Sunday, May 20, 2012

Bengaluru!!!


Food Galore in Pictures!!!


Dinner at Samarkhand Restaurant

The Newspaper menu

"Skinder Raan"- leg of baby lamb marinated overnight and chargrilled on  slow fire

Garlic Naan

"Naan Baluchistan"- Mutton Kheema stuffed naan

"Jhinga Rada Masala" - Prawns stewed together in thick gravy and spices

"Ghost ki dum biriyani" - dum style lamb biriyani
Lunch at Samarkhand

the bottle menu for drinks

"Seekh Kebab"- Doubled minced lamb kebab

"Jhinga Balaai Ka"- Prawns dipped in yoghurt and tandoor style

"Murgh Makahani" - chicken tikka in makahani gravy


Kulfi - Indian Ice Cream



Karavelli - The Gateway Hotel

Meen Polichathu - Black Pomfret in malabar spices wrapped in Banana leaf


Rasam

Pork Sorpotel 

Kerala Style Prawn Biriyani

Kulfi



Toscano - UB City

Chicken Ravioli

Red Snapper Fish

Salmon Steak



Sahid Sindh Sultan - Forum Mall 

Chutneys

Fried Lamb, Butter Naan, Chicken masala and Tandoori Kalimirch prawns


Shiro- UB City

Shiro 

Non-Veg Dim Sums


Veg. Dim Sums


Hibarchi Rice with Chicken red curry and vegetable stir fry



Bengaluru (Bangalore) after almost 5 years since my last visit and my oh my what a change Bangalore had for me.. I visited my old favourite restaurants which i used to go to when i was studying in Bangalore 9 years ago!! But i discovered some new favourites and it was a pleasant journey!!

few restaurants which i visited and the ones worth mentioning... 

  • Samarkhand
  • Toscano
  • karavelli
  • Empire
  • Bheemas
  • Shiro
  • Sahid sindh sultan - railway restaurant
  • Hard Rock Cafe
  • Corner house ice cream
  • Lakeview ice cream
  • Coffee day
  • ITC coffee shop
  • Leela Palace
I must say I was just exploring Bangalore and its food for the 2 weeks i was there and few of my favourite places were clearly Samarkhand, karavelli, Toscano and Sahid Sindh Sultan ( The restaurant which looks like a train)

The Gastronomic adventure in Bangalore was amazing as I flavoured different types of Indian food from different regions.. few different flavoured restaurants such as Samarkhand was known for its Afghan food which had very good tandoori items and its lamb leg just melts in your mouth. We ate there thrice as the restaurant was just next to our hotel and the food was a true Afghan experience.. 

Karavelli was a pleasant surprise with its links to Kerala and Goa and the food tastes like Sri Lankan food filled with rich coconut milk in their cooking. The Pork Sorpotel was truely a Goan dish with its sweet and sour flavour in its diced up pork pieces which went very well with the special kerala prawn biriyani and meen polichathu a black pomfret which is rich in flavour and tandoor and wrapped in Banana leaf.

A break from Indian food was when i visited UB City, Owned by Dr.Vijaya Mallaya - The famous kingfisher owner!! I was lucky enough to cross paths with him in 2005 at the FTV Bar in Bangalore and with his son Sidhartha Mallaya this time when the IPL matches were on and at the ITC Gardenia hotel when i went for a late night coffee and he just walked passed me and i was clueless as who this guy was and why everyone around me was getting excited!!  

This mall filled with all International Brands and restaurants took me back to the days i used to live in KL. oh how happy i was to see a mall which reminded me of Pavillion in Malaysia. And Toscano was the Best Italian I've had in Bangalore and the dessert which was Khalua chocolate mousse was fluffy and light and very tasty, it was too good that i forgot to take a picture of it too... Shiro is also a Korean,Thai and Japanese specialized restaurant in UB City which has unlimited sushi and shashimi buffet which is a treat!! 


Sahid Sindh Sultan was the name of the first railway train in Indian and this is the theme of this restaurant which had a train cabin as its restaurant and we were served by station masters!! The Tandoori prawns and the fried lamb was well flavoured and i found it better than Samarkhand prawns which was a similar dish. However these 2 restaurants belongs to the same group of companies which is clearly the reason for its best quality and uniqueness.

Empire group of Restaurants is a cheap and affordable place to go have a non veg thali for lunch or a lamb raan ( leg) for an affordable price and for the busy shoppers who values every minute of their shopping spree as this chain of restaurants are considered a fast food chain!

Hard Rock Cafe is a good place for some entertainment where the waiters and barmen get on a stage and perform for their customers!! a pleasant surprise and good treat for the ladies ;)

Home made ice cream is best in Bangalore with Lakeview and Corner House been popular choices amongst the locals and the hot chocolate fudge been a favourite!! 

I could go on and on about all the places i have visited and the flavours i have experienced but then this post would never end.. So I would just say Bangalore or Bengaluru is a Gastronomic adventure you should not miss if you ever visit India!!!









Friday, April 27, 2012

Mexican Feast!!

Mexican Feast!!

Mexican chicken fajitas!!


Mexican Orange Salad!

Apple and Potato Salad in Chili Oil!

Chicken in Garlic!

Baked fish marinated in lime!!







Mexican Bean Rice


Beef with Garlic and Sherry!!




















































































What a feast!! It was a Saturday morning when my cousin's family and i set out to her friends place in Bolgoda in Sri Lanka for a Mexican Festival of Food and Fun!!

We were welcomed to the house with Mexican music and cocktails!! the cocktails were  perfect for a hot Saturday afternoon to be sipped on the deck which is in their garden overlooking the Bolgoda lake! pure bliss!!

It was a gathering of my cousins close friends and their families and i was privileged to be a part of this Mexican feast!!

The hostess had planned out the whole theme for the day with fun games and pool time for the kids aged 6months- 6 years!!

We had corn chips with a spicy prawn and chicken salsa for us to snack on while we sipped on our cocktails which was provided by our host every 15mins or so!!

At lunch the menu was presented to us with my cousin who brought the starter for this feast, Mexican chicken fajitas, and I'm not been bias it was the best fajitas i have ever tasted which had a fusion to it, it was more towards the flavour of Chinese/Mexican fajitas!!

Then I'm not much of a salad kind of girl but i must say the Mexican orange salad and the potato and apple salad in chili oil was a definite must try and each salad had its unique taste, orange salad been tangy in flavour and freshness to its best and potato salad with chili oil was a perfect combination!

The Mexican bean rice had all the right flavour which went perfectly with the chicken in garlic and baked fish!! the fish was marinated to perfection with simple spices and lime and baked, i just loved it!! the beef with garlic and sherry was truly a dish which everyone there could not resist, the gravy of the beef which was filled with sherry was the best dish of the day!!

The savoury dishes were done for the day but the best part was the desserts!! The Mexican Chimichanga's were fried mango samosas in other words, served with vanilla ice cream! it was an unique dessert!! however, my favourite was the Tex Mex Ice cream cake... mango and chocolate flavoured cake, basically a baked alaska!!

All in all the day in Bolgoda was concluded by a boat ride in the lake with us unsure of getting back safely, as it took us a good 20min's to get the boat started!! but it was a fun filled day out with the best Mexican cuisine made at home and a special mention to the great Hostess and Host, Marlene and Geshan who made it a true Mexican Feast!!!





Friday, February 17, 2012

Independence Day/Weekend Galore!!


 Best Jaffna Crabs in Wellawatta- Yarl Restaurant

Jaffna Crabs
Yarl Restaurant- wellawatta

Jaffna Crab with Vege. Meal


Thai Meal by Chef Nilanka 

Authentic Thai  Meal

Fried Fish with Mango Salsa for Appetizer


Slow cooked Sweet infused Pork belly

Crab Omellete

Kangkung

Chicken Green Curry

Butterscotch Souffle


Oh what a weekend it was where we celebrated 64years of Independence as an Independent Nation!! It was my first time after 3 years not organizing any event for the High Commission in KL.. i actually missed the stressing part of organizing such events!!

while everyone made it an excuse to go out of Colombo for the long weekend i stayed back to relax and celebrate our Independence day with family and friends...

Started the day off having the buffet at the Taj in Colombo and then had a Picnic at my friends place with everyone bringing a dish of their own.. well at least i took the famous pineapple gateaux from green cabin.. but we had home baked butter cake, asparagus sandwiches and much more but i must say i was too full to try anything out....

the day continued to my friends penthouse which is on the 38th floor and the view is to die for drinks and chit chat! i kept thinking of KL while sipping my wine!

all the talk made us hungry and at midnight we left to cinnamon lakeside for the midnight breakfast which is a must try by all!!  the milk rice, chicken buriyani, stir fried noodles, kotthu, chicken curry, dhal and fish curry with the accompaniments such as lunu miris ( spicy onion sambol) and pol sambol ( coconut sambol) and seeni sambol ( sweet onion sambol) was a few thing available and all for just rs1100 or so... all worth it!!

but we added 2 fried eggs and mutton curry as extra to our palates!!   this gives you the feeling of been home and its a good example of how Milk rice is not necessarily for the mornings!!

my weekend continued when i left to Galle on Sunday morning with  my 2 aunts and cousin on our new southern highway.. we left in the afternoon and reached Galle around 2 and by that time my aunts were impatient to have lunch so we missed out on the good rice and curry place called "mama's" in the fort and instead had lunch at the Sea liners in Galle town. But i must say  the seafood rice had  plenty of cuttlefish and prawns and it was good or i guess at that time any food would have been good as we were too hungry... the Pork curry was a disappointment bu the Prawn deviled was full of spices.

we left to Galle fort to walk around and  then to Unawatuna but didn't stay on for long as we went on to Fortress to have evening tea/ cocktails! met our friends who were there for the weekend..  the cocktails are known to be good at the fortress and i wanted to try it myself.. ordered a strawberry daiquiri and it was delicious.. had bit sized pieces of strawberry and enough of alcohol to make it a perfect cocktail...

my cousin's "Burnt Almond" is a definite try for people who like Baileys, Amerreto and ice cream... and then we tried out a dessert which was not on the menu and they made it specially for us.. it was banana's wrapped in a pancake and almond flakes used as garnish and chocolate sauce with home made almond/coffee ice cream! it was good but they should have added more chocolate sauce.. which they kindly brought separately for me when i suggested and poured over my pancakes!!

Monday was a day of experiencing new dishes!! one of my friends and i always makes plans to go for evening walks after work as we need to cut down on our weight but it never happens.. and on Monday we decided to go eat "Jaffna Crabs" from the famous Yarl Hotel in station road in Wellawatta. and for my luck my cousin and her husband was also making dinner - Thai!!

So i had to balance it out.. went for crabs in the evening.. they opened at 6pm for dinner.. we were the first.. actually we had to wait for an hour at the Bombay sweet house as we were early... the place is a small decent place serving non-veg Indian food. I would recommend to get take away. however, i enjoyed my experience having jaffna crabs on my banana leaf! had paratha, dhal curry, spicy sambol and brinjal curry and the signature dish "crabs".

One portion equals one crab. these crabs are sea crabs not large in size but enough for one person. maybe 2 portions for a crab enthusiast. I limited myself to one as i had another dinner to attend.
i must say the spices of the crab curry was unique and rich and full of flavour. I loved the curry as you can eat it with plain white rice. the crab itself was full with crab meat and the garlic and ground spices were rich.
Its the best Jaffna crabs i have tasted so far and its all worth it... very reasonable just Rs.250per portion. A must try for everyone and anyone who loves Crabs!! and very friendly atmosphere as well... i was so impressed i had to take 2 potions take away for my cousin to try out too!!

I headed to Akki's house (my cousin) where her husband was busy preparing for our Authentic Thai meal. An WOW!! it was an amazing meal with an appetizer which was fried fish with mango salsa, and mains were steamed rice, Thai flavoured kang kungomelette. and all of it was prepared by Chef Nilanka! my cousin's husband.. the presentation of the food was excellent.. although i have stuffed myself with Jaffna crabs i couldn't resist the amazing Thai food!! 

The green curry chicken and sweet infused slow cooked pork belly was my favourite 2 dishes for the night with each dish bringing out its exquisite flavours of the night. Well done Nilanka!

the night ended with my cousins's "Butterscotch Souffle" with fresh cream which was rich in flavour but a perfect end to our Amazingly Thai meal!! :)

As the long weekend ended with food adventures and new experiences i must say  it was good to be free and Independent to savour the best in the culinary world!



Pancake Dessert at the Fortress - Galle




Tuesday, January 10, 2012

The Best time of the Year!!!

Happy Face!!
Unawatuna

Reunion aft 10 years!!


My favourite month of the year is December and early Jan and the most exciting!!!

well right after the races i was just worn out and tired but this was just the beginning of the events to come... The season is the time we all get together with good friends,family and good Food and the High Spirits!!

My Cousin is known for her entertainment and hosting good parties, so she had a party for all the kids!! All my nieces and nephews!! Kiddies Christmas Party with all the yummy short-eats and sweets!! Her kids were playing Santa and made the cutest Santa!! We had crackers and whole heaps of fun. 


We had our High School Reunion - Celebrating 10 years!! Well it was a night to remember with all the  girls laughing at old jokes, playing games, Dancing and enjoying the food and drinks!! It was just good to meet up with all our old friends...

December just gets better by the day and i had B'day parties, Christmas Eve Dinner, Christmas Day was packed with breakfast,lunch and dinner at friends houses!! The best thing about Christmas in Sri Lanka is that the food is amazing and all home cooked!!

Christmas Eve was a nice meal at the Inter-Continental with a friend of mine and i really enjoyed the night! However the service could improve!


Christmas Lunch has always been at a Family Friends place since i was a tiny tot and every year i look forward for it as its the best lunch you can find on Christmas Day! It has an extensive menu which is executed very well. I had 3 types of differently cooked pork with 2 different types of crabs, prawns, roast turkey and the list goes on..

As most of my family members celebrate Christmas i had Dinner at my Cousin's In-Laws and the yummy home made Ham and the Stuffing was just Yummy!! I must say My Cousins Mother-in-law makes the best Christmas Pudding with Brandy Butter!!and i tasted the M&S Christmas Pudding the day before that and its nothing compared to the home made Christmas Pudding!!


I clearly put on a good few pounds this Christmas!!

So the next day which was Boxing Day the 26th of Dec. and many in Sri Lanka remembers it as the day Tsunami hit our little island!! However, this day was the most exciting day for me as i went to Unawatuna for the first time in our first highway! So it was a very nice drive to Unawatuna just 1hr and we were in paradise!!



we went to this place called Happy Banana and yep i was a happy banana too!! It was so calm and relaxing we started off with a yummy Breakfast with 2 sunny side up eggs and spicy chicken curry with bread! and yummy fresh pineapple juice. We later switched to Lion Larger beer with sprite and a slice of lime!! just heavenly!! What else can we ask for??? Well the beach got crowded by afternoon but still we were in Happy Banana, happy as ever.. swimming, drinking, eating and just having a very good time!! The drive to Unawatuna which was going to be for the day turned out to be for the night and the next day!! But it was all worth it!! I'm just waiting to get back to Unawatuna and sit by the beach sipping an ice cold beer!


The year 2011 has been an adventurous one for me with many changes and i have come across various obstacles with high's and low's but all in all its been good to me and  I'm thankful for been alive and been able to savor the best things in life!! And been a great year for the foodie in me!!


Christmas party for the Kiddies!!