Twist @ Cyber Hub

Cuisine Recommended: Chinese, Pan Asian

Shudh Shakahari Meter: 4/5

Cost of Meal for two: Rs. 1500

So a friend and I decided to take the kids to Cyber Hub to have a Mars Experience. And on our way there we mulled over where we could eat? A restaurant that was Child-friendly- both food and environment-wise. Some choices came up and we finally decided to try "Twist". 

As you know I'm a hardcore vegetarian-teetotaller so my choices of what to eat aren't limitless. Having said that, I still like to experiment with cusines and palette choices. A Chinese cum Pan-Asian combo piqued my interest and when they said, they could accommodate our kids and dish something non-spicy for them to eat, we were sold. 😍

We ordered a bunch of dishes, mostly on recommendation from the management and loved almost everything we ate...

Goan Lime- Tender Coconut & Fresh lime. Totally yummy & refreshing :)

Spring Rolls

Orchid Mushrooms- Totally Yummilicious!

I have to make a special mention of course for "Orchid Mushrooms"- it is a must try! Highly recommended! :)

For Main Course we chose Thai...

Coconut Green- Thai Green Curry

For kids we naturally went with simpler Sweet Corn Soup and Hakka Noodles. Both of which were non-spicy and eaten without fuss by our girls. :)

Good Afternoons are made up of Good Company & Good Food... And today was definitely that and much more. Big Thumbs Up from me. Bon Appétit Readers! :)

Tea Bliss Club Mahindra

Cuisine Recommended: Chinese

Shudh Shakahari Meter: 3/5
Cost of Meal for two: Rs. 1000

While researching things to do, places to go and foods to eat in Moshabra, I came across the name Tea Bliss over and over again, highly being recommended for its Chinese food. Chinese food lover that I am, I chalked it down as something I ought to do while there, even convincing my husband who doesn't really like Chinese much! The fact that it was located at the resort we were staying in anyway, added to it too :)

To start with the ambiance of the place didn't impress me much. It hardly looked like a restaurant, much less one that specialized in Chinese. The walls had a museum-like feel to it, filled with interesting pictorial/ historical frames of Mashobra in the years gone by! 

Shudh Shakaharis beware. Their Veg dishes also have egg wash on it, so you will have to mention it to them that you'd like it purely veg. They did take in the special request and make it purely veg for us when we mentioned it though.

For starters we ordered Spring Rolls. They were tasty but oily. Had a yummy sweet chilli dip to go on the side though.

For main course we ordered Garlic Chilli Noodles and Manchurian Gravy.

To be honest, I have eaten much better Chinese food so I wasn't as thoroughly impressed with the place as I was expecting to be. But maybe the allure really is that there isn't such a yumm Chinese food joint in the locality? I wasn't completely impressed with the place after hearing raving reviews during my research. 

On our way out I noticed this cute pixie door knob. :)

...And some food awards the place has received. :)

So do go if in mood for Chinese when in Mashobra. But don't feel bad if you miss it; coz this Shudh Shakahari thinks, the food is good but not worthy of the raving review its getting.

Cafe Sol @ Hotel Combermere, Shimla

Cuisine Recommended: Mexican

Shudh Shakahari Meter: 4.5/5

Cost of Meal for two: Rs. 1200

So what happens when your MIL's been raving about a Mexican joint in Shimla and you visit there for vacations? You eat at the food joint of course! And what happens when you see the yummy food, go ooh-aah about it and promptly dive into eating it (as soon as it arrives) and forget to click a pic of the dishes? You visit again to have lunch and click pics of course! Did I mention these are some of the perks of being a New Food Blogger on the block? :P

So let me start by saying I had never heard of this lovely place before I visited Shimla myself, this vacation... Not until my Mom-in-law told us how great the Mexican food here was and just how much she had enjoyed it when she was there a few years ago, on an official trip. So boy am I mighty glad that I finally did eat here! :)

Cafe Sol, a restaurant of the Combermere Hotel Group is known for its Mexican & Italian cuisine and is one place you shouldn't miss eating in, when in Shimla. Its conveniently located next to the lift on the Mall Road. It overlooks a beautiful view of the valley below. The service is absolutely great and the food is totally delicious. 

They have a varied selection of Cocktails and Mocktails to choose from. For our drinks we ordered Virgin Mary & Sunshine Beach. 

They tasted as exotic as their names and looked awesome, too! :)

For our Mexican selection, we chose Veg Enchiladas and Veg Quesadillas and both were totally mouth wateringly yumm! Believe me when I say it, coz I ordered the exact same thing twice :) On two separate days and they were yummm both the times :)

We also ordered a Veg arrabiata pasta and a pizza on separate occasions. They were passable but didn't impress me much. Pasta for one, was quite sweet for my taste pallet. Perfect if you have a child by your side.

We ended our lunch with an egg-less Chocolate truffles for dessert. Made of dark chocolate, it had a scrumptious, rich and lovely taste to it. Watch out weight-watchers! 

All in all, the Mexican in this charming Cafe joint got a thumbs up from me, more so, than the Italian. But then there are very few good mexican joints around anyway. So when in Shimla, you must definitely visit this place and enjoy its charms, thoroughly! :)

Fat Lulus- Gurgaon

Cuisine Recommended: Continental

Shudh Shakahari Meter: 3.5/5

 Cost of Meal for two: Rs. 1200

So what do you do when you're at Cross Point Mall and your daughter demands to have Pizza? You enter Fat Lulus of course! 

Been there, done that before but loved it enough to want to do it again and again... That's my review in a nutshell, actually :)

The Ambience of the place is casual and oh-so-uber-cool! :) the rooster at the door welcomes you with elan.

The place has a lovely vibe about it... 

And this corner with a large fish and the instruments definitely grabs your attention :)

We ordered Chilly Willy- an awesome tasting Pizza made of Pimento chillies, jalapeños, mushroom & roasted garlic on oven baked thin crust. It was so enticing to see, that we had all grabbed our bite before I could even click a pic... And the taste lived up to it too :)

For drinks we had lemon iced tea and Masala lemonade (our all time favourites). Both were totally refreshing and awesome for the 48 degrees heat outside!!

All in all Fat Lulus as usual lived up to our expectation and is a place we intend to go to often. :) 

If you are first timers there, you should also check out their Jalapeño Poppers. Out of the world!!! :)

Price Metre for the place is 1200 (for two)

Portion Size: Good 

Indigo Inflight Meals

Cuisine Recommended: Indian

Shudh Shakahari Meter: 3/5

Cost of Meal for two: Rs. 700

"What do you eat when you are flying Indigo?" a question I was asked by a frequent flier led me to think this is something I should blog about... So post my vacation when I was on my way back from Goa and taking an Indigo flight home, I jumped on the oppurtunity to do just that. 

The Hello 6E Onboard Magazine has an array of food on display.  I was pleasantly surprised that there's a decent food option available to both Vegetarian and Non Vegetarian travelers.  My food of choice was Veg Biryani- simply because its served hot. I also got White Ring Murukku and Nimbu Minute Maid to go with it. 

Food was served in attractive packages in the colours of Indigo Blue. I have eaten this Biryani a couple of times before too and it is one of my favourite options in hot veg food. The instant biryani takes 8 minutes to be ready and is good to taste too. 

White Ring Murukkus are fresh and tastes yumm and crunchy. Its got the right blend of Southern Crunchiness and is prepared in Coimbatore. Minute Maid Nimbu was my choice of drink.

All in all this is a hot, fresh, and yummy vegetarian food choice to eat, while flying Indigo Airlines. Do I still wish they had more hot food options? Yes of course. But while they think and bring out many more options on their menu, this sure is a safe and yummy option to go ahead with! :)

Hotel Venite Goa

Cuisine Recommended: Goan

Shudh Shakahari Meter: 3.5/5

Cost of Meal for two: Rs. 1000

"While in Goa, do as the Goans do...! :)" with this thought in mind I further started checking out the joints that serve good local cusine... Our Hotel Manager recommended a place called Hotel Venite in Panjim, naturally more known for its Non Veg- Sea food variety than Veg food... But Goa is a place where you don't really get great variety in Vegetarian food, hence it becomes even more important to write about what to eat as a Vegetarian while in Goa. So Shudh Shakahari in me accepted this challenge to try local joints to recommend vegetarian food options. 

A quaint little place welcomed us, with its hanging balconies on the front facade. At first sight I loved the portuguese influence that I could see in the building. Speaking to Alex my friendly server later, I learnt that the building is over 200 years old and the restaurant in itself was 60 years old. It has history in its every wall. 

Walking up the wall and the rope decor hanging on it, caught my attention. I was piqued and was looking forward to see how the balconies would look from within!

Me at the balcony window

On Alex's recommendation I went ahead with Mushroom Xacuti, a local coconut based curry dish with lots of vegetables including mushroom, served with rice. 

I also ordered a fresh mixed fruit juice to go with it. 

To my utter delight the food tasted lovely and was highly appreciated by my taste buds. Juice was extremely refreshing with the right amount of papaya, pineapple and watermelon. 

Shudh Shakahari gives this place a thumbs up. While there also do check out their graffiti wall which has a history of its own. 

Goan Special at Mum's Kitchen

Cuisine Recommended: Goan

Shudh Shakahari Meter: 3.5/5
Cost of Meal for two: Rs. 1200

When I was out vacationing with like-minded friends there were ample opportunity for trying new kinds of food. So we decided that when in Goa we should do as the Goans do... Eat the Goan Cusine! Live the Goan life a little! :) 

Highly recommended on our list was Mum's Kitchen. The beautiful flowers of Madhumati or Rangoon Creepers at the entrance smelt heavenly and welcomed us to a beautiful experience ahead!

The ambience of the place is beautiful. It has a Modern feel with a touch of tradition. There were fine touches of colour, on the table that were pleasing to the eye. It had a feel that went well with the Goa environment! 

I had a very refreshing watermelon juice as soon as I entered that tasted as good as it looked. 

We ordered for Veg Khatkhatem. It was spicy and sour and such a treat to our mouth. Vegetables cooked in coconut based-khatta curry with lots of spices. High on my recommendation list. 

For dessert we had the local speciality Bebinca with icecream. Another item in the menu I thoroughly enjoyed. 

One of the walls in the restaurant proudly displays the Times Food Awards Mom's Kitchen has won over the years. And so well deserved. Shudh Shakahari gives Mom's Kitchen a thumbs up! :)

Britos- Goa

Cuisine Recommended: Chinese

Shudh Shakahari Meter: 3/5

Cost of Meal for two: Rs. 1000

This is my third visit to Goa... But Brittos is one place I have heard so much about but never eaten at before. A cozy shack with candle lights on the center of the tables, Brittos is a sight that you will love immediately for its casual laid back feel. There are tables both inside in the covered area and outside on the beach. 

The temperature in Goa, made me chose to sit inside. The restaurant was completely packed even for an offseason. I immediately noticed the interesting play of shadow on the ceiling caused by the cane baskets cleverly being used in place of lamp shades. 

Choice of Vegetarian food is minimal as is usual in Goa. Like most famous Goa restaurants and shacks, Brittos also serves a varied range of sea food options but not much for vegetarians. I chose the safe option of Manchurian and Noodles and was happy with the way it tasted. 

But what I have to especially mention is the Virgin Pina colada that was absolutely divine to taste. It had an awesome-right blend of pineapple juice and coconut milk. Totally out of the world! I had to get myself a second glass just to make sure it was not a fluke the first time around and that the bartender/chef actually knew what he was doing! :P Thumbs Up!!! I highly recommend this drink to all especially teetotalers. You have to, have to, absolutely have to taste this drink when next there! :)

Italiano- My first Continental favourite in Gurgaon!

Cuisine Recommended: Italian

Shudh Shakahari Meter: 3.5/5

Cost of Meal for two: Rs. 1000

I moved to Gurgaon more than ten years ago. And like all young brides I loved eating out, more than having to cook at home! ;) Continental especially was a favourite... On asking around a few of our friends mentioned this small little place called "Italiano". What a find, we totally loved it and have been a regular ever since. 

Last year Italiano opened in Raheja Mall's food court and I have been meaning to go eat there to see if it matches up with the original one... Finally I did have dinner there today.

For starters we ordered Tomato and Basil Bruschetta, which was really yummy. Perfect blend of tangy with a touch of olive oil. 

For our main course we ordered our all time favourite Napoletana- which as usual was melt-in-your-mouth-scrumptious! 

My 4 year old wanted to have a pasta so we also got a simple Tomato and Basil pasta in red sauce which was non-spicy and well cooked. 

Over all a good family meal which didn't disappoint us a bit. One negative though is that since it's in a food court they don't serve food in cutlery here. That for me did take away from the fine dining experience I get in the main Italiano. However this Shudh Shakahari is not complaining much 'coz I love the fact that Italiano is next door on Sohna Road and much easier to access now. :)