Sunday 30 December 2012

Nisarga


After a long discussion on which restaurant to have dinner at, celebrating the birthdays' of two of my cousins, we decided on 'Nisarga' (Kothrud, Pune). 'Nisarga' is a seafood lovers delight, and rules out the misconception of Pune not being a place to have seafood. Well, the times have definitely changed and one can always rely on this particular restaurant to dish up the freshest of the treasures from the sea. 'Nisarga' also provides valet-parking facility which is a huge relief, because of it being situated on a busy street.

A two- leveled restaurant, with a beautiful interior, told us that 'We definitely are in for some great time'. The manager quickly led us to our table and it was a good thing that we had booked a table in the afternoon, because there were people who entered only a few minutes later who had to either wait for a long time or just go find some place else.

The waiters were all very friendly and the service was great. Most of us started the order with a round of mocktails. I first went in for 'Shelby Time', a concoction of - Fresh Orange Juice, Sprite and Grape Juice, topped with a slice of Orange and a Cherry. The second one I ordered for, is an all time favourite - The very famous 'Pina Colada', a blend of Fresh Pineapple Juice, Coconut Milk, Sugar and oodles of Vanilla Ice Cream. Bliss. 

Virgin Pina Colada 
Shelby Time
                   

















Also, something I forgot to mention in the introduction, 'Nisarga' being a seafood specialty, caters to all types of food with the same amount of love combined with the right technique. For starters we ordered platters of 
Chicken Hariyali Kebabs and Chicken Banjara Kebab. The chicken was cooked to perfection with the perfect amount of spices. The Salad and The Pudina-Dhaniya chutney that accompanied it was tasty too. The Tandoori Pomfret and the Prawns Koliwada could make anybody go crazy! 

For the Main we decided upon Murg Multani, as we wanted something that wasn't too spicy, nor sweet, boneless and their waiter suggested us this dish(And it turned out to be so), with Butter Naans for the some of us non seafood lovers, and Surmai in Malwani Style Gravy with some Chapatis. As the saying- "Saving The Best For The Last" goes, the last on thing to arrive at the table was The Prawn Biryani. It was the loveliest thing ever and if you visit this place it is an absolute must-have. It was spicy, but not as much as it would burn your mouth (just as a Biryani should be), had a coconut oil touch to it, with the perfectly sized and cooked succulent prawns mixed in with some freshly grated coconut, which made justice to it being a coastal dish. 

Was a lovely experience- The Food and The company. And Yes, the food is kind of expensive, but as you start biting into it, it wont bother you much. Will definitely give it another visit. 

There was this one funny moment though. As we had gone their to celebrate two of my cousins' birthdays, aged 13 and 17, we asked them (Mind you, 'just asked them') if they have the 'Happy Birthday' song in their collection as we wanted to surprise them and had sent them both away from the table. They, without asking us played the entire two minute song meant for those two little kids, who were not even present to listen to it. everybody, even at the neighbouring tables started looking here and there because all everybody could hear was the song, but nobody clapping, nor a cake (as it was supposed to arrive after the dinner). Doesn't matter much, I know. But just thought of sharing it.

P.S   I could just share two pictures as i was too busy enjoying the food to think about clicking pictures or posting them online.

















Thursday 20 December 2012


It all started with my love for food that my friends started saying "You know what? You should have a blog!" I thought it was a great idea too, but i am lazy that way.So after months of them nagging me, I finally acted on it.

Although I am new to the blogging world, it wasn't difficult to figure out how to go about it. Ok, so my blog is all about food - recipes, cooking tips, where to eat in Mumbai, what to try out everything ranging from Savoury Dishes to the most Delectable Desserts as well as from good restaurants to the awesomest khau gallis of Mumbai. I had just been for a dinner, and I thought of writing a review for it. That provided as a start for my blog writing! But because I did not have it in mind before I went in for a dinner I did not take pictures of all the things I ate (something I decided to make a habit of). Although I still think the absence of pictures didn’t affect the blog post, as the writing and what you are trying to convey through it is more important than pictures. Nevertheless, pictures always make thing look more interesting and lively.

I have always had a thing for cooking, sometimes trying out versions of what I see on “Masterchef Australia”. Yes, specifically Australia. Nothing else. Or even from Nigella’s Kitchen and Martha Stewart. And when it comes to Indian cooking, Aditya Bal’s ‘Chakhle India’ is a very good option. It doesn’t necessarily have to be TV shows, but also recipes from here and there or my Mum’s cookbooks. But all these years, I never once thought of posting anything online (A mistake, sigh!) Anyways, but now blogging can help a lot in showing the world my creations.

Also, blogging gave me a chance to cook only for the sake of posting it online. So, it was double the fun. No, sorry, triple. Cooking, Eating, Blogging. Not just for me but for my friends and family. The Chocolate Brownies, The Grapes Upside Down Cake and The Dips, are all tried and tested.
From making a blogger account to setting up everything- the design, the templates, the layout, the colours….everything was fun. Testing how it looks and making changes here and there was a tedious but a fun process. I have started to love blogging and Ill continue with it. There’s a lot more to come. So, Happy reading!