Aadil Bandukwala's Blog

Experiences and Tips on Food, Restaurants, Travel, Credit Cards, Frequent Flyer Miles and more!

Chicken

The Most Amazing Raan Biryani Ever!

by Leave a Comment

Raan Biryani at Shalimar, Mohammed Ali Road, Mumbai

So yours truly was visiting Mumbai for just about 36 hours. Fly in – in the evening – do business meetings the next day and fly out immediately. While I was planning my trip, I had to plan a foodie evening in Mumbai. So I called up a close friend – Mahesh and asked him if we can plan something. The foodie that he is, Mahesh’s answer was – but of course! 🙂

Mahesh suggested we do Mohammed Ali Road and in particular Shalimar Restaurant near Kalbadevi. I jumped at the opportunity and so did other folks from our Mumbai Office in the form of Manish, Ketaki and Jyoti. No sooner did I land in the evening, I went straight to our office at BKC in Mumbai, picked them up and off we were to Shalimar.

If there was one thing that was super good at Shalimar, it was the Raan Biryani. The portion was generous, the red meat extremely tender, the rice cooked just about right, the fragrance from the spices – was an aroma that has lasted with me even today. To top it all, the fried onions served along side called Brista just made the Biryani even more delectable.

But then the Raan Biryani wasn’t just the only thing we had. Before indulging into the gastronomical delight, we also savored the galactic Nawaabi Chicken Gravy with Reshmi Paratha [Deep Fried Indian Bread], had Bheja Masala to go with it and washed it down with the yummy Shalimar Special Faalooda. An evening that all of us, will cherish for long!

Troika – Comfort Asian Food

by Leave a Comment

Crispy Fish Coconut Chilly at Troika, Bangalore

So this one evening last month the wife felt like dining at one of the roof top restaurants in Bangalore. You know fresh air, the view, ambiance, a little bit of music, the works. Yours truly was craving for some comfort Asian food. Looked up Zomato and the menu of Troika intrigued me. In half an hour, we were at Troika, at the roof top restaurant at 100 Ft Road Indira Nagar in Bangalore, all set for a great evening.

Since Asian food was the craving, we started off with Crispy Fish Coconut Chilly. Like the name suggests, this tongue tingling delicacy is crisp Basa slices tossed with coconut cream, garlic and chilly, seasoned with Thai herbs. The dish did thorough justice to the way the menu described it and brought out signature thai flavors – the palate was delighted 🙂

We further ventured into Rochaedo Chicken Dumplings with Sweet and Sour Tamarind Glaze. What I loved about this dish was the fusion of Goan and Asian flavors. Rochaedo is very much Goan but the sweet and sour tamarind glaze when infused with Rochaedo created a bag full of flavors that came across as comfort asian fusion food. But then the evening had just gotten started.

For mains we decided to indulge in Tai Chi Chicken which is chicken stir fried in oyster chilly pepper sauce served on a bed of sticky rice. Again, something uniquely comfort Asian that was very palatable. All in all, a happy belly! 🙂

Singapore Laksa Bowl!

by Leave a Comment

Singapore Laksa Bowl

 

After a day packed with meetings in Mumbai, this one time I checked into Hotel Ibis at Sahar to stay over. Days when your meetings go well and you’ve managed to get a lot done from your check list, you get that feel good factor which calls out for some good sumptuous food. The food then acts like a cherry on well baked cake and makes your day – ala your meal worth it!

But then, I wasn’t sure if I’d get bang for my buck at Ibis. Its not known for its food after all. Besides, I was too tired to step out and I had loads to prepare for the next day – so wanted to grab something at Ibis itself. Checked into my room and then walked into the restaurant they have called Spice It.

Called for the menu and my eyes zeroed on like that of a hawk on to this thing I absolutely love – The Singapore Laksa Bowl. It’s basically laksa curry with ginger, noodles, bok choy, prawn, chicken, boiled eggs, spring onions, fried onions, chilly oil and bean sprouts. One bowl of the laksa and yours truly walked away happy. Never imagined that I’d get such amazing Laksa at Ibis of all places. But then that really is the punch isn’t it – a lot of times, the most unexpected places deliver the most amazing food. Next play! 🙂

Honey Chilly Chicken Wings

by 2 Comments

Chicken Wings at Mother Cluckers

A really nice place in Indira Nagar to hang out is Mother Cluckers. They have a nice rugged ambiance and the food – just about amazing.  My favorite dish here is the Honey Chilly Chicken Wings.

I’ve had wings at plenty of places in Bangalore and have liked them too. A few great places where I’ve enjoyed chicken wings include Millers 46 on Millers Road, Rewind at 100 Ft Road Indira Nagar and News Cafe – again at 100 Ft Road, Indira Nagar. However, my most favorite place to grab some wings – Mother Cluckers.

Whats spectacular about this dish is its contrasting flavors. The wings are tossed in red hot chilly and then honeyed up. They’re not sweet by any means – no, but they are spicy as hell. Having said that, when those two contrasting flavors of sugar and spice come alive, you know you have a winner of a dish!

YouCook – Grill up, then fill up!

by Leave a Comment

Aadil & Mahesh at YouCook

Some time last month, the guys at work decided to go out for a team dinner. We chose to head out to this place that one of my colleagues Sebastian recommended called YouCook at IndiraNagar, Bangalore.

What’s cool about this place is that they have really large tables and right at the center of each table – they have this huge grill – where in you actually grill stuff, cook it and then eat it. Now I understand that when we’re paying stuff, we should get ready food on the table, but this by itself – the fact that you grill / cook your own meal is an experience in itself! Something that yours truly thoroughly enjoyed!

They have all kinds of kebabs which are already marinated in different textures and masalas – you pick what you like – grill and indulge! There’s chicken kebabs, lamb sheekhs, beef kebabs, crab meatballs, fish fillets, prawns, squids – you name it. For the vegetarians, there’s options too – potatoes, paneer, baby corn and other stuff – that I didn’t concentrate on. Bottom line though – a great experience!

Pepper Roasted Chicken

by 1 Comment

Grilled Chicken Blasted with Pepper at TGIF, Bangalore

Recently, the wife and me went out to TGIF. Found a deal online for INR 1050 where you get a 50% discount – meaning you can eat for INR 2000 by paying only INR 1050. Saturday afternoon it was and lunch was on the cards.

The belly screamed for some good food and the heart yearned. Drove into Ulsoor on a late Saturday afternoon, checked into TGIF – ordered a bunch of stuff. What blew me away was one dish. Turned out to be Pepper Roasted Chicken. It was chicken blasted into pepper sauce, then roasted to perfection. Served along side were crispy golden friend onion rings and creamed potato.

While the wife feasted on the onion rings [she really likes ’em], yours truly got going on the chicken – and believe you me – it satiated my appetite. The pepper was there – yes, the chicken cooked perfectly – yes, the sides good enough – yes, left craving for more? You bet!