Dineout Bloggers meet at Fly Kouzina in association with Thinkquisitive

I was familiar with Fly Kouzina but never got an opportunity to visit this unique aircraft themed place. So last week when I received an invitation from Thinkquisitive at the Bloggers Meet arranged by Dineout and Fly Kouzina in association with Thinkquisitive I was really elated and excited to be a part of this event.



If you are not familiar with Fly Kouzina, then I must start by saying that it is truly an amazing place (that you can well check out from my pictures of this place) that will entice you with its ambiance and satisfy you with its food and mocktails. It is Kolkata’s first aircraft themed, pure vegetarian multi-cuisine restaurant. As you walk inside the restaurant you will find a classy and spacious aircraft themed eating joint with amazing airplane models hanging from the ceiling or nicely framed fighter plane pictures on the walls, but that’s really nothing! This outer section is somewhat like a lobby at the airport maybe. You are yet to feel the real Fly Kouzina thrill, since till now you haven’t yet boarded the flight, the exquisite gourmet flight!





So, now if you step inside the aircraft section, you will actually feel like you have stepped inside an airplane. Though you won’t find the overhead lockers but that doesn’t make much difference since you can see the exact sight from your seat like you see if you are inside an aircraft. So as expected this section is a long I- shaped area like it’s there inside an aircraft, you have seating arrangements of two sides of an alley (with wooden flooring) The seats are grouped into four forming some sort of a cabin, so if you are a group of four of less it’s better to sit in this unique aircraft themed section. The seats are perfect and look like the aircraft seats with proper height and feel. Now you have the small aircraft windows beside your seats precisely as you get in reality with the scenes of clouds floating by while you devour your favorite delicacy! Even you have the emergency exit at one of the seats with was really interesting to spot since I was actually looking for it :) The interior of this section and the lighting is absolutely fabulous, nothing less than that.



So you can have a turbulence-free comfortable eating expedition sitting inside an aircraft, which seems to have landed right here at Kolkata :) In the outer lobby section you get some really comfortable couches, with wall clocks showing world times and some amazing background music. You have a bar counter at the farthest distance from the entrance which is nicely decked up and has a revolving sparking ball on top and a huge LED TV on the wall, but sadly the place is yet to get its bar license. Since I am talking about the ambiance and feel I would also like to mention the way the staffs are dressed, they perfectly look like the crew members you will find inside an aircraft, that’s another obvious point which has been kept in mind and executed perfectly. And yes, the person at the gate won’t scan you or check out your baggage tags like they do at the airports, so chill and enjoy your meal :) But not to forget the amazing Boarding passes which we were handed over with our Blog names printed on it! Looked so real and that gesture was pretty impressive!



Now let’s see where this aircraft is actually parked? Well, it’s very easy to locate this restaurant at the Saltlake sector-1 AD block. It is basically near the BD market bus stop, so you can ask for that if you can’t locate this place. You can park your car right on the main road right outside the restaurant like you can do all throughout the Saltlake area, so that’s not an issue; and relax, the parking is actually free unlike the airport parking :)  

Lemongrass Mojito

Now let us come to the food, the crux of the matter for which we had gathered at this place :) But before that we were greeted by a scroll menu and special note which looked fabulous. It was lovely to have so many bloggers under one roof. Coming back to the food, the Fly Kouzina Menu set for this amazing Bloggers Meet was huge, to say the least. In the end we could not taste all the items and were left over stuffed and extremely satisfied! The menu had various cuisines like Italian, Oriental, Continental, Indian, etc. Here are the items we had tried:

1) Manchow soup – We started off with this pretty common steamy bowl of oriental soup with crispy noodles by the side, the soup is a combination of fermented soya and chilli that tastes good if not great. The seasoning of chopped cilantro and veggies in there made it quite filling. The consitency was not too thick and the spice level was just optimally correct.  

Cream of mushroom soup

2) Cream of mushroom soup – To start with, this bowl of soup looked gorgeous, with the cream on top it would have looked even better had it been served in a black colored soup bowl. The cream of mushroom soup had some amazing subtle flavors and should have been tried or served before the manchow soup. The thick soup with the mushroom pieces in the bottom was a treat to have.

3) Crispy chilly baby corn – One of the most common dishes you will get in an eatery these days, and if you are vegetarian you are almost bound to order one plate of this every time you go out for a meal. The taste here was good like it should be with a nice crunch to it. The dish had sesame seeds sprinkled on top and tossed well with bell peppers.

4) Pesto cheese shaslik – Here we start off with some artsy yet filling starters, this one was
 Pesto marinated cottage cheese skewers with bell peppers, pineapples and onions grilled to perfection. The cottage cheese or paneer cubes were fresh and soft. This one is surely worth a try.

Cheese balls

5) Cheese balls – Oh I loved these cheese balls, we were served eight cheese balls in a plate with a artsy green bell pepper carrying the mayonnaise dip. The presentation all though out was pretty impressive.

6) Broccoli corn dumpling – I tried three pieces of these dumplings and I was longing for more. I rarely go for veg dumplings at places where you get chicken or pork dumplings, but as a matter of fact I am madly in love with dumplings in general so the filling inside can safely vary. Here I was overwhelmed by the bamboo box presentation and by the size of the steamed dumplings, mighty impressive. The looks were not at all deceiving since the first bite assured that I will go on to try more of this. The super minced broccoli and corn fillings was juicy, tasty and teamed up well with the silky soft outer cover. Dip it into some red medium-spicy momo sauce that was provided. Must try!  

Broccoli corn dumplings

7) Malai paneer tikki – These were really some melt in your mouth stuff, oozing with flavors.
 They are clay oven toasted Paneer tikka with cream, the tikkis are stuffed inside with a smooth paste of cottage cheese with zero spiciness. Soft, somewhat gooey filling that goes well with the creamy orange dip which was provided.

8) Kadak subj seekh kebab –I didn’t like this starter much. A plate had six kebabs with thinly sliced cucumber shaped like noodles. The kababs which have minced vegetables in it (and cooked in tandoor) were too dry for my liking and did not have that kick or stuff in it to get you glued.

Malai Paneer Tikki

9) Cheese garlic bread – It had the subtle kick or garlicky flavors in it. It’s just herb and garlic toasted breads with cheese on top. The cheese was put just in right quantity and overall you can try this, nice one.

10) Virgin Colada – One of the best mocktais for sure that is available at this place. It is bit thick, white colored frothy drink with a mix of coconut, ice cream and pineapple juice. Very refreshing and needs to be consumed when chilled. Must try!

11) Strawberry Margarita – I didn’t quite like this though it looked very promising and the presentation was wonderful. It has a blend of strawberries, orange and lemon juice with a pinch of tobacco and Worcestershire sauce.

Strawberry margarita

12) Virgin mojito – Classic cooler and refreshment option available at every restaurant these days. Here also it was nice and refreshing with a nice blend of fresh mint leaves, lemon and sugar. There is nothing to write home about but it’s nice as it should be.

13) Lemongrass mojito – This was one of the best coolers of the evening. Very refreshing and had a nice tang to it that suited my palate. It had fresh mint leaves and lemon chunks muddled with lemongrass and mint mojito syrup, topped up with Sprite. The presentation was wonderful and the black straw in all the drinks looked more sturdy and classy. Must try!

Lemongrass mojito

14) Orange mojito – The orange mojito was nice but somehow I preferred the lemongrass mojito more to it. It was a blend of fresh mint leaves and orange muddled with some brown sugar.

15) Barman’s pitcher – Without a whiff of doubt, this looked amazing. It was served I a log glass. But taste-wise it had taken bit too much ingredients in it to taste like one single thing, as a result it got a muddled taste which surely needs to get back its unique character. It has a blend of apple juice, cranberry juice, peach syrup, grenadine syrup, and topped with loads of Red-bull.

Barman's pitcher

16) Mint lemonade – It was nice and refreshing but tad too minty for my palate. It was relaxing though with a blend of lemon juice, mint leaves and crushed ice.

17) La Pizza Verde – From here we started off with the continental main course. It had loads of exotic veggies like zucchini, broccoli, sweet corn, etc and loaded with some great quality cheese. The crust was not too thick and not at all chewy. I would recommend this stuff.

18) Pizza Kouzina – This was the second variety of pizza for the day. It was the chef’s special pizza with the pesto dip. The pizza was again studded with exotic veggies and I could remember having baby corn, yellow and red bell peppers, etc as the toppings. A nice one and not at all spicy.

Risotto Alle Verde

19) Risotto Alle Verde – The risotto was somewhat not having that zing which I was looking for. Maybe I was dreaming about some pieces of chicken in there which was missing since this is a vegetarian joint. It had Arborio rice cooked with loads of cheese and optimal quantity of corn and herbs sprinkled on top. The dish was supported by buttery garlic breads by the side which were nice and quite something not to be missed.

20) Lasagne De Verde – Oh I loved this lasagna and though I thought I will not find this interesting for the vegetarian finish, but then after the first tryst with vegetarian lasagna I found this to be equally attractive. It had layered pasta with an array of exotic vegetables. Must try!

Lasagne De Verde

21) Chilly garlic noodles – One portion of this dish was enough to suffice the appetite for two. The simple garnish with chopped spring onion leaves was common yet somewhat appetizing, the noodles had enough veggies in it having the perfect crunch. It was a typical Kolkata style hakka noodles which is common in several eateries. The garlicky touch added some brownie points to it along with the mild spiciness from the dry red chilies. The flavor could have been tad better since it was somewhat marred by the excess oiliness in there.

22) Sweet & Sour cottage cheese – The side dish that was provided with the hakka noodles was sweet and sour cottage cheese. The preparation was quite simple with mild tangy gravy having bell peppers, tomato and pineapple cubes tossed along with some fresh paneer cubes. Nice one to go with the noodles.



23) Subz Dum Biryani with Raita – This biriyani was the star dish, for sure! I rarely try veg biriyani but this time I was floored by the sheer aroma and flavor of this show stopper dish! We were completely full when this was served and were reluctant to try it, but then when we tried a spoon we realized it’ll be a crime to miss this! The biriyani looked great as the various shades of long flaky rice gave an amazing look to it. The aroma of ghee was mesmerizing and in the end I was shamelessly having it directly from the the handi :) It was slowly cooked in dum pukht style with lovely basmati rice and generous quantity of vegetables. Must try!

Dum biriyani

24) Gulab Jamun – Lovely warm and soft gulab jamuns to end the meal. It was drenched in the sweet saffron syrup which was deep in there the gulab jamuns. The entire stuff was melt-in-your-mouth types with nuts and resins and a soft core.  



25) Sunken Chocolate Pudding with Vanilla ice cream – This was just the dish we were looking for to end our meal. It was yum, fudgy and delicious! This was hot chocolate soufflé with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. It was another melt-in-the-mouth dessert that impressed each and everyone. The cream patisserie was bouncy and smooth, and surely very well beaten. The ice cream was bit molten when served but otherwise it was perfect. Must try!

There were many more items, especially in the Indian main course menu which we could not try since we were super stuffed! And infact, some of the mocktails were so good we tried couple of glasses of them leaving us more stuffed :) Maybe serving so many items and to so many bloggers left the servers weary and in the end we could not taste the Indian main course items, not that we were not full when we reached that point of time! Otherwise the servers were very courteous, soft spoken and polite. And I would say they did their best to handle such a huge group of bloggers as well as general customers seated in the aircraft section. Overall I will give this place 80% positive feedback and it is a must-visit joint for all the vegetarians, no doubt about that.

Sunken Chocolate Pudding with Vanilla ice cream

As the tagline of this Dineout Bloggers Meet goes - this was all about great food, great friends and great times! We thoroughly enjoyed every bit of this turbulence-free scrumptious meal in this unique aircraft :) And we are extremely thankful to Dineout, Thinkquisitive and Fly Kouzina management for all the awesome hospitality, special thanks to Alka for being such a great host. Had a really great time with my fellow bloggers from ‘Panchphoron’ food-bloggers group. The meetup ended on a happy note and quite late into the night, maybe we took quite a long time tasting all those items :) While we were all set to leave we were handed over some amazing goodies which had numerous wonderful stuffs including some gorgeous and flavorful Kaos Cookies!

We thoroughly enjoyed this in-flight best in class service and food without getting thousands of feets off the ground! Now I really believe great food and aircraft goes together. Yes they do, at least when they are on the land, especially it’s true for the one at AD-73 Saltlake Sector-1 :)

Cheers!

Arsalan and its new branches across the city - Rajarhat branch reviewed!

To a Bengali, simple joys of life surely do include devouring Bengali style biriyani, and if that is from Arsalan then it's an absolute bliss. This branch of Arsalan I am talking about is located near Chinar Park crossing at Rajarhat. It is one of the newest branches of this renowned food chain in the city. And in this area the competition is quite steep with the likes of Arsalan, Aminia and Lazeez all located within few meters, in addition to that you have restaurants like Tamara, XII Zodiac, etc in the vicinity. This place is basically quite close to City Centre 2 mall as well and infact that is one better landmark for someone who is not familiar with this area.

Arsalan, in general is like a foodie's paradise serving their signature Biriyanis, Kebabs, rolls, rezalas, etc. The location is indeed very good and is easy to spot since it is right there on the main road. The place has got its valet parking, so you need not worry about parking your car as well.

FOOD QUALITY / QUANTITY ---- I have had lunch at this place thrice, except the first one the other two were take-aways though. Their home delivery service is very poor to say the least, the delivery boys are not logical enough and they do not accept orders below a certain amount which is close to INR 1000, isn’t that ridiculous? So we have already stopped going for home delivery from this place. I always go for their classic bengali style chicken or mutton biriyani along with some popular sides like Mutton Rezala or chicken reshmi butter masala. And wrap things up with some amazing Firni.

On the last occasion I went in for their special Mutton biriyani, it was really an awesome dish and one plate of special Mutton Biriyani easily serves two if you are having some side dishes and starters along with it. The special biriyani has got 3 tender mutton pieces, two big well-boiled & well-spiced potatoes and one boiled egg. It is surely one wholesome meal that delights your soul, satisfies your tastebuds and fills you up simultaneously. Some of the sides are bit oily though specially their chicken chaap,etc and I try to avoid them, but apart from few such sides this place is an absolute gem. I always go for their Biriyanis and not for their parathas, Chinese, etc; it's my personal preference but then I feel maybe having Biriyani at this joint is the best thing that you can probably do, so try not to miss their biriyani, specially the Special Mutton Biriyani, it has got attractive aromas and is absolutely delicious. But yes, the ‘consistency’ factor is really low out here, the taste of biriyani was found to be not that great on one occasion, and so I had to taste their food thrice before writing this blog post!

AMBIANCE & SERVICE ---- I have dined at their restaurant area, though the ambiance is nice but it is optimally spacious and has got a bit close seating arrangement, so I prefer to take-away from this place. Also I feel if you dine-in at this joint, the food served might be not that piping hot and service time can sometimes make you feel a bit edgy. So if you want to avoid this service part then again try to go for take-aways. Don’t try out their home delivery.

CONCLUSION --- There is some good competition for Arsalan in this area, but yes the  people at Newtown were waiting for Arsalan to open up a branch in this area after Aminia opened their doors. So this situation should not lead to fall in quality and quantity of the food served, not sure why the service and home delivery is already going downhill. 

It's good to have demand and it should be maintained in that way so that the reputation of the brand ‘Arsalan’ is never hurt. It would be great if user reviews, criticisms and feedbacks are taken positively. Overall, the kebabs and Biriyanis available at this place is a must-have, so give it a try and hopefully you'll have a nice experience.

Cheers!

 

Amazing tastes of opaar Bangla at Kasturi, Jessore Road

Well this blog post was pending for some time! Couple of months back I was pleasantly surprised to discover this relatively new branch of Kasturi so close to my place. It is not always feasible for me to visit their Ballygunge or New Market branch. To start with, I must say that if you are looking for a casual dining restaurant serving Bangladeshi cuisine right here in Kolkata then Kasturi is your place to be. It serves some East Bengali or rather Bangal dishes which are sure to steal your heart.

LOCATION - - - - - The place is conveniently located diagonally opposite to the Diamond Plaza Mall (and beside Alibaba) on Jessore Road close to the Nagerbazar crossing. You can park your car on the road in front of the eatery or better if you park your car inside the Diamond Plaza Mall.

AMBIANCE - - - - - The place which is often called Kasturi Minar has an ambiance which is tad better than its Ballygunge outlet in some respect. The walls adorn lovely wallpapers, starting from Nazrul, Rabindranath, to Uttam, Suchitra, etc who almost define the Bengali culture of undivided Bengal. Interiors are neat, well-lit and humble with pictures of buildings and monuments from both sides of Bengal. The furnitures used are optimally classy. The place has got several window ACs as well as ceiling fans. Tables are placed quite closely making it bit cramped up, the place is not that huge but has got several tables in that little space. But despite of that during the weekends you have to experience long waiting hours before getting your seat. We went at 3pm on a Sunday and had to wait for 30 mins on the road since there was a long queue, they have got no waiting area inside the restaurant. I would advise better not to visit on weekends in that case. One thing I didn't like about the ambiance is - there is one glass wall facing the main road, so when you are having your food inside every passerby is checking out what is there on your plate! :) Not so cool.

Aloo posto

FOOD - - - - - We were super hungry when we got our seats after that long waiting time. We quickly ordered for the below items (though we had to request numerous times to please accept our order!) –

a) Steamed Rice – Steamed rice is available in bowls and plates, that’s how they quantify rice here. One bowl and one plate of rice is good enough for two. Lovely quality of rice used and prepared to perfection.

Sona moong dal

b) Sona moong dal with peas – Dal is one necessary part of Bengali meal and when it comes to sona moong dal it is kind of heaven for a Bengali foodie soul. Sona moong dal with peas here was reasonably priced but served in a small bowl so I must say the quantity was optimally decided keeping in mind the other delicacies available here at Kasturi :)

c) Aloo posto – Really goes very well with Sona moong dal and steamed rice. One of the favorite dishes of West Bengal, Aloo posto is loved by almost every Bengali foodie. The proportion of posto was bit on the lower side here but still the overall taste was appreciable. Quantity was good enough.

d) Kochupata Chingri Bhapa – And here comes the star dish of Kasturi. This is the reason why I was here for this meal. The paste of Kochu pata or the colocasia leaves in mustard and loads of shrimps gives an immaculate taste ad the dash of mustard oil added on top gives all the x-factor and kick to the dish. It goes great with steamed rice. One bowl of this dish is good enough for two. Must try!

Kochupata Chingri Bhapa - Must try!

e) Mutton Kosha – Again I was thoroughly impressed by this very common Bengali non-veg dish. The taste of the dish was spot-on, not too spicy but very rich in flavors. The three mutton pieces provided in that small bowl was very well marinated and cooked. Full marks from my side. Must try!

f) Chutney – This was a complimentary dish given to me, thanks for that gesture. Lovely sweet tomato chutney with all the dates, aam shotto, etc in it. Nice way to end your meal.

Mutton Kosha

g) Mishti Doi – Finally wrap up your meal with one earthen bowl of mishti doi (sweet yogurt). It was nice and the taste was spot on, perfect.

SERVICE - - - - - I would say this is the part they should be careful of. Firstly the person who was maintaining the waiting queue was rather amateurish in behavior, not very used to handle the esteemed customers, was trying to be over-friendly in a rather unpolished way! Secondly they had to be pleaded for atleast 4-5 times to kindly accept our order, that was annoying. Other than these two points the servers and the person at the front desk were courteous. The service was pretty quick and prompt. They serve a bottle of mineral water by default on your table and add its price to the bill without informing, though weird but this is something which I can still accept.

SUMMARY - - - - - The Kochupata Chingri Bhapa is something that draws me to Kasturi on numerous occasions. It is one dish for which you can travel some distance, thus making Kasturi a destination restaurant. Overall the quality of food at this place has never disappointed me, the price is also reasonable though it has got all the tax components. Dhakai or Bangal cuisine which is not very common here, so this place has got very little competition in that niche domain. If they can improve their service and ambiance they are sure to stay, I am assuming the quality of their food will only improve with time. And this new outlet is surely a piece of heaven for lovers of Bangal cuisine like me, so visit this place with your loved ones or friends and you won't repent.

Cheers!

 

Bloggers Meet over Food Tasting session at Au Bon Pain, Park Street

I am an old timer at Au Bon Pain, not only at their Park Street outlet but I have tried them out at their other outlets and kiosks as well spread all across the city. To be very frank, I am an ardent fan of their bakery products. And when it comes to this Park Street outlet I absolutely love the ambiance and the colonial style interiors. I keep coming back to this place not only to taste ABP’s food but also to taste the sweetness of Kolkata. The place has somehow got the sugary essence that builds the DNA of this mystic city! But yes, it is not that iconic in this area like the Flury’s, Peter Cat or maybe the Olypub. But ABP with this spacious, spread out outlet attracts loads of crowd and is placed right at the heart of Park Street. As we all know this place used to be the house of music lovers, when Music World was erased from this location most of the music lovers (who are also coffee sippers!) marked the day as some sort of a black day, but then when Au Bon Pain opened up things started taking a U-turn, people started coming back again at this piece of land. And now they were being treated to the subtle delicacies of this American bakery!

This fast casual bakery and café chain started off in Boston back in 1978. Since then it has spread all across US, Thailand and in India. The bakery café chain that literally means ‘at the good bread’ was brought to the country after the daughter of industrialist Sanjeev Goenka took a liking to its bakery products as a student at the University of Pennsylvania sometime in 2007. A couple of years later, the first café was opened up in Bangalore. The Kolkata chapter began in November 2013 at Park Street, in the sprawling space once occupied my Music World. 

Au Bon Pain is a place where you would love to visit if you want to have some fresh and safe food in real quick time. It focuses on serving baked goods primarily like fresh-baked bread, pastries, croissants, muffins, bagels, etc and items like tea, coffee, espresso beverages, breakfast food items, soups, salads, sandwiches, etc. If the already existing baked samosa, or baked vada-pao have not been much sought-after items in the midst of sandwiches, salads, breads, and bagels the new menu is expected to enhance the experience to yet another level. It is surely based on the upcoming food trends and demands. Also as we know here you won’t get any fried items on the menu which is unhealthy, oily or soggy, everything here is either cooked or baked.

Last week I was invited at Au Bon Pain, Park Street at the Bloggers Meet over a food tasting session and I was truly honored to be a part of this event which marked the launch of Au Bon Pain’s new Menu with so many prominent food bloggers under one roof. Infact I had referred several other notable bloggers and foodies in town and together we had a real good time. This review of mine will cover these new items from ABP’s menu and couple of my old favorites. So let’s discuss briefly about the ambiance of this place and then we can directly move on to the section we love most, where to discuss about the food!

The place is located just beside Flury’s at Park Street opposite the McDonalds outlet. As you step into this café you notice the enormous high ceiling, colonial style structures and feel, it’s a spread out piece of paradise waiting to greet you. The service is quite prompt, servers are very polite and they will guide you to get seated. As you enter the place you notice a yellow standing board depicting the map which how you can walk down their food trail. It shows the map of the place as you are supposed to go through it. It shows all the notable stops where you should stop and take a look or a sip maybe! 

Now as you enter the place the urbane décor and wooden suave finish all around impresses you. The chandeliers used are not very artsy though which could have elevated the charm had it been the other way. As you walk past the front section having all the items on display you enter the seating area which again is huge. And you get an array of seating arrangements to choose from. We chose the high chairs; you can opt for couches or simple seating arrangements available in other cafes. It has got some seating arrangements upstairs as well where you can get by taking the stairs. 

By the way, the place is so spread out, you have public address system installed there for servers to call out your orders when they are ready, etc; often you may feel you are sitting at an airport or a railway station maybe :)  The wall décor and paintings remind you of the bygone era of British raj maybe and overall exudes an aura or warmth and marks your good times. It’s a place where you can sit for hours with your laptop or friends and no one will come and hand over the bill to you indicating you need to vacate the spot.

Now coming to the food which we had tried during our food tasting session. As we all know the food here is not fried and overall has a subtle flavor, anyone who loves something too spicy, drenched in Indian masalas or is more inclined towards real junk food this might not be your right place to order from. Anyway, without wasting any more words lets check out the items we tried –

a) Cold coffee – This was served once we were seated, it was the first drink that we had. It was served in a plastic covered glass and in real good quantity. Being the first drink it helped us getting into the groove and somehow I felt it to be refreshing though the essence of coffee could have been on the higher side and it could have been a bit thickened.

b) Cone-wich – This is the new offering from Au Bon Pain. Cone-wich is one fancy name for their cone shaped sandwiches with mildly spiced fillings. There are conical sandwiches stuffed and served in a medium sized paper glass. Quite an innovative idea for sure and quite handy for its structure and the glass in the base. The conical sandwich is somehow rolled up to lock the stuffing inside and is sprinkled with sesame seeds on top. The generous stuffing (with loads of cheese on top) is no doubt very fresh and very flavorful. I loved these conewiches for sure. I had tried the below three flavors (or rather fillings) of cone-wich which is all they have right now -

i) Paneer tandoori

ii) Chicken keema

iii) Mushroom and eggplant

Cone-wiches

c) Peach mojito – Served in a transparent covered glass the quantity served was again appreciable, though this peach flavored mojito tasted pretty watery since the flavors were on the lower side. Some work needs to be done on this drink.

d) Banana yogurt cooler with Chia seeds – This is one of the newly introduced drinks, it is one of their summer super coolers. These are the high fibre energy drinks. This mainly focuses on health rather than on your taste buds. As a result my taste buds didn’t love this thick banana shake but I’m sure my body did!

e) Orange papaya cooler – Same as the previous drink, this is one of the newly introduced summer super coolers. It is a high fibre energy drink again focusing on your health. It had the optimal mix of papaya and fresh oranges in it, a true cooler for sure but the taste didn’t impress me much. But saying so, it is good for your health and can be a real deal with the scorching sun outside.

f) Watermelon mojito – The name says it all, it has the watermelon pulp mixed with the right kick of crushed mint leaves, served in huge quantity. Really loved this one.

g) Croi-mosa – This is pronounced as [kwa-mosa] and is one of the newly introduced items. These are scrumptious croissants with the samosa filling inside which mainly consisted of mildly spiced potatoes. It was nice and goes well with some hot tea or coffee.

Croi-mosa

h) Poha Bagel Sandwich – This was an innovative newly introduced dish served in a paper box. It has yellow colored poha on toasted bagel with Au Bon Pian’s signature cheese blend and some mint chutney. The combination somehow appeared tad quirky to me and it was nice though not out of the world. The flavors were overall mild and can be consumed for breakfast.

i) Grilled chicken jalepano and corn – This was a sandwich which I couldn’t taste much in this tasting session. But it had nicely grilled chicken bits along with crunchy corn and jalepanos in there, the overall taste was nice with a bit of tanginess to it.

j) BBQ chicken wings – We devoured these chicken wings just like anything. The little wings were all meaty and very fresh. They were juicy and very appetizing from the look itself. Though I would have preferred them to be a tad tangy maybe like the crispy Korean versions, but anyway here the sauce which covered the wing was nice, it was again mild and non-spicy having subtle flavors to it.

k) Classic mojito – It was the classic mojito, but was tad too minty for my liking. This could have been prepared perfectly since it is pretty common these days, available in almost every restaurant.

l) Mocha – This cuppa fine quality coffee was bang on the target. It was a orthodox preparation though I felt it could have been a bit more dense.

m) Apple Juice – The apple juice was prepared with some preferences kept in mind maybe, since I felt the taste was bit intensified and not sure if everyone would prefer it. Someone keen to have intensified apple flavor would go for it, the quantity served was good but the quality could have been better.

n) Asian noodle salad – The Asian Noodle Salad was served in a plastic easy to carry box with a lid. The salad was loaded with veggies and was packed with flavors keeping the health quotient in mind. It was basically sesame ginger noodles on a bed of greens with tossed almonds, carrots and spring onions. It was filling and very satisfying, I would recommend this dish.

o) Dark hot chocolate – This was again something which I loved. It was one medium sized glass of hot dark chocolate that I kept on sipping for a long while some interesting conversions were going on! :) Something which I’ll again have when I am back here.

p) Frozen mint lemonade – This was nice with the right mix of crushed mint and a dash of lemon. The refreshing cooler was indeed necessary for beat the blazing sun outside.

q) Strawberry ice tea – To be very frank, I am not an ardent fan of Ice Teas, I have an old school ideology that the flavor (or rather the charm) of tea suits (me) best when it is consumed hot. But anyway, doesn’t mean I never try Iced Tea. Here the Ice Tea had a unique combination with strawberry flavor infused into it. I can tell you if you love ice teas you will like this flavored variant for sure.

r) Chocolate croissant – I absolutely loved this croissants which had chocolate syrup webbed on top which looked liked strands. The croissant was overall soft and slightly flacky. The chocolate filling was an absolute bliss to have. It was gooey, rich and intense. Must try!

s) Iced Mocha – This is one of the newly introduced drinks. It comes under the category of ‘Specialty cold beverages’. It had the right essence of mocha, the aroma of finest coffee beans came through in spite of it being the cold variant. Overall it was refreshing and satisfying.

 
t) Peri Peri chicken wings – It was the second chicken wing based dish, but I found it lacked the zing somehow. I would prefer the BBQ Chicken wings to this one. The looks were promising enough to leave us longing for more. The flavors were too subtle to leave us disappointed; the wings were anyway meaty and fresh.

u) Creamy Basil veggie pasta – The only pasta dish that we tried, the Creamy Basil veggie pasta was a delight to have. It was not too loaded with spices but left a mild essence of basil packed with grilled vegetables, topped with parmesan cheese and served with garlic bread. Nice one and yes, it was filling as well.

v) Blueberry muffin – Here comes the gem of Au Bon Pain, the muffins at this place are to die for. Blueberry muffin is no exception. The concentrated blueberry jelly and the overall blueberry essence only keep you wanting for more.

w) Red velvet cake – Again something which I love. The red velvet cake here is bit different from what you might have been dreaming. These fluffy muffins will surely make your day. It’s again pretty subtle to taste, flavors are not at all over powering.

x) Dutch choco – Absolutely loved these rich dark chocolate muffins which had a chocolate piece on top. The stuff was super soft and had intense chocolaty essence; it’ll be a crime if any chocolate lover misses this out.

y) Blueberry mint mojito – The blueberry mint mojito was served in a transparent covered glass, the quantity served was again appreciable, though this blueberry flavor was somewhat overpowered by the aroma of mint in there.

z) Banana walnut muffin – I am not a fan of anything prepared with banana or with its essence. But this was one strong exception. I absolutely loved this cake. It was soft, fluffy and loaded with walnuts and the essence of banana which strangely went very well with my taste buds. Must try!

That concludes our marathon eating expedition. And yes, thanks for the gift hampers which we carried back home that consisted of some lovely truffles. Overall we had a nice experience; the ambiance along with the service will make you come back for more. The muffins and cakes were just brilliant but we felt the drinks could have been a tad better. 

If the drinks were not served this could have been one gem of an experience! Au Bon Pain with all its expertise and glorious history can surely take this note and work on the drinks to make them better. Else this place is doing great and as always buzzing with happy customers. I wish them all the best for the coming days and especially with this new menu.

Cheers!