and then batter fried. Wasabi is an acid taste and can be a turn off to most but this one was nice and well balanced toning down the strength of the wasabi.

Potato Wedges

Wasabi Coated Cottage Cheese

For us non-vegetarians there also was crispy chili chicken and Pattaya Fish Goujons. Of the two, the Pattaya Fish Goujons hit the right spot in terms of the heat, the flavor, the fish and the crispy texture coming from light coating of the fish. 

Chili Chicken

Pattaya Fish Goujons

Moving on to the mains, I went for the chicken Thai green curry with the fragrant Jasmine sticky rice. Everything that went into the making the Thai curry was prepared in-house which eventually resulted in bowl of deliciousness. Yes, it was a meal in a bowl and perfect for one but can be shared if you've done a lot of starters. I will surely have this back on my table again except for the onions in the curry which gave an unusual bite in an otherwise fabulous bowl.

In desserts, a chocolate volcano was shared between two of us and was a nice finish to a wonderful evening.

The ambiance is unpretentious and comfortable. Guests can pick their preferred space to be seated - indoor, outdoor or by the lovely large bar. An average meal for two with two starters, two mains two drinks and a dessert each will cost about Rs 1800 plus taxes and charges; surely worth every penny for the experience they offer.

I'm going back here for sure!

Address: 2nd Floor, Phoenix Market City, Whitefield, Bangalore

Phone Number: +91 80 6726 6646

A New Brunch in town - B:Brunch at Bene, Sheraton Bangalore

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I'm always on a lookout for new and interesting experiences. What I get even more excited about is; sharing with you a new and exciting experience that I really enjoyed. Sheraton is probably a hotel I frequent often for it houses splendid dining options in the form of Feast, Bene and Persian Terrace.

Last week, Sheraton Bangalore at Brigade Gateway launched not just the newest and the coolest brunch in town but also an exclusive and unique brunch in various ways viz..

 - While every brunch focuses on world cuisines, this one is exclusively; I repeat exclusively an Italian and Mediterranean brunch.

 - This brunch at Sheraton is a lavish spread of food with 80% or more coming from live counters; the way you'd like it prepared.

A perfect outdoor setting with the lovely Bangalore weather, live music and DJ, 3 bar counters (Main bar, martini & Mojito Bar, Bubbly bar), activities to keep the kids entertained and live counters dishing out freshly prepared food. The ambiance and set up is perfect for a relaxed and leisurely Sunday Brunch.

We were welcomed with shots of different liquor base setting the mood for the rest of the brunch.

There is loads of food and drinks laid out all the way from where you enter (indoors) to the end of the Al-Fresco (outdoors) section. It begins indoor with soups, salads and dips, live counters serving up customised salads, cold cuts, cheese platters, desserts at the heart and extending outdoors to the live Persian and Italian mains and grills. All of this, well alternated with different bar counters.

The salads and dips as always were delicious and aplenty to choose from. Puja loves the cheese platter with crackers, nuts and fruits by the side to accompany. We sat outdoors, enjoying the lovely weather of Bangalore, the fresh salads, delicious dips, cheese and sipping on Kir Royale (a sparkling cocktail) and wine.

My new favorite was the finely sliced Parma ham with Parmesan cheese strips. A really simple combination of cured and thinly sliced parma ham with cheese slivers and that's all it takes to enjoy this lovely dish with a glass of medium bodied red wine.

On the weber grills were assorted starters for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. I tried the chicken sausages and the fish from the non-vegetarian section and cottage cheese and mix veg sticks from the vegetarian. Except for the sausages which were perfect, i found the marinade on the rest to be quite bland for my liking. I'd have preferred it to be a little more robust in flavor.

All through the brunch, I tried various beverages like the Kir Royale - a champagne/sparkling wine based cocktail, the very innovative Paan martini, mojito and some good wine as well. The cocktails were well concocted and made for a good company for the day. My personal favorite of them all was the Paan martini which apparently also made for a great finisher after a complete meal - Well, that's the paan lover in me speaking. 

Moving on to the next course or the mains if they may be called - It again primarily comprised of live counters for burgers, Italian and Persian food. We settled down with pasta of mix sauce, pizza from the wood fired oven, and also some delicious Persian rice and kababs - both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Like always, they all tasted good but would have preferred to have more options to choose from bot in terms of dishes and the meats offered.

Desserts were inviting right from the the very beginning and our eyes were all set on them. So when we arrives to this final course, we were in a fix on what to eat. We settled for an assortment that we plated ourselves from a really generous selection. Oh Boy! I absolutely loved their Banana-Walnut cake, carrot cake and the subtly flavored coconut cake.

Tiramisu at Bene has always been a signature creation and it wouldn't be justified to not have dug my spoon into it.

To sum it up - it was a lovely day, perfect weather, great ambiance, live music, fabulous spread of delicious food and the premium beverages and interesting cocktail concoctions to add to the zing. For the kids, there was tattoo art, interesting balloon creations and more. Memories are to be treasured and hence, Sheraton goes the extra mile to get you photographed during the brunch and as you are all set to call it a day and step out; Surprise! the you'll spot your picture printed and ready for you to take back home.

Address: 4th Floor, Sheraton @ Brigade Gateway, 26/1, Dr. Rajkumar Road, Malleshwaram - Rajajinagar, Bangalore - 560055
Landmark: Adjacent to Orion Mall in the same campus

Phone Number: +91 80 4252 1000

Unboxing the Bon6

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It all started with the arrival of this box. A few moments post that, I knew I had in my hand a box of irresistible, portable and  Chocolaty OS 2.0 - #BonTheOriginal. It has been my travel companion for quite some time in various versions of availability.

Unboxing it today, here's a recap of the features again as I had described in my earlier post:

 - Bon6 comes loaded with Chocolaty 2.0 and surely provides for a smooth run 

 - It's highly portable and fits really well into my travel bag 

 - Power packs are the quickest way to recharge 

Unboxing it finally, the box contained the biscuits we already love  - Bourbon from Britannia; only difference being in a new and chocolatier avatar. It's got that extra crunch, more chocolate cream, comforting and satisfying. 

Here's a little video made on the unboxing of the #NewBritanniaBourbon -

Oh yes! It's portable and truly is always an essential when I'm travelling. I love munching as I travel. 

Be it from sneaking a pack of it to a lecture in college, munching on this while having numerous conversations with friends, resorting to it in times of mid-night hunger and so on; it surely does bring back a lot of memories. 

What's your's? 

Mystery Box came my way.. And What happened next?

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It doesn't happen often, a mystery box addressed to me came my way and I wondered to what will it be. 

Unwrapped it and took me no time to recognize. I know the contents of the box are irresistible as it has always been. It's my travel companion and the moment I need a break, I'm at it. 

To speak more on the features of #BonTheOriginal, here are a few - 

 - Bon6 comes loaded with Chocolaty 2.0 and surely provides for a smooth run.

 - It's highly portable and fits really well into my travel bag.

 - Power packs are the quickest way to recharge.

What's in the box? You'll have to wait till the 6th as I can't tell you now. "It's celebrating 60 years of perfection", is all I can say right now.

A Culinary Journey through the regal past of Hyderabad @ Cubbon Pavilion - ITC Gardenia, Bangalore

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I was in Hyderabad for the long weekend of Republic day. My line-up for food exploration was set and little did I know that this would extend on even after my return to Bangalore. The extension was by no means an ordinary extension; it was an exclusive 'Meet and Eat' invitation with Master Chef Kunwar Rani Kulsum Begum.

Born in the Hyderabadi royal Salar Jung family and married into a royal Awadhi family, she clearly has exposure to the best of the 2 most wonderful worlds - Hyderabadi and Awadhi. You don't need to be a foodie to know what this means!

Hyderabadi food is no ordinary food and when the food comes from the kitchen of Master Chef Kunwar Rani Kulsum Begum; it clearly spells 'Experience Royal'. With over 6 years of effort into crafting and mastering the royal Salar Jung recipes, she brings them to Bangalore to showcase them at ITC Gardenia's 'Cubbon Pavilion' till 1st Feb, 2015. To me it clearly means, 'Dawat-e-Khas - A Culinary Journey through the regal past of Hyderabad'.

Having arrived early I witnessed the lids on the buffet counter go open. In no time the aroma of various preparation filled the air. I took a quick sneak peak at what's on offer and settled down right away with a platter of kebabs and a glass of lovely red wine.

In a short time, we were joined by master chef Kunwar Rani Kulsum Begum for dinner. Over a wonderful meal comprising of a lot of vegetarian and non-vegetarian delicacies like kebabs, salan, haleem, pulao and more; we interacted on various topics which included her childhood, her food, biryani vs pulao, Hyderabadi vs Awadhi cuisine, food nuances in a royal family, evolution of the Hyderabadi food scene and more.

Over to my meal, the flavors were exquisite, meat really tender and succulent, gravies very rich and the spread in a word - 'Lavish'. The buffet spread offers cuisines from world over and it is the Indian section that is dedicated to Dawat-e-Khas - signature preparations by the master chef herself.

I really looked forward to the mains and when I did get to it, I hit it off with her signature preparation 'Haleem. Haleem was really light in color, mildly spiced allowing the flavor of the meat to stand out, the consistency was really rich - a result of the royal cooking techniques. The richness came from the use of high quality ingredients, dry fruits and meat. Top it with fried onion lime and voila 'A meal by itself'. It was a haleem like no other I've eaten before.

I also tried and loved the 'Lasooni jhinge';  a semi gravy preparation of shrimps, tomato, garlic, mustard seeds, shahi jeera and loads of curry leaves to bring out the flavor. Turai murgh again a semi gravy dish was bang on attractive in flavors. 

Lasooni Jhinge

Turai Murgh

I also tried the Fish kofta salan which was creamy in texture, rich in flavor and had a nice tang to it. The fish kofta was moist and flavorful. This preparation I best enjoyed with the very simple steamed rice.

What had me stunned this evening was the Mutton Hapsi Pulao. It was an excellent fragrant preparation with the mutton melting in my mouth. The rice used was a nice long grained rice and the spice blend along with the sweetness coming from saffron and some secret ingredients had me dumb struck for a moment. With the last weekend spent in Hyderabad over multitude of excellent biryanis, this clearly surpassed each of them. Now come to think of it, biryanis in Hyderabad versus this hapsi pulao; the pulao clearly wins for me.

There was a wonderful spread of vegetarian food as well both as a part of the buffet on the whole and also specific to Dawat-e-Khas segment. Here's a pictorial representation of the same.

For dessert, there was again a large spread but what I did try was just the Dawat-e-Khas section. With all the food downed, even an attempt to try the dessert seemed a task; but I had to. There was Thuli which was a nice and sweet halwa preparation, ande ki lauz, kala jamoon and a meethi pakodi which was a gulab jamoon baked with rabdi.

It indeed seemed like a food festival and with master chef Kunwar Rani Kulsum Begum one thing is for sure - She takes her food festivals very seriously and ensures that not a single dish is repeated over the span of the festival being hosted. This means over a span of 10 days of the food festival - 

 - There will be 1 biryani and 9 pulao each for vegetarians and non-vegetarians dished out. Guess what! All of these of Hyderabadi cuisine. Did you even know if 10 types of pulao/biryani existed in Hyderabadi cuisine?

 - In the mains too, there will be at least 40 different vegetarians and non-vegetarian dishes offered.

Why should you go?

 - All of the above reasons, and

 - If you think you have eaten a lot of Hyderabadi food and enjoyed it; it's time you re-evaluate your experience with some real Hyderabadi food from the royal kitchens of Hyderabad.

The buffet is priced at Rs. 1750 plus taxes and charges. Aptly named 'Dawat-e-Khas', this festival is on only for a short duration till the 1st February, 2015 at ITC Gardenia's Cubbon Pavilion. Do visit and take a culinary journey through the regal past of Hyderabad.

Address: No. 1, Residency Road, Bengaluru - 560025

Phone Number: +91 80 2211 9898

FoxLifeIndia: Launch Party of a new TV show - 'Tales from the Bush Larder'

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It's rarely that I spend hours together watching something on television and when it does, I usually spend my time watching food and travel shows. Talk of Kenya and one can't help but think of the wild. Even for me who first thinks of food, it's the wild that fills my mind when someone takes the name Kenya and this is the case only until very recently when I met Chef Kiran Jethwa for a short interview of his soon to be aired TV show - Tales from the Bush Larder.

Born to an English mother and an Indian Father, Chef Kiran Jethwa is a 3rd generation Kenyan. A chef and owner of Nairobi’s premier seafood restaurant, Seven Seafood & Grill; he traveled the world over to broaden his palate and professional abilities. His streak with success is not just limited to food and his restaurant but also with athletics on the Rugby field. He has played rugby not just at school at college level but also represented his nation on the same. 

Apart from food and rugby, he loves the game of cricket but is quick to get back to the topic he loves most - Food. Extremely enthusiastic of his soon to be aired (in India) TV show, Kiran says, "Kenya isn't exactly known for it's cuisines; instead it is the incredibly fresh, organic and unusual ingredients that are a main stay. " The TV show shot around beautiful landscapes focuses on the source and use of Kenyan ingredients and cooking techniques. 

Apart from the interview, Kiran also demonstrated the preparation of smoked lobster, toasted coconut, crispy limiri all stuffed in between a soft and juicy steamed bao. It was deliciously mind-blowing to say the least. Now having eaten some of his preparation at the launch party hosted at Shiro's Bangalore, I eagerly look forward to the show being aired on television.

With 3 seasons already shot and the first having been aired on Zuku sometime mid-September, watch out for it's India Premier -  

Show - 'Tales from the Bush Larder by Chef Kiran Jethwa

Channel - Fox Life India (@FoxLifeIndia)

Days - Every Thursday and Friday

Time - 20:00 hours (8PM IST)

Start date - 29th January, 2015

When I met the Rockstar of the World of Cigars

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For me who does not smoke any form of tobacco; relates cigars as a style statement of the rich, classy and sophisticated celebrities, big business tycoons and the likes. Talk cigars and my mind draws images from classic English movies where cigar in many conversations lead me to believe the notion 'Cuban for cigars' - Not true. Apparently, not a single Cuban cigar has been rated as the top 5 cigars (Year 2014) of the world.

In an industry (cigars) built on name, recognition and reputation; its really rare to find a man who has attained exceptional heights and built a business empire of $ 30 million which he started out with little if not no knowledge off. His passion for cigars has his business produce 16 million cigars each year, employs 3500 people and owns huge tobacco plantations in Nicaragua and Honduras. What makes it even rarer if not impossible is to find a man who was originally a lawyer and out of passion for cigars set an empire that has grown this massive. 

Rocky Patel, the man and the brand itself are gaining popularity and recognition world-over. Some of his cigars have been consistently rated really high at 90 + out of a 100 by authorities on cigars. End of December 2014 also saw the cigar 'Rocky Patel Royal Toro' bagging the 5th place in the world for the 'Best Cigar of the Year 2014' by Cigar Aficionado.

Travelling around the world for 300 days of a year, Rocky Patel is an advocate of his cigars and believes in giving his customers the experience of meeting the man behind their favorite cigars. Honoring his belief, Rocky Patel was here in Bangalore for an evening of Cigar and single-malt whiskey pairing which was hosted at the Leela Palace by Cigar Conexion - the exclusive importer  and distributor of finest hand made and machine made cigars in India.

Most of the evening was spent interacting with Rocky Patel who not only spoke about how he got started in the Cigar industry but also about the nuances of cigar, art of smoking a cigar and lots more. Ask Rocky Patel what makes his cigars the class apart they are from the rest and he is enthusiastic to share a very details that go into it's making, right from sowing the seeds, harvesting, treating, fermenting tobacco leaves, wrapping, binding all the way to packaging. All through this process, the ingredients and the activities go through rigorous quality control to make each cigar in a box taste exactly like it's supposed to consistently.

For this evening, what was also ensured is that each one of us had more than sufficient supplies of cigars - 'Rocky Patel Vintage 1990' and 'Rocky Patel Decade Cameroon'. Ranked twice among the top 25 cigars of the world, I tried the former which was very smooth right from the first puff and through the duration it lasted that evening. The evening was elegant and involved loads of learning, interactions, food, drinks and most important of all - 'Cigars'.

Over the course of the evening, it was quite interesting to learn how a cigar gets its characteristics. Being a wine-lover, here's how I could relate cigars and wine:

- Like a good wine, a good cigar to can take a long time from soil to a packaged state. In this case, the Rocky Patel cigars took about 5 years.

- Like wines gets its character from the oak barrels they are stored in; likewise a cigar too gets its character through the process of it's making - smoking, heating, fermenting of tobacco leaves.

- Like wines can be made from grape varietals, likewise Rocky Patel cigars are made from various blends of tobacco.

- Like geographic conditions impact the end result of the grapes and ultimately the wine, likewise good tobacco and cigars too are highly dependent on geographic conditions.

The list can go on and this evening has only made me more curious to learn more and also try different cigars. For now, I have a 'Rocky Patel Decade Cameroon' that I carried back home with me to try. 

If you are in India and would like to give cigars a try too or even buy cigars you love, do visit the website of 'Cigar Conexion' where you can purchase either singles or a box based on your need. 

Caution! Smoking tobacco is injurious to health. Smoke Responsibly.