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I have sampled the fares at Lucknowi, Awadhi and even Rampur food festivals held across restaurants in Mumbai. However, I have never come across a food festival that encompasses the culinary richness of the entire state of Uttar Pradesh rather than just the aforesaid places of the state. But, the recently held Uttar Pradesh Food Festival by Lake View Café at Renaissance Mumbai Hotel & Convention Centre in conjunction with the Uttar Pradesh tourism board gave me this opportunity. The culinary marvels of this one of a kind food festival were the brain child of Chef Yogender Singh who has spent almost fifteen years at the hotel. Here is a glimpse of my gluttony at this food festival during a special bloggers table at this food festival:  I have always been an ardent fan of the traditional food of the land of Punjab. The fares are humble yet high on flavor and entail an understated complexity. My recent tryst with a few of the local delicacies during my recent trips to Chandigarh and Amritsar has further gone to enhance my penchant for this gastronomy.
Therefore, I was elated when I came to know of Punjab Grill holding the Rangla Punjab food festival. The festival brought some of the culinary treasures of the Punjab heartland to Mumbai in an incredible way.  Tuskers is the specialty vegetarian restaurant at the luxurious Sofitel Hotel in the commercial locality of Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai. It had been on my list of must visit restaurants in the city and finally I got a chance to make it to this place. The restaurant boasts of mouthwatering treats from cuisines of Gujarat, Rajasthan and select regions of North India. Maharaj Jankidas Vaishnav heads the kitchen at this restaurant with his treasure trove of culinary knowledge.
The mention of the words DELHI and ZAIKA immediately conjures up images of the flavorsome cuisine of the northern-frontier region of the Indian sub-continent. Taking inspiration from this gastronomy especially the Delhi style street food famous in the bylanes of Jama Masjid, is the Delhi Zaika chain of restaurants in our very own Mumbai. With thoughts of savoring the aforementioned kind of food, I landed up at the most recently opened outlet of the chain on the busy station road of the Bandra West locality with my friends. We took our seats and instantly got down to ordering the food.  As a working professional with erratic working hours, I am always pressed for time when it comes to preparing my meals.
But, I seem to have found the solution to my problem in the form of meal/tiffin service called HOMELY, which has aligned with home cooks in Andheri (E), Andheri W, Powai, Kanjurmag (E & W), Vikhroli (E&W) and Thane (W) localities of Mumbai. Therefore, they cater to food orders originating from these areas only currently through their website www.homelynow.com and their mobile app Homely. Nestled away in a quiet, bylane of Apollo Street in Kala Ghoda vicinity, Farmers & Sons is a new Italian eatery on the Mumbai gourmet scene. It was a little cumbersome to locate this place owing to the maze of lanes that run through this area. But, eventually with the help of Google maps my foodie friends and I arrived at our dinner destination for last evening. Upon entering the place the first thing that strikes you is the rustic, woody ambience trying to bring the old world charm to a modern day café. A query regarding the name of the place raised to the owner of this café, Nico Goghavala immediately had him pointing to the fact that barring a handful ingredients that come from abroad, they source and use local produce only to create the various artisanal dishes at this cafe. On a bustling street of the plush area of Kemps Corner in Mumbai stands the Shalimar Hotel. YO, the two-month old deli at this hotel is tucked away in a quaint corner of the property, distant from the cacophony of the city. This petite deli has about 12 covers and is done up in refreshing colors that remind one of spring time. These invigorating colors make up the name of the place as well - Y for yellow and O for Orange.
Since it has only been a few months since the place started operations, the menu at this place currently offers some sumptuous customizable sandwiches, made to order salads, variety of breads and delicious coffee. The offerings are kept simple yet boast of great flavors. The deli intends to soon serve pizza as well. |
AUTHOR- Regional Indian Food & Travel enthusiast Archives
January 2018
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