Tamarind, Fariyas

Posted on October 28, 2014 by reenamansukhani Standard Reply

Tamarind

I’ve always wanted to go to Fariyas for a meal. Somehow, over time, it never materialized, till recently. Went for dinner – opted for the buffet. Surprise was, that there is live music. Simple, soft and nice.

Started with the soup. It was served on the table. Good Jade Garden soup. This was accompanied by a good basket of assorted fresh n soft breads.

Jade Garden Vegetable Soup with bread basket

After the soup, got myself a plate of salad.

Wow! Yum…If this is the kind of food they serve here, I feel bad; I haven’t visited this place earlier. The salads are amazing. All of them have a distinctively different flavour and seem absolutely fresh.

The beetroot salad was just fantastic – though beetroot, it did not have its stark flavouring. The carrot salad was exciting on the palate. So was the cucumber one. The pasta salad too was great, but it was strongly spiced with garlic.

Salad bar

Next, was the main course. Again, here the spread was amazing, beef, fish, and chicken for the meat lovers.

non veg dishes

another non veg counter

Though we were 5 persons at the table, everyone was vegetarian due to religious reasons. In vegetarian, the Basil tossed potatoes were fantastic.

food counter

The pasta Americana looked very appetising and I took a big bite – Aaaa….What’s this? Cloves??? 2 pieces of cloves in one bite? And it’s not that they were coarsely powered – they were whole. It a serving of say about 5 bites, I found almost 7 cloves and 2 whole peppercorns! What’s happening? See my plate.

my plate

The Chinese was like a regular fare – cannot really go very wrong with Hakka noodles and veg stir fry.

veg Chinese counter

The other main course vegetarian dishes were very average. Actually below average as each of them was heavily spiced with garlic. I like my food well spiced but garlic to be at a minimum. Here, it was the other way round. The main course was thus an absolute downer.

However, I knew from the looks of them, the desserts would be a redeeming factor.

dessert counter

Oh. What a let-down! These looks could really con anyone. From the complete spread only the Gulab Jamuns, Pineapple Panacotta and Orange Mousse were decent.

litchi tart

Orange mousse

Pineapple Panna Cotta

Priced for Rs. 940 (including taxes) for a dinner buffet, I do not recommend this place, atleast for a vegetarian.

Culinary Foods – my 2nd dining experience

Posted on October 16, 2014 by reenamansukhani Standard Reply

Culinary Foods – again. My second time in 2 months.

I really liked the place, the last time around.

This time round, a lot of disappointments but a few great surprises.

Once seated, we asked for Iced tea because we loved it the last time. Sorry – No ice tea! That put us off. However, we were offered coolers – either Sky or Strawberry. We ordered both.

O Boy – our disappointment was immediately forgotten after a sip of the coolers. Absolutely refreshing. The Sky cooler is with Blue Curacao. It’s a tough choice between the two, but if I had to pick one, it would be the Sky cooler. It’s uplifting as well as light at the same it.

Strawberry cooler n Sky cooler

Our starters too were great. Ordered a Butter Garlic fish and a Shanghai Paneer.

For a paneer starter, the server suggested Hakka but I was keen to try the Shanghai. I was not let down. Infact, it was so much better than what I expected. Hugh chunks of paneer and some veggies in an absolutely flavour-packed thick-ish sauce.

Shanghai Paneer

The fish was good though bland. Would have preferred it with some more flavour, but still hubby said it was good the way it was.

Butter Garlic fish

Then came the downsides – We ordered two continental main courses. As I am not too fond of Chinese cuisine, I came to Culinary Foods for their continental fare. Imagine to my complete dismay, I was told there is no continental fare being served as the chef was not in! Hellooooo……I don’t want Chinese! I would have appreciated it if I was told that when we sat at the table and placed our first order. What to do?

I ordered 2 desserts.

The Apple Crumble Pie was not available! Again something I want was not available. Oh – I felt so bad. Settle for the Dutch Chocolate Truffle and Blueberry Cheesecake.

The Chocolate Truffle was light, melt in the mouth and a thorough delight. The Blueberry Cheesecake was good. Being a chocolate addict, the preference between the two was an easy one.

Dutch Chocolate Truffle

Blueberry Cheesecake

Hubby was not too happy about ordering Chinese. As much as he loves Chinese, his heart too was on the continental fare. So he settled for another Chinese starter – Chicken Drumsticks Chilly Garlic.

The Drumsticks were good, but the whole meal towards the end left us with a bitter taste in our mouth and hearts.

Chicken Drumstick Chilly Garlic

Did I like the food – yes.

Will I dine here again – yes. But I shall call and confirm if complete menu is available before reservation.

Culinary Foods

Posted on September 7, 2014 by reenamansukhani Standard 1

inside the restaurant

Dined here this afternoon for lunch. Thanks to Groupon, had a fantastic meal. Its a small open air restaurant located just opposite Sterling Cinema.

For a meal for two, we started with a Veg Tom Yum soup and a Chicken Manchow soup, both small portions.

The Veg Tom Yum soup was good. Very well flavoured.

Veg Tom Yum soup – small

The Chicken Manchow soup was decent.

Chicken Manchow soup – small

Next ordered Veg Wantons Manchurian style – it takes a few bites to start enjoying it. Its a very interesting combination and taste. I would order it again.

Veg Wantons Manchurian style

Together with the wantons, came the Chili Garlic Beef. Easily this gets a rating of 9 on 10.

Chili Garlic Beef

With so much eating, and wanting to keep an appetite for dessert, we ordered just a Grilled Vegetable Crepes, with Mozzarella cheese. Ah! It was good. Something very different, not eaten something like this before. It was crepes stuffed with veggies dunked in a bed rich with cheese. Pure sin! Served with bread.

Grilled Vegetable Crepes

Ok, to all this, I added a Peach Iced Tea and hubby a Lemon one. Hubby loved his, and I mine. I think the restaurant has perfected the Peach Iced Tea. 7 hours later, now, I still can taste the flavour.

Peach Iced Tea

Lemon Iced Tea

OMG – tummy full, but still had to get to my best part – desserts. Picked Hot Chocolate Mud Pie and Philadelphia Cheesecake.

The Mud Pie, tasted exactly as a gooey chocolate-walnut brownie topped with layer of chocolate ganache would. Pure Sin – again.

Hot Chocolate Mud Pie

The Philadelphia Cheesecake was ok.

Philadelphia Cheesecake

Wasn’t this a lot to eat for two? Oh, we enjoyed the meal. It was great. Would love to go back to the place in a month for round 2.

Recipe – Chicken Stewed Rice

Posted on August 30, 2013 by reenamansukhani Standard 1

Chicken stewed rice

Ingredients

2 cups Chicken stock

2-3 tbsps. Cornflour mixed in little water – to get a dripping consistency.

1 spring onion – diced into big pieces

some finely chopped spring onion greens

1/2 green capsicum – diced into big pieces

2 finely chopped green chilies

salt as per taste

1 tsp soy sauce

1 garlic pod chopped finely

1/4 tsp garlic paste

1-2 tbsps oil

8-10 pieces boiled chicken – boneless

1 tsp finely chopped coriander leaves

1/2 cup boiled rice

Method:

1. Warm oil in a vessel.

2. Add chopped garlic. Add garlic paste. Fry on a slow flame for a few seconds.

3. Add diced onions and capsicum. Cook on a medium to slow flame for a couple of minutes or till onions are slightly translucent.

4. Add green chilies.

5. Add boiled chicken and cook on slow flame for a couple of minutes again, till all the flavours are infused.

6. Pour in the soy sauce. Mix.

7. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add salt as required.

8. Add in the coriander leaves. Cook for 3 minutes on a medium to high flame.

9. Add in the cornflour batter gradually, stirring continuously till gravy starts to thicken. On a medium flame cook gravy till required consistency is obtained.

10. Garnish with onion greens.

This gravy is then mixed with boiled rice and served immediately.

My notes:

For chicken stock – take boneless chicken, water, celery stalks and salt. Cook till chicken softens. Discard celery. Use stock as well as chicken for above recipe. Even plain water can be used as stock. just increase the time to cook in step 5 and 7 by a minute or two each. There will be a small difference in taste only.

Chicken Stewed Rice

Posted on August 29, 2013 by reenamansukhani Standard 2

Chicken stewed rice

Made this last night for hubby’s dinner. I made some extra stew so that it could be had again. But, no such luck – but I’m happy. Basically chicken stewed rice is rice dunked in chicken stew. Its one of the easier Chinese dishes to make. Below is just the photograph of the chicken stew.

Chicken stew

reenamansukhani

All Things Nice

Category Archives: Chinese food