OUR DINING EXPERIENCE : KARIGARI BY CHEF HARPAL SINGH SOKHI

 OUR DINING EXPERIENCE' KARIGARI BY CHEF HARPAL SINGH SOKHI

As a foodie first and a food blogger next, I have followed with great interest some of the best known Celebrity Chefs in India. One of them who catches the eye and grabs your attention in his videos and television shows is Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi. Long after you have seen the video or program you  remember his infectious enthusiasm and high energy. His catch phrase of "Namak Shamak" made him a household name! 

Naturally, I was excited to visit his restaurant in Bengaluru for the first time. The restaurant is called "Karigari". This is located in Yelahanka in the famous Phoenix Mall of Asia on the highway to the International Airport.

I went with my family to lunch there some days ago. Naturally, you need to make a reservation as it can get crowded especially over the weekend. The decor was quite nice and at the entrance is a large size portrait of the Namak Shamak Chef! 

Once we were seated at out table, we spent some time choosing what looked interesting from the well-presented menu.  The pictures of some of the popular dishes made them that much more tempting 

To begin with we looked out for the drinks. Some of us chose Aaam Panna. The mango-based drink here was a blend of sweet and tangy. Cool and enjoyable. 

Some others - like my husband, Prem opted for his favourite: Kokam! He joked that it matched the colour of his shirt, but I knew he took it as it is both an appetiser and a digestive apart from being delicious to taste. 

For starters, we had the Pav Bhaji Fondue: an interesting take of Mumbai's famous Pav Bhaji eaten in a fondue style with a rich, spicy and totally yummy gravy.  

The other dishes we had were Dal Palak Methi Tadka, Butter Chicken and Chicken Ghee Roast. 

The Dal Palak Methi Tadka (black dal tempered with spinach and fresh fenugreek) was very flavourful apart from being nutritious. The Butter Chicken was the usual Punjabi style tomato- based, creamy gravy with succulent and boneless chicken.  The Chicken Ghee Roast- a famous dish from our Home State of Karnataka- was awesome. 

Adding to the taste of the dishes were three accompaniments. I especially liked the pickle made with raw papaya. 

There were many varieties of Indian breads to go with these dishes. We decided to enjoy these dishes with Charcoal Cheese House Special Naan. 

For dessert, again we chose different treats. Some chose the traditional Hyderabadi favourite: Shahi Tukda known here as "Tukda-e-Jam" 

Others - including me- chose to have the much recommended Mirchaan Wala Halwa. I was delighted to see the innovative plating for this dessert. As the name suggests, the dessert had a spicy sweet taste which made it one of the hits of the lunch! 

Overall, we had a good time at Karigari. The staff were efficient and courteous. They did not hassle us as we had a leisurely meal. 

I would recommend this restaurant for the quality of their food. The fact that it has the touch of Celebrity Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi makes it that much more special !!  

OUR DINING EXPERIENCE: CCDD, BENGALURU

OUR DINING EXPERIENCE: CCDD, BENGALURU

Seeing the title of this post, you could well ask, "What is CCDD? It sounds almost like a Government Department". But you have to be a Bangalorean Foodie to know this one. We know that MTR is Mavalli Tiffin Room, CTR is Central Tiffin Room, TRC is The Rameswaram Cafe and so on,..... CCDD stands for Chulha Chauki Da Dhaba! You will find CCDD - a chain of Punjabi- dhaba style restaurants - in as many as seven locations in Namma Bengaluru. We went to the one in Rajajinagar, situated bang opposite the Orion Mall, for lunch the other day.

Pro tip: There is no system of reservations here! It's FCFS or First Come....First Served. If there is a crowd, as there will be -especially on weekends- you need to give your name to a guy who notes it down in a register. When a table is free, he calls out your name and that's it! 

The seating is designed to give a rustic charm to the restaurant as it serves dhaba style food. For the uninitiated, the "dhaba" traditionally is a restaurant on the highways where hungry truckers would stop to grab a bite and some rest.  Today, dhabas are as much frequented  by city folk who drive long distances to eat there. Hence at CCDD we sit on moodahs ( low bamboo stools) or charpoys (low slung cots with interlocking ropes) and the food is served on low bamboo based tables.

From the wide varieties of starters, we began with Babycorn Manchurian. The portion served was quite generous. We found the babycorn to be crunchy, spicy and totally delicious! We loved it!   

After that we went for a dish which was highly recommended: the CCDD Special Chicken Kabab. The chicken kababs were luscious and very well marinated. They were served with a salad of onions and a green chutney. This dish can easily be described: lip smacking.!

For the main course, we opted for the Chicken Lahsuniya which we enjoyed with hot Garlic Butter Naans. As the name suggests, this medium-spiced dish of chicken had a flavour of garlic. We deliberately chose to have a milder dish after the fiery starters we had.  

By now we were feeling too full! So the Kadhai Paneer that we had ordered  was packed for us to take away. We enjoyed this for dinner. It tasted just great with succulent pieces of paneer ( Indian cottage cheese)  well blended with the coarse masala that characterises Kadhai Paneer. 

And yes, I must mention that as we enjoyed our lunch we sipped at our tall glasses of Sweet Lassi. This  provided an ideal foil to the spicy food and was delicious in itself.

Being a Saturday afternoon, the restaurant was full. There were no vacant tables to be seen. Yet we could enjoy a leisurely meal. We found the service to be excellent. There wasn't much of a delay in getting one dish after the other. We weren't rushed either!

Overall, if you like  high quality Punjabi food, CCDD should fit your bill ( no pun intended).  The awards CCDD have won and proudly displayed speak volumes of the quality of this restaurant. 

 

OUR DINING EXPERIENCE: CHUTNEY CHANG

OUR DINING EXPERIENCE: CHUTNEY CHANG

Once in a while when I feel like it, I write about our experience in dining out at a restaurant, hoping that would be of use to readers of my blog. These days with Trip Advisor, Zomato and what have you, there are many inputs you can get about a restaurant but this is to share my personal experience.

Chutney Chang has something for everyone. If you are one of those who approach a buffet spread as if it is your last meal on earth, there is enough and more for you. Go ahead and eat till you drop. If you are more choosy, you can wander around looking at the wide variety of dishes and choose what attracts you or what you like best.

We went there recently to celebrate my husband's birthday and came away extremely satisfied with our dining experience. We visited Chutney Chang in Jayanagar though there is one in Church Street too. For elder people the landmark is the old Cosmopolitan Club, for the youngsters it is Amoeba!

What we liked was the spaciousness of the place. There were ever so many people around but it seemed like we had our own space and the tables were not crushed close to each other.

We started with the Sweet Corn Chicken Soup which was quite delicious. There was also Noodle Soup on offer which looked quite interesting. 

 

For starters we headed to the Live Grill from where we picked up Tawa Fried Seer Fish, and Stuffed Chicken Rolls sliced into Spring Roll like portions. These were excellent hot off the tawa. Also on offer was Mutton Kheema in roasted pav (buns) .

For the main course, we had Gosht Dum Biriyani, Chicken Tangri Kabab, Murgh Sesame Kabab and Fish Spring Rolls had with mint chutney, garlic and chilli sauce. The mutton pieces in the biriyani were soft and tender. The fish spring rolls were awesome!
























We also sampled the Bombay street food inspired Tawa Fried Noodles with a host of colourful ingredients that go into it.

 

In conversation with Chef Martin as we have the Tawa Fried Chicken Noodles.

Did we try most of the buffet? Of course, we did not. We didn't go to the Live Chaat section or the  Live Dimsum counter nor did we taste the vegetarian delicacies on offer.

For dessert, we skipped the Indian sweets and stayed with chocolate brownies, strawberry pastry, and marshmellows and jujubes soaked in the sinful chocolate from the chocolate fountain.

We visited on a Friday afternoon. The Khao Chao Indian Chinese fusion theme was on. The bill for two of us came to Rs. 1550 inclusive of all taxes. The staff were courteous and helpful especially Sheela our helpful hostess who took good care of us.












Overall, we were delighted with our dining experience and would heartily recommend the buffet at Chutney Chang. I believe you will get your money's worth!