Zen Cafe

Rest : Zen Cafe
Loc : Raghuvanshi Mills
Meal : Lunch 

The Zen Cafe is a quiet all vegetarian cafe in a furniture store in Raghuvanshi Mills with a fairly decent menu with something for everyone.

The Mezze platter was awesome, i dont care much for the basil hummus but everything else was terrific.

The tomato mozzarella panini was again just excellent. the side of mustard not so much but this one was a hit. 

The Giardino was a thin crust sun dried tomato, black olives and capers. very good.

The margarita too was good but not nearly as good as it looks. 

the chocolate brownie was good, would be well worth getting that scoop of ice cream with it. 

cafe mocha to wash it all down.

Overall, the place is quiet, secluded and out of the way. but they make up for that with a menu which has something for everyone and is executed fairly well. Their 575 lunch meal where one can order as many items as they wish is good value for money.

Service is a tad bit slow but no real complaints.

Food : 8/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 575+ taxes 

Aqaba

Rest : Aqaba

Meal : Lunch 

Loc : Peninsula Business Park 

Aqaba plays a pretty important role in my single fav movie of all time Lawrence of Arabia and that they serve Middle Eastern cuisine, there was little chance that i was not going to go check em out. So i caught up with my buddy Reema Prasanna (@ScrollsNInk) who i hadn't seen in a while. 

The place is largish and has a lovely section by the window which looks on to the garden which thankfully obscures Central Bombay 

now, the official drink of choice. 

the kinda sorta amuse bouche if you will, was a little side of tzatziki with radishes which both of us immensely dislikes 

The mezze platter was going to happen no matter what and it was a pretty decent spread. 

The Muhammarah was kind of disappointing, the weakest item there, more like a salsa then a fine, fiery paste. 

The rest of the dishes were great, the hummus and the labneh were awesome, as was the taztziki. The olives were slightly sweetish, brilliant. 

the greek style salad was huge, fresh to taste but too much food.

the caprese was pretty decent, a little colder would have been good, the cheese was not stale but this wasnt quite farm fresh. 

randomly chose the Veg Kofta which was a haloumi and cottage cheese served on a bed of arabic rice and a side of some seriously delicious sauce. this was just awesome, loved it. sometimes not thinking too much can be a good thing too. 

we shared the dessert which was a rose petal ice cream, which i always tell myself i wont like but end up loving. delicious. the biscotti they were served with were super chewy though. 

Overall, the space is huge, airy and well lit, might be a little too big though. The service is quick and the food is pretty good, there are some things they could work out (muhammrah, the biscotti) but in the end a middle eastern joint, in south bombay which serves good food is gold. lets hope they can keep it that way.

I was, there on invitation but the restaurant is on the expensive side.

Eating Out In Hong Kong & Cebu

I was recently in Hong Kong & Cebu, Philippines and thought i would do a run through of my meals whilst there. It is not a complete list but sort of the greatest hits. 

Shanghai Popo 336,  iSquare, TST, 

This is apparently the best branch of this fairly popular Shanghainese restaurant. Loads of local here which is always a good sign. Its a very attractive place from a design stand point and I loved its bare cemented walls, the decor being harsh and hip, the food the exact opposite. 

the menu like mostly restaurants in HKG is fairly expansive, covering plenty of ground, Noodles, Dim Sum, Vegetables, Sea Food, Meats, etc. 

The hand made noodles in a special Schezwan soup was excellent, spicy but loads of flavour. 

yummy green beans

and even yummier pancakes, freaking delicious. 

the buns were fought over, minced mushroom from what i recall 

Highly recommend a meal here, it was about HK$500 for four without booze. 

Din Tai Fung, Ye Woo Street, Causeway Bay

Have been a fan of Din Tai Fung, every since my friend Sam turned me onto them in Singapore. Every since then i have had atleast one meal a year at one of their restaurants in Singapore or Hong Kong and look forward to these with great relish. 

 

Both the branches of this Taiwanese eatery in Hong Kong have a Michelin star each and deservedly so. The food is delicious, consistent and the service is quick and impeccable. Which is especially important because i have had some less than excellent service in Hong Kong at times. 

the meal starts of with a little pot of Jasmine tea, which goes down very well. very well indeed and this is coming from a not very tea friendly person. 

Noodles with spicy sauce, what can i say, just perfect and actually not as spicy as one would reckon. 

These were the mushroom dim sum which was also muy excellent. One can also get mushrooms in a soy sauce which i didnt end up getting as it would have been too much. Next time perhaps. All in all, excellent meal with great service.

HK$300 for two without drinks. 

Tim Ho Wan Hong Kong Station, Level 1 

I end up in Hong Kong station either when i am in or heading out of HKG and always try and make a go of grabbing a bite at Tim Ho Wan which is still the worlds cheapest michelin star restaurant, although the original branch was in Mong- Kok and has since shuttered. Folks in Singapore can find a bunch of Tim Ho Wan's however. 

i got the turnip cakes this time which i missed out on the last time and everything else was much the same. check was about $90 and the wait was about 20 mins. 

Sorabol, Lee Theatre Plaza, Causeway Bay

Sorabol is a Korean restaurant tucked up on top of the LTP building, its a pain in the arse to get to if you don't take the correct elevator. 

Served up a bunch of varied kim chi while we waited for our meal. Since my mates had been there before they did the ordering. 

the kim chi pan cake was downright delicious, especially when doused with a little hot sauce. 

This was one of the 'stone' rice preparations done in a traditional Korean style, pretty good. We couldn't order to use the grill to cook our own food because we were pretty full by then. all in all a go to Korean place for a lot of people in HKG and rightfully so. 

HK$600 for four without drinks. 

The Flying Pan Old Bailey Street, Central 

One of my fav meals in Hong Kong, this 24 hour diner is super popular with breakfast crowd as well as post drink 4 am party people seeking nourishment. Although small, the place packs a serious punch when it comes to its menu which is pretty wide. Egg, Griddle, Pancakes, Frittatas, Omelets, you name it. they got it. hell they even do cocktails. 

The Rancheros were terrific, eggs sunny side up on on a tortilla with refried beans, jalapenos.  

The eggs benedict were pretty terrific as well, as good as my rancheros were, would be hard pressed to pick between the two. great good, prompt service, must check it out i reckon.

HK$250 for three no booze. 

Teppan 

was walking around on Nathan road and saw this small teppan place, no idea why i went inside, it was a little late around 2.45 and they were about to wrap up but they were kind enough to seat me. i had the porcini mushrooms with a side of veggies, mung beans and rice. the soup i did not like very much but the rest was terrific and only cost HK$75 

Kirin Ichiban 

Frozen beer at the airport by Kirin Ichiban at the airport, pricey at HK$80, tad weird but def worth trying. great for a hot summer day this. again, trust the Japanese to come up with this. 

Maxim's Cakes All across  Hong Kong 

My friend Amit, picked up a few of these to chew on while we hung out at the airport. he also took every opportunity to pick some up every time he could. good stuff this, wont go wrong picking these. 

Royal Krua Thai, SM Mall, Cebu, Philippines 

Cebu is a glorious place to Scuba dive and indulge in water sports, which is why we were there. However its not the best place in the world to eat out. Food was pretty weak across the board and we stuck to mostly bad pizza until our last day there when we decided to try our luck with this Thai joint. The decor of the space was pretty far out as well.

delicious iced tea.

terrific spring rolls. 

tofu in all kinds of hot sauce. 

all in all the food was very good and the service was super quick and friendly. The people o the Philippine have a friendly, musical way about them and can be pretty hospitable, as was our host at the restaurant. meal was 600PHP without drinks for three. 

while walking around the SM mall we came across this small ice cream space. anyway, this is a pair of warm cookies with chocolate ice cream in the middle. need i say more, 100PHP

Also, if you find yourself in Cebu and want to party, head to Mango Square, find JM-Ave and get a private table for 5000PHP. worth it and the place is banging till about 5 am. 

Smoke House Deli - BKC - A Superstar Affair

Rest : Smoke House Deli,
Meal : Lunch
Loc : BKC 

Post a meeting in Andheri East (the abomination that it is) i decided to catch up with two of my mates @kapilsamant @shaileshprabhu who i hadn't seen in sometime. Instead of driving into Bandra as we had origibally planned we were actually heading to the newly opened Tiffin but were running pretty late and were unsure if they would be serving lunch post 3pm. 

I knew there was a SMD in BKC and we decided not to muck around and headed straight for it. 

fortunately they brought us some bread rather quickly and we wolfed it down even faster with these two little fluffs of butter 

If you are drinking orange juice anywhere it has to be Malta Orange only, if i ever see it on the menu i immediately go for it. 

the waiters recommended their burger festival that was going on and i chose the rather unusual soy burger which was actually the only veg option on the list. I have had their cottage cheese burger but i thought id try this since they were pushing it so hard.

When i saw it i was a bit worried, since it came open i saw the full scope of what i was about to wolf down (appetite aint what it used to be) add to this the melted cheese. At first bite it tasted a bit weird, the soy has a meaty texture and is a well known meat substitute but here it worked well. Tasted pretty good and was gone rather quickly. Highly recommend it for meat eaters trying to wean themselves of the beef. Be warned though, its messy as can be. 

the dining companions were quite interested in the desserts and went for the mango cheesecake which was very good. good call in the season. 

the real winner though was the cheesecake. Goddamn ! Excellent and Philadelphia style as god intended it to be. 

I would like to point out that the moment i sat down 3 waiters and the lead waiter all came down to shake hands with @kapilsamant who we all know is a superstar but rarely do you get to see this in action. They all kept making small talk, asking him how he was, gave us special attention and till now we can't figure out why.

The service was pretty good and quick and made good solid recommendations. Didn't review my companion meals unfortunately since i was too busy eating my burger.

Food : 8/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 2900* for 3 without drinks

Had a recent discussion on twitter about where a friend mentioned that he had a hot chocolate at LPQ in BKC (at the same time we were at SMD in fact) where it cost him 400++ rs which we both thought was pretty ridiculous. While SMD is certainly not cheap, it def is on the lower side of say an Indigo Deli etc price wise and just as good. 

Salt Water Cafe Churchgate

Intesresting times in South Bombay vis a vis food, a lot of popular brands that set up shop in bandra are beginning to find their way to town. The first of the new entrants is Salt Water Cafe which i have reviewed a few times (here) the other joints that have crossed the bridge are Sancho's and more importantly one of my fav's Mamagoto.

SWC opened doors a few days ago and a bunch of people i know were raving about it at tastings. Couldn't make it for the launch but  made it much later and was chuffed to find that they offer a breakfast at breakfast hours, the only other crew to do that in the area is Indigo Deli although SWC has more items on the menu.

in any case, the whiskey sour was highly recommended by Nikhil Merchant (@nikhil_merchant) and boy did it shine. brilliant, not to sweet and really addictive.

 

the next thing i had to have a go at was the cheese plate. from memory there was cheddar, parmesan, brie , swiss, feta and some sort of sweet cranberry. a great way to start the evening this. 

the caprese was pretty good, the bitter leaves with the sweetish dressing on the side made this work nicely.

 

the minestrone style assorted veggie soup was also pretty decent. hearty with beans and bits of pasta etc which i enjoy. 

the tomato, olive with chilli and peppers in what seemed like angel hair was good and fiery but a tad too oily.

i had the porcini, tomato and mozzarella & spaghetti. pretty on the money and a decent portion too. enjoyable.

Didn't get a chance to get a picture of the Tiramisu but i must say that it was awesome and possibly the best in the city.

Overall, i like SWC and i think this one is a tad better than the Bandra outlet, especially when it comes to mains. A good addition overall.

Hope to get there for breakfast one of these days. A meal for two without drinks should be around 2k.