Cook-off with Sonali Bendre!

      Going for restaurant reviews day after day, week after week, can prove to be really monotonous. That's why this particular invite inviting us for a food cook-off excited a lot of us food bloggers and food influencers. 

      All geared up for a fun evening, we all reached the venue, Hoppipola. A brief introduction of the product was followed by the CEO and Mrs. Sonali Bendre whipping up a few simple yet delicious dishes for us. The most awaited masterclass followed suit. 

      16 participants were selected and divided into teams of two each. There was a huge spread of ingredients, a few recipes and all the variants of Fun Foods mayonnaise at our disposal. Given a span of time, we were asked to prepare whatever we wished to and the creative juices of all the participants started to flow. The judges were ofcourse Mrs. Sonali Bendre, and the CEO, Mr. Oliver Mirza. We managed to put up a mayonnaise pasta roll. 

        The winners, obviously, were rewarded handsomely with a basket full of goodies and vouchers. 

      Our take on the mayonnaise - We tried our hands on all the different kinds of mayonnaise they have to offer. And, we were pleased! As goes, it actually does turn boring food into beautiful delicacies. Every flavour has a different taste and a different use. Our favourite would definitely be the tandoori one. We know have the secret ingredient to make everyday boring food into something mouth-watering!

       A big thank you to Edelman and Fun Foods for having us over and for all the hands on cooking experience. 

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Gobble On!

Hoppi Times are Good Times!

Are they, really?

           Thursday night, mustering some courage, I managed to walk through the Todi Mill Compounds & headed towards the doors of Hoppipola for the third time since its opening. Finally, we were allowed in!

Location - Lower Parel! Need we say more? Proving to be one of the most happening places in the city, it has become the go-to place after office hours and on weekends! Todi Mills is home to a lot of great restaurants serving varied cuisines.

Ambiance - As it is known to be a drinking place/a place to get rid of your weekend woes, most of the visitors were below 30. The music played at 7 was a wee dull and failed to liven our moods; the crowd wasn't that interested either. Post 8:30, it was all uphill! People started flooding in, funky music brightening up everyone's mood & a new wave of energy in the air! One of the most unique and best parts of this place is the number of games & books they provide! Want to enjoy a good meal alone? Grab a book and you're good to go!

Seating - They have 2 seating arrangements, indoor and outdoor. The outdoors are far more beautiful and appealing, but with this scorching heat, who can dare to sit outdoors? They can accommodate at least 50 people at once.  

Service - The service was a bit too slow, they definitely need more staff. For a moderately huge place like this, they had really few people to tend to the tables and take orders. 

What our order comprised of - Hoppi Bomb Shots, French Fries with Buffalo Sauce, the Hotato Burger, Cheesie Pizznezz, The Immigrant's Favorite - Classic Mac and Cheese & Peach Iced Tea. 

What you must try - 

• Hoppi Bomb - 

A beer based alcoholic drink, with a hint of coffee in it. As a person who doesn't like alcohol much, I must say that the beer did not overpower the taste of the drink & leave a foul, unpleasant aftertaste unlike other alcoholic beverages. 

• Fries with bufallo sauce - 

 The fries - crisp and salty; just the way we like them. The buffalo sauce however is what makes the dish a winner. The sauce, a balance of tangy and spicy, went really well with these well cooked frites.

• Cheesie Pizznezz - 

Cheesie Pizznezz - The 4 cheese pizza. Because a pizza with a single type of cheese isn't enough.
The pizza, as you can see, is divided into 2 - both with different toppings. Needless to say, we loved the pieces with the chunks of buffalo cheese & strands of oregano and basil on them. The other side tasted like a regular pizza that needed a generous helping of a strong flavor.

• The Immigrant's Favorite - 

Definitely our favorite too! 

The Immigrant's favorite - The Classic Mac and Cheese. We've had some really mixed experiences with mac and cheese at a number of places in Mumbai. And it was proven to me that people can screw up the classics also! Well, this place definitely knows how to cook up some mean mac n cheese. Baked to the right temperature, giving it a perfect consistency and bringing out the perfect bouncy texture of the cheese, we give it our thumbs up! Just a minor complaint - it needs a bit of seasoning!

What you must NOT try - 

• The Hotato Burger -

The only Vegetarian burger served here, is an absolute no no for a lot of reasons. The burger consists of 2 patties & a few veggies tossed together. That's it. There is no trace of any mayonnaise or any sauce to hold the burger together. The coleslaw salad and the fries were pretty decent, but not good enough to compensate for the dry "burger."

• Peach Iced Tea - 

The Peach Iced Tea consisted of 50% ice and 50% what the name suggested. A regular glass of peach iced tea, (good flavor and everything), nothing extraordinary or unique.

In all, I would say the place is a 4 on 5. Good music, quirky interiors and great ambiance make up for a few shortcomings in a few food items! 

Would I go back? Definitely! 

Gobble On!