Curious Curries – Healthy, Delicious Curries at your door step! — Reviewed!

What would a lazy foodie do on a lazy day? Either make instant noodles or order food online. Obviously, ordering food online have so many choices! :) Sometimes, I too am lazy to cook so I look out for options of ordering food with the comfort at home. Usually, we tend to get heavy stomach after eating a meal outside and rarely do we get to eat seriously healthy food. Recently, Curious Curries asked me to review their food and I happily agreed to it because of their idea behind this place.

Well, "Curious Curries" is a venture run by Chef Dipali Vernenkar and Atul who offer delicious, healthy, optimum spiced food home delivered. Curious Curries is a very interesting name! Well, Curries are an inseparable part of Indian cooking but why curious? So, this is what Chef Dipali has to say, "Curries and Sauces from India and around the world have always excited me and rather than replicating existing recipes, I take the inspiration from the authentic recipes and give them a twist of my own to make them unique. Our menus were bound to have 'curries' at their heart and hence the name"

I was really happy to receive their signature curries accompanied with Tawa paranthas and Mix Veg Raita. Here is what I received..

• Cashews and Veg Goan (Rs.280)
• Paneer Makhanwala (Rs.250)
• Tawa Paranthas (Rs.25 each)
• Mix Veg Raita (Rs.50 for small)

Cashews and Veg Goan Curry was an absolute treat! So rich! Abundance of Cashews and veggies in rich creamy tomato-onion gravy was a delight. I could eat it like that only! No need of paranthas. A bowl full of hearty curry. Loved it!!

Paneer Makhanwala, a very popular Indian curry, is made using loads of butter added to silken gravy. Up to its name this curry was also delish and was wiped away in no time!

Mix Veg Raita was regular mix of onion, tomato. Nice, thick, fresh!

Pros:
On time Delivery
Healthy and easy to digest food

Pure Vegetarian

Hygenic
Balanced Price
Appropriate Portion Size

Spill free, neatly packed
Party orders delivered all over Pune

Cons:
Currently delivering only in Baner, Balewadi and Sus-Pashan Road

To keep up the delivery standards high, they have a shorter menu for instant orders (45 mins) and elaborate one for party orders. You can call and customise your choice and they will plan it for you.

Overall, a wonderful delivery option for people around their feasibility area. I hope they start delivering all over Pune soon! Go ahead with Curious Curries. No doubt about the quality of food and service! :)

You can order on +91-9923750392 or +91-9923040392.

Qtrove - Handcrafted, Organic and Fresh at one place! — Reviewed!

We speak about handcrafted, organic products, but there are just handful of places where we can actually trust and buy with an ease of a click. While browsing, I came across Qtrove, a website that lives upto the value. Qtrove is a wonderful website that sells exclusive and non-massed produced items from small vendors across the country! How wonderful is that! Best part is their products are natural, organic, handmade, sustainable and not easily available elsewhere.

They have a huge range of products! I was so stunned about the variety they had to offer, be it home baked fresh products, beverages, chocolates, confectioneries, grocery, staples, or home decor, fashion, pet care, and if you are confused about gifting options, Qtorve have a separate section for that too!

I ordered for Jus' Trufs Handcrafted Almond Chocolate, Oh! Fudge, Iris Potpurri, and Beantree Pancake Mix. Jus' Trufs chocolates were divine. It had the distinctive note of cocoa, silky chocolate with a crunch of roasted almonds. Loved it!


Also, fudge lovers will be spoilt by the choices ranging from Hazelnut, Almond, Chocolate, Coffee, Cashewnuts etc. I opted for Just Chocolate and trust me it was wiped within an hour! I ate it guilt free as it was made fresh without any artificial ingredients. Was looking for a long time, so quickly grabbed it!

A maintenance free potpourri with the aromatic lemon grass refresher oil was so cute and that aroma..wow!

What can be better than to start the day on a healthy note. So I opted for Beantree Buckwheat and Oats pancake. Light and airy, hearty and nutritious - these pancakes were delicious.

I was truly flattered with the service of Qtrove! Ordering process was swift, easy and quick. Looking for deals? You can use the code, MEGHA15 for instant 15% discount. Isn't this wonderful? The offer is valid till 31st January 2017. Also, delivery was done within 72 hours. That's impressive! Happy me to explore this wonderful website.

Wood Fire Grill – Revisited! — Reviewed!

Winter evenings and what you look for? Warm, comfortable place, good company and great food. Wood Fire Grill is the place with grills on table with a choice of outdoor space, beautiful ambience and delightful food. This is was my second visit to the place and this time I went for the dinner to feel the place go lively in the night. Though it looked pretty for lunch also!

As I mentioned, Wood Fire Grill has indoor, outdoor space and also a private space for parties and events. The difference in this visit was that I was keen on trying their grills. Unlike many other grilled food serving restaurants, we got a grill with cooked veggies in skewers, so we just had to keep it warm and keep rotating to avoid it from getting burnt.

So, when we reached there, we were greeted with Mr. Sachin, one of the co-partners. Post chit-chat with him, we started with the mocktails, basic mojito and peach mocktail. Not a great start though, we had our first soup - Hare Mutter ka Shorba. Presented beautifully in a bowl over a hot pot with a candle in it to keep the bowl warm. Nice, thick soup with balanced taste of peas and spices. Comforting it was!

I was excited to have Veg Barley Soup, a continental one. Consistency was good but it lacked flavours of barley and had extra dose of garlic and ginger. Hope they work on it!

Coming on to the starters, we had Sizzling Chaman ka Khaas, Shabnami Kumbh and Paneer Rossali Kebab.
Sizzling Chaman ka Khaas was super delicious. Perfectly flavoured sizzling patties on the lettuce leaf was one of my favourite dishes of the evening. Recommended!

Paneer Rossali Kebab on the contrary was tad oily. Apart from the oil, taste was awesome. Stuffed cottage cheese rolled with spices was grilled to perfection. Perfectly marinated.

Shabnami Kumbh or mushroom preparation was equally scrumptious.

Next was the most awaited part- the grill. The Barbeque platter was set on the table with 7 different marination, ranging from Paneer Angara, Paneer Banjara, Paneer Peshawari, Tandoori Khatta Aalu, Tandoori Mushrooms, Veg Kerara Seekh and Tandoori Broccoli. Perfectly marinated and nicely cooked dish. You need to eat quick or keep on rotating to avoid char grill. While Paneer Angara and Peshawari being the star, Broccoli was a bit disappointment. Overall, it was a nice experience of grills.

Almost stuffed we moved on to the main course with Phaldari Kofta Curry, Paneer Lajawab and Mushroom Chettinad along with the Garlic Cheese Naan.
Paneer Lajawab was scrumptious with delicious gravy. While, Phaldari Kofta was a bit let down,

Mushroom Chettinad lifted the mood up with the south indian spices and mushrooms made a great combo.

Desserts had the classic Nawabi Gulabjamun with Rabdi and Shahi Tukda. Thick sweet rabdi over bite sized gulabjamuns placed in martini glass. Presentation was good and so was the taste! Shahi Tukda was average, wish the rabdi over it to be with better consistency. Hoping to witness the changes and going again for some Paneer Makhmali I had in my previous visit.

So guys, overall it was a good experience. All went well. Grills, Ambience, Food can be looked upon! Go for it! Enjoy few more pictures...

Maadjaapaahit – Explore the South East Asian Cuisines! — Reviewed!

Pune is opening it's arm to accept new cuisines. We, foodies, are always look out to try, explore dishes from all around the world. One of its kind cuisine, less explored is Indonesian. Maadjaapaahit is one of the restaurant, which has brought its patrons not only a unique cuisine but an overall experience in itself.

History:: Maadjaapaahit, couple of months old restaurant in the Hotel Pride, Shivaji Nagar, is an Indonesian restaurant which is influenced with the Majapahit, which was the most powerful and greatest empires in the history of Indonesia and South east Asia. Unbelievably, it had 98 territories ranging from Sumatra to New Guinea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, southern Thailand, Sulu Archipelago, Philippines, and East Timor. How fascinating it is to learn about all this.

Being a foodie, traveller and a dreamer, I always go to my dream world to imagine, what type of food they use to eat, which attire was worn, what utensils. It is so fun, na!? So, when I saw Maadjaapaahit, the only Indonesian restaurant, I was filled with joy. It is easily located on the main road of Shivaji Nagar, near Rahul Cinema. Valet Parking is available.

Ambience:: Maadjaapaahit is located on the right side on the ground floor of the hotel. The entrance is adorned with the artificial walls depicting an empire which will surely transport you to the royal land of kings. Bar can be seen on the left post entering. Ethnic, earthy colors of wall and furniture, ceiling, lights, carvings gives it a very raw look. Inspired with the 8 regions of Majapahit empire, you can see the description and the name on each wall.

Food:: The menu is pretty extensive with 140 dishes from the 8 regions of the majapahit empire...

• Phillipines
• Papua New Guinea
• East Nimor
• Singapore
• Indonesia
• Thailand
• Malaysia
• Brunei

Menu has different sections for different region and is classified course wise. Chef Pravin is the man behind the hard work in compiling those authentic recipes from South East Asia. He was the best person to suggest some delish dishes to try. So, we started with the..

Salads

• Gado Gado Salad (3/5)
• Kerabu Beansprout Salad (3.5/5)
• Som Tam Salad (4/5)
• Seasame Green Salad (3.5/5)

From the land of Indonesia, comes the Gado Gado Salad which is served with lightly boiled, blanched veggies, fried tofu served with the medium spiced delicious peanut sauce. Presentation could have been more appealing! :)

Kerabu Beansprout salad had nice concoction of coconut, sprouts and tamarind paste. This salad had its origin in Malaysia. Bit tangy, sweet and crunchy salad was delish!

Sesame green salad from East Timor had assorted cabbage and sesame dressing and garnished with fried wontons. Extra crunch of wontons was adding value to the dish.

Som Tam is a raw papaya salad from Thailand. It was one of my favourites. Apart from grated papaya it had tomatoes and to balance had crushed peanuts. Balanced in taste it was!

Soups::
Singapore Laksa (4.5/5)
Sayur Lodeh (4/5)

Laksa in one of the comfort food, also known as spicy noodle soup was one of the best dishes I had then. Thick spicy coconut curry soup with generous amount of rice noodles and exotic vegetables was comforting. The aroma of coconut milk was catching attention. Highly Recommended!

Sayur Lodeh, Indonesian recipe, had veggies in coconut milk. Strong flavour of lemon grass was evident. Loved it!

Appetizers::

Keiyw Phak or Dumplings (3.5/5)
Hed and Khawpod Satay (4/5)
Tahu Sumbat (3/5)

Keiyu Phak or Exotic Thai Dumplings had nice amount of crushed veggies and steamed to perfection. If the outer coating of the dumplings was thin and the veggies had bit flavours, this dish would have been a winner.

Hed and Khawpod Satay from Thailand was served on a hot plate. Satays are my all time favourite. Mushrooms and Baby corns were perfectly marinated in spicy sauce and grilled perfectly. The veggies were juicy and had absorbed all the flavours. Really delicious it was!

Tahu Sumbat or the Grilled Tofu, a Malay recipe was nicely prepared. Thick triangles of tofu was scooped out from middle and stuffed with veggies accompanied with chilli sauce. Tofu was bit dry for me. Overall tasted good with the sauce.

Desserts:
A platter was served to us with Rice pancakes, Sticky rice cake, Mango Pudding and sweet potatoes & coconut rolls. Kahao Neeo Dahm Polama or the mixed sticky rice cooked in coconut milk and served with a layer of fruits was heavy and delicious.
Getuk Lindri from Brunei was sweet potato and coconut rolls. Mild sweet, sticky this was one different dish I liked.

I was so full by the time I finished starters, that I had to skip main course. But I am surely going there again. Will be updating this review as soon as I am done with the main course. Till then stay tuned and do try your hands on something new!