Sultans of spice Blue petals restaurant review

     The chairs are comfortably cushioned and the place can accomodate around 75 approx easily. A long table for 20-25 is also isolately located with a LCD tv playing some boring channels. Anyways who goes there to watch TV huh unless and untill you go there with your family where in women have scheduled addiction to one of those Ekta Kapoor soaps?

         Not always do we go to a restaurant for batting! (If you are a old, civilised and a decent person, 'Batting' is local youth slang for hogging). Sometimes we go there for some speciality, that once in blue moon, pulls us like a magnet. One such restaurant is 'Blue petals'. So what's the speciality? (If you've been a regular reader of my blog so far, you'd know I drive it like a television soap). Keep reading!!

Located in a viral hub, diagonally opposite to Jyothi nivas collage, it is not easy to ignore the restaurant. It is placed on the topmost floor. Not to worrly elavator will carry you there.

Its again one of those places where you can chose buffet @ noon and 'order from menu' for suppers.

The seating arrangement is good. The ambience makes you feel like you have entered some arabic palace. Hookas although not for use as far as I've seen, are stocked at the entrance for deco spice up.

The food is always yummm.... The variety is good. They make hot jalebis, right in front of you, if you are a sweet tooth like me, you'll love this place. The dessert menu is simply so awesome.

The finger bowl usually would consist of a lemon only, but here, they garnish it with flower petals too, but the petals are not blue. I have partially clarified to you why the name. Just kidding! (the petal part is true)

Yes here is the interesting part , you have been waiting for. After your last dessert, you usually tend to ask for bill or check. But here, do not forget! Ask for tequila pan shot. Yes, the pan spices(Gulkan, beetle leaf, mint, freshners) are squeezed and grated in mixer and presented in a shot pitcher.

One gulp! Aaaahhhhhh....

Personal favourite - I personally love the chicken shorba here. Yes the pan shot too!! Sluuurrpp...!!

Fire of dust!

Few days ago Mr. Ghost rider had come to Bangalore, covering 50kms from New Airport road towards Electronic city. But when reached silkboard junction, unexpectedly the fiery, fearful, raging bike stopped abruptly at the Silkboard junction. In fact his lower jaw was hanging loose over his shoulder, ribcage cluttered and his pelvic joint off track spinal bone. With much anguish and anger he screamed louder, his scream thundered to miles. Lampposts fell like matchsticks. The reason for his and his 2 wheeler current status was traced to the abundant potholes, manholes and yes supermanholes on Bangalore city roads. He cited "I feel like a bunch of nails were shuffled inside a tin box". The silencer of the vehicle had fallen somewhere back and he hadn't realised.

To relieve his tensed muscles bones he stopped his bike in front on 'Nair tea kadai', at 11:55 p.m. After 5 minutes, traffic truck ruthlessly, pulled the rugged beast into the truck as it had struck 12 and the parking sign board for the day was on the other side. After 6 months all the major parts of the vehicle were sabotaged and sold, whatever was remaining was dumped on silkboard footpath.

When I saw this plighful condition, I could nothing but only take this picture!

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) review

KFC rather Kentucky Fried chicken is a  huge and famous chicken chain, spread its root across all areas in all cities. I have been to more than 5 KFCs (Mantri mall, HSR layout, Rajajinagar, Forum mall, Sarjapur total mall, etc,.) across city. The food qulity and service is uniform all across.

Don't go by the name, they have localised the brand and introduced Veg too. You get to learn a new term here for burger, Zinger. For more help on pronounciation, I shall introduce a text to voice convertor soon. Just kidding!

The best part of the chain is , even if you enter the store at peak time, you'd be serviced with a minimal waiting period unlike other places. They have very good combo offers for both veg and non-veg. The newly introduced Krushers are a major attraction if you are a milkshake, mmoocktail person like me. These krushers come with a big pipe to accomodate the easy flow of big uncrushed pieces of chocolate pieces. The dessert section needs a neccessary updation, currently with only a choco lava pastry and few ice creams.

The chain keeps updating its recipe with newer ones. The recently introduces fierry chicken with indian spices and grilled chicked is a rage in my circle.

Initially the seating was really very boring with plastic chairs, offlate they have introduced the round cushion stands without back rest. Same as in MCD, I can say!

The combos and chicken  buckets are worth the deal when you go with an empty stomach. Another innovative and an attractive attempt is, you can chose your own pieces on a particular combos.

One of the most impressive attempt is there are times, they presonally take you for a tour into the cooking area to showcase the hygiene and maintanance. The chicken pieces are stored in bulk in cold temperature.

A special note of appreciation to the enthusiastic and ever-energitic (No deviation in service quality from morning to night) staff.

Umerkot restaurant review

Been to this place a couple of times. They provide Buffet only for lunch. The ambience is good, has some good ancient wall paintings. It can occupy not more than 40 approximately. The presentation of starters and other items although applauded, the variety is very less compared to other buffet providers in the area. It is just a deviation from Sony circle.
Umerkot is apparantly Akbar's birthplace, needless to say, they claim their serving and cuisine, the mughul style.

No.30, 80ft Main Road, 4th Block Koramangala, Bangalore- 560 034, Karnataka, India.
 Book your appointment here- 080-600-00-600

Per person - 350+tax

The seating area is good. The taste of food is indeed good but nothing to woof about. Very limited parking space inside. Both times, I have been here, I have parked my car roadside. If you go by those words, be ready to take owness of the risks. Check the parking date boards, else be ready to do some under the table from your car window ;)

Silver Metro restaurant review

Location - Madivala, Bangalore

Silver metro is my most frequented restaurant. It is located on the 4th floor of Total Mall, Madivala market. The concept of the restaurant is the feel of having variety of cuisines sitting inside a railway station, train. No! the train doesn't move or vibrate. It is just the ambience.

What I love the most about this place is the variety, plethora of dishes, both for veg and non-veg. You name it, you can find it there! But if you are prawns lover like me, that is the only dearth you'll find here! This is one place where even vegetarians would find same number of dishes as non-vegetarians.

Chapathis and chats are prepared on runtime right in front of you!

There are times when the cuisine is conceptualised too. Once all the dishes were Gujrathi - rare desserts like daal baati churma, some halwa and I don't remember the rest.

Apart from the long list of buffet opportunities, other mocktails are available too. There is bar too, you can't expect a review for the same from me as I have always been there during office times.

Taking an appointment is prime. Else you'll have to wait there amidst huge crowds like you stand in Majestic bustands.

Coffee drop, Bangalore

We had this habit of going away for long drives, on Friday nights post dinner. Few of you may be surprised reading this. Don't be! Majority of IT crowd stays nocturnal on Friday night. That is a well accepted tradition.
But there is hardly any place inside Bangalore that is open 24/7. However there are a few around the outskirts-

CCD in Maddur, on mysore road - 65kms approx

CCD in Tumkur road - 45 kms approx
Coffee drop in hosur road near attibele - 40kms approx
many more

The above places are the common ones most of you would already know. 3 months ago, I too thought it was limited to these CCD chains, when my friend introduced us to this new place, 'Coffee world'.

Coffee world is a very cozy and posh place that you would visit not when hungry, but when you are sleepless and would want to drive down nocturnal.

It was around 12.a.m when we landed there and the best part was there was no crowd. We spent a comfortable 90 minutes there. We four people ordered dishes out of the very limited menu list we were given. Sandwich, 2 French fries, 2 coffees and 1 papaya juice. Wanna know our bill? Read on....

The fries were very thick unlike the usual ones. Sandwich wa spiceless with just the regular tomatoes and onions placed inside. What else can we expect from a cook , who might have been woken awake from his deep slumber to prepare sandwiches for us. I understand, but that was not what we paid for!

The interiors of the place is very well planned and tastefully decorated with antique show pieces.

The restaurant is a very big one with a pool inside. The lawns are very well maintained too.

The place gets listed on the expensive side which you mostly pay for the ambience and silence. Thats it! Yes that time of night would anyways, anywhere be silent.

And yes!, I have nor forgotten, the bill was 2300 INR. That would have included our diesel charges too, if we had opted to go to any normal CCD in the outskirts. 

Eyecatcher - United Colors of Benetton

Eyecatcher of the month early 2012

Location - Forum mall, Koramangala, Bangalore.

Real or photoshop - I can't distinguish. Expressions are so realistic! What do you think?

Kalmane Koffee

This has been one of the easily accessible and simple, purpose serving coffee koffee stop. I have tried and tested tasted koffee from this joint both in Mantri and Garuda mall. Unlike CCD, they serve filter coffees too. A nice place to take our moms and dads generally wouldn't appreciate the cold coffees and capuchinos and stick to filter coffees.

The place is small and would'nt accomodate many customers at the same time like CCD. Sipping one coffee cup for an hour wouldn't work here. It is like CET coucelling if you have gone to one. You are done, you should be moving. Initially it was self-service, but recently when I was standing like a lamppost at the counter, the SA requested me to sit and I would be serviced at the table.

Taste of coffees incline mostly with South indian home made coffees. I usually visit this place to order a coffee when I am alone in the mall and waiting for a friend, to potray myself a busy person who utilizes even waiting period as a coffee break ;).

Aaranya rejuvenating hair oil review

Aaranya rejuvenating hair oil

Hi ladies,

      I’m  gonna review my hair oil that I stumbled on healthkart.com a few weeks back. It is almost around 2-3 months that I’m using this oil.

I use this oil the night before I wash my hair. It is a very light oil which comes of water consistency. Even though you use a large quantity each time, the oil level in the bottle doesn’t seem to go down. Miraculous eh? but its happening!

I use this religiously twice a week.  It has reduced hair fall although I tend to lose some weak hair strands on massaging the scalp. One amazingly credible thing is drastic increase in length of my hair. Considerable growth in hair length withing a short span. I’m loving it!!

Cons:-

·         It comes in a cylindrical plastic bottle with a push-up cap and a small opening. Since the oil is of a thin consistency, you have to be a little careful to avoid spillage.

·         Smell is no sweet fragrance or anything as such, typical ayurveda smell. Can’t describe but it is bearable.

·         The graphic label of the bottle is cute. In fact that is what attracted me to buy this when I saw it on the online site ;)

·      Avaliability is an issue. Last month I browsed through the same site to re-buy this oil. Alas! Could'nt find it.

Will I repurchase:- I’ll continue repurchasing this one, if I don’t find anything better meanwhile ;)

Marrybrown, Koramangala review

Marrybrown's one of the pilot version of their brand was put up initially here in Koramangala. Everyday riding back home, if the signal was on red, I used to while time staring at the poster of MArrybrown's chicken which looked like spoofed pictures of KFC chicken, then I realised they are indeed different. In what way? Patience.... Read ahead..!

Unlike KFC, the place was really cosy and nicely done. A play area or stress-busting zone I can say! Wondering?

 (I loved to give a gap here to trigger more suspense, then I realised I was writing!).

I was speaking about the basketball net that was hung on the wall at a lower height, but I saw mostly adults springing the balls into the net. The chairs are more comfy and look better than those of KFC. The entire ambience looks very colorful and inviting!

The chicken, the recipe and combo offers look similar to that of KFC! The chicken is not although as juicy as that of KFC's. Very true, those guys don't share their recipe anywhere as they claim. Secret herbs truly!

Back to Marrybrown, the rice recipe here did not taste as good as it should.

Although not very creative, they have replaced the bells in Pizza corners to rubber honks!

Barcode review

Location - Bangalore, Koramangala

       It was a gloomy day. A noon lunch was planned here as it was near. My expectation was set high the time I heard the name of the restaurant. Read ahead to know what happened next ;) !

       Barcode has buffet, famous for non-vegetarian mostly. It is a dimly lit place with limited varieties. There is no much ventilation. I was feeling like I was having my lunch inside a mole's burrow. The mocktail , I ordered was Fruit punch which was presented with an umbrella on top of the glass. If you are the one who would scan not into the menu book but the drinks menu, you'd be glad.

Just as I was scanning through the menu book, my eyebrows suddenly shot up. Shall I break here for a short commercial break? Lol just kidding!!! What I saw was something I'd seen for first then, 'Rabbit curry'. But today yes I know more than a couple of places that serves this rare delicacy. I didn't dare to try!

Barcode is a nice place to hang out for dinner than a lunch. The spirits menu variety seemed more then the variety in the food. Morover, ambience supports the same too.

Appologies for not posting pictures on the interior, I hadn't carried a camera and had to capture via my phone, hence couldn't capture anything inside the burrow without an effective flash!

Keep following to hear reviews on rabbit curry and reviews of other places those serve the same.

Body Focus Cellulite Serum Review

Hello  to all species from Venus ;)

        I’m gonna review the cellulite serum from bodyshop. I stumbled on this when I went in Bodyshop store in search of a body butter. Since the SA told me, there was no stock of it, I didn’t wanna  disappoint myself and hence ended up buying this.

 Since I’m still in my first-half of 20’s, I haven’t yet tried any anti wrinkle creams and serums. I have started the skin firming treatment with this one.

Cellulite - Cellulite is a topographic skin change that occurs in most post pubertal  females. One of the main causes of cellulite, begins after the age of 22, your skin stem cells weaken and become sluggish, regenerating at a much slower pace. As skin regeneration slows, our fat cells become engorged and toxins get trapped.

INR 1290

What does it say:- Visibly improves the appearance and texture of  dimpled skin.

This serum is thin, white and water based. The serum gets absorbed by skin sooner than you applied. The serum has a rich minty flavour and effect. Post the application of this serum skin feels tingling as if you have washed your face with a mouthwash. Face feels too cool for some time.

I have used this serum for 3 weeks regularly now. I don’t see much change wrt to my dark spots and marks, but yes my skin in my under eye area feels a little tightened and stretched.

Pros:-

Since it is a bodyshop product, No PARABENS.

Cons:-

·         Expensive.

·         The mint effect good or bad, it is too strong.

Will I repurchase:- Definitely No, may be if I get 50% or more discount ;)

Floral prints : Welcome summer on the coast

As you all know, the temperature along the coast is very humid. You tend to drip by sweating even if you are doing nothing but sitting. Morover my visit to the portugal colony GOA was during
mid-summer season that is in April as a part of our Anniversary celebrations.

Last day of the 4 days stay, was the tiring one, when I was all exhausted shopping the previous day. I made a void for makeup with only 'just herbs sunscreen lotion' to save myself from tan and sun burns. Mission was accomplished! Since this is not a product review post, I ain't gonna nag or yap about the product.

Fort Agoda is the place that became famous post its visibility in the blockbuster 'Dil Chahtha hai'. Place although not breezy, it definitely is an open oven. Entry to the light house was restricted as it was haunted (If you believed what I just said, plz leave your email and phone number below).

Trust me, once you are inside the fort, your literally have no access to water or any other luxuries, except that you can only see sea waves at a distance (As you know, its salty). Carry your own bottle to keep yourseld hydrated.

The TU outfit served its purpose of keeping me cool. Bought the flippers online from ZOVI. An apt comfort wear for a long walks in sand. Coincidently matching the outfit. Throughout my Goa tenure, I hadn't focussed on my accessories except earwear. Wore and carried everything to fit utility and comfort than giving a fashion statement with smudged makeup and annoying frills, anti-air materials and heavy jewellery.