Buzzing at Buzz, Metropolitan Mall, Saket. New Delhi

Photo courtesy : Buzz.

 Clubs or Adda is not new in Indian culture. Earlier there used to be community halls for a gathering and chit-chat . Now as the time progressed, same old adda culture has been transformed into clubbing at Bars and Lounge .  It has not only become the essential part of life for meeting friends and relatives, people prefer to hang out at Bars at weekends for relaxing after a hectic week . 


As the time is progressing , Beverages and Mixing of spirits are becoming most preferred subject in Hotel Management Institutes. With food and drinks, Music is also becoming an integral part of life . Pubs or lounge cafes are hence a blend of Good food, Spirits and Music .


Delhi is mushrooming with lots of such Pubs and Lounge bars , Buzz , is among such Pubs, which  is standing tall since 2001.  They have a beautiful ambiance with Yellow and orange theme ,with a cute cubical chamber for smokers.  This is the only outlet where  I have seen women gang partying hard with all comforts . I often go this place to meet friends , and as a Food lover , I like their concoction of spirits and fusion dishes. They have world wide range of Finger Food along with some good North Indian dishes. Their inhouse preparation of Wasabi Prawns is something to talk about. So you can enjoy your Booze and food with some good Bollywood music and if you are a fan of sufi music, check this place on Wednesday evenings.


After checking this place for few times , understood the reason for the name “BUZZ” for this pub. As  it means "a low, continuous humming or murmuring sound, made by or similar to that made by an insect." , You will be forced to hummm along with their concoctions  and musical atmosphere.  Sharing below  the photographs of  their best served mixes and my favourite Wasabi Prawns .

Sangria

Coco Freeze Nectar

Apple Martini 

Buzz Masala 

Wasabi Prawns 

Toffee Pudding 

Meal for two is 2000/- apprx.
The Kitchen Espion team wishes the team of Buzz a success ( we will drink and buzz their success.) 

To reach
BUZZ,  Ground Floor,
 Metropolitan Mall,
Saket
New Delhi.

Know your roots via food , décor and art pieces at "Desi Roots".

I was invited by WishBox Studio Communications Pvt.Ltd to try out some of the  dishes from the menu of newly opened restaurant Desi Roots , Saket.  The concept of the Restaurant is “Desi” / Indian-ness , yet with a contemporary and chic look .  You will feel nostalgic as soon as you enter the outlet , with a big painting on wall with Children playing old games like Pebbles ( Kanche) , Stapoo etc.  Ambiance is colourful with rustic look and few comics kept in an old metal trunk and Sewing-machine as a table, Old bajaj scooter light head as lamp and handpump in one corner.  As you head inside, you will find the modern look of the Bar with two beautiful paintings of rural women with a glass of beer in their hands.  To attract the guests more, they have fun game of writing your wish in a lock and lock it at their iron grill near the gate .  Guests can take the key with them till their wish is fulfilled or wish to keep it lock there permanently. 

Colourful rustic Ambiance. 

Attractive grill where guests can write their wish on locks and lock it here and keep the key with themseves. 

Old Handpump standing tall at one corner. 

Food what we ate

Now coming to the food , their menu  covers  mostly North, East and food which you find in  High way of Northern  India  .  It has been curated keeping the authenticity of the dish and adding little fusion on accompaniments. I was amazed to see the presentation of each dish which we ordered . ( customised toy truck , army mugs and plates , coal –iron and Murtabaans ).  They also have their inhouse mix of Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic with Indian flavours, which blends  well with the Desi dishes. 
So I started my food with a drink “ Desi Champagne which was a vodka based drink with orange, and apple juice and mint.  

Desi Champagne

In Appetizers I ordered for Amuse Bouche- Golu vada , Chipote chicken tikka with Avocado raita, Kashundi fish with Babloo Sauce  and Deviled prawns Pinchoes.
Golu Vada was a medu vada s.erved in a small glass jar with lid .  Nothing extra on the dish but liked presentation was pretty attractive. Chipotle chicken tikka was served on an Custom made coal iron ( dhobi iron) which was very impressive . Kashundi fish was served with a mix of sauce with Sago pearls which they named it as Babloo sauce.  I was told two different stories behind the name of the sauce “Babloo” a) Babloo is a driver of the chef who has curated the dish ,hence kept on his name .


b) since it looks like bubbles , so another reason for naming it as Babloo sauce. Anyway , as I belong to Northeast, I would prefer more strong kashundi marinated fish with a chilli sauce.
Devilled Prawns Pinchoes is something to talk about .   I Liked  the mixof Idlis and prawns with salsa sauce.  I will say , it is one of the best dish at Desi Roots.  

Amuse Bouche - Golu Vada

Deveiled Prawns Pinchoes

Chipotle Chicken Tikka with Avocado Raita 

Kashundi Fish with Babloo sauce

Gilautte Pate with Ulte tawe ke Parathe 

For the main course I ordered Ambala Cantt ki Mutton curry with Tikona Paratha and Kamquat Achaar. The dish was served in a customised toy truck and army mug and plate . Mutton was cooked in Dhaba style and parathas were soft and crisp.  From south region I ordered for Bass Polichettu with Tepioca . I liked the strong flavour of curry leaves in Tepioca and Basa was pan fried and served on a Banana Leaf. The Timbele , cranberry -Orange chutney was little thick in consistency.  We also had Gilautti Pate with Ulte Tawe Ke parathe , Gilautte was mind blowing and liked the presentation with strips of parathas to enjoy the dish comfortably. 

Ambala Ki Muttun curry with Tikone Parathe

closer look of Mutton curry.

Bassa Polichettu with Tapioca . 

Sweet tooth
 From  the Pagal panti section, ( they have named their sweet dish section as pagal panti)., we ordered Badam Halwa Baklava Shrikhand and Jamaluddin ki Kheer .  Serving pastry with Indian halwa is really impressive.  The restaurant is also into promotion of the experts in Indian cuisine , hence They import Jamaluddin Ki Kheer  everyday  from  “Jamaluddin” who cooks this amazing kheer in wood fire near Badal Beg Masjid.  

Jamaluddin Ki Kheer. 

Badam Halwa Baklawa Shrikhand

After the meal , I polished my meal with a cup of Green tea served in a very rustic metal kettle which you will find at road side Dhabas. 

.Talking about this place in one line is “ A place where you will get good Indian dishes with eye-catching  ambiance”.

Mr. Amandeep Singh , Director , Lemon Seeds
Hospitality Pvt. Ltd and owner of Desi Roots.

The Kitchen Espion wishes all success to Mr. Amandeep Singh , creator of Desi Roots and Thanks to  Ms Chandni Mahajan for inviting me to experience the Desi Roots with some nostalgic sights. 
To reach
Desi Roots
G- 16, 17, 30 and 32 Ground floor , Ras villas Mall, Saket New Delhi.
 Meal for two
1200/- 
 

Unveil the local flavour of Delhi with Le Meridien, New Delhi - Eclairs Diary.

(Image downloaded from Internet )

On 12^th of March , 2015 , Le-Meridien, New Delhi , unveiled  their eight Eclairs with Indian flavour , which was specially created by Award winning Chef Johnny Iuzzini .  I want to thank Ms. Mounisha Chakraborty and Ms. Gunjan Kar of LINOPINION group to invite me and be a part of the event of unlocking these very interesting flavours to give a modern twist to Perician treat- Eclairs . 




 Pastry Chef of Le’Meridien- Chef Vikas Srivastava along with Mr.Arnaud Champenois, Senior Director showcased the Indian flavoured Eclairs to the gathering of Journalists, Food bloggers and few guests from Japan.
Chef Johnny Iuzzini tried his skills with some of very commonly used Indian flavours like – Green Tea, Turmeric, Jaggery , Tamarind , Coconut , Ginger and Rose petals .

A little introduction of Chef Johnny Iuzzini

Image is downloaded from internet.



Chef Iuzzini is a Pastry chef , Author and World traveller. Iuzzini’s interest in the pastry art began at the age of seventeen and he started working at The River Café in Brooklyn , New York. Through his culinary skill and in collaboration with Le’Meridien , he has created these eight signature recipes  with Indian flavour specially for Le’Meridien. 
Graduated from the culinary institute of America with over 20 years of Kitchen experience , he is the author of DESSERT FOURPLAY and SUGAR RUSH. He has been travelling around the globe researching new trends and techniques in the hotel industry along with his second passion MOTORCYCLING RACING.

Sharing my photographs of  Perisian chic captured in my lens

with coconut and mukhswad.

The Indian flovours which fascinated Chef Iuzzini to try out his skills on Eclairs. 

with Rose and Cardamom

with Jaggery and ginger 

with Hazelnut and Tamarind 

with Green tea and other ingredients. 

Make your Eclair with your choice of flavour. 

*** 
Le'Meridien is a Paris born hotel brand , acquired by The Starwood Hotels, and Resorts world wide. They are spread in more than 80 of their properties in Europe , Africa , Middle-East and Asia -Pacific. 

A visit to Dos Burros

Ever since this Taquilla bar and Mexican special restaurant has been opened, I was very curious to know the meaning of Dos Burros. , After digging into the Google search bars, got to know that Dos Burros means two little donkeys.  Funny eeh!!!…. Anyway one fine afternoon me and my friend Shalini Pereira of All things nice decided to meet at Dos Burros and try out some of their dishes and drinks.

Loved the ambiance

Bar counter 

 Situated at  cyber hub where every other day new café or restaurant is coming up with new concepts and cuisines,  It was not very difficult to find the place.  As we entered the café, I was amazed to see the colourful ambiance and beautiful retro music.  I was very much impressed by the colourful jute ropes  entrapped with the rods on the ceiling which was giving a beautiful look.

Menu

Bell Pepper Mojito

After persuing the menu ., we ordered for Sprimp Guacamole with Corn Nachos and Grilled Pork Ribs with black beans and mashed potatoes. After checking the bar menu, and on bartender’s recommendation, I picked up Bell pepper Mojito . I enjoyed my drink after adding more bell pepper and nicely muddled on my request.   Shrimp was fresh and Guacomole was freshly made . Nachos were crispy .  I really liked the Pork chops as it was very well cooked and you dnt need to struggle to cut the meat. It was very soft and Black beans were blending very well with the oink.

Shrimps -Guacamole with Corn Nachos

Pork Ribs served with Black beans and Mashed Potatoes. 

Though we were feeling full , we thought of trying Mexican sweet   “churroz “, which was served with chocolate sauce  and cream .  It was nicely fried and soft and liked with the chocolate sauce. Cream sauce was little thin in consistency.

Churroz served Chocolate sauce and Cream
Photo courtesy: Shalini Pereira 

My over all experience at Dos Burros was good , enjoyed the lovely 80’s music with beautiful and lively ambiance. I must not forget to mention that ,serve their taquillas and other drinks in very attractive glasses .

special Taquilla shot glasses imported from Singpore.

To reach
DLF, Cyber City, Ground Floor, DLF Cyber Hub
Gurgaon.

*Espion pays their own bill  

This is how an Epicurean celebrated this Holi..

Holi means Gujiya and Gujiya means Holi... 

Holi  for me means Colours, Water Balloons, Gujiyas, Dahi bhalla , Ghugni , Keema -luchi and Bhang ke Pakode.  Along with the mentioned food dishes, Kaanji with Vodka was my favorite drink till I had a Bhaang drink made by Bouquet Garni  today.

Bhaang or Cannibes is an integral part of Indian Culture. Indians make Bhaang Ghota during Shivratri and Pakoda or fritters during the occasion of Holi. It has been used since the Vedic period when Sadhus and Sufi saints used to consume it for meditation and for spritual estacy. In early period, Alcohol was a taboo for Brahmins and Baniyas and Bhaang was the only sort of socially permitted intoxication.

This Holi , I got few bottles of Bhaang concoction made by Bouquet Garni  and it made my festival special.  It was sweet, milky, and had a beautiful smoky flavour.

The rock star drink of my Holi .

K.M.Kamalaksh , founder of the company "Bouquet Garni ", is the man behind this wonderful drink. Commonly addressed as "Kama" among friends, he has always amazed me with his innovations. I had joined his event on Beer " The sipping turf" at  The Gourmet High Street, Gurgaon on last December 2014 ., which was the talk of the town . He calls himself as Bartender but i would like to call him as an amazing Mixologist who can play with not only spirits but also with simple chai or tea and creates some spectacular mixes.  No one is there in my mind who has innovated a quirky mix with Cannibes or Bhaang. I have learned that he was featured by CNN-IBN channel on last Holi with some of his creative dishes ( bhaang gujiya, bhaang rasgullas, pizzas and bhaang brownies etc ) and drinks like (Bhaang lassi, Mojito, Smoothies ) .

Kama in his festive mood creating some his best innovations with Bhaang. He calls his innovations as "Big Bhaang theory"

I wish the brand launch the drink in Indian Market with a bang and unleash a new segment of Beverages.
The Kitchen Espion wishes the greater success to K.M.Kamalaksh  and his venture. ( We'll drink to his success)

My glass of the Bhaang drink. 

HAPPY HOLI......