Mangia Italiano at Fratelli Fresh

For Mumbaikars, the onset of the summer season can only have one upside - the arrival of the king of fruits! So, everyone tries to include the goodness of ripe pulpy mangoes in their meals. Renaissance took this a step ahead and was the host to a wonderful Mango festival entitled Mangia Italiano. 

Mangia Italiano saw the light of day from the 19th of May and pleased diners till the 28th of the month. Chef Cristian Cabrera incorporated and played around with the fruit with some of his Italian specialties. We were invited for an experiential for the same. 

We started off with salad and soup, namely minestrone ortalana, and arborio arancini with Cristian caesar salad.

The Caeser salad was just perfect; a well-balanced salad with some beautiful dressing topped off with some parmesan accompanied by the biggest arancini we've ever laid eyes on. The arancino was well-cooked and served as a perfect appetizer and raised our expectations for the meal. 

The soup, however, was a bit not too suited for our taste. The vegetables inside were really soggy by the time we were able to eat it and hence, ruined the entire texture. 

Next, we tried the Tuscany Primavera pizza.

Trust an Italian chef to make your pizza flawless! Paper thin crust, well-marinated sauce, loads of cheese, finished off with some cheese. Also, we'd like to give a special mention to the special accompaniment - chili oil. The chili oil (above the pizza in the picture) added a burst of flavour to everything we paired with it and made us relish the food even more. 

Finally, we moved on to the most awaited part of our evening. (People with sweet teeth, us!) 

This beauty was entitled the Lombardy mango fantasia. It consisted of a mango cheesecake and a mango flavoured macaron and a few chocolate coated nuts. The presentation was fabulous and the tiny plated wiped clean in a matter of seconds. The cheesecake's texture could've been a bit better, though. 

A huge thank you to Renaissance and Fratelli Fresh for hosting us and for the wonderful experience.

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Smirnoff Bowls over Mumbai!

With the IPL fever hitting everyone, imagine the excitement upon being invited to an IPL themed cocktail masterclass by Afzal Kaba, United Spirits Brand Ambassador on the 10th of May. 

It was held at Please Don't Tell, a pub in Lower Parel, with a mysterious vibe about it. The place was a perfect setting due to the bar area which provided the perfect space for the summer cocktail making session. The evening started with an introduction to the various flavours of Smirnoff - coffee, orange, vanilla and so on. All of them have such prominent flavours that they will leave your smell and taste buds tingling.

Then, Afzal Kaba walked us through the history of Smirnoff and how the revolutionary brand came into the picture. Post that, the audience was explained the basics of cocktail making like stirring, shaking and so on and the fundamentals and reasoning behind the mixology of each drink. Post all this, Mr. Kaba started showing us how to whip up a few summer cocktails. Cocktails like 'Winning Shot' and 'Halftime' made us realize how easy it is to be fantastic hosts during the game season. 

These were a few of the cocktails the host taught us. And, the best part? We got to make them too! Afzal Kaba ensured we learn and made us prepare the cocktails step by step beside him, thus turning us all into some pretty decent mixologists. 

We also indulged in a few appetizers at Please Don't Tell - Paneer 65, bruschetta, and the deconstructed Mumbai vada pav. 

We would like to thank United Spirits, Please Don't Tell and Afzal Kaba for this wonderful and insightful session. 

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Marriott India Chef's Workshop

JW Marriott was the host to an event titled "Marriott India Chef's Workshop on the 23rd of March and we were lucky enough to be a part of it.

The event consisted of 30 executive chefs from the Marriott properties all over India to discuss the culinary trends for the year 2016 in India. This marvelous competition took place at Lotus Cafe, where each chef presented their signature dishes and vowed all the diners, bringing the best of India's culinary state together, all at once. 

The spread obviously, was humongous, including an array of dishes from various cuisines. A few of the counters were local seafood, Asian, Indian Awadhi, local chaat, European, Italian and over 30 kinds of desserts, live counter for pancakes, ice cream and so on. We were each handed a token and were asked to vote at the end of our meal for the counter we thought most deserved to win. 

A few counters I tried - 

Chaat counter - 

The dhokla sandwich and the pani puri here were exceptional. The pani puri, served with sprite was a one of a kind experience.

Live pancake station -

We gulped down this beauty topped with banana toffee ice cream and drizzled with a generous serving of maple syrup within moments. Fluffy, light and delicious!

Italian counter -

The Italian counter allowed us to customize pizzas and pastas according to our preferences and needs. We had a serving of alfredo pasta with bell peppers, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes and pizza with toppings of our choice and we weren't disappointed. Our plates were wiped clean within moments and we were considering going for seconds.

Desserts -

One of the best things of a buffet is the unlimited spread of luscious, velvety, specially crafted sweet delicacies. We started off our meal with a serving of desserts and ended with another. Absolute heaven for people with a sweet tooth! 

Thank you, JW Marriott for letting us be a part of this wonderful event and for experiencing specialities from some of the most skilled chefs in the country. 

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Comfort Kitchen at Indigo Deli

    Indigo Deli has always been a favourite amongst our circle and the two words take us back to freshly baked, melt-in-your-mouth cookies and paper thin crust pizzas.

   Imagine our excitement upon being invited to the latest venture by the restaurant - Comfort Kitchen. It is termed to be a monthly concept that will travel across all the Delis in Mumbai. It was a 5 course meal with vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. 

    We started off with the minestrone with spanakopita, waldorf, walnut and spiced celery.

    One element we absolutely loved about the dish was the spanakopita. Not usually fans of the same, one bite into it and we were looking forward to seconds! All the elements provided great balance and complimented the dish amazingly well. 

    The next course was the Gruyere fondue, caramel walnut, and onion souffle. Always having eaten a souffle as a dessert, we were a bit skeptical about the combinations. 

    However, we were proven wrong and how! The souffle was one of the highlights of the dinner. We were left wondering how Gruyere, onion and walnuts worked so well as a souffle. Molten cheese poured over a piping hot mug of savoury souffle, absolutely decadent! 

    Then we laid our hands on the melanzane parmigiana. 

    An Italian dish, made with a shallow-fried sliced aubergine (eggplant) filling, layered with tomato sauce, grilled cherry tomatoes and cheese, then baked, was a light and refreshing take. 

    We were then served a risotto of many mushrooms and pistachio creme. 

    Being vegetarians, we're fans of mushroom in any form and we really excited about this one in spite of being nearly full after the first three courses. And, it was absolutely perfect; totally met our expectations. Mushrooms perfectly cooked, risotto in the a la dent form and pistachio creme being a shockingly smooth and delicious element.

    Last but not the least, the course most anticipated for - desserts! We were all surprised with our personal dessert platters, including sweet Madagascar manjari freeze, traditional apple pie and crepe Suzette. 

    The crepe was one that would melt in your mouth, however, was a bit too acidic for our taste. The apple pie was a classic apple pie but needed a bit of moisture. The ice cream, was the biggest highlight of the platter. Made of 66% pure Madagascar chocolate, it was churned into a beautiful, creamy marvel that sent our taste buds on a joyful ride. A definite must try for all diners!

    We ended our meal with a surprise element - An Easter Egg! 

    You too, can divulge in some chocolate and marzipan eggs and hot cross buns at Indigo Deli from 25th to the 27th of the month. 

    We would like to thank Indigo Deli, Tandem Communication and Degustibus for hosting us for this wonderful dinner and for the sweet gesture. 

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Go Cheese Factory Visit

Imagine the excitement of an avid cheese lover upon learning about the Go Cheese Factory by Femina and Go Cheese. 

    A farm visit was conducted on March 19, 2016 for a few bloggers and food enthusiasts to the Go Cheese Factory in Manchar, Pune. We were provided transport, and food for the entire day. 

    Go Cheese aims to bring awareness to Indians with their wide range of dairy products. At present, the consumption of cheese by Indians is barely admissible. With their extensive line of products, Go Cheese aims to stop this and encourage the use of cheese in our diets. 

    The manufacturing unit at Manchar was one where we shown the different processes of milking cows, production, storage, and so on. They are up to date with their technology and overlooking all the processes. No wonder, they have such a humongous line of amazing products. 

Milking cows

    Gowardhan, the mother brand of Go Cheese, produces a lot of other products, including milk, flavoured milk, buttermilk, butter, cottage cheese, lassi, fresh cream, ghee and yogurt, all of which have made their mark in the industry. 

    A few other pictures from out visit featuring all their products which we laid our hands on -

    We also received a hamper from Go Cheese and Femina post the event including a few of their premium products -

    We would like to thank Go Cheese and Femina India, for this enriching experience and for all the amazing hamper. 

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Sunday Brunch : Momo Cafe

    Sipping on a glass of Sangria, while basking in the beautiful view outside and letting all your week's woes and tension drown in the beautiful spread; yes, that's what Sundays are for!

   

   This Sunday, we had the privilege of being hosted by MoMo Cafe, Courtyard by Marriott for brunch. Courtyard by Marriott is a great property in the midst of Andheri and has 4 restaurants - MoMo Cafe, ARK, Red Zen and MoMo 2 Go. 

    The minute you enter, you see a completely different world inside with the beautiful MoMo Cafe on the left. There's a gorgeous spread with 6 live counters that change every week. Last Sunday, the specialty was cocktails. There were various flavours and different combinations and concoctions that one could choose from. We laid our hands on the dragon fruit mojito and flavoured sparkling water. 

    The dragon fruit mojitos were great. With just the perfect flavour, we were sipping away to glory. Not being huge fans of sparkling water, we didn't relish the sparkling water with cucumber and mint much. 

     Later, we moved on to the salads and soups counter. There were around 5-6 varieties of freshly baked breads, the sinful burrata, soups, various kinds of salads with fresh veggies, a delicious spread of cheese, live omelette and rosti station and so on. 

    Later, we sampled 3 other live counters - chaat, pasta and pizza; whereupon we tried the ragda pattice, dahi puri, penne in white sauce and the veggies pizza. All 3 were amazing and did not leave us disappointed. 

Dahi puri and ragda pattice

Penne in white sauce

Veggies Pizza

    

Then we moved on to the most anticipated part of our delightful Brunch - the humongous dessert section -

    With over 30 different kinds of desserts and Indian sweets, this section is a mini heaven for people with a sweet tooth. We being avid lovers of the same, helped ourselves to 2 servings each and still couldn't sample all of them. However, we couldn't get ourselves to try anymore as we had already satiated our taste buds. A few desserts that would make it to the top of our lists - Strawberry sandesh, chocolate square, chocolate pastry and the coconut peda. Absolutely delish!

    We would like to thank Courtyard by Marriott for hosting us for the wonderful Brunch. 

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A few over-hyped places in Mumbai you can miss

Ever been super excited for a movie or a book launch after seeing its presence all over and once it's all over, wondered what all the buzz was about? 

We have been there too. Repeatedly. Hence, the need to curate this list of a few places in Mumbai that you should definitely give a miss. 

1) Sardar -

Ask any Mumbaikar about Pav Bhaji and 8 out of 10 times, the first place they'd recommend to you would be Sardar. However, we didn't quite like the taste. The only reason behind its hype would be the sheer quantity of butter and cheese it is laden with. 

Image source - www.flickriver.com

Heart attack? Umm, no thanks. 

Brown in colour, as opposed to the red colour, this bhaji did not match up to our expectations. Better alternatives would be Maji Sagar, Amar Juice Centre, Santosh Sagar or Achija.

2) Merwans Cake Shop -

This is one legendary cake shop that's been around since years. It had been on our bucket list since years due to all the praise and reputation is has created. Located amongst the hustle and bustle of Andheri, is this tiny shop, always flooded with customers waiting for their orders or tucked away in corners, enjoying their food.

 We tried their chocolate cake, chocolate square, mawa cake and pizza. The only thing we liked out of the lot was the pizza. The mawa cake had far too much cardamom in it, thus killing all the other flavours; the square got stuck to our tongues and refused to go down our throats. The chocolate pastry tasted stale and inedible. With such a horrible experience, we failed to understand how the overfull bakery was yet working so well. A better option would be B Merwan.

3) Grandmama's cafe - 

Grandmama's cafe is so pretty; Grandmama's cafe is the place to be at; Grandmama's cafe is so vibrant and lively; the food at Grandmama's cafe is absolutely ravishing. These are just a few of the things we heard about this place. Hence, we couldn't wait to visit it.

However, I would like to strongly disagree with all the hype. Yes, the place is one of the prettiest we've laid our eyes on. Yes, it is vibrant and it just makes you want to sit and admire the beauty of it all. However, it all ends there.

We decided to visit the place for breakfast. It was totally packed and we had to wait for 5 minutes to get ourselves a table. We called for waffles with nutella and whipped cream and french toast. 

The waffles were soggy and were torn apart from the middle. One bite into them and we couldn't down them any further. The nutella and whipped cream, we helped ourselves to. 

A basic French toast is bread soaked in eggs and then fried or roasted and served with maple syrup/cinnamon/any other topping of your choice. The one at Grandmama's cafe was a complete disaster. Normal bread toasted sprinkled with some castor sugar and butter is not French toast! 

Post two horrendous dishes, we decided to continue our breakfast someplace else. 

A friend of mine, on another occasion, was served non-vegetarian food instead of the vegetarian she ordered.

4) Di Bella - 

The most photographed and talked off waffles in the city! Di Bella, an Australian coffee brand was introduced to the Indian market just last year and their ridiculously photogenic waffles have already carved a niche for themselves. 

The waffles are loaded generously with the desired topping and served with 2 bowls - ice cream and whipped cream. However, the waffles are soggy and undercooked and reallly difficult to break into. Better alternatives here. 

5) The Fatty Bao - 

This Delhi chain, recently opened its doors to Mumbaikars. And since the day it has, it is always filled with over-enthusiasts. After trying for weeks, we managed to finally book a table here to check out what all the buzz was about. The waiter had given away our table without informing us about it, thus making us wait for a good 40 minutes. 

The food is really ordinary, staff pretty okay, ambiance nothing great. Can totally give it a miss. 

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Keep Gobbling!