Last Updated on January 23, 2019 by
Doesn’t it feel weird when you realize how time has passed so quickly? WordPress says it’s been six months since I started blogging. Six Months!!! Just half a year and I feel so blessed to be accepted into the Bloggers Community with open arms. Continue reading “Baby Steps…”
Last Updated on September 29, 2015 by hungryoungwoman
It’s been less than six months, and Paavo’s Pizza has opened up six branches. It has also been running successfully I hear, the reviews on Zomato have shown an overwhelming response to the pizzas that get ready in 5 minutes. Maybe this is the selling point of Paavo’s.
One lazy night, I decided to order in pizzas from the nearest branch available. Since, the have an option where you can have half of one type and half of the other, I chose a BBQ Chicken and Paavo’s Finest. My other flavor was the Meat Paavo. And since every meal HAS to end with something sweet, I ordered in a Chocolate Pizza.
These were freshly delivered to my house in about 20 minutes. The aroma of freshly baked bread was amazing and left our mouths watering. Examining the pizza, I noticed that it is quite thin crusted. My request to add in extra cheese wasn’t really fulfilled as I could almost see no cheese present. Coming to the taste, I preferred the Meat Paavo better. Being a fan of beef and barbecue sauce, this pizza was a delight to have. Although it could have done with more cheese, I feel the crust wouldn’t have been able to carry much of its toppings.
While our previous dish was meaty, our next was filled with veggies. Green peppers, olives, roasted onions with chicken and a hint of barbecue sauce. It was a play on our taste-buds. A good one that too.
While I have good things to say about the dishes above, the Nutella Pizza sadly differs from them. The chocolate was accompanied with sugar syrup and fruits, being banana and strawberry. Since I don’t prefer fruits in my dessert, I had them without those. Also, keeping them out for a while made the chocolate runny, which I didn’t like. Should try the Apple Pie next time.
Overall, Paavo’s Pizza is a good take away option. But personally, I feel that there are better ones that serve thicker crusts pizzas with more options as toppings. I would recommend the Meat Paavo for beef and barbecue lovers.
Until next time. xx
Disclaimer: Though I was a guest at Paavo’s Pizza, all opinions expressed are my own and they stand honest and unbiased.
Last Updated on September 24, 2015 by hungryoungwoman
Have you ever been to a restaurant, where the interiors look like you’re in a palace? Or a place where the staff treat you like royalty, and you feel that you can just sit and eat forever?
This is exactly how I felt when I was sitting in Nayaab Haandi. Offering a Mughlai cuisine, this restaurant is located in Satwa, Dubai. One thing I have to appreciate about them, is how they’ve worked with so well with the inner decor. The whole theme is elegant, something that I’m a big fan of.
After we were seated and our glasses filled, we were served a rather large roti on a skewer with a mutton handi on the side. A platter with fries, fried fish and cheese naan was also brought to our table. Before we could even start with these, a live grill with various types of kebabs was kept in front of us. And these were just the starters!
Though the handi had a bit too much oil, I enjoyed having it with the roti. The platter was loved by all. The cheese naan was a favourite on the table and we licked the plate clean in no time. Coming to the mixed grill, these consisted of fish tikka, malai tikka, green boti and seekh kebab chicken. These kebabs were heavenly! The pieces of meat were succulent and juicy. I preferred the fried fish to the tikka as I found it a bit dry, but the other tikkas were devoured.
Next, we had a huge buffet to try. Nayaab Haandi tried to mix some of Indian, Pakistani cuisine and also add in fried rice and chicken manchurian.
While I loved the consistency of the Haleem and the flavourful biryani with spices, sadly the Chinese was a miss.
For dessert, there were options of Gulaab Jamun, Ras Malai, two types of kheer, Gajar ka Halwa and Fruit Custard. Ah! The joys of attending buffets, with so many varieties, that lets you have something of everything.
My favourites had to be the Gajar ka Halwa. The sweetness was just the right amount and it wasn’t too heavy on the ghee like some places do. The Ras Malai won a close second.
All in all, Nayaab Handi offers a nice place to come to with family, where you have helpful staff and good Indian Pakistani food. They also have private dining areas and take party offers. Being a buffet only place, it is quite pocket friendly to host large gatherings, which makes it perfect for Eid.
Eid Mubarak to one and all! May your Eid be as wonderful and joyous as ever. 😀
Until next time. xx
Disclaimer: Though I was invited as a guest at Nayaab Haandi, my reviews remain honest and unbiased.
Last Updated on July 24, 2020 by hungryoungwoman
After years of shying away from raw fish, winning a give-away on Instagram brought me to this place. Continue reading ““Moshi Moshi”!”
Last Updated on September 18, 2015 by hungryoungwoman
Junoon has been on my wish list from quite sometime and I was delighted to see an email requesting me to come down for a meal. Junoon is located on Level 2 of Shangri – La Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Road.
I have to say, the interiors are amazing and show that a lot of thought has been put into them. A dimly lit place with a warm and calm ambiance and wall carvings inspired by Indian culture speaks volumes about the restaurant. The menu also sticks strictly to Indian food, with no attempts of bringing in dishes from other cuisines like how it’s counterparts do.
For drinks, we went for a passionfruit mojito and a cherry lemonade. The cherry lemonade has a sweetish sour taste, which was a challenge to our taste-buds. To balance the sourness, our server brought us some cherry concentrate which really helped. The passion fruit drink, on the other hand, was loved by me. It was refreshing and garnished beautifully.
As most had appreciated the Eggplant chat, I decided to order it with a Murgh Tikka Mirza Hasnu as starters. The Eggplant chat was sheer mastery. Local chats usually consist of boiled potatoes cut into pieces with papri (crisp fried wafers), accompanied with tamarind and mint chutney. My dish had fried eggplant cut into thin slices which provided the perfect crunch and served as substitute for the Papri. Genius, I must say.
Our other starter consisted of succulent pieces of chicken tikka on a brocolli purée and salad on the side. The chicken was soft and juicy. Other than that, I felt this dish could have been better in terms of creativity.
Our server, Mittal, recommended Shrimp Malai curry and Tawa Gosht for mains with breads. We opted for butter naan and Junoon spiced naan.
My favorite was the Tawa Gosht. I’m not usually a fan of mutton, but this was delicious! The meat was easy to cut into and the cashew almond sauce complemented it well.
The Shrimp curry had a sweetish taste that I did not prefer. Added to the curry was coconut and pommery mustard, which was loved by dad. The shrimps were fresh and cooked well, something that I am quite particular about when it comes to seafood.
While we were full after all this, our server came with desserts that were most ordered. The Chocolate Matka Falooda and Malai Pearl.
The first thing that caught my eye was the presentation. Junoon certainly has an eye for detail and scores full points on that.
The Chocolate Matka consisted of a chocolate sphere containing rabri with a layer of kulfi underneath, all over a bed of vermicelli and blackberry jelly discs. I never knew a mixture of chocolate, kulfi and vermicelli could be so appealing and soothing to the tongue.
The Malai Pearl took me by surprise. It was decorated quite colorfully, with flaked almonds and a pistachio border, surrounding a yellow hemisphere. What I discovered, was ras malai inside. 10 points for the creativity and arrangement here!
After a wonderful meal, we decided to end it with a good Cappuccino.
Serving an innovative take on traditional Indian food and achieving it wonderfully is the way Junoon works. This is why it has been acclaimed as a Michelin star restaurant in New York. I would recommend the Eggplant Chat, Tawa Gosht and Chocolate Matka for anyone planning to visit.
Until next time. xx
Last Updated on September 15, 2015 by hungryoungwoman
The Black Lion located in H Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Road is one of the many restaurants that boasts great interiors and ambiance. But, not only does it promise all that, it also has good food with perfectly knowledgeable staff that assist you when needed.
My experience with The Black Lion was on a lazy afternoon, when a friend and me decided to catch up after a long time. We were welcomed by Mr. James Griffiths, the General Manager of the place, who was kind to recommend a few favourites.
Since I was parched by the heat outside, we settled for drinks first. A non- alcoholic Mojito and a Fruit Lemonade was brought to the table. I have no words for the drinks! They were freshly prepared and fully quenched my thirst. Later, I also ordered a fresh Apple juice, which was my favourite among the drinks.
For starters, we decided to go with the Truck Stop. This was one amazing platter! It perfectly suits two very hungry people. The platter consists of crispy chicken wings, mac n cheese balls, sweetcorn hush puppies and two mini angus burgers with red cabbage slaw.
I loved the chicken wings the best. They were so flavourful with just the right amount of spices that any person can handle. The chicken was succulent and easy to bite into. Every bite was heaven! I would really love if this was made a separate dish.
Next favourite was the mini angus burger. The beef inside was juicy and the burgers were bite sized which didn’t make us too full, as there were more dishes to come.
Deciding the mains was a hard decision. Everything on the menu was appealing and given the time and chance I would totally try out all of them one by one. We went for the most ordered dishes, Southern Fried Chicken and Angus New York Strip Jumbo Shrimp.
Considering how big a fan I am of Angus beef, my dish was the New York Strip with Jumbo Shrimps. My plate consisted of a well done beef which was easy to cut through and was prepared just the way I like it. But what stole the show, were the shrimps! These were soft and so well done that I could almost feel it melt in my mouth. Yes, I really did. And though some may find that weird, I actually really liked it.
Coming to my partner’s choice, the Fried chicken was like no other I’ve had before. You could really feel that the chicken used was fresh. Also, the spices used in their mixture stood out.
And lastly, we come to the dessert. We were too full to try anything after such a heavy and lovely meal, but as Mr. James insisted, we couldn’t resist. And so, we ordered a tiny portion of the Salted Crumble Cheesecake. And my oh my! Where have I been eating all my life? I’ve just found my soul-mate restaurant. If that even is a thing!
While I do have to agree The Black Lion seems to be a bit heavy on the pocket for daily visits, it surely can be reserved for special catching up sessions with friends or family. I would recommend the Truck Stop platter for anyone planning to visit. Do have the chicken wings first, as you do not want to keep that for last or you might miss it. For dessert, the cheesecake would be the perfect choice.
Disclaimer: Though I was invited as a guest to The Black Lion, my reviews remain honest and unbiased as always.
Until next time. xx
Last Updated on May 29, 2016 by hungryoungwoman
I was recently invited to Logma, located in Boxpark, with my family. I love the location, Boxpark is totally cool with all the stores shaped like boxes and a colourful theme. Location wise, this deserves full points, there isn’t much parking but I was lucky enough to find one very close to the restaurant. Continue reading “Emirati with a Modern Twist! – Logma”
Last Updated on May 28, 2020 by hungryoungwoman
As my vacation to Chennai, India comes to end, I decided to take this opportunity to compile a list of five things that you cannot miss while you’re here. Chennai, the capital of the state Tamil Nadu, has seen a lot of development when it comes to food. What I experienced when I visited this time, was a land of foodies. Every place I went to, was a different experience altogether. And what’s best? They try to incorporate all this including the culture and traditions of the country. Continue reading “5 Things you HAVE to Try in Chennai….”
Last Updated on March 27, 2018 by hungryoungwoman
My search for a multi cuisine restaurant in Chennai, Tamil Nadu lead me to Cleo’s, a cozy hideaway located in Adyar. One of my main requirements for dining out is a place that is open till late, and Cleo’s does that. They were open at about 11 PM (the time we arrived). Continue reading “Cleo’s Grill And Cafe – Chennai, India”
