What Sam says about_____?: February 2015

Saturday, 28 February 2015

Frsh.com - Your Healthy Friend in the High Cal World - 4/5

I am such a foodie at heart, and so it is so so tough to manage my weight. For the last 9 months or so I have made a conscious effort to watch what I eat. I have not only lost inches but also a lot of weight by choosing the right food for myself. I normally eat healthy all week and my meals include greens, salads and smoothies instead of soft drinks and canned juices. And because I was bored of eating the usual food, I was browsing the internet one day and I came across Frsh.com and I was so excited to see what they offer.

It's such a healthy option where you choose fresh, low calorie, guilt free food and yet enjoy it at the same time. There are such awesome items on the menu. From Idli Sambhar to fresh Juices to Salads to breakfast options like Poha or Bhel Puri or even home made Dahi Bhalle.

Freshly prepared food with fresh ingredients clubbed with a prompt order taking and speedy delivery are the USP's of FRSH.com. They deliver hygienically packed food with great portion size delivered in no time at your doorstep. The saddest part is that the corporate junta like us who have no time to get up early pack a healthy lunch for ourselves fall prey to junk food and in turn pile on so many kilo's unnecessarily. With this mission in mind in resolving this problem for us office goers a team of IIT Alumni got together and started FRSH.com.

One cannot stop raving about the awesome low calorie dishes on the menu. So why order a Mc Donalds or an over priced Subway salad or sub when one has the convenience and flexibility to order online. The best part is that you start ordering from here and you get addicted to them because they provide the pleasure of eating non home cooked food minus the calories. You can choose the time you want the food to be delivered and they deliver on time. So you don't need to worry if you forgot to eat breakfast or were too lazy to cook lunch, because lunch and breakfast are just one click away.

They have a selection of immune booster juices, salads, breakfast items, sandwiches and even low calorie desserts on the menu.Snacks and juices are delivered between 9am-7pm, They even give you a calorie count of the number of calories in a portion so that you know what you are consuming. You can order from the website, their app or even wassap. And hey keep changing their menu so that you do not get bored that easily.

Food quality, packaging, service and taste exceed expectations and price is very pocket friendly. The speed of delivery is fantastic too. This is what I ordered.

four items -

Nutty Chicken Salad---- Super refreshing salad with definitely a low cal yoghurt dressing and loads of veggies and walnuts in it made my day. Loved the generous helping of chicken in it. The seasoning is well balanced and the salad veggies were super fresh. My rating 4.5/5
Classic Sabudana Khichdi-----Loved the veggies and peanuts mixed with this traditional Indian dish. Went really well with the green chutney that came along with this. My rating 4/5
Chiku Shake-------Couldnt imagine Cheeku shake in an awesome avatar such as this. refeshing without an over dose of sugar. My rating 4/5
Bircher Muesli Parfait-------This was the dish of the day for me. It really made my day. Fresh museli and cereal flakes mixed with bits of freshly cut fruit and a semi sweet whipped yoghurt topping. Stupendous is the word for how it tasted. My rating 5/5.

Guys order and then you would know what I am talking about here. Now Good healthy food is just a click away,

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Thursday, 26 February 2015

What Sam says about - Dolce Amante, Green Park, 4/5

I was driving past green park while returning home from work and I crossed this pink perky Ptisserie, which had some magnetically sweet aura that I was instantly drawn to it. I fumbled and parked my car at the Ist spot I could lay my eyes on and marched towards the Dolce Vita. In Italian Dolce Vita means - The good life, full of pleasure and indulgence. And this Ptisserie a very sinful pleasurable indulgence for sure. Located in the heart of Green Park main market this patisserie serves cup cakes, tea cakes, biscottis, breads, home made chocolates, tarts, pies, gateauxs, cookies, cheese cakes, fudges, nuts, pralines, breakfast rolls & quesadillas.

For some reason this place gives you a very La cordon bleu feeling and you feel you are transported in time to a European Ptisserie whether French or Italian, it doesnt matter, but with such beautiful desserts around you, you get a feeling of sheer & utter bliss. For some vague reason I felt like Alice in Wonderland or like Charlie in Willi Wonkas Chocolate Factory. The smell of the bread and pastries alone here will make you think you died and went to france. This place is cosy and old-school, and I thought to myself if their food is as delicious, it will be a special treat to the foodie in muah.

Everything looked mouth watering; the deep chocolate filled french pastry, with a substantial dash of cream looked perfect and so did the cup cakes with sprinkles and frostings of icing sugar. The home made chocolates were so flamboyantly wrapped in rolls of decorative sheets, whilst the lighter mango cake in the show window seemed the epitome of a delicious world class continental cake. I was so mesmerized and so much in awe of the sweet little beauties surrounding me. I felt like a guy with my mouth open watching Miss universe contestants in the swim suit round.

And when I began seeing the price tags to all items I thought that in a city filled with home bakers charging exorbitant prices for their baked goods, this place is a fantastic deal. It didnt matter what I ordered they packed the stuff in such beautiful boxes, I felt so pampered. Now getting down to what I ordered to take home for dessert after the daily mundane roti subzi dinner to make it more exciting and hoping to get amour (love) from my amante (lover) ie. my husband :) And trust me we both relived our college romance days when we would sit in a caf sharing a brownie topped with chocolate sauce:-

RED VELVET PUDDING - Mascapone cheese and vanilla custard pudding with a base of red cake crumbs. Great or fantastic would be an understatement if I were to define the taste. I dont have that much of a sweet tooth, for me it was so well balanced so soft, it just was a melt in your mouth buttery dessert. The beautiful yellow mascapony cheesy vanilla custard topped over a red sponge crumbs looked very colourful, beautiful and tasted like heaven.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE - Subway has better choco chip cookies, but this one isnt bad either. Crumby and flaky, dusted with icing sugar around the corners seems like the Ebony And Ivory song - these taste of our childhood - just like the cookies baked in old bakeries in my home town when I was in school. I felt the taste of nostalgia as I melted in the flavour of the chocolate chips.

HOT CHOCO PUDDING - Heated for about 40 - 50 seconds, made me mad thinking what goes into making this really really great dessert. Its something like a chocolate mud pudding with warm melting chocolate sauce topped with some fine nuts with a soft mushy gooey , spongy chocolaty centre. You take a bite and the chocolate just flows into your veins, and turns your blood brown-chocolaty. I felt like a kid when I took my first bite and had the immediate urge to see my teeth full of chocolate in the mirror. And this made the child in me happy, content and made me feel one with my inner self Having read some negative reviews of the place I was a little disappointed, but the place made me happy, may be I picked the right desserts. well, whats an eagles eye for ;).

Even though I am not a dessert person but truly sometimes the right amount of sweetness in a dessert is enough to relieve you of the stress you get after a 2 hour drive home. This place has become somewhat close to my heart and awakened the child within me which I thought had grown up

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Tuesday, 24 February 2015

The Ancient Barbeque, Gurgaon - Better than Competition - 3.5/5

I have not been a big fan of Buffet only places like Barbecue Nation or Pirates of Grill, since one tends to over-eat the slightly above average food that these places serve. But the concept is quite phenomenal though. And in India, Quantity sells more than Quality. You get great value for your money spent and especially if you want to throw a party for friends and family its quite a great deal to let them have unlimited food at a meagre price in a splendid ambiance.

The Ancient Barbecue does not attempt to enter unfamiliar territory and implements the already tried and tested successful formulae of its competitors. Located on the 2^nd floor of the City centre in Sector 50 in Gurgaon, this place is literally huge. And mind you the place is mostly full. Either you visit for an early meal or make a prior reservation.

They have both indoor and al-fresco seating. The seating indoors is spread across a huge area, and I mean literally HUGE. Even though its called the “Ancient” Barbecue, not sure how the concept, ambiance or the food depicts the so called “Ancientness”. By that I certainly do not mean that the place is bad. Not the place is decent. Ambiance is pretty ok, and love the Al-fresco seating especially in winter afternoon’s. They set up the barbecue counter outside and the Chef prepares fresh Kebab’s in front of you and brings them sizzling hot to your table.

The buffet spread is huge. The variety in the main course buffet, salads and starters is immense. What I must complement them on is the variety of Salad’s. Very impressive and certainly better than competition. The starters are the usual ones on the barbecue – the fish tikka, the prawns, the chicken Tikka, the tandoori Mushrooms, pineapple, veggies etc and the non tandoor items – mayonnaise coated salsa potatoes, lotus stems, chilli chicken , paneer Tikka, Seekh kebab, tangdi Kebab or even Crispy Corn. All are decent in taste, but not exceptional. The mains in the buffet includes the biryani’s, Soups, veggies and meats. The desserts are the usual seasonal ones, pastries, ice creams and gulab jamuns. Only one dessert stood out which was Moong Dal halwa and even the Makki ki Roti Sarso ka saag.

Food is above average and does taste good. Service staff is very polite and efficient and ensure they attend to you and keep an eye on you if you need anything.

Their pricing is also better than competition and so is the variety in starters, salads and mains.

Overall the place does impress you with its decent food served in a decent ambiance and great service.

Will I visit again? Yes, I will.

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