Moonshine Cafe & Bar, Mumbai - Review

First things first - the crazy roof light will make you definitely click a Selfie or a Picture of it does really set the place apart from the rest. Before we delve into Food Review, let's talk about the ambience of this lounge cum Bar. With a young lounge ambience, this place has the luxury of space, spread over two floors  - a palatable lounge at level 1 with amazing roof lights with warm tones and a color pop at Bar, making it the highlight of the space. The rooftop has a cozy feel.  Moreover, the music enchanted the mood further.

 

 We have mingled with Old Delhi Style Botti Kebab, Butter Chicken Tarts, Pepper & cheese spring rolls and Tempura fish & chips !!The starters were the finest I had in a long time. They were not at all filling, yet very light on palate. Enjoy your Drink with Butter Chicken Tarts - an unusual preparation of Tarts filled with Simple butter chicken. Tempura fish & Chips can be avoided - due to its batter - it was drenched in Oil.

Drinks that set our mood - Badman Extracted and Moonshine Sour - they were all refreshing with light amount of Alcohol to make you enough high yet enjoy the flavors.

For the main course, meat lovers can feast on Delhi's legendary - Changezi Chicken. Indian breads will let you down as it becomes chewy towards the end of the meal. Also, the onions served as salad lacked attention - it had the roots (check Picture for ref).

As it is more of a drinking and a party place - dessert section includes only 2 choices - Mawa Cheese Cake and chocolate brownie. We had our hand over the Mawa Cake !!

PS - Waiting staff needs to be aware about what they are serving or what ingredients is there in the dish or drink. The staff needs to calm down on their tone.

A Classic of Cuffee Parade -Flamboyante by Amrish Arora

Flamboyante has a classy & ambiance with the luxury of space, that too in an area like Cuffe Parade - making it a hautest venue for meals, meeting joint or a café .

 

 It's a cozy sprawl with classic off whites walls, high arched ceiling - Buffet Serving/live food counter on one corner and a huge bar on another end gives this place an easy comfort vibe.

The extensive menu runs to fresh salads, soups, oriental & Indian fare to pizzas & pastas, and the great value lunch buffets, available throughout the week, shouldn't be missed. Celebrate Sundays with a spirited brunch spread: kebabs, pizzas, dim sum, chaat & more!

While there are several craft beers are on tap, it was the cocktails that we were keen to try. They have a few good options in whiskey and Gin but coming to cocktails - there's a limited choice.

Margarita, Gin Smash and Whiskey sour were refreshing but again - whiskey Sour had that peculiar smell of Egg - which made me return the drink.  Long Island icetea was impressive enough to get us rolling.

The great value lunch buffets, available throughout the week, shouldn't be missed. Celebrate Sundays with a spirited brunch spread: kebabs, pizzas, dim sum, chaat & more!

A La Carte - The extensive menu runs from oriental fare -  starters, Dimsums, Baos, sushi, and fusion Asian nachos to tread salad and soup. The other part of the menu had classic Indian Fare - running down to favorite Pizza, Pastas & luscious desserts.

Coming to the food, we started our meal with ordering Crusty Mustard chicken, Butter Milk Crispy chicken Bao and Burmese Khao suey from the Oriental section. While Crusty Mustard chicken can be avoided - the crispy chicken Bao and the iconic khowsuey are something you will want to savor till the end (ironically Bao’s arrived at the end). The wholesome Khowsuey Bowl comes with an option of Veg/Prawn/ Chicken and wholesome array of condiments was the best I have tasted.

Next on a list was a specially created tikka platter for us - with Lucknowi Dahi Kebab, Bhuttey Methi k seekh, Kashmiri Chicken Tikka, Murg Bazaari kebab ,Galuti kebabs and Kakori kebabs. It was a huge hit but lamb might let you down.

With scrumptious food options, we opted to order a  Half an Half BBQ Chicken Pizza /Pepperoni Pizza [With added Truffle Oil] and Pink Sauce pasta.

Pasta didn't impress us and had a very sour aftertaste which was highlighted to the waiting staff.

A good dessert is obviously a good end to the meal and that's obviously happened with their legendary Chocolate Mudpie and Mikado Cake Slice.

PS - With this, excited to try Amrish Arora's newly launched Hammer &Song !!

FOOD TRUCK CUM DELIVERY OUTLET - HAWKERS IN VASANT KUNJ

There's a new Food Truck i.e in Vasant Kunj on the Mahipalpur road, #NewDelhi. Apparently, its been there for a while, they are back with a new classy truck. 

Simple menu there, nothing fancy, a few meal combos to choose from and they’re all priced reasonably. I’ll admit I may have been a bit overeager and had gotten just enough of a taste to make me want an encore. We tried the chicken tikka roll, loved the stuffing/filling of the roll but unfortunately the rotten Rumali Roti ruined all the flavors.

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Ps - This is the cleanest and one of the few trucks that served North Indian food and not Chin-Indian food.

Give these guys a shot, thank me later!

RUSH TO RAJOURI - BACK TO BACK HAS OPENED IS SOON OPENING ITS GATE

Rajouri Gardens is fast becoming a generic hub of swanky fine dine restaurants and innovative conceptual bars, almost transforming the west Delhi food and nightlife scenario.

 

The latest addition was the media launch of ‘Back To Back’ which was quite a prate of town. The launch was surely a relished affair and definitely the one not to be skipped.

The media launch of Back To Back gave us a possibility of interacting with other bloggers from Delhi, which was again a worthwhile affair. The cocktails are the highlight of this lounge, immensely creative and not just boozy, these are big on flavours.

The menu was mainly bifurcated in North Indian, Chinese and Continental picks - the appetizers will make you lick your fingers and crave for more. From Pizza to Tikka & Chinese fare, the menu has it all to satiate your cravings - which was again seductive, pseudo Indian, less of a fusion but more of lipsmacking.

My main course picks - Dal Makhini, Paneer and Kadhai Chicken tasted of what I would call a pious culinary haven. Rich, rooted in authenticity and every bit decadent. The indian Fare was rich and flavourful.

Ps - Prices are pretty reasonable and every morsel and cocktail is worth its price.

Catch the tasteful Mediterranean cuisine at Amuse House, New Delhi

The food goes beyond my imagination.

Amuse House, a European Bistro, gives out a subtle vibe of European spring. Catch the tasteful Mediterranean cuisine at Amuse House - located at Ansal Plaza, Khel Goan #SouthDelhi

     

I have introduced myself to a lot of unexplored Mediterranean dishes. The best part is they have amazing drinks to pair with and bread basket to start with!!

We started with a heady concoction i.e Amusetini(Bourbon Whiskey, cranberry marmalade, egg served with caramel Popcorn) and Refreshing Kiwi Kulama (Vodka with fresh Kiwi , fresh cucumber, citrus & gomme).

For the Non-alcoholics, Vit -C (fresh orange juice with rocksalt, citrus and roasted cumin) , B-Thirsty(Fresh orange juice, beetroot and edible flower) 

and Pomegranate Lemonade was the perfect pick.

We nibbled some Mediterranean classics i.e Hummus & Pita and some Falafels and not to miss- the Chicken and Mushroom Bourak, Chicken Liver Pete.

We had lamd chops and pork belly and they were hands-down phenomenal. Also, Mexican stuffed bell peppers served to be a good vegetarian snack.

Apart from usual hackney picks of meat, paneer or mushrooms, and despite the law of diminishing marginal utility (in this case, the menu) I still found myself diving with great enthusiasm into Cream Cheese served with soaked Beetroot glazed with freshly squeezed orange juice - something to drool for.

Still saving some space for mains, the linguini Pasta is worth to bent for while risotto cooked with barley was decent.

The food, texture and the presentation shipped my taste buds to a new high. Many of the ingredients were imported, the meat to the spices, in preference of keeping the originality. Amuse house serves the most authentic Mediterranean food you would ever taste - right in the heart of New Delhi!

We ended out of Mediterranean Food exploration with the #MedBox - consisting of different Sweets included the most famed - baklava.

PS: In an abrasive and hectic city like Delhi, this is a sanctuary of the first order with a cozy vibe that is hard to resist and so easy to slip into, comfort food with big bold flavours and a chirpy vibe. I’m definitely heading back to treat my taste buds, again.