Restaurant Review Part II - 24/7 Restaurant - The Lalit, Mumbai

This is actually Part II of the review. This one is solely about the desserts and how beautiful they are. You can read about the rest here. Come back here once you're done. Better to save dessert for last, yes?

 

Top Row - Coffee Cream Caramel, Papaya Tart
Bottom Row - Sugar free Apple Strudel, Hazelnut Terrine

Sugar free Apple Strudel

Hazelnut Terrine

Soft, melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness. Each bite giving such an amazing delicate flavor. The texture of the base was just so perfect. This one hit all the right notes. Just writing about this terrine makes me want it all over again. Two, or three, or four more!

Mascarpone Passion Fruit Mousse

This had a perfect mix of flavors and the textures and tastes complemented each other perfectly.

Top - Chocolate Rum Cake - It was absolutely divine. The ganache on top was literally and figuratively the icing on the cake! Top it all off with a seedless candied cherry. Also, you could actually taste the rum.

Bottom - Strawberry and Mango Mousse - soft, light, so delectable!

Turkish Delight

Banana Tiramisu

Mix Nut Tart

Just looking at these pictures makes me want it all over again! Which of these would you like to try? Leave a comment below and tell me about your favorite :)

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Restaurant Review - 24/7 Restaurant - The Lalit, Mumbai

I always love going out and finding new places to eat. It's one of my favorite things to do. So you can imagine how awesome I felt when I was invited for a tasting session at The Lalit, Mumbai as part of a Culinary Challenge. But before the session, we popped over to the 24/7 restaurant and proceeded to partake of the buffet there.

Warning: Lots of yummy pictures. Will make viewer hungry. Proceed with caution.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let me start by saying - wow. The sheer number of options is in itself mind-boggling. I did not manage to taste everything that day. Nobody could've. And my appetite is not so small either. Take it from me - your only regret that day would be that you weren't able to eat more. I know I felt that way!

Let's begin with salad, shall we?

Some of the offerings above are Roasted Chicken with Pimento Salad, Basa and French Bean Salad topped with Horseradish Sauce, Ham served with Melon Ball and Melon Cigar. Let's have a closer look at a couple of those.

And here's some vegetarian options, for people such as yours truly.

Some of the above offerings are Cauliflower and Sprouts with Carrot, Beetroot & Orange Salad, Couscous Salad, and Sliced Potato Chaat. It was impossible to pick and choose!

Now would you fancy some appetizers?

Top Row - Ham Tartare with Grape Jelly
Middle Row - Seafood with Muhmara Lavash
Bottom Row - Pistachio Crusted Chicken Terrine with Salsa Verde

There's more!

Top Row - Confit Tuna, Beetroot & Cherry Tomato Dill served with Grain Mustard
Middle Row - Lamb & Beans Sprout Salad in Sweet Chilli Dressing
Bottom Row - Oven Roasted Chicken & Fruit with Cheese Dressing

A closer look at the last row?

There was an Arabic counter too, if you'd so prefer.

A salsa bar, breads, lavash, hummus, pita bread.. and what's that on the little shelf?

Broccoli tossed with Nut & Alfalfa Sprout! Yum! I'm hungry all over again just writing all this. All of these were utterly delectable, and the presentations were some of the most beautiful I've ever seen.

That brings us to the greens counter.

There were sprouts, fresh healthy vibrant greens, with dressing options like Caesar dressing. #fitfam, this one's for you!

Also, cheese. Or rather, cheeses. I'm an absolute cheese fan, so imagine my joy when I see this:

There was Blue Cheese, Emmental, Brie, Edam, Bocconcini, and Cheddar. There was Brie! And Bocconcini! The thing about Bocconcini is that it is a very delicate cheese, and as such has to be kept in a tub of whey or water. 

The cheeses were served with crackers, fruit, and dried fruit. Or, you know, you could just eat it..just like that?

And I'm going to show you more pictures of all the cheeses. Because I love cheese.

 Oh perfect Brie!

Just look at the texture on this Blue Cheese. And those trademark holes in the Emmental. So perfect.

And who do we have here? Bocconcini, one of the loves of my life.

The main course was just heavenly, so many varieties of vegetable preparations, with and without gravy, with multiple options for vegetarians and non-vegetarians. At this point, I stopped taking pictures because I just had to dig in. I am pretty happy that I could hold out this long before loading everything up on my plate.

I did however, take a picture of their pickle selection - for most, no meal is complete without these!

There's Mango Chutney, Chilli Pickle, Cauliflower Pickle, Mango Pickle, and lots more. Oh and that there on the side is curd rice. Good comfort food too!

And since I lovingly took (way too many) pictures of dessert, you can find that in a separate post here.

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Restaurant Review - Hunger Pangs

Food: 5/5
VFM: 4.5/5
Ambience: 3/5
Service: 5/5

 
Hunger Pangs is located at Hill Road, Bandra. A little ahead of Elco, but it comes before Nature's Basket. It's a tiny little place, a little hard to find even though it's on the main road, so keep your eyes peeled! When you do find and enter this place, it gives you a diner type of feeling. We went in expecting average diner-quality food. We were so so wrong.

We first ordered the messi (messy?) cottage cheese burger. It was stuffed to the brim with cottage cheese cubes, onion, and a slice of cheese. It was well seasoned and lightly spiced. Very impressive and hearty. Just look at the filling!
 

We had the regular size and there is also a 'Hunger Pangs' size. But I'd say get two regulars instead! You'd get much more quantity. Served with a side of seasoned fries.

After that, we ordered the cilantro pesto cream pasta. It was super creamy. And cilantro? That's not a typical addition for pasta. Intriguing but it worked quite well. There was also a slight sharp taste. We were trying to figure out what it was, each bite becoming a culinary endeavor. Eliminating spices and trying to narrow down the correct one. The flavor not too spicy but just the right amount of sharp, and it faded away delightfully. It had a perfect burst of uniform flavor with each bite. It turned out to be habanero! Habanero chilis are very hot, rated 100,000–350,000 on the Scoville scale. However, here, they used only the essence of habanero, else it would have been too hot to handle. This dish has completely converted me.
 

We also ordered orange juice, which I suspect was the Minute Maid pulpy orange. Which I like.

If nothing else, go for the pesto cream pasta. You will be very pleasantly surprised. Highly recommended. 

Overall Rating - 4.5/5










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Let me know in the comments below if you know any other awesome hole-in-the-wall places like this one!

Restaurant Review - Sweetish House Mafia

Food: 5/5
VFM: 3.5/5
Ambience: 5/5
Service: 4.5/5

I have loved Sweetish House Mafia since the early days where one had to buy goodies from a nano car. Now there are three outlets! This review is about the Bandra outlet, which is adorable. The Lower Parel branch is little more than a takeaway place.

I've always liked the cookies, and the quality has been maintained from the very beginning. Also, the decor and ambience makes it a place you definitely wouldn't mind hanging out at. The interiors are also so cute, the decorative elements, the board games, comics, and the tables are great too.

Oh and also, this thing :

 
Do you know what those little containers are for? A closer look:

I absolutely love when a place makes that added effort, and this is just one of those things that makes you fall in love with a place instantly.

 
All the cookies look so delicious, you don't really know which cookie to get. I eventually zeroed in on the s'mores. They warm it up a little which really got the chocolate chips all melty. And there is one fat marshmallow on top of the cookie, right in the centre. It was quite stretchy and it tastes a little cinnamon-y. Or brown sugar. Or both. I'm not really sure, but I surely liked it. I thought it was cinnamon. Their cookies have always been delightful and the s'mores cookie was no different. 

A Nutella milkshake as an accompaniment to the cookie was not as good as we expected. I expected a little more Nutella flavor, which I don't think was asking for too much, specially from something with that name.

However, the second time I went, it definitely contained a generous quantity of Nutella so I was quite pleased. And now for my favorite :

This is the red velvet sandwich and it is delightful. Total foodgasm. It is the best by far, and I've tried a lot. I haven't tried their Nutella Sea Salt cookie, however, and that's supposed to be the best, so I might have another favorite. Who knows?

The place is very pretty and brightly lit. Outdoor seating is little benches and faux grass. That adds quite a nice touch, I think.

Overall Rating - 4.5/5

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BNLF at the Lalit + Food Truck!

I was at the Lalit Mumbai, attending BNLF which I've been writing and writing about. The day was finally here. As I have told you all, I was part of the Stage Crew, and hence I was running around backstage, and it was an awesome experience to interact with all the keynote speakers. It was a day very well spent.

I am still a little dazed about the conversations I had with all the keynote speakers that day. It's just too precious to write down. But they all wished me luck for this blog, and so I carry an enormous amount of goodwill with me from people who have achieved so much and yet are humble and amazingly supportive about my blog. You can find out more information about the event - just go on Twitter, search for the hashtag #BNLF. You will find a wealth of information that you can apply to your own life, whether you are a blogger or not. You'll find more information there than I can ever give in an article, however much I write.

And now, for the food truck!

Food trucks aren't exactly legal in India, because they don't have the provisions for permits legally. In fact, the law doesn't have any specifications for a food truck in the first place. So it's kind of a grey area. However, this food truck is within the Lalit Mumbai premises, and parked at one place on those premises. Hence, it is perfectly legal. And also delicious.

The man in the picture is Chef Rajeev, who oversees the menu, operations, and general functioning of the food truck. He very sportingly agreed to pose for my picture, as you can see.
 

They were giving us food samples for a limited time (I got lucky to be there at the right time!), and so I got to taste the bean burritos and also some yummy quesadillas. Served with sour cream and salsa sauce. Each and every part of the meal was truly authentic Mexican food. And the quality was great, which is to be expected because after all, it IS the Lalit. 

These were the two boys working at the truck. The one on the left is Rahul, and the one on the right is named Law. Yes, I did a double take at his name too. Really, they were quite sweet and all smiles, even in the crazy heat. It's truly the people who make a difference about the experience you have, irrespective of what event it is. And between the three of them, they made sure nobody went back disappointed.

Indiblogger, BNLF and the Lalit made sure we had an awesome time. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram for updates, and pictures (food and otherwise). My facebook page is up now, you can find me there too.