Country of Origin, Mumbai

Country of Origin,
69, Nepean Sea Road,
Manisha Building,
Malabar Hill
Mumbai
022 23642221

This dessert space has a lovely welcoming area and warm wooden ornate seating and some yummylicious dessert displays. Sadly, although most of their desserts are meant to be eaten warmed up, they don't even have a microwave on the premises of such a large space.

Then why the 4.5 rating you may ask? It's solely for their desserts which are to die for.

I visited with a foodie friend and we both left with large bags filled with goodies. She picked up a lot of lavash and breads and other stuff that needed to be consumed soon, I contented myself with a couple of their famous (from the Koffee with Karan hamper) Cakes in a Jar.

Absolutely loved the Intense chocolate brownie (75/-), which is a chocolate covered chocolate brownie.

They had some really cute liquid chocolate syringes (210/-) which are a  great fun idea for kids, however, this started melting aand leaking in the car before we even reached home, inspite of all its packaging. They have an espresso verion too for adults.

The hazelnut profiterole (95/-) was tasty, but since we ate in cold (we couldn't wait to get home) it wasn't as good as it would have been, if it had been slightly warmed up.

 

Their Fondants looked really exciting and they have plenty of eggless versions of their desserts too. They also have dips, that you can use as appetisers and they can customise gift hampers for you.

I also picked up some of the cakes in a jar - The haute chocolate hazelnut jar (750/-) is my favourite. The Red Velvet at 875/- I feel is completely over priced, it was just red velvet cake (which is anyhow just sponge with red coloring), with a layer of cream in between and some white chocolate shavings on top. The cream also tends to get sour much before the "consume before" date on the jar. So be aware. Also, the jars were very exciting for me, because of my obsessive collecting of glass jars, but the vaccum seals on these weren't very good quality, so while the jars are re-usable, if you need them to be air tight, you may have to replace the rubber seals.

Yes, Country of Origin is quite expensive, but most of their desserts are worth the occasional splurge, you just need to pick and choose wisely.

Also, I hope they soon introduce a microwave on premises, so that we - who cannot wait, can indulge ourselves on location.

Rating : 4.5 / 5

Red Fork - Contemporary Cafe, Bangalore

Red Fork - Contemporary Cafe
594, 12th Main,
HAL 2nd Stage,
Indiranagar
Bangalore
080 41154372 / 76, +91 9844011237


OMG! OMG! OMG!

We fell in love with The Red Fork almost as soon as we entered and the arrival of food on our table just reinforced that love.

The Red Fork is another of those lovely eateries in Bangalore that has sprouted inside a house, so it lends a lot of character to the layout and the seating space.

The menu is written on blackboards on the walls and keeps changing. But I hope the ham and egger (250/-) remains on their menu for ever, it is so yum. Its a beautifully crisped up burger bun (soft on the inside) stuffed with ham, bacon, rocket leaves and scrambled eggs. All of my favourite things in a single burger, can life get any better than that?


We had headed here for brunch, so we ordered a variety of things to eat from their 9am - 3pm breakfast menu. The chilli scrambled eggs on sourdough (150/-) came so beautifully plated that we were feeling bad to disturb it in any way.

The margarita omelette (180/-) was a great play on the margarita pizza. All the normal toppings, were incorporated into the omelette and serves with hot bread.

The sister was happiest with her chocolate waffles (200/-) and it was the dish that was most dug into at the table.

As each dish came to the table we were torn as to which dish was better than the other. The sister also managed to get herself some scrambled eggs and toast. The little baby frying pans that the scrambled eggs came in was just too cute.

Service is on the slower side and dishes don't come to the table all at the same time, but believe me, the wait is most definitely worth it and it gives you a valid excuse to steal more mouthfuls from the plates that do arrive :)

Their menu keeps changing, so you may not get the items described above when you visit, but given the superior quality of their food, I don't think you can go wrong.

The coffees and teas that we ordered were lovely. They have a display outside with their fresh cakes, cheesecakes and pastries on display. We tried a cheesecake and it was so yummy that I couldn't wait to take a picture before digging in.

The Red Fork is definitely a firm favourite.

Rating : 5 / 5

New Lucky Restaurant, Ahmedabad

New Lucky Restaurant,
Opposite City College,
Lal Darwaja
Ahmedabad
079 25505033


Lucky Restaurant has 2 USP's. The first is the M F Hussain original that hangs in the restaurant and the second is the graves and trees around which this tea shop has come up which are now a part of the Cafe.

The Hussain original was a gift from the painter himself who supposedly loved their chai so much, that legend goes that as soon as he touched down in Ahmedabad, he would head straight to this kitli - Chai shop for a cup of tea.

Lucky was originally just a kitli / laari guy who had set up his space for tea and bun maska in the middle of the graveyard opposite Siddi Sayyid Jaali. He has now built multiple restaurants in this area and the owner credits the spirits of the graves for helping him achieve his success.

There have been exaggerations in the press that customers sit on gravestones to drink their tea, this isn't true. Each grave is cordoned off with a bit of fencing, covered in a Holy cloth and the staff offer flowers, prayers and burn incence to honor the people whose graves are a part of the restaurant. There is however a tree which grows through the restaurant, space has been cut out of the roof, to let it grow unimpeded.

The tea is average (according to my tea drinking family), nothing very great and to see it slopping down the sides of the cup and into the saucer before it is even served (while its a common sight in Gujarat) is disgusting. I'm told by long timers that the quality of tea has steadily deteriorated over the years.

However, the reason I keep returning here is because for me, Lucky Tea serves the BEST MASKA BUN in the city. It has to be eaten on the spot, or in a couple of hours. If you let it stand overnight, the butter just dissolves into the bread in the Ahmedabad Heat and if you refrigerate it, the bun loses its airiness. Its beautifully churned fresh white butter slathered onto an airily soft bun.

The best time to pick up this bun, is before heading out for a walk in the old city area, then you don't have to feel guilty about the amount of butter consumed.

They offer 3-4 varieties of homemade jam too - mixed fruit / pineapple etc. But I've never liked jam, so I prefer just the plain bun maska. I did try the bun maska with mixed fruit jam once, but it was way too sweet for me. Maska bun with jam is 22/- and without the jam is 25/-. They have lovely packaging of the bun maska for takeaways. Its enclosed in a hermetically sealed plastic pouch.

Rating : 3 / 5                                                                            Bun Maska: 5 / 5

The Birdsong Organic Cafe, Mumbai

The Birdsong Organic Cafe,
Waroda Road, (behind Hill Road)
Behind American Express Bakery,
Near Jude Bakery,
Bandra West,
Bombay
022 33487845

Birdsong is a really cool Organic Cafe set in an old Bandra house with gorgeous French Windows and a lovely unfinished look on the inside, with brick walls and large blackboards for the menu. There's a nifty mezzanine accessed by a ladder that kids really seem to love.

We ordered a whole variety of home made organic cakes and each one was to die for. The carrot cake was my favourite as were the chocolate brownies. Husband preferred the orange cake. He actually broke his no sugar rule after 4 months, just so he could have these cakes.

Can't wait to visit Bombay again so I can try stuff from the main menu (by the time I reached here, we only had space for dessert). Jenny & Javed, hope you are ready for us :)

Rating 4.5 / 5

Pista House, Hyderabad

Pista House,
Opposite Esra Hospital,
Shalibanda Road,
Charminar
Hyderabad
+91 9966022786, +91 8686753064

THE Best Haleem in Hyderabad. This is the place to head to if Haleem cravings hit you. Situated in the old city, in the midst of a maze of roads, but believe me, its worth the effort to reach here.

Its quite clean and fancy, compared to other restaurants in the area (that serve good food, but cleanliness and hygiene are average at best)

They have a reasonably extensive menu these days including pizzas and stuff. but our order is normally biryani, haleem, and chicken 65.

Rating : 4 / 5

Honey Hut, Ahmedabad

Honey Hut,
2, Krishna Tower,
100 Feet Road,
Anand Nagar,
Satellite
Ahmedabad
079 40091768

I LOVE honey and when this cafe opened, I knew I HAD to visit.

Everything in this cafe is made with honey as an ingredient. Their kitchen is onsite (unusual for a bakery), so everything is prepared fresh and if you have an order for a cake, they say they will make it fresh for you while you sip on a tea or coffee.

Their chocolate truffle cake (65/-) was moist and succulent and sprinkled with honey when served. The Choco Honey Shake (100/-) was amazing. Chocolate milkshake with the added flavour of honey. The honey chilli mushrooms (130/-) were lovely, but given that they had a slight liquid sauce, I would have loved to have had some kind of accompaniment with it.

They use their own Acacia Honey from their own eco farm in the Himalayas in all their products and you can also buy some at the cafe. Flavoured honey's like Eucalyptus and multi-flower are also on their shelves. Organic Honey is a little more expensive. They even have some beauty products - shampoo, lip balm, foot creams etc.

I picked up a bottle of eucalyptus honey (120/-) to have with my morning medicinal / herbal ginger lemon tea and it is perfect.

I packed a corn delight sandwich (80/-) as a takeaway - 2 really large slices of white bread sandwich, with mayonnaise, sweet corn kernels, capsicum and onion filling. It was supposed to be served with a honey cheese dip, but since I brought it home, I think they couldn't pack the dip. The sandwich felt really moist and soft yesterday, but when I took it out of the refrigerator this morning it had turned a little dry and hard, the taste was good, but a little too much onion for me in a sandwich. I don't mind so much onion in chaat, but not in a sandwich. They do make their own bread and have promised to start making brown bread soon.

They also gave me a complementary honey muffin to try out and it was quite good.

They organise party boxes of snacks and sweets that you can use for office functions, kitty parties, or even kiddy picnics. They have honey flavoured chocolates too, if you are a chocoholic, you would love to try them out.

The people who staff this cafe are really sweet and helpful. Full marks for service and information. Do give them a try.

Rating : 4 / 5

Cravingz, Ahmedabad

Cravingz,
4th Floor, AlphaOne Mall
Vastrapur
Ahmedabad

We loved bubble tea when we lived in Dubai. It was such a refreshing drink and the little bubbles were a pleasure to savour in your mouth. Some of them rolled around and you had to bite into it like a jelly, some of them popped in a little explosion of concentrated flavour on your tongue.

So I was really excited, when I saw that Cravingz was offering Bubble Tea here in Apnu Amdavad.

Bubble tea, also known as pearl milk tea or boba milk tea, is a Taiwanese tea-based drink invented in tea shops in Taichung, Taiwan, during the 1980s. Most bubble tea recipes contain a tea base mixed with fruit or milk. Ice-blended versions are usually mixed with fruit or syrup, resulting in a slushy consistency. *** from Wikipedia

We had just had lunch and coffees, so we had only ordered one bubble tea between 3 of us and I'm thankful for small mercies.

The whole place smelled sour. Now I understand, that yoghurt / dahi does have a slightly sour smell at times (fresh yoghurt isn't sour, its only when its kept out for too long that it starts turning sour), but the sour smell was actually quite nauseating when we entered. I should have taken that as a warning, but since we wanted bubble tea and not the frozen yoghurt, we persevered.

We asked for a couple of flavours - which were all out of stock (this was Monday evening), finally we settled on a small pineapple bubble tea (79/-). We wanted pineapple popping bubbles, but those were out of stock too, so we took the orange popping bubbles.

The pineapple tea was like an oversweet rasna, absolutely no hint of citrus at all, except for the few shreds of pineapple at the bottom of the glass. The only saving grace was the orange popping bubbles that were quite good. But that oversweet concoction is definitely not worth wasting time or calories over.

The benefits of Bubble Tea (why it is so popular in China and Taiwan where it originated) are :

• slows ageing
• boosts immunity
• aids weight loss
• helps fight chronic illness
• increases mental alertness.

The Cravingz website also boasts of these benefits. But what we drank could not be considered in the least bit healthy at all. 

The color scheme was a Barbie Pink with a little white, which made us feel like we had walked into a teenage girls bedroom.  So, maybe that's their target audience, but it was very off-putting to us. (We did however liek the quotes on the wall, that we read when waiting for our order)

Given the sour smell that pervaded the whole place (I still feel sick in my stomach when I think of it), I'm definitely not going back to try the frozen yoghurt either.

Rating : 0.5 / 5 (the 0.5 is for the popping bubbles, nothing else)

The Philosophy Club, Ahmedabad

The Philosophy Club,
8, Sarthik Complex.
Next to Gulmohor Mall,
Satellite
Ahmedabad
+91 8758421125

The Philosophy Club had been on our wishlist for quite a while, but being a vegan cafe, it tended to lose out to the non-veg restaurants when we made plans to eat out.

However, on one of the days that we wanted a place to grab a filling lunch at 4pm, we finally headed here.

Its a cute small space (about 4 - 5 tables), right next to Gulmohur Mall and I love their seating arrangements and the brilliant collection of books that they have for the customers reading pleasure.

But things obviously boil down to quality and taste of food.

The plates on which the food was served were so beautiful, that we knew the food had to be good too.

The falafel platter (400/-) was excellent. An assortment of Chickpea croquettes (I've rarely found fava bean falafels outside of the Middle East), with hummus, babaganoush, muhammara and pita bread. It really brought back the familiar flavours from Egypt and Lebanon. However, since the original ingredients of these recipes are Vegan, there wasn't much "innovation" to discover.

The African cashew cassava (400/-) was different from anything I've eaten before - this was my first time tasting cassava - its somewhere between a sweet potato, tapioca and raw plaintain in taste and texture. It seemed like it was high on both carbohydrates and fibre. It was tossed with toasted cashews, bell peppers and tomatoes.

Husband loved the pasta salad (300/-) - a cold salad of pasta, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, basil and pine nuts. He would have preferred a hot pasta, but hadn't realised when he chose a pasta salad, rather than from their variety of hot pastas.

Where we were disappointed a bit were the desserts, especially in their presentation. Pictures we had viewed earlier (on other foodie websites) were really beautiful, but what we received were tiny portions that weren't very neat. The carrot cake (200/-) was drier than we like, and was a surprise especially since it is advertised as a moist cake. The chocolate cake (250/-) was slightly bitter, yet we loved the taste and texture which came from its walnut base and was quite lovely given that it was made without eggs or milk or butter - basic baking ingredients. The cheesecake (270/-) made from almonds and cashew nuts was also interesting.

The fresh mint Moroccan tea (120/-) , Almond frappe (250/-) made from almond milk and Cappuccino (120/-) were excellent. The pomegranate tea (100/-) was average.

Its a bit of a hit and miss, depending on what flavours you like. Overall, we did like the food and loved the relaxed atmosphere and Gemma's infectious enthusiasm and zest for life. The place is expensive, but that's because they have to make all the food from scratch, from extracting almond milk and making vegan cheese, so there's a lot of effort that goes into it.

The dishes in which the vegan options shine are obviously the desserts, milk based drinks and dishes with cheese.

Its a place to go and relax. Don't expect super fast service. The Philosophy Club is a place to relax, slow down, enjoy a book, indulge in philosophical or pointless rambling conversations. Its an experience.

As a note : They accept book donations to their readers bookshelf and also have a set of books for  book exchange .

 Rating : 3.5 / 5

R.K. Egg Eatery, Ahmedabad

R.K. Egg Eatery,
119, Opposite Karnavati Club,
Near Shalby Hospital,
S G Highway, Satellite,
Ahmedabad
+91 9824493779

Stopped here for a quick early dinner. Given that RK started life as a laari (push cart - or so we have heard) at NID, we were pleasantly surprised by the air conditioned comfort at this location that had eleven 4 seater tables and the tables and chairs were much better quality than the standard plastic chairs that abound in Ahmedabad Eateries.

This was a our first "Egg specialist" eatery, so we were quite shocked at the 75+ varieties of Egg Preparations on the menu, broadly grouped under omelettes, bhurji (scrambled), curry, fried items and rice dishes.

Whatever we tried, we quite enjoyed - Surti Ghotala (150/-) & Boiled Tikka Kheema (120/-). All their dishes come with 2 slices of toast or rotis, and a side dish of chopped onions, chopped lettuce and green chutney, that you can use to create a wrap or in any other combination. So one plate is a decent sized meal for a person, since the egg dish has 2 eggs in it.

In our tikka kheema, both eggs were boiled and chopped in large pieces and fried up like a tawa fry (closest approximation that I can think of).

The Surti Ghotala had 1 boiled egg practically grated into the thick curry sauce and one half fried egg, that was again topped with some more masala covering the fried egg like a purdah.

We will definitely go back a couple of times, to do justice to this menu and also work up courage to try their "Special" egg curry (350/-) which supposedly has cheese, butter, dates, nuts and dry fruits.

Edited on 5 Apr 14 to add :

My husbands quest for the perfect French Toast is finally over!

My version of French Toast is sweet, batter of beaten egg with sugar, milk and a hint of cinnamon or nutmeg. He never understood how French Toast served in hotels was always sweet because French Toast served in hostel and at his home was basically bread dipped in masala omlette mix and fried.

RK Egg Eatery, makes their French toast exactly the way he likes it and to make it even more perfect, they roll the egg in sev after dipping it in egg and before frying. He normally adds sev on top of French toast (and most breakfast items), but here they fried it up with the toast itself, putting the husband in foodie heaven. They call it the Rizwan Fry Sev (120/-).

Don't be misled by the name, but the Egg Pakoda (50/-) is a boiled egg, stuffed into a pav bun which has masala butter smeared on it. At 50/- its a real steal. You can completely be happy with just one of these buns at snack time or 2 for a complete meal.

We had the Surti Special Kheema (140/-) which is a spicy preparation with cheese and butter. The Nargis Gotalo Special (200/-) had a boiled egg curry and a half fried egg on top which melted into the masala once broken, topped with a different green masala, yummy goodness. The Varsha Fry Curry (200/-) was similar in flavours, but still different.

So many different things yet to try, the added bonus is that they deliver home too.


Rating : 3.5 / 5

Revolving Restaurant, Grand Hyatt, Cairo

Revolving Restaurant
Grand Hyatt, Cairo

The Revolving Restaurant is only open for dinner around 8pm. Prior Reservations are required (even if it is a couple of hours before) Jeans, shorts and open shoes for men are a non-no - as the hostess politely informed us over the phone. Jackets aren't required, but wouldn't be out of place either.

This is a lovely restaurant to take your date to with its awesome ambience, phenomenal food, panoramic view and attentive yet unobtrusive service. It is also a place I would recommend for formal business dinners or if you need to impress your (prospective) inlaws or anyone else for that matter.

The lighting is low and the ceiling is decorated with colored LED's forming asteroids, satellites and other heavenly objects :)


The restaurant is situated on the 41st floor. Access is through a private lift on the 40th floor (where you may be seated for awhile but can use that time to order a drink - Yes alcohol is now being served again at this restaurant) The restaurant completes an entire revolution every 75 minutes, situated as it is on the Nile, its an almost panoramic view of the entire city. To disguise its one blind spot, they have created a replica of an Ancient Egyptian temple on the outside.

The Restaurant has an open chef's kitchen. But there were no wafting odors to dull the experience.
Complimentary fresh baked bread was served along with pate and herbed butter. We were hungry and ordered 2 appetisers each. all of which were outstanding.

The Smoked salmon was served with pancakes, mashed potatoes and a salmon mousse.
The Salad St Jacques was pan fried scallops (slightly crisp on the outside, tender juicy & succulent on the inside), served on a crisp potato pancake with marinated red peppers and some greens. I would highly recommend this dish any day.
The Prawn Salad was a combination of king prawns and Scampi with a basil, lemon and avocado base.
The Carpaccio was other worldly. Some of the best that I have eaten. The green dressing and the cheese served with the carpaccio were an excellent combination with the meat.
For the main, I ordered Australian lamb chops which were done exactly the way I wanted. Not too tough, not too soft. The sauce (lamb jus) served with a white bean salad as a base was excellent.
My husband ordered more prawns . But given the superior quality of all the other dishes, he felt this was a bit lacking. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew something was missing. This is the only dish that needed something more. all the others were beautifully and perfectly balanced. Since I don't eat prawns unless I have cleaned them myself (long story about allergies) I couldn't check on what was missing. This was served with ratatouille which he quite enjoyed.
We ordered 2 sides of mushrooms and pureed potatoes (Fancy restaurants never say mashed potatoes they say pureed potatoes) The mushrooms were FANTABULOUS!. After all the tinned stuff most restaurants serve as mushrooms, this dish was outstanding. It was a mixture of 4-5 different fresh mushrooms and it had a wonderful woodsy yet fresh flavour. I would even eat this as my appetiser or my main course if I wasnt too hungry.
For dessert, he had the creme brulee which came in three flavours. Mango-jasmine and chocolate were familiar flavors, it was the strawberry-basil flavor that was an eye and taste bud opener.
The choclate fondant that I ordered was my other star of the evening. Crisp exterior, molten interior. Words can't desribe how amazing this desert was. The ice cream accompanying it, could have been a bit better, but the vanilla ice cream was a necessary touch to balance the chocolate. an absolute for anyone - chocoholic or otherwise!
My husband was initially apprehensive about eating French food. Although he had been forced to watch a lot of French cooking programs along with me, he had never encouraged me to try cooking any of these dishes as he felt they would be bland. Fortunatley eating at the Grand Hyatt's Revolving Restaurant has completley altered this perspective. French recipe books are next on the shopping list! (Like I need an excuse)

This was supposed to be a treat for me, so my husband did the ordering without letting me look at the menu. But knowing me for over 8 years and knowing what is good for him, he did let me make my own choices after describing each one to me. I'm not too sure of the rates, but what he said was that appetisers were in the 50LE+ range. Mains were between 80-150LE and side dishes were about 25LE.

Portions are a decent size. Slightly small by Egyptian standards. But it allows you to choose an appetiser, main and dessert for yourself.

Definitely a must visit.