Not another Review!!

Not another review! What makes this different? Well, for starters, the person(s) reviewing stuff here are people who grew up in a world thats far removed from "the Reviews on Gruyere cheese and Asparagus..." In other words,
1. We love Amul butter - the salted yummy thing better than all the 'sophisticated' imported butter in the world!
2. We love the gooey, drippy sweetness of Indian sweets
3. We have, at some point in our lives, ate spoonfulls of Milkmaid conensed milk - right out of the can
4. We understand food and wine pairing (Courtesy the persistent lecturers in Hotel mgmt college), but would rather have chilled beer or the exotic looking potent cocktail with our spicy chicken tikkas or fish fries
5. Prefer to use words like 'delicate' for silks and 'sharp' for tools... NOT food!
6 Are dying find product which make lives easier for working mothers, wives, girlfriends or considerate (also read that as hen pecked) husbands and boyfriends!

So go on... pour your heart out about stuff you liked or hated!



Friday, April 23, 2010

Big Chills

Firstly, I have to thank Ritu for taking me out for lunch - thank you buddy! You have compelled me to write about the restaurant we went to. And so here is my first review on a food place!

Its called the Big Chills in a lovely little market called Kailash Colony Market. Very different from the GK market. Climb up a flight of (steep!?) steps to reach an amazingly quaint little place that looks right out of a postcard. We were directed to the best spot in the restaurant (which, I suspect is because my friend is a regular who knew more about the menu than the steward himself!). Our table was near a window and a nice view of the market.

First, the ambiance : The place, like already mentioned, is quaint. It has an old world trattoria kind of charm, with green wrought iron lamp posts, and little tables and chairs. (I wouldn't say the chairs were the most comfortable ones, but that fact slips into oblivion when the food arrives!!). The restaurant also had a healthy amount of noise inside. The kind that one would associate with happy get-togethers among young groups. People chatting, laughing and ofcourse, eating! The checkered table linen added to the trattoria feel.

The food : I have to warn you - you better be very, very hungry......... or be prepared to shamelessly pack up more than half the meal to carry back with you. Because the portions are HUGE... and you will not want to leave behind anything. We did exactly that - we asked for the servers to pack whatever we couldn't polish off. And for a person with very clear restaurant etiquette, an act like that speaks volumes on the quality of the food.

I had ordered a fuselli with a tangy tomato sauce and inspite of the repeated warnings my friend gave herself, she went ahead and ordered a creamy pasta for herself. We were hungry, and we were getting hungrier by the minute. (Maybe the smells from the kitchen had something to do with it). The food arrived, and we were short of drooling into the table linen.

The pasta had a nice, homely look. A big bowl almost to the brim with steaming pasta, generously sauced, and a no nonsense approach to the garnishing. Least hindrance to gobbling of the food, I say! Well we dug in, and the feeling can only be described as bliss! Did I care that the plate presentation was a tad untidy? Honestly, No!

We couldn't finish our pastas. But we were getting greedy, and blueberry cheesecake was what took our fancy. And I am glad it did! Crumbly base, lovely texture of the cheesecake, which did an amazing duet with the blueberry layer on top. I really couldn't stop closing my eyes while eating it.

The service : Quick boys, with an expression that cannot be identified. They were all over the place, rushing in and out, and the worst thing I can think about the service is that it gets difficult to identify your server - they all look alike! The niceties are there. You get escorted to your table, you are asked for your order pretty soon, you are even suggested dishes if you ask them. They obviously don't believe in the frills of classic restaurant service. But again, negligible factor when you start warming up to the place.

My take on the place? An ideal place for an afternoon out with an old friend. A fantastic place when you are hungry enough to eat big. Most of all, a nice place to feel young again. Average price for a meal for two very hungry people is around Rs.1500.