PHOENIX FOOD GUIDE LAUNCH WITH KUNAL VIJAYKAR CHENNAI

PHOENIX FOOD GUIDE LAUNCH

with Kunal Vijaykar 

 PHOENIX MARKET CITY CHENNAI, VELACHERI

Hello and welcome to this edition of COPA PHOENIX-IANA at Phoenix Market City Chennai on June 17, 2016.  With football action all through this month, I couldn't help but get influenced and kick in with my review laced with footie terms

Six teams trying to stamp their presence with their signature dishes was a very good move in the mall scene.. people can easily recollect and remember when borborygmus strikes while shopping, catching a movie or just window shopping in this 1 million sq ft mall 

A launch of a in-house food guide is unheard of and new of its kind. Phoenix market city to launch it by inviting a Celebrity food reviewer/actor/anchor of food shows Mr. Kunal Vijaykar from Mumbai is like scoring of a free kick. Read more about him at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunal_Vijaykar

So the kick-off started an hour late than the scheduled time. The shutterbugs were on full duty flashing as the Man of the hour, "the Maradonna of food reviews" walks in and exchanges smiles, shaking hands with the team etc. He went about his routine of making his video for the show and interacting with the Chef of Punjab grill. A true inspiration to all foodies and reviewers

He wasted no time to go as per the schedule, I was on his right flank during one the strolls. We were dribbling info back-n-forth about Chennai street food and he was happy to re-visit just for the Street food probably taking my little help (some wishful thinking!)

(Front row LtoR: RJ Jane, Ashmita, Kunal, Ekta, Katie, Kiran,Backrow: Krishin, Gowrishankar, , Mohammad Ali)

104.8 FM  RJ and show producer Jane was at her impromptu best inwith her running commentary and interviews of the bloggers and Kunal. The recordings were to be aired on her show on Friday with some foot-tapping music.

FOOD CRAWL WITH FOODIE KUNAL - EVENT FLOW - 17th June 2016                                   

Cooking Session with Chef  Punjab Grill        12.00 - 12.30pm              
Tasting Session Noodle Bar                             12.30 - 12.45pm                .
Tasting Session Jonah's                                    1.00 - 1.15pm    
Tasting Session Nando's                                   1.15 - 1.30pm   
Tasting Session Rajdhani                                  1.30 - 1.45pm   
Tasting Session Mainland China                       1.45 - 2.00pm
              
GROUP A
INDIA 1 - PUNJAB GRILL
Dhaniya mirchi da kukkad with some butter garlic naan was served to us for sampling. Since we were already hungry and forgot about sampling  we went  into extra time- Suddently realized there was more food to be tried, that off-side moment where we stopped and got ready to move on 

INDIA 2 - RAJDHANI 

The unanimous choice and with no big competitors for this kind of Thali food, Rajdhani has taken chennai by storm. They have maintained the quality, quantity and style which has been patronized for their Veg specials. Each of the dish tasted unique and distinct from each other and you can indulge guilt free even when you see the server pouring ghee like there is no tomorrow on to your rotis (only after asking). The regulation time was over and we literally blew the whistle to end

GROUP B
ITALY - SPAGHETTI KITCHEN
We were already running behind schedule and had to inform our PRs to get the resto ready with their food. The drawback to this was that the Pasta had stood a tad long and therefore was getting thicker and dry than being creamy and saucy. The bruschetta - I experimented with the olive oil on the table on top of existing toppings and was ok. Their famous black pepper chicken makes you flip for more. The half-time moment was here for the food reviewers/bloggers. 

GROUP C
CHINA 1- NOODLE BAR
A very interesting take on the silk-route cuisines of Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and China.There were interesting innovations and twists to the dishes and one could feel a bit of all cuisines in one dish. This was a refreshing change to the run-off-the mill stuff in Oriental dishes. Dim-sums with mushroom was drool worthy,

CHINA 2 - MAINLAND CHINA Chef Sankar Mahakud

We literally were cornered by the sight of so much food. After a lot of head-butting and kicking ourselves on whether to eat or just taste, we started to pass, cut, roll, lob many dishes in less than 15 minutes.  It was a tie: we liked whatever was served and team didn't force us when we couldn't have anymore.  The prawns hubei style and chicken momos were worth a mention..

The lychee ice cream made for an interesting visual treat to the eyes with dry ice smoking out bottom glass bowl and the fleshy juicy lychees waiting to vanish like magic on top. The ice cream didn't impress much.

GROUP D 
JAPAN - JONAH'S  GOES TO JAPAN
We were greeted and seated and were quickly served the noodle soup which had a wedge of boiled egg, chicken pieces and slit okra was good.  We took a passing "shot" with our cams of the prawn/crab maki or Californian roll (not sure) an inside out sushi which Kunal had tasted. We couldn't spend time here as we were on a dash to the launch of the food guide next

GROUP E
MOZAMBIQUE/PORTUGUESE - NANDO'S
We couldn't tackle it anymore but the food kept coming at us non-stop. Kunal went about his photo/video review of the few dishes served. I wanted to go for glory and though I have tried their dishes many times before, this time was just a few chunks of chicken with the hottest sauce to see if I still had it in me not to tear after taste. It was "hit-the-crossbar" kind of moment instantly

There was no single winner of the cup but....THE FOOD GUIDE won unanimously. It was launched at The Design Hotel located within PMCC at Cafe Annam with a lot of city's socialites present (mostly women) and Kunal went about his journey quickly and how he manages so much in so little time . He spoke about his special like for Kashmiri wazwan food and the dum aloo ,the home made masalas to last an entire year were stored in dark beer bottles, how he developed an iron belly to digest all sorts of food (drinking water from any source increased his immunity). The food guide was received by Nina Reddy of the Savera group of hotels and restaurants. It should be available at the Mall reception counters for all to access and be benefited

Highlights:
The food guide helps you find the resto of choice in less than few seconds
There are plenty of veg options in all cuisines and restos
Easy to find out their signature dishes with price for two


A brilliant effort by PMCC to launch a exclusive in house FOOD GUIDE SHOWCASING the restaurants within the mall. The crowd cheering is certain and would result in more foot falls at the mall restaurants and hope people enjoy the food so much that they literally crawl back home after the culinary foodball

Vamanos PMCC!

Curry town - Savera - Kashmiri food festival

Curry town - Kashmiri food festival

 11th floor (Terrace), The Savera Hotel, 146, RK Salai, Mylapore, Chennai, 044 30853857

An exclusive invite to select bloggers to attend the Kashmiri food festival at Curry town

A line-up of the "asli" kashmiri khana from the renowned Chef Mujeeb-ur-Rehman. He has mastered the following cuisines – Kashmiri, Mughlai, Awadhi, Rampuri, Hyderabadi, Bengali & Persian (Irani) . He was courteous and very patient in pacing the dishes, making sure that we didn't spend too much time just clicking pictures and fielded all questions with zeal and panache. He has been invited shortly to Kabul to represent India to explore pakistani street foo. Good luck Chef!

Ambiance: The first impressions shifted me to a romantic mood and of the times of the mughals (jab chali tandi hawa.. jab uti kaali ghata, ey mere jaane wafa tum yaad aaye!). The selection of songs which were played elated my mood a notch higher. A romatic roof-top candle light/low lit dinner with your beloved and Shreya Goshal's unplugged version of "Sun raha hai na tu"... should I say more?
The interiors are artfully done and the plush sofa seating makes it comfortable seating. I loved the idea of mirrors on one side of the wall giving you the illusion of the space being extra wide when it isn't. The Rickshaw was so out of place.. it should have been an houseboat and would have seemed apt for a picture perfect shot from the Shammi Kapoor song "deewana hua badal" - Kashmir ki kali. Nevertheless, people did enjoy getting their pics clicked on it on their way down

Complimentary papad was served with three types of chutneys – Beetroot chutney for the sweetness, mint chutney was the usual sour and spicy, last came a bouncer yogurt chutney that was very spicy.

Mocktails: The cocktails/mocktails were offered outside of the festival menu. There were 5 types of mocktails that we tried
Cardinal Punch 195/-: Orange juice, Fresh lime juice & cranberry juice was what I ordered. It came with a strawberry on the brim of the glass which wore a dead look that reminded me of "murjhagayi tho phir na khiloongi, kabhi nahi" song
Spring Fever 195/-:  Orange juice, Fresh lime juice, Mango juice & Apple juice. The mango  has an over-powering effect and no wonder its called the king of fruits and was manageable
Strawberry Cooler 195/-:  Orange juice, Pineapple juice, Strawberry crush & Soda.  Anything strawberry is decent
Fruit Punch 195/-: a concoction of fruit juice. Guava can dominate any fruit mix and if you like guava go for it
Shirley Temple 195/-: Fresh lime juice, Grenadine, Lemonade. very diluted. Now I know why Shirley Temple (popular child actress of the 30's) disowned it

Veg starters: You would be familiar with all these dishes served except that they have named it in Kashmiri and prepared the way they do back there.
Rajmah Akhrot Kababa 425/-: Rajma and mashed potato with crushed walnut made into round disks and crumb fried deep. Any interesting new item that I tasted for the first ime
Tsaman Warimasala Tikka 425/-: Cottage cheese marinated in hot spices and cooked in clay oven. Soft panner was a definite winner
Wazwani Aluv Tukri 425/-: Chilli yogurt marinated spicy potato, dusted with dry mint. I personally feel this is better off untouched
Jhelum Khumb Masala 425/-: Button mushrooms in yoghurt and pickle based marinade. Cooked in a tandoor on skewers. It was juicy and mildly spicy

Non-Veg Starters:  A choice of mutton, chicken, fish and prawns is what they have on the menu and we tried the following
Kukur Dudhiya 575/-: Creamy, black pepper and nuts glazed chicken. Malai tikka with almond paste could have been better if made with tangdi than the breast
Kukur Lebabdar Tikka 575/-:  Succulent chicken tikka soaked in red masala. The traditional tikka was just as good
Maaz Seekh Kebab 600/-: Lamb sheek kebabs. Nothing extraordinary.
Tabakh Maaz 600/-:Lamb ribs marinated and cooked with turmeric, cinnamon and cardamom. A kashimiri special because of the quality of meat available in that region. The goats here are full of fat and while the ribs cook in it and turn out a foodie's-delight. Crispy outside with chat masala on top and inside tasted bland to me
Gadh Dhaniwal Pasanda 675/-: Seer fish fillet blocks marinated and cooked with yogurt, coriander and chilli. Was very mild in flavor and

 






Main course: I thought I was finished with the overload of starters but it was not to be. They gave us time enough to be ready for round 2 of the course
Dal Wazish 375/- : Pigeon pea tendered in milk and flavored tomato and coriander flavored dal. I expected it to be creamy and pale but it was the usual dal after all
Nadur Yakhni – Lotus stem in yogurt gravy flavored with cumin. If you have tasted lotus stem.. be mindful of the thin sticky strands while you bite into it you will feel like an arachnid :) But the gravy it is cooked in is delish
Rogvan Josh 600./-: They got this dish perfect, you will love it when you eat it.  a Must try of all the dishes  
Buzbatta 500/-: Vegetable pilaf made of basmati rice.Forget all your kashmiri pulavs that you ate all these years down south (no pineapple, apple and dry fruit bits business here).  If you are with kids, they would have a tough time sorting out all the whole spices (coriander seeds, star anise, ..) and picking out all the nuts
Kashmiri Naan 140/-: Kashmiri Naan is made with a lot of chopped nut. Was thick but soft and tasted good   

  

Desserts: Shufta 240/-: Cottage cheese and dry fruits halwa.you will love it for the mild sweetness and would be wondering all the while to figure out the ingredients till the last spoon. If you are used to eating pine nuts u will know
Chukandar E Afroz 240/- Beetroot halwa in milk khoa and nuts was mildly sweet as well. Was wondering how this sweet has gone pan India. Can't beet the taste when you eat!

 

Kahwa: If you still have space for anything more, it has to be for the Chai kashmiri style. I love cinnamon and this was the perfect finish to that super heavy festive dinner of the night. Must try!!!

Service: Got greeted at the entrance by a smiling stewardess who happily took my helmet to be stored safe. The staff were attentive and service prompt except for the long gap between starters and main course. Got carried away by hindi all around started speaking to the service guy in hindi and realize he is from namma chennai. Regain your native tongue and save the blushes!

Verdict:  After weighing out all the options and tasting most of the dishes, we concluded that it is definitely worth a visit to be trapped in the sky or you are on cloud 9. With those Kashmir delicacies  you realize that they are not fond of hot spices but keep it either mild sweet but aromatic. The chef is lucky to have the natives from these regions to cook and we get what the real meal-deal is from our cool state.

Enjoy it till the end of this month! @  Savera for those "Sunehra" moment which are cash-merrily Kashmiri