On-The-Go Breakfast Options

There could possibly be no questioning the fact that baking breakfast can be one giant pain for the not-so-morning people. Helping one to cobble together bread and other breakfast-y stuff can be a daunting early morning affair, like getting up in the first place wasn’t enough. But then, what do you do about the howling pangs of hunger in the tummy? Starving yourself to death can be ruled out, for sure.

Just to make life a little easier for the non-morning lot, here are a few on-the-go-breakfasts that can actually be good for you. Your health, I mean!

Throw a look!

-Apple Sandwiches with Almond Butter

Straight up almonds stuffed with almond butter may sound gross, but they’re not. They make for a sumptuous and a healthy breakfast—not to forget easy to make, too! You can go a step ahead by adding granola for the crunch, adds the manager of a restaurant in Hauz Khas.

-Skinny Omelettes

Skinny Omelettes? Okay, what are skinny omelettes?

They are nothing much, really, except for that they are made in form of a wrap. You just need to cook eggs in a crepe-thin omelette and fill it up with whatever edible you come across! It also makes for a perfect on-the-commute breakfast. What else can one ask for?

-Oatmeal squares

Trust Chef Major of one of the best breakfast places in Bangalore for this delicacy. Get rid of the early morning blues by cutting perfect squares out of oatmeal and munching them on your way to work. A fulfilling meal that they make, oatmeal squares are unbelievably healthy, too!

-Vanilla Smoothies

Not a munching person, are you? Kick-start your day with a glass loaded with antioxidants and all kinds of minerals and vitamins. Vanilla smoothies- kale and spinach blended ones—can be a morning treat to your taste buds.

Curb the Culinary Cravings at Delhi’s Hauz Khas

Hauz Khas doesn’t sound like a place that will have one go all Ga-Ga over it. But then, what’s in a name?

Hauz Khas is a place that will make stand up, and take notice. No, it isn’t one giant cauldron of beauty that will have you drool over it; in fact it is dingy. And dark, much like the usually crowded and littered streets in Delhi. It may be a little scruffy at the edges, but there is no funkier spot in Delhi to shop, eat and generally unwind.
 

Hauz Khas is a thriving hub for some absolutely punk restaurants. Punk, because they are not the usual north Indian restaurants where all you find yourself doing is forcing your taste buds into accepting the taste of the otherwise painfully mundane Dal-Makhani and Naan. Because restaurants in Hauz Khas, and the ones in nearby markets, are notches above that.
 

With a gamut of vegetarian and non-vegetarian delights, Hauz Khas’ palate dances to the tunes of the unconventional. I, personally, have both tested and tasted its waters, and my, was I impressed! Be it any genre of food, from Italian to Portuguese, you just can’t stop reveling in its cuisine. And it’s not just one restaurant that gets away with the food-junkies’ attention, all the restaurants in Khan Market and Hauz Khas offer an equally sumptuous mouthful.
 

Thick with an air of majesty, Hauz Khas’ restaurants offer nothing but a king-like experience. When I walked into Smoke House Deli, I was almost flattered by the over-the-top kind of treatment that I was being subjected to. I am not much of a spoilt brat; quite clearly it was only but overwhelming to have all that royalty gulped down the throat.
 

But if you are one of those spoilt little brats, the ‘Mumma’s’ all-time favourite who just can’t do without some good food, you know where to hunt, right?

Smoke House Deli all the Way!

It’s smoking hot when I put a step inside, onto the labyrinth of the swanky restaurant. Smoking hot, not in a literal context, but in a metaphorical connotation; Smoking hot, not because of the heat or the dust, but because of the quirky ambience that exudes a charm of another magnitude, and Smoking hot, because it’s nothing but Smoke House Deli.

An unusual combination of beige and white interiors tells that it’s not any next door cafe. A wide assortment of flavours fills the air with an aura that is good enough to bring the dead to his feet! Smoked food, burgers, pizzas, pastas and salads rustle your taste buds like nothing else does. Shovel down a few refreshing drinks, a variety avalanche of coffee and tea, and you feel sorted for the day. Add the chirpy music to your taste, and you will never feel like leaving the comfort of the seat. 

Smoke House Deli is noted for its tongue ravaging smoked food in Mumbai. From quick hearty bites to an elaborate, royal eating experience, SHD serves every mood. Eggs Benedict for breakfast offers a grand experience which otherwise is missing from typically boring breakfasts. Smoked lam burger and tenderloin steak clothed in mustard sauce make for an irresistible affair. Peri Peri Smoked chicken with potatoes is one of the most cherished specialities of Smoke House Deli, and is offered with every ounce of delicacy and charm. Heart crusted lamb chops with mango chutney is a delicacy to die for! Once in SHD, you will be a nut to miss it. The burgers are juicy, better than any effing burger in Delhi too!

The menu is heatedly appetizing and the ambience a pure delight. An equally terrific choice for casual lunch as much as it is for formal meetings; Smoke House Deli ruffles the taste buds and leaves a long lasting imprint.

Cost Effective Homemade Cocktails

The usual night outs usually consist of expensive dinner with friends and a spree to the club which are generally tight on your budget. However when you chose to stay at home instead of hopping beyond the finances you have planned you can still enjoy a great time drinking with your friends. However when you watch professional bartenders with countless ingredients you haven’t even heard about you get a feeling that you need a knowledge of some sort of chemistry to come up with those when you are staying back at home. But my experience says the best night outs and parties are those well managed at home with the best cocktails.

What you need to know these mouth and spirits savoring cocktails require nothing more than the basic skills of being able to measure the ounces and squeeze lemon. It may sound too unbelievable to start with but the honesty in this statement is as much as the sun rising from the east and the setting best remains unsaid. So it is just with the few essentials, a little planning and with lots of variations and your taste you can come with the best cocktails in Delhi anytime and anywhere.

Here are some of the cocktails you can enjoy relaxing or partying at home:
 

-Cape Coder
Preparing it as simple as spelling it right. Vodka and cranberry juice is a great drink for all occasions. You can easily get hold of a cranberry bottle from any shop nearby add to it the vodka of your choice. You can pick the vodka bottle as per your budget and don’t wait more, turn the music on.

-Margarita and Daiquiri
Both of these are the most cost effective drinks you can pick from the range of all the best cocktails you have known so far. What you need is seasonal fresh fruits and a liqueur of your choice and there you go. Shake them or blend these into all the possible flavors you can imagine.

-Gin Rickey
As pretty as it sounds it will be a sure hit in your party. All you need to do is buy soda siphon and few CO2 cartridges. Don’t let the party and mood end experiment with the myriad of cocktails you can then come up with. SmokeHouseDeli.

A Village To Die For

Walking into the village lanes sounds a tad too retarded, right?
 

Or maybe not, especially when you are loitering into the lanes of Hauz Khas Village. People who don’t know much about Hauz Khas often mistake it for some flat-footed place- the kind of place that fails to arouse any consumer activity. But, ask a person who has experienced the marvels of shopping or binging in a restaurant in Hauz Khas and you would know how terribly mistaken you probably are.
Hauz Khas is a place where once you set your foot into, you will not be able to help but admire it for the chirpiness of its restaurants. Right from the quirky decor to glitzy menus, everything is admiringly bang on. There are restaurants where you will find walls decorated with pastel sheets and paintings- paintings that have stories to tell, like in Smoke House Deli. Punctuated with weird artefacts and a jazzy ambience, restaurants in Khan Market and Hauz Khas have an illusionary touch pivoted to them. 

Smoke House Deli, Flipside Cafe, Warehouse Cafe- these are just a few of the wonders that Hauz Khas is palmed with. Breathtaking ambience littered with every element of happy peculiarity is what makes it the most visited places in New Delhi. The cosy corner of SHD revs up the appetite and demands an instantly brewed espresso; the shakes and ice creams of Warehouse Cafe lit up the excited audience.

Hauz Khas Village and Khan Market in vicinity are studded with some incredibly Jazzy restaurants, breezy enough to put you in a culinary reverie. Be it Hauz Khas or Khan Market, there is a signature twist to every restaurant that you will ever set your foot into, and that twist is everything to die for!

What to eat while in Mumbai

While in Mumbai, never miss out on anything. Well, that’s the melody that I have practically crammed; because Mumbai spoils you with choices, quite literally. While many people call Mumbai ruthless, I would aggressively digress. Okay, it might be polluted and terribly crowded. But it takes care of your needs, specially your eating needs like no other Indian City. There are restaurants in Mumbai, and then there are some best restaurants in Mumbai, too.

Be it breakfast, lunch or dinner, Mumbai never fails to surprise. With a never ending slew of some absolutely breathtaking restaurants coming up every other month, the consumers are as good as pushed into a dilemma. Take Baba Ling’s Ling Pavilion in Colaba, for instance which is a Chinese restaurant.

Or wait, correction- It’s one of the most authentic and distinct Chinese restaurant that produces the most authentic and distinct Chinese restaurant. Be its pork soup dumplings, pepper prawns or chilli garlic pomfret or even eggs Benedict that are hard to find anywhere else, everything is equally lip smacking and tongue ravaging.

The next stop, again, can be a tough deal. Even while writing this, I feel slightly baffled! What to write about next?

Probably Sindhudurg at Sena Bhavan. If you ever face a craving to have the best Breakfast spiked with all the typical Maharashtrian elements, Sindhudurg is the place to be. Masalas are freshly brewed and the food has the exquisite element to it. In vegetarian and Non vegetarian both, you will be blessed with ample choices.

If you wish to pamper yourself with a royal ambience, try The Sahib room. It’s an upscale fine dine that would leave you marvelling at its lavish aura. The food is terrific, and creatively cooked. No decoration drama, rather the flavours are tampered with, and for good too!

The list of divine restaurants in Mumbai is eternal, and immortal. The chase to find the best among the best, that even rules out the posh restaurants of Vasant Kunj, the will leave out panting for breath!

Evening Delights :Hot Momos With Tea

So there I was in the middle of my random wanderings which have become a lot more frequent than before. Just out of nowhere, I realized I had ignored my hunger pangs way too long and the sudden craving for food was not unwarranted.

Luckily, I was blessed to be passing by one of the most popular destinations for food in Delhi. Though the place is not entirely familiar to me, I had heard a lot about restaurants in Khan Market being one the hottest of all eatery settings Delhi hosts.

Of course, a lot of it had to do with my old friend Rahul boasting of restaurants in Hauz Khas for a personal fetish for meat and I not being very comfortable his ways of devouring into flesh. Nevertheless, our friendly banters had made us challenge each other on knowledge of local places and in only a few months after meeting at college, we had started hitting it off together and discovering new palates and places to eat.

I stepped out the car and made way up a very small joint selling steaming hot momos. The tiny restaurant in Khan Market had all it takes to be a hotspot except may be ambience.  But for food explorers like me, such places are the best bet for their flavours and the feel of the city.

I had a plateful of those little veg delights arranged neatly in an ordeal fashion, each resting side to side like little white angels. The fiery red sauce spread casually on the sides, interspersed with a bit of white mayonnaise was the perfect blend.

As around the cup of hot tea, shooting off a strong aroma of cardamom based masala, the mini-meal was complete. And it was Rahul standing next to me, grinning ear to ear at us bumping into each other, the reason for which was our shared love for food.

Here’s How I Came Well-Fed From Old Delhi -part (2)

In conjunction to my last post, titled as Delhi and its own magnificent charm, I have a lot more to make you guys feel pity on me and laugh it out!

Finally, I decided to go to a best breakfast restaurant, but whether I was really right or not, will get to know soon. In old delhi, wherein there’s hardly space where people could walk through freely, it was a next to impossible thing for me to find a good restaurant. All I could see here was stalls and thela walas. There were two people making egg parathas on their thelas, but it looked as if the both of them were carrying some precious gems with them and were bagging it off right there. I could figure out more than 40 people lined up there. I did not had balls to stand anymore, but the tantalizing aroma of spices resisted me. I stood there for an hour and finally managed to get 2 egg parathas, which were reasonable enough. I thought one won’t suffice so I ordered for two. But that was it! The mind blowing taste was enough to make me forget that I have had to stand for half an hour. Parathas were really heavy, couldn’t think of jumping to the second one, but was helpless enough to throw it also, so packed it. for the reason that I could not even dare stand in the queue again, I did not took it for my friend, who was frowning at me like never before. Finally…this is how I came back well-fed. I managed to cool down his anger by giving the piece of paratha that I have had with me.

Now comes the real fun, Aniket, my friend and me were up for a one day outing. He took me to different spots including India Gate, Qutab Minar, Raj Ghat, Lajpat market. It was hectic but very much worth it like the parathas. For the reason that I kept poking him that there are no restaurants here in Delhi like Mumbai yaa…but it’s okay…I repeated it twice. Well, my intention-fun-complain resulted in sweet results. He took me to a restaurant in khan market followed by restaurant in hauz khas, which personified luxury. Each and everything varying from food to ambience was just perfect and I was dumbstruck with the same!

It was a great trip two-day-trip to Delhi and feel like visiting to this lively land soon. first part

Dieting From A Foodie’s Journal

‘Eat healthy and eat well’- somehow this is a phrase I have difficulty to stomach in. ‘A foodie’s soul can never be chained by diet restrictions’- now this is something more refreshing and practical. It sounds good, isn’t it? 

However, before you dig into your favourite mound of cheese, inspired by the above notion, how about considering a mid-way out? Well, after I started getting worried about the rounding belly and the cringing foodie in me under the weight of a diet, a friend of mine came to my rescue. He helped me work out a reasonable diet that kept my doctor and senses happy. And now I am happily enjoying my burgerin Delhi without a hint of guilt.  

Well, if you are not planning up for some massive six pack crunchers, a moderation in your present insane consumption might be all you need. I do not say that you will have to live without your smoked lamb burger, but all I say is how about subtracting the mayonnaise and adding an extra lettuce leaf. Simple maths you see. And instead of indulging every second day, let’s just keep such treats for Saturday lunch. 

Another favorite part of mine in this lovely diet design is that I have the leverage to satiate my sweet tooth every second day. Desserts are the loveliest portion of a meal and the reason I used to wait for dinner to get over. But lately, after I feasted on my favorite extra cheese pizza I had to eventually sacrifice my dessert under the guilt. But not anymore, with carefully calculated calorie intake I can take a small healthy dessert every second day and a wholesome one once a week.

So, actually when worked out wisely, a diet doesn’t have to be all bad. Treat yourself with your favorite delicacies often enough but not regularly, so that your health allows you to enjoy them over a longer period of time.     

Delhi And Its Own Magnificent Charm-Part

I am a resident of Mumbai and an engineering student. Last week, I had to go to Delhi, as I had my entrance exam here. I was really excited to come to this place because I am a ‘bad-baaaad’ travel freak. Carrying with me loads of amazement and over-whelmed for exams, I came to Delhi. The moment I came-in, I could see that the nation’s capital is nothing short of anything and has its own charm. Each and every person here portrays a different story altogether, different and unique. I could see that Delhi is at par with Mumbai in terms of honking buses, cycles, bike, rickshaws and a slight negligence in any way, be it by a pedestrian or a bike rider can cost them heavy! If I talk about houses and space availability, okay…lets not go there. 

 

I was lucky enough to have my accommodation at my friend’s place. I reached late Saturday night and had my exam the very next morning. I thought that likewise best restaurants in Mumbai, I will get to savour best breakfast, but alas! Being a new-bie to Delhi traffic, I was late and had to rush to the exam centre. I would say that lady luck showered her blessings on me that day and I could reach there on-time. I was only a few minutes late, which otherwise I thought I would never be able to. Post exam, I was on verge of felling down…I was hungry and was struggling badly with every move. I haven’t had anything since morning and above all, I had to bear chest-congesting pollution. Now, in the follow up post, I will share what made me  come back well fed…

Stay hooked…to be continued…

The Lounge Bar Restaurants are the in-thing

Found in the heart of the busy alleys of South Delhi's stylish and rustic Hauz Khas Village, the gastronomic fanatics of the city are set to sample the range of appetizers, cuisines and beverages in some of the many Lounge and Bars that dot this place.
 

The place intends to satisfy all foodies, sports enthusiasts and evening revelers. Being compelled to repay the extremely adaptable feel of the flooring space, restaurants in Hauz Khas feature both indoor & open air areas that boasts of simple decoration to highlight the venue's selling points and delightfully stirring and reassuring culinary encounters, while being attached with the open bar.
 

The restaurants in Hauz Khas sure take their meals seriously so if you are a food aficionado, get ready to get pampered with a variety from an all-embracing combination of food selection that takes diners on a hearty travel through the culinary world of comfort eating, while languorously watching out onto the lavish environments that act as a backdrop for those seated outdoors or at the open terraces.
 

The sports Lounge and Bar in Hauz Khas is famous and this is where you can hang out with your pals over pool, while checking out a match on any one of the two oversized projector wall surfaces. You can order a scrumptious smoked lamb burger, or a few seafood platters to fill your appetizer. For the night owls of the city, make certain to pre-book so as to enjoy the best live performances from a few of the leading DJs to a smattering of talented Magicians.
 

For cocktail lovers, here is what you can choose to accompany your smoked lamb burger, or kebab platter. One of my favorites is the Bourbon Crusher. This is exactly what Monica of the ‘Friends’ fame would love to have. A few ml of scotch with a dip of lemon juice tastes sophisticated!
 

Well, even for alcohol lovers, the bourbon crusher is a must-try as it overshadows the various other elements but leaves behind a fresh lime and orange twist that is simply addictive. If you are into the smooth kind of cocktails, opt for the vodka based one which is definitely refreshing and fruity.