Evil Things from this week

Haven't really been out dining much this past week. Just been trying to watch the weight so its going to be only munchies once a week from now on (in theory anyway)

Anyway, let me tell you about two of the most evil things i have had the pleasure of nibbling and feeding on.

First is the nutella filled crepe at Crepe Station (125) where i was for breakfast. I had the traditional English breakfast (145)

the wife was looking for something to order and she couldn't make up her mind, so i just threw this out there. Last time i had one was somewhere in Europe and before that a German room-mate used to cook them up once in a while. The dish was pure evil, gooey chocolate, powdered sugar, a fat mans (i am not) best friend or ultimate enemry depending on your perspective. It was such a hit, everyone at the table got one. A must have, you can also try the chocolate chip crepe.



The Brrista Blast (170) i heard about this drink from my wife, i used to always say she was delusional a near $5 coffee at a coffee chain, what is this Starbucks? anyway, so there we were at Phoenix Mills, flitting around and she goes i want coffee, so in we went. She did the ordering so i didn't know. I did see the bill and i was wondering what the hell this thing was, it has to be a pretty special thing to cost that much.

It is. It is chocolate sauce, brownies, coffee, milk and ice cream and some more brownies. It is the most sugar you can probably get in one dish. It is also quite fun to have, since every time you sip or move the straw a different taste shows up. It also takes about 15 mins to get through one. I would recommend this once a month no more.

It is also not available in all Barista outlets.

Pan - Asian

Pan Asian
Location : ITC Grand Maratha, Sahar
Meal : Lunch

Was in Bandra for some work and since we got done early, we decided to drive to Sahar for lunch at Dakshin. For the second time in as many years the bleeding place was inaccessible (not open for lunch, last time it was closed for a private party) well, their loss anyway.

So instead of trying Peshawari which i reckon is similar to Kebabs n Kurries, so we walked in to Pan Asian where we enjoyed a fantastic meal earlier this year.

The place was mostly empty, so we got seated right away. The place looks the same, generic fine dine, comfortably laid out and well lit. We started off with some crispy veggies Thai style, which were allright, nothing great but not too bad.

We moved onto the main courses skipping the Dim Sums ( i am disappointed with Dim Sum everywhere of late) we got the pan fried noodles, a safe choice, very well done the entree was veggies in a brown chili sauce, i forget the name. This dish was ably supported by a interesting

dish. Steamed rice tossed in Thai Green Curry, which is good, sometimes you dont feel like getting a giant portion of both. I wish it had not been as spicy thought, just a tad less and it would have been great. As it happened the spicyness overpowered the rich taste.

The beverages were just coke and ice - tea (very good) and the service was fabulous, attentive, friendly and prompt. It seems only Hornbys Pavilion at ITC Grand has bad service of all the ITC restaurants i have been to.

The meal was not in the same league as last time, however it was fairly good in my opinion. The service some of the best.

Food 8/10 Service 9/10

Damage 3000 without drinks.

ITC restaurants are consistently the most expensive of all the comparable
restaurants but they are fairly high quality.

Not so rocking Hard Rock

Restaurant : Hard Rock Cafe
Location : Boondocks of Worli
Company : Loki,Ze Wife


Trundled in around 10 on Monday night and the place was practically full, which is a good thing i reckon. Although the 50 bucks to park i don't quite understand. Didn't think the folks at Bombay Dyeing needed money THAT bad.

Got a nice booth in the back, the place is truly well designed, humongous area and we always get seated quite easily. The booths are the place to be.

They were playing some great music, 90's Rock, followed by some Doors but the song for the evening came on with the Stones singing (cant get no) Satisfaction.

Its how we felt. We got in and took about 5 mins for someone to come over and actually take the order form us. That was the easy part, the same gentleman came in and reconfirmed three times (Half order of Nachos, Entree sized Mac n Cheese, Bloody Mary, Ice Tea) then another gentleman came over and then another.

Then guess what, they screwed it up anyway. They got us a side order of mac n cheese and when i made it apparent, i got a silly ass grin and a smiling sorry.


The food itself is average, the mac n cheese is quite good. The drinks were ok, we got another Strawberry Daiquiri which was not too bad.

Overall, they play great music, the place is spacious, the crowd is young and loves rock music. Its unfortunate the menu is weak and the service sucks.

What the hell, ill just eat the music....


Food 6/10 Service 3/10

Damage 1800

Hard Rock Cafe
BDMC Compound, Behind Bombay Dyeing
Pandurang Budhkar Marg
Worli, Mumbai
Phone 24382888

A trip to New Delhi

New Delhi is a foodie paradise (so they say) so i figured i hit the jackpot once i got there. Unfortunately caught up in meetings i had to skip a prospected lunch at Dakshin which came highly recommended. However they have a branch in Bombay so i guess i can go here.

So my wife recommended one of her fav joints, Punjabi By Nature, in Noida. PBN is quite popular and has a few branches. We got in after a reservation and were seated promptly. The Restaurant itself is just so so, not much in terms of ambiance or decor. The service was quick and food was great. We got the paneer makhani which was succulent, sweet yet had a tang to it, the dal makhani was quite robust and almost dal bukharaesque (which has more dimension to it) the breads were average and the biryani was just weak. Overall worth going to, they could def try and take things up a notch. Food 8/10 Service 8/10. Damage 1500 for 3 without drinks.



The next day we tried another of her favcs, Bercos in Connaught Place, this one was actually dissaponting. I expected something fairly competetive but it was wanting on every level. The dim sum (called momos) was just terrible. No taste all texture. The Veggies in schezuan were allright but nothing to really crow about.

The only saving grace was the green curry which i think they mucked by making it well. It wasn't exactly authentic but it tasted good, so cant complain. Food 3/10, Service 4/10 Damage 1200 without drinks.
Also had some interesting chaat, interesting only that it was pretty bad, dont know how they have a chaat culture when almost everything we do in Mumbai is clearly better except maybe the Punjabi/Moghlai fare, which i reckon is only better on averages. The tikki and stuff was just plain bad, the pani puri was somewhat tolerable.
An interesting sidetrack while driving around we came across this guy called Jain Shikhanji, he is all over the place Noida, Meerut, Aligad, etc etc.


All he does is make fresh lime soda with his own special Masala. At 17 a glass he apparently sells 4000-5000 glasses a day. Go figure. I had some it, it was pretty good, although there are plenty of imitators all over the place.

So all in all i couldn't make it everywhere i wanted to but i got a sense that New Delhi and surroundings can really cook up some North Indian fare but they are at a complete loss when it comes to creating an ambiance, setting a palate and then doing anything Western or Eastern well.