Food Tasting session at Golden Flavour, Gariahat (Kolkata)

It amazed me to find so much potential in such a joint that looked so casual, bit laid back or rather tad too homely. The place which can still be termed as a ‘newly opened’ joint is one of the bright hidden gems that I have unearthed in the recent times. Not that there ain’t any area of improvement, there are loads but the age needs to be kept in mind before judging this place with the big daddies of the business; just as a piece of fact, acceleration is more precious than steady speed when it can be handled good. I was mighty pleased with this place since the food did all the talking here and the rest of the glittery paraphernalia (which gets more brownie points from many) took a backseat when the gastronomic deal was in progress.

This is a joint that can be called a ‘shopaholic’s café’ primarily for its location. Its location is its boon as well as its curse (according to me) since very few people can spot it from the main road, its entrance is all covered up by the road-side stalls and hawker’s who are all messing up the place but in the same time providing the charm of good ol’ gariahat that we all know! So as I said earlier, this place literally is hidden and is truly a hidden gem of this area. It is located beside the Beduoin restaurant and opposite the Basanti Devi college near gariahat crossing. This place is primarily serving oriental cuisine along with few other quick bites and I was glad to receive the food tasting invitation that introduced me to this lovely joint sitting right in the epicenter of hustle and bustle of the Gariahat market. But when you are in there you are really cut-off from the mad city rush that’s creating all the turmoil outside, only thing – I would love the glass doors to have some frosted finish so that I don’t even have to get a sight of that mad rush or the nail-biting negotiations going on outside in that market.

The place has got ample space which is nicely utilized by placing several small tables with modest colorful chairs along with it. For large groups such tables can be brought together, so that won’t be an issue. Most, interesting thing that I noticed while I was there at this joint is – people simply walk in while they are in between some hectic shopping schedule for a breather, and that’s why I said the location is a boon to this place. There is ample space and you need not go for reservations. Except the flooring I kinda liked the interior, especially the wall decor which is very colorful and vibrant. You have wall graffiti that depicts urban folks dining at restaurants, also the wall has got the city skyline and overall the wall arts inject loads of life into this place. Next noteworthy object is the hanging colorful glass lights which when all lit up looks really wonderful, you can go on practicing some of your photography skills with these lights (as subject) for sure!

Now let us come to the crux of the matter and yes, that’s the time when we discuss about the food. Though you get some quick bites here like sandwiches, fish n chips to go with some coffee or black tea, but the main cuisine that is being served here is Chinese. And that is Chinese with some great flavour and visible honesty, thus kinda justifying the name ‘Golden flavour’! Now let us check out the dishes which were tasted by me –

a) Aam Panna – I was served a glass of water and a glass of Aam Panna right after I reached this place. It was chilled and refreshing with beautiful green color, the perfect drink with heat-resistant properties that I was looking for after coming in from that blazing summer sun.

b) Chicken Lollipop – The chicken lollipop tried at this place was nice with that tangy sauce making it perfect for the admirers of this dish, it had good amount of chicken around the top giving that look of a lollipop. It was bit stuffed before frying it and tossing it with that sauce. You will surely like this bite sized finger food that is garnished with chopped spring onions.

c) Fish n Chips – Well, the fish n chips served here is different from the conventional Fish n chips that you get in some continental joints, gastrobars or maybe at steakhouses where it’s served with the tartar sauce. Originally this dish was prepared in the 17^th century in England. But here you’ll get a twisted version, so it’s better to be prepared for that twist. Here it is more like a homely Kolkata version of fish and chips. The fish you get is fresh Bhetki batter-fried with French fries served along. The fish does the trick, it is really fresh and awesome to taste. The chaat masala which is sprinkled on top can be avoided. I loved this twist since I am always open to new dishes or old dishes with some twist, I will again go for this for that awesome flavorful fresh Bhetki in there!

d) Chicken Steamed Momo – The chicken steamed momos were perfect to be true, they were nice in size and the minced onion, garlic and chicken filling was just good enough to satiate your momo cravings. The red chilli paste or rather the sauce provided along with this was also one perfect companion to go with. The skin was moderately thin and has a nice oily texture to it that’s perfect. You may also opt for pan fried momos but I personally always go for the steamed ones and they worked well for me here, worth a try!

     

e) Pan Fried Chilli Fish – This was one of the dishes which I really loved and would again order for it when I’m back. It was tossed with bell pepper, onion, carrot, coriander, etc and the fish in there again did the trick. It was again fresh Bhetki with some amazing taste and aroma. Yes, this place serves some seriously awesome preparations of fish unlike many other joints. Do try this out.

f) Teriyaki Chicken – If you wanna go for some tangy dish with some pan fried chicken in there then you can go for this. Though Teriyaki has originally been a grilled preparation but these days we can find pan fried teriyaki chicken dishes as well. So since it’s not grilled you won’t get any smoky flavor but due to frying for long the outer skin is bit crunchy here which might suit the palate of many, though I would have liked it a bit more juicy and tender. But that thick soy based sauce did the trick again. And yes, this dish was served with freshly cut pineapple slices which went well with that tangy pan fried chicken.   

g) Red Pepper Fish – Since I found the fish sides to be very good at this place, I ordered for my third fish preparation of the afternoon, and again I was not disappointed. Infact this was of the same class again prepared with fresh Bhetki. The very well prepared flavorful fish went well with the noodles. The green, red and yellow bell peppers were tossed with the nicely cut pieces of Bhetki and sesame seeds were sprinkled on top making it look more appetizing. Worth a try!

h) Egg Chicken Hakka Noodles – Oh boy I loved the simple honest comforting hakka noodles served here. It somehow reminded me of Yam Mein which has similar subtle taste and gives you the taste of old-school Chinese. The noodles were very well tossed with veggies, chicken and egg and had a lovely aroma and subtle flavor that acts as a perfect base for any side to go with. And yes, it was served in a bowl that had huge quantity packed in it, good enough for two persons. Worth a try!

In the end, all these were then washed down by some chilled soft drinks that kinda completed the food tasting session. And now if I talk about the service, then I would say it is effective and courteous, but bit more manpower with time will do good.  The place promises to serve good honest food and it exceeds my expectations in doing so, the ingredients used are remarkable and the final flavour will surely bring you back. Also the pricing is reasonable and pocket pleasing. A perfect joint for the students for sure. I am sure they will keep improving and with time they will attract even more customers who are not very regular in this Gariahat area. Till then I wish the team well and wish them all the best for their future ventures.

Cheers!

 

Grand Launch & Inauguration of Golden Tulip Hotel, Kolkata

Last week I was invited to the grand inauguration event of Golden Tulip Hotel at Saltlake Sector-1, Kolkata (near City Centre 1). The event was at their restaurant area Anti Pasti, with vegetarian food offerings from their kitchen. Golden Tulip is a mid-scale 4 Star Business hotel, it is a part of Louvre Hotels Group. The Louvre Hotels Group has over 1100 hotels in over 47 Countries with 6 brands. It’s the world’s 8th Largest Hotel Chain. 

The hotel was inaugurated today by many eminent personalities and stars like Mahima Chaudhry, Bollywood Actress; Swastika Mukherjee, Tollywood Actress; Shaheb Bhattacherjee, Tollywood Actor; Ridhima Ghosh, Tollywood Actress and many others.   

Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Ashish Mittal, MD of Golden Tulip, Kolkata said, “The hotel with its refreshing decor, gracious hospitality and warm ambience combines to form a memorable experience for the guests. It’s just ideal for hosting social & corporate gatherings while food lovers in search for the real flavours can satiate their taste buds here.”

The hotel has several restaurants, bars and lounges. The Coffee shop "Anti Pasti" is open 24 hours for both in house guest and outside patrons. The restaurant offers wide choice of buffet breakfast and multiple options of Cuisines for lunch and dinner. 

Specialty Hookah Bar "Thrilophalia" is located on the 7th Floor and has a lovely view of the city and is open for early sundowners to late nightcaps. It also has “Noir”, the Open Air Lounge: Situated on the 8th Floor Terrace alongside the Jacuzzi Pool.

On the occasion of the inauguration there was buffet snacks offered. This was the opportunity to taste the culinary skills and flavors of Golden Tulip. Though the fare offered here was vegetarian, it was a good enough spread for evening snacks. 

The items on offer were – Khasta Kochuri, Samosa, Vegetable cheese wrap, Ateshi Aloo, Vegetable sandwich, Daahi bhalla, papdi chat, tea, ice cream, gulab jamuns, etc. The items were refilled in huge quantity and overall it was a nice session of munching the quick bites.

To sum up, it was a nice star studded evening at a lovely venue that has some amazing interiors and ambiance. In the coming days this place with its refreshing decor, gracious hospitality and warm ambience will surely offer a memorable experience to the guests.

Cheers!

 

Food Tasting at Kaos Gourmet Cookies (Kolkata)

There are tiring days, there are gloomy days, there are exciting days and then there are lazy days – but there are really few days which are satisfying, satisfying in true sense. But here is a trick for you people who wanna make a chosen slice of your day exceedingly satisfying! With the offerings from Kaos Gourmet Cookies there is hardly a moment that can be dull. You can pick your favorite cookies, or gooey brownies and spend some quality time with your chosen piece of culinary fantasies. 

Last week I received a box of Kaos goodies at the Kolkata Bloggers’ Meet arranged by Thinkquisitive which marked a happy ending to our eventful evening, though I realized that ‘picture to abhi baaki hain’ with that promising box of goodies in my hand! :) I knew that small box has loads to offer! Kaos was the sweetness partner at this event and I am glad and privileged to have received that box. I have never had the opportunity to try out the signature cookies at Kaos and I can tell you that I was missing a gem of a bakery all this while.

Apart from cookies, Kaos also offers – Brownies, Lavash, Bagels, Cheese spreads, Grissinis, crumbled cookies with Mousse, Truffle balls, etc. Their cookies come in three sizes – Big (4-5 inches in diameter), Small (3-4 inches in diameter)

 and Minis (2-3 inches in diameter). The Big cookies generally will cost you INR 100, the Small with cost you INR 50 and the Minis will cost you INR 30. Brownies are there in two sizes – Big (5 inches x 3 inches) and Small (2.5 inches x 3 inches).

Now coming back to my goodies bag, it was a lovely red paper box with cookies and brownies in it. So here are the items which were in there –


----( COOKIES )----

a) Brandy Salted caramel – It is an light brown crunchy cookie with generous amount of chocolate chips in there which that a molten texture and just causes explosions of joy in your mouth! Has an awesome pleasant aroma with a hint of saltiness in their which is just perfect to be honest. Must try!

b) Nutella Sea Salt – It is a dark chocolate cookie with dry bumpy exteriors and moist darker in the core. It has got intense Chocolaty flavors and generous amount of nuts in there, but I would say it was tad salty for my palate.

c) Red Velvet – The cookie has an amazing dry uneven exterior with a delightful reddish tinge to it with absolutely dark and soft interior. It is tad brittle which personally entices me for sure. The flavors are not too intense and will remind you of a red velvet cake, the chocolaty finish remains and dominates in the end. Worth a try!

d) Double Chocolate Chip – Relatively a bulkier looking cookie with dark blackish brown bumpy finish. It is extremely soft and frankly speaking you need not chew it, it melts in your mouth. The airy yet gooey interiors cast the magical spell once you put it in your mouth! The nutty portions complement the otherwise dark chocolaty portions. Worth a try!

e) Double Expresso Chocolate – This looks a bit different from others, it looks very dark but more composed and power packed. The exteriors are not rough or bumpy, it has a smooth uniform finish with similar dark and soft interiors. It has a very bitter dark coffee flavor and aroma, it is surely a small piece of heaven for the coffee lovers. Overall it was amazing. Must try!

f) Lemon White Chocolate – let’s finish discussing about these cookies with a variant which looks totally different from the others and tastes totally different. It’s the ‘odd man out’ cookie for me. By the way, according to me I was very impressed by its looks and yellowish brown glow. And yes, this is very soft; it breaks apart as you hold it in your hand. As soon as you put it in your mouth the gingery lemony aroma captivates you, it tastes amazing with those mild lemon based flavors; surely I will try it next time. Must try!

----( BROWNIES )----

Flourless Gooey Plain Brownie – Yes, the name itself has the word ‘gooey’! This is one real melt-in-your-mouth stuff and seriously you need not chew it. It is hard brown in color with dry exterior and equally deceiving dark and moist and ‘gooey’ inside. Heaven for dark chocolate brownie lovers. Worth a try!  

So, this entire tasting experience was a chocolaty ride for me and was a pleasure to taste all these freshly made cookies and brownies which are prepared with extreme care. Would recommend this to each and everyone and if you are not trying it out then you are seriously missing something. Hope Kaos will grow exponentially in the coming years!

Cheers!

 

TQ Kolkata Bloggers’ Meet over a Food Tasting Session at Palazzo, Alipore

After those team meetings and project installations coagulating to gift a day with depressing work load at office, I was all set to drive down some 20 kms pushing the sticky city traffic to a place where I was exceedingly excited to be invited. And after entering into that place which seemed to be the true ‘sanjivani booti’ I was waiting for and after receiving that rather loud welcome from my fellow bloggers and food reviewers I was feeling all refreshed and ready for that amazing food tasting session! 

I was warmly welcomed by the hosts and was asked to take a seat which was imperative for my tired soul. This event was a Bloggers’ Meet hosted by Thinkquisitive at Palazzo named ‘TQ Kolkata Bloggers’ Meet’ and I was rather privileged to be there sharing the thoughts, ideas as well as puns and jokes with other fellow bloggers and foodies! This was an awesome initiative for bringing in the bloggers together for such an event which was supported by Uber as the Travel partner and Kaos as the Sweetness partner.

Now let us come to the venue which is one of the best club lounges I have been to in last few months. And I am sure this is one of a kind in this area. It is there on the busy Burdwan Road (though somewhat hidden) beside the Talwakar Gym. The place has got valet parking, so I didn’t have to worry much about that chapter. The entrance is not that big or elaborate, but when you step in and walk through the nicely decorated artsy alley, with lovely framed paintings on the wall and with that ornate well-lit ceiling décor you are bound to get the feel that you are at the right place! And then when you open that heavy door to step into the lounge you will surely feel the kick to live the night to the fullest. The classy interior décor with the DJ churning out some awesome music that’s playing loud, making your tired soul to leave right away through that door! You get some amazing cocktails, hookah and food at this place that is sure to help you unwind and rejuvenate. This is one ideal party location where you can bring in your friends or loved ones who enjoy clubbing.

This place also boasts of a huge screen just on the wall close to the comfy couches where you can chill and relax sipping your favorite drink while watching live sports. The dimly lit ambiance prevails throughout this place except a bit separated out dining area which can be termed as one open yet private room for two large groups, we were seated in this area while we had the food or rather the dinner but I will come to the food later (in this review). There are two other areas apart from the two already discussed. One is the large bar counter just opposite the DJ. The strategically-lit bar counter has got several high chairs as usual which are very comfortable and sturdy to be honest. You can spend hours on those chairs for sure unlike many places. The floor in front of the DJ platform is bathed with strobe and rotating disco lights where you can loosen up and try out your favorite dance moves caring little about the world. The music is mostly hip hop and dance numbers (and yes, aptly loud) just perfect to get grooving. The other section is beside the DJ platform where you have high back leather couches to settle down and unwind. Overall the place just gives you that overwhelmingly impressive ambiance to settle down real fast and revitalize your inner self.

Coming to the food and beverages, since this meet has been organized during the Indian Premier League (IPL) season and so like many other places Palazzo is also keen on elevating this experience of watching IPL from the cricket stadiums and the TV screens to your dinner table. Let the battle between Kolkata and Mumbai determine which dish you wanna have for dinner! That’s pretty interesting as well as fun filled. Like Fantasy premier leagues this eating game off the field will surely help you enjoy the IPL in ways more than one. Like we were all interested to taste the dish named after the Kolkata team – KKR before trying the other dishes :) Even the cocktails were named after the elements and notable cricketers linked to the IPL. Now to be honest, I was bit late to reach this place and so I could only taste a couple of cocktails (from this IPL Cocktail Menu) which were both remarkable. I tried the drink named ‘Korbo Lorbo’ (named after the tagline of the KKR team) and to be honest according to all the invited bloggers this was the best drink on this IPL cocktail menu. It had an overall tangy orangish flavor which was a wonderful concoction lemon and orange juice, jalepano infused Tequila Bianco, tomato juice, orange liqueur with a bit of sprite and finished with the garnish of orange slices, overall it was the perfect stuff to give that kick in a sweet refreshing way, hope you’ll love its magic! The drink named ‘Gayle storm’ was also beautifully prepared, with a mix of lemon juice, vodka, rosemary infused ice cube, rosemary sprig garnished with a slice of lemon.

Then we moved on to taste the food items, the menu was named – IPL pre-plated main course menu which had eight dishes named after the eight cricket teams playing the IPL this year. Here are the eight dishes tried:

a) As said earlier, we started with the dish named after the Kolkata team; the dish was called: ‘The Eden Platter’. The platter had a combination of three items namely the Kolkata special kathi rolls, yellow fusion rice along with conical traditional vegetable and fish chops. Though I would have loved the dishes to be more authentic but this version of kathi rolls were dearer to me, frankly I loved every bit of the kathi roll with those chicken chunks, bell peppers and onion bits and maybe I overate those rolls! It was absolutely amazing and the covering was not at all oily which I really liked. The fusion rice was good with the minced capsicum and the veg/fish chop was nice but the kathi roll totally eclipsed those in my opinion. It was worth a try!

b) Next I tried the dish named after the Bangalore IPL team, the dish is called ‘Oriental Royal Challenge’. As the name suggests, if you prefer Chinese then you can go for this platter. It has go golden fried cauliflower / chicken Manchurian garnished with coriander leaves which was really nice and it was served with Egg wrapped Shanghai noodles with chef’s style Mexican risotto. Now I loved the presentation of these two pieces of egg wrapped noodles topped with red bell pepper slices. The thin egg wrap was perfect to be honest, though I guess the noodles could have been a bit more spicy and intense according to my taste buds; but the overall stuff was amazing and the looks are appetizing. The risotto was again amazing and went well with the other elements in this platter.

c) Next dish was named after the Hyderabad team and it’s called ‘Nizam-e-Khas’ and what better than going for Hyderabadi Biriyani when you talk about this place. This platter had Hyderabadi Chicken Biriyani with egg served on a sizzler platter topped with some amazing flavorful potato-and-chickpea patty. It also had raita, salan and roasted papad along with it. The flavor, color and presentation of the dish was really admirable. The color of the biriyani was nearly orangish and was served with a handsome full leg piece of chicken which was tasty and succulent. The patty on top was also nice to go with the biriyani rice.

d) Coming to the platter named after the Pune team called ‘Pune Express’. It had chicken paw bhaji which were nice, tasty and soft along with lemon rice served with amazingly refreshing papaya salad and a glass of milk shake. The bhaji along with the paw was the highlight of the dish and it was really flavorful and tad spicy with all those minced chicken pieces. The lemon rice was nice and you can try some bhaji with it was well if you wish, it will be the light on stomach kinda element of the dish along with that refreshing papaya salad.

e) Now coming to the dish named after the new Gujarat team, the dish is called ‘Gujarat Lions’ and it is basically a thin crust olla topped pizza with Surang ki galouti kebab / chicken tikka. The chunky chicken tikka piece on that thin crust pizza gave the lovely kick it needed. The pizza had other toppings like bell peppers, babycorn, cheese and it was sliced into eight pieces. Overall it was really flavorful and I’ll surely recommend it.

f) Coming to the Aamchi Mumbai dish named after the Mumbai IPL team as ‘Master Blaster’. It had Bar B Q chicken served along with lovely cilantro rice. Also the dish had those authentic Vada for the touch of Mumbai. And yes, this was the best looking dish for sure with the best presentation! The bar B Q chicken looked and tasted amazing while the vadas were pretty good, and the cilantro rice was good to go with the chicken for sure, worth a try.

g) Now we come to the Punjab da team, and the dish is called ‘Punjab-di-Shaan’. The platter has got dhaba style dal served with soft Amritsari kulcha. The dish also had Chicken kurchan and fusion Punjab-ke-kebab along with green chilies, aachar and onions. The winner was no doubt the Chicken Kurchan, the shredded pieces of the chicken was insanely flavorful and the dish was tasty to its last nibble, maybe I was the culprit finishing the entire dish and giving only a bit to the others :) The kebabs were okayish and the dal was nice as well, but for the kurchan I will surely try this dish any given day!

h) Lastly we will talk about the capital city, Delhi and its IPL team; well the dish here was named Delhi Belly inspired by a Bollywood flick which informally means an upset stomach accompanied by diarrhoea! We can go for a better fitting name for the dish tagged with Delhi IPL team, but anyway let’s talk about the platter now. It had Pilaf rice with Firangi subzi, it had kaali dal makhani with tandoori chicken balls along with signature Delhi style Tawa paratha dressed with olives and jalepenos. This dish was pretty filling according to me, it has got both rice as well as parathas along with two sides. So it should be opted for if you are pretty hungry and comfortable with North Indian food. Taste-wise the elements were good and overall they give you a satisfying and complete meal.

Also we tried fresh lime soda in the end, which was very well prepared and was not overtly sweet, had the right amount of fizz and yes, what I loved most was the tough black straw in there, much rare even at the reputed restaurants in the city. This is appreciated!

So, that’s it about the food and beverages section that was covered by me. I felt we were missing some dessert here and that was discussed at the venue as well. And yes, the hookah that we tried in the beginning was nice as well (though I am not a hookah person but tried one flavor here). Anyway this was such an exciting fare that we had in front of us to sample and in the end the sampling only left us so filled!

The service was very prompt and the servers were very courteous and well informed. No issues with service, the hosts were very warm and we could not ask for more. In the end we were handed goodies bag that left us more than happy and content! Lastly I would again like to thank Thinkquisitive for hosting this wonderful event; it was pleasure to be a part of this wonderful evening. Palazzo is sure to grow as a gastrobar since it is serving some great meals and food apart from amazing cocktails and drinks. Hope it will draw more crowd and people will love clubbing here. It is one great place to unwind as well as one paradise for foodies who like to concentrate more on food even when they are couple of pegs down! It has got all the boxes checked, whether it be ambiance, music, drinks, hookah, food, service – there is hardly a room to get disappointed. So please do visit this den of happiness and experience a fun filled evening along with your friends and loved ones!

Cheers!

 

Devouring your favorite meat at a chophouse! - Wise Owl Steakhouse, Kolkata

On a hot Saturday afternoon we had very little to do when we decided to overcome the lassitude and make a long pending visit to the Wise Owl Steakhouse with my Zomato voucher. To start with, few months back I was overtly excited to learn that Kolkata has got its first steakhouse in a locality that is so close to my heart and that’s flanked by several notable eateries on the either side of the street. And then when I received this Zomato voucher I was somewhat on cloud nine!

Steakhouses being not so common in this part of the country, people tend to misjudge and misread these places, their charm and their offerings. These rustic heavens for meat lovers are rare in the culinary landscapes of Kolkata that used to revolve around Indianized Chinese, North Indian, basic South Indian, Mughlai, and west Bengali cuisines until the recent gastronomic revolution that is sweeping the city for good. Steakhouses or chophouses are eateries that specialize in serving individual portions of meats, primarily beef steaks that are served along with sides like mashed potato, sautéed veggies, baked potatoes, etc. Most steakhouses also offer other cuts of meat as well such as roast prime rib, veal, etc.  

If we go by history, then these steakhouses date back to London in 1690s, serving individual portions of meat called chops. These places were in general open only for men. Then the steakhouses started in the US in late 19^th century near New York in addition to the existing bars, motels and Inns. And now Americans flock to these places, whether they are expensive chains or a local joint whose décor hasn’t changed since the Progressive movements of late 19^th century :) Whatever the case maybe, steaks are a happening thing and an institution in the US. Chophouses also started serving diversified food items apart from beef steaks, like pork chops, lamb kidneys, strips of beacon, baked potatoes, apple pies, etc.

Anyway, coming back to Kolkata, our very own laid back city of joy got its first chophouse that was so unlike the restaurants spread across the city. Wise Owl Steakhouse is the palace of meat we are talking about. The place is located on Purna Das Road just above the Wise Owl café which has earned goodwill in last few years. 

When you are approaching from Gariahat you need to take left near the Triangular park where you will find the Raymond’s showroom to get into this Purna Das Road. You can park your car easily in front of the Wise Owl café on the street, but not for free :). You need to walk past the café and take the lift to reach the top floor, and then you need to take the stairs to get to the roof to check-in to this western country looking steakhouse.

The ambiance is surely out of the box when compared to other Kolkata eating joints, but very apt and common when we think about chophouses. It is open air, covered on top with asbestos, with wooden flooring and trademark rustic coarse-looking wooden chairs and tables with planks clearly visible giving that vintage artsy look. The overall ambiance is very close to a country ranch eating joint with the woody warmth filled in all the nooks and corners. But this ambiance reminds me of beer gardens and it’s a pity that you won’t get beer with your steak here (it was not available at least when we were here), that’s mainly because of a school which is there beside this property. The music which is being played is also perfect, mainly they were playing John Meyer when I was here for the lunch. All in all, the ambiance created with these custom-crafted furniture, wooden flooring, open kiss of the humid city air (!) and mostly western country songs give the right kick to dig in to your favorite piece of meat with some not-so-hard aerated drinks to go with.

Now, coming to the crux of the matter – lets discuss about the food and beverage. To start with I quite liked the clipboard menu, kinda felt tensed recollecting my school Exam days during this March-April period :) But when we opened the menu it was filled in with names and descriptions of lip smacking items. Out of those I ordered for:

a)      Pork Chops

b)      Chicken Breast steak

c)      Sweet fresh lime soda

Well, let me be frank, the portion of the regular pork chops was huge! I really struggled to finish it off. These were real slow cooked pork chops, grilled to finish with mushroom and crème sauce spread all over it. I was pretty hungry when the food came in and with the first bite it felt that I was there at the right place at the right time. 

Though I was keen to hug the chef but I unconsciously went on to finish my meal :) The pork chops were served with butter-herb tossed veggies and mashed potato. Though I felt the mashed potato could have been creamier but anyway the entire dish was just close to perfection. The pork fat was served in generous quantity along with the meat, and the meat was not at all stiff and felt amazing to consume! If not melt-in-your-mouth type, but it was surely one dish I can recommend to others. 

From my past experience, I found that these are best done if use baby back or the usual pork ribs that will be tender and moist. Here also the dish was flavorful and the meat was moist to satiate my soul and my taste buds. Infact I ended up consuming a bit too much fat than I usually do since it had a smoky and that ‘cooked on the grill’ aroma. Not sure, but I guess the marination with the spice rub can be done taking a bit more time. Sautéed veggies served included tossed brocolli, beans, carrots, and babycorn which went well with the pork chops. Overall, I can safely go ahead to recommend this dish to pork lovers! The Chicken breast steak glazed with herb extracts, had the mushroom sauce served separately; the stake was done perfectly with the signature smoky aroma to the chicken that made things interesting. It tasted real good with the sautéed veggies and mashed potato. Overall the steak was firm yet juicy in the centre with tender fibers. Though I felt the quantity could have been increased a bit. Overall a nice option if you are not in to try pork or beef. This visit of mine was kinda left mid-way since I couldn’t try the beef stake after all that hogging. Well now I needed some drink to wash down the stuffs and sweet lime soda with that correct amount of fizz did the trick (only one suggestion – please get the tough black straws). Oh I was so filled! Yes, that was a lovely meal to say the least!

But I would like to mention one thing – we were the only ones dining at that place on a weekend, that felt a bit weird! Not sure if proper publicity is being done, because people need to come and check out this place and the things it has got to offer. The service staffs were well informed, prompt and courteous, no issues with that.

Here are my overall ratings –

Food quantity: 3.7/5

Food quality: 3.8/5

Food presentation: 4.2/5

Value for money: 3.8/5

Ambiance: 4.5/5

Service: 3.5/5

Steakhouses are new in the city and we should be open to this, for sure. But you need to be well-informed even when you are eating a steak, or rather a beef stake. 

For example I like my beef steak to be done Medium Rare, that implies it will be overall firm but it will be warm, red and succulent in the centre that’s coming from the myoglobin protein which are there in the muscles. So you have to pretty much sure about your personal preferences and then you will find the steaks to be just perfect. 

Steakhouses are here to stay and this place is just the trendsetter. I wish them all the best and hopefully they will do well in near future.

If you liked this post, please do give it a thumbs up and share it with your friends! 

Cheers! 

 

Food tasting at Cremecup.in (the online bakery)

Cremecup.in is a NEWLY OPENED online bakery which delivers all over Kolkata and that too for free! The products that they have got are amazing and there is no compromise in terms of quality. I was recently contacted by them for a food tasting session at this place and I opted for a doorstep delivery at my workplace. I found the delivery was seamless and the package that was handed over had some well-designed robust packaging.

The place serves a wide range of products namely – cupcakes, brownies, croissants, doughnuts, birthday cakes, tarts, quiches, cheesecakes, cookies, muffins, etc. The point which should be noted here is – all their cakes are 100% eggless and the rest of the products are all vegetarian. But being at ardent non-vegetarian I can vouch for the vegetarian products that they serve, which are extremely flavorful and very well-prepared. I have learnt that they have their own kitchen so they can monitor the activities and assure better quality control and checks.

Let’s discuss briefly about their Website since anyway it is their medium to interact with their customers or the users. The website cremecup.in is very nicely prepared with an unruffled User Interface (UI) that exudes elegance which is quite important to build an image when the customer logs in for the first time. I found it to be pretty user friendly. The homepage directs you to the shopping page, you need to login and then in the shopping page you have varieties of products available (mentioned above in this post) lined up on the left and which are hyperlinked. Once you click them, the corresponding page opens up with the sub-categories of that product which you can directly add to your shopping cart. Then you can continue shopping or checkout to directly purchase that product right away (though various payment options that includes COD). Overall I loved my experience with the website and playing with it, I specially loved the fact that all the product images are available that helps in deciding your order quickly (although you can’t zoom in those pictures or you don’t have their descriptions written there). All the product photographs are crisp, clear and vibrant and the banner photograph is also very apt and enticing! The prices mentioned in the website are tax inclusive and no extra packaging or delivery charge is added on top of it. Only couple of observations – there is no Live chat option which is sometimes helpful and I found the Subscribe (to product offers/newsletters,etc) button is not functioning with the ‘on-click’ operation, but I guess these glitches can be fixed anytime.

Now coming to their packaging – your order will be efficiently delivered on bikes and the corrugated boxes will be hard and robust specially designed to combat the humid and hot city weather. The cakes will mostly be packed with dry ice insulations by their side and all the items whether it is cake or croissant will be delivered in those robust boxes. It is so well packed that it is ensured that the product inside is not making too much of a movement.

In the complimentary box which I received for tasting purpose had six amazingly soft and fluffy Croissants with flavorful fillings! These were some best-in-class products and I have never tasted such premium quality croissant in any bakery in India. There were three varieties of croissants (also called ‘cuerno’ in Spanish, meaning ‘horn’) delivered with two pieces of each. I absolutely loved the Spinach and Cottage Cheese croissant, only I wish a bit more filling was there, anyway the filling provided was marginally optimum in quantity. 

It was basically the Indian palak paneer kinda flavor but the ultimate magic was spelled by the croissant cover that was not at all flaky or hard. It had a hint of moisture in there and redefined the word ‘soft’ with respect to the croissants. Each layer of the yeast-leavened dough was consistent and was not breaking apart from the other. 

The Tandoori paneer croissant was also good and a bit spicy for kids but anyway very flavorful, it is hard not to devour such appetizing stuffs if placed in front of you! Frankly speaking I am really not a croissant fan but now I am absolutely in love with the Cremecup.in croissants!      

To conclude, I would like to mention that their products are always oven-fresh since they prepare it after you place the order. The delivery and packaging which has already been discussed is simply top-notch. The online ordering system provides you convenience and with the Cash-on-delivery option available it is more than blissful to order the best quality freshly baked cakes, croissants, muffins or quiches to be delivered at your doorsteps. I guess we were really waiting for this to happen in Kolkata. Thanks Cremecup.in for making Kolkata a lot more ‘delicious place’ to live in!

Cheers!