Goa!

Ah Goa! The beach, the view, the sunset, the parties, and most of all, the FOOD! Goa is a hotpot for different cuisines what with the place having so many foreign tourists. But what people usually miss out on is true Goan cuisine. It has the fish, the spicy coconut curry and the portuguese influence of vinegar. There is also a selection of vegetarian dishes in Goa which is not as explored. The vegetarian dishes are influenced by the Konkan and Maharastrian tastes. One thing is for sure, you need to have an open, adventurous palate and make peace with coconut. It's taste is not strong but it adds the texture and the character to Goan dishes.

There are more dishes that define Goa's cuisine, but the dishes mentioned below is a good start of a culinary tour of the state.

The quintessential fish curry rice meal is what you must have in Goa. Though most of the restaurants and shacks serve this meal, very few places make it well. Souza-Lobo in Calangute is a popular restaurant which serves authentic Goan dishes. What I love about Souza-Lobo is their fish curry and the masala rava fish/prawn fry. Though the tastes haven't been very consistent, they are close to the real deal. Above is my meal of squid ambatik, which is a vinegar based curry with the masala rava prawns - so good! Also worth mentioning are their crab/pomfret curry and fish reichado.

This fish thali is from Anand Bar and Restaurant in Siolim. I highly recommend eating here. The fish curry tastes exactly like homemade and the fish fry is fresh and crispy. The best fish curry rice meal I've had in Goa so far. This place is more popular with the locals than visitors so good food guaranteed! Also try their fish fry, preferable lady fish or kingfish. The prawn masala rava fry is also equally good. 

Florentine's in Saligao another local favourite for fish curry rice meal. They also make a mean chicken cafreal! The spicy green chilli sauce marinated chicken is soft and juicy. If you like a crispy version, ask for their rava fried chicken. We ended our meal with the caramel custard which was cold and creamy - best way of ending a meal. The caramel added on top is burnt just right and complements the vanilla custard well. 

This delectable looking strawberry tart is the creation of Britto's in Baga. In addition to their usual fare, they make some of the best desserts in Goa that I have tasted. Britto's is big on pies both savoury and sweet. All their dessert pies are out of this world. I was first introduced to their tarts last summer when I tried their mango tart. The combination of creamy mango custard with fresh, sweet pieces of mango is out of this world. Going seasonal, Britto's whips up a strawberry tart when mango isn't available, which is as fresh and juicy as the mango tart. They also add a chocolate dimension to the tart which works oh so well with the strawberries. These desserts are so popular, they are served in various other restaurants like Souza-Lobo.

Britto's also serves some delectable fried chicken and butter garlic prawns. They have never disappointed me with their food.

After any of the meals above, all you will want to do is sit by the beach and watch the sun. Or maybe take a nap on the flat beds on the beach and then watch the sun. 

Meet the Goan pav. Slightly harder crust than the Mumbai pav but tastes as good as ever. A fresh pav has a chewy crust with soft insides. This is my go-to bread in Goa  which works so well with the different bhajis available for breakfast.

At Tatu's in Madgaon, you can have the pav with as many as 5 different bhajis. The sukha bhaji is basically a potato-turmeric preparation similar to the masala in masala dosa. The gravies that are served are the alsande bhaji made of a rajma-kind bean, white peas bhaji, mushroom bhaji and a tomato bhajji. Each of these bhajis have garam masala added and the main ingredient provides the taste of the bhaji. If the pav is not your thing, you can also have these with some puris.

Buns is my favourite snack of all time! This is a snack which is a heavy Konkan influenced snack and is made with banana and curd. It might sound weird, but these just enhance the sweet flavour of the bun and provide it with the fluffy texture. Even if you do not like bananas, I highly recommend you try this as it's more of a sweet puri than a banana snack.

Photo credit: Vasu

Another local dish worth trying is the Goan sausage chilly fry. Goan sausage is an Indian version of the chorizo. It's rustic, spicy and loved by all who have tried it. The sausages are usually pan-fried in its own fat with potatoes and onions and eaten with pav or sannas, a form of fermented rice cakes. At home, you can also make pulao with it.

In all Goa is an a great place for food and sun and sand! They welcome all as long as you don't spoil the beauty of the place and the culture. It's also one of the most happening party places in India. Visit Goa any time of the year and you won't be disappointed!

Blue Bottle Cafe - HYD

Clean white and blue decor is the 'In thing' in Hyderabad right now. Blue Bottle cafe is the third place I've seen where this color combination for a decor and understandably so. They are pleasant and bright colors to walk into instead of the dull browns and blacks in a normal restaurant. Blue Bottle Cafe is primarily a hookah place. It's an semi-open cafe located in behind the Madhapur police station. What works to their advantage is their location on the top floor of the building and with no other building around it, plenty of wind makes this a nice airy place to relax.

Their menu consists of mainly Chinese food and a few Italian dishes like pasta and pizza. We tried both the cuisines - though I must say food isn't their strong point.

The chicken 65 was spicy and tangy which provided the right amount of zing to the dish. Soft chicken pieces fried just right and coated with generous amount of the yoghurt sauce with red chilli powder and garlic. I think this was their dish of the day.

The chilli cheese toast was cheesy and had lots of green chillis. A thick layer of cheese melted over green chillis made this dish yummy but definitely not healthy. Again, one can't go wrong with this dish so good choice of menu items till here.

We got the veggie pizza to try their Italian menu and it wasn't the best. With the in-surge of good thin crust, wood-fire pizza places in Hyderabad, the pizza in Blue Bottle cafe pales in comparison. It's thin crust but not wood-fired. The crust had a weird burnt taste in some pieces. I would rather save my pizza appetite for a wood-fired pizza.

Blue Bottle cafe is good for their ambience with an open terrace and hookah. But they definitely would not be well known for their food. The schezwan noodles we ordered were too spicy to handle with no other flavour and their cold coffee wasn't up to the mark either. Stick to their starters and some relaxing time with friends and you will be happy here.

Location: Kavuri Hills, Near Maharaja Chat

Timings:  11 AM to 10.30PM. 

Cost for 2: Rs. 500

Taste: 5/10 - only for their starters 

Service: 7/10 

Ambience: 8/10

Bhikaram Chandmal Bhujiawala - HYD

Bhikaram Chandmal Bhujiawala (BC) brings in some fresh taste to the north Indian food scene in Hyderabad. If you like Bikanervala, you must try BC. They use local Rajasthani chilli in their dishes which provides a different taste than usual. Although I wish there were such places opening around the Hi-tech city area.

We ordered the chilly fresh lime juice. A version of a masala lime juice, it had red chilli added to the well balanced lime juice. Not too sweet or sour, the lime juice was good but the red chilli didn't really add any different dimension to the juice.

Ghewar is a winter time sweet made in some parts of North India. It's a heavy, ghee sweet similar to jalebi. Here you can try the sweet in chaat form. The ghewar was not very sweet and somehow the taste of the ghee sweet with yogurt worked with the help of the green mint chutney and sweet tamarind chutney. This was topped with a blend of chat masala and sev puri. 

The masala papad here is a must try. It looks like a normal masala papad but what I loved was the red chilli powder used. It was a coarse powder of a local rajasthani red chilli, which changed the taste of the masala. It gave the dish a different, authentic rajasthani chilli taste rather than the taste a  packaged chilli powder gives which is used generally. 

The tawa veg sandwich could have been made better with actually roasting the sandwich on the tawa longer. With a filling of the standard vegetables like cucumber, onions, tomatoes with green mint chutney, they also added generous amount of cheese - processed cheese I must add. The bhujia that the sandwich is topped is fresh and savoury. BC's bhujia is definetly different from the usual ones we get in the market and probably better. If you love bhujia, I recommend getting some from here.

 

Very few places in Hyderabad serve good sandesh, especially kacha gola sandesh and BC is one of the them - the other one being Bikanervala. The chenna was fresh and had just the right amount of sweetness. The sandesh is the best dessert for a light end to a good meal.

Overall, BC was decent. They have some interesting dishes with authentic tastes but in general is just another good north Indian place with the regular fare. They have typical north Indian breakfast of matar-puri and aloo subji and club kachori (the aloo subji is really good). 

Location: Banjara Hills, Road 10

Timings:  8 AM to 10.30PM. 

Cost for 2: Rs. 500

Taste: 7/10 

Service: 7/10

Ambience: 7/10

Tuscany - HYD

My love affair with Italian food started when I tasted my first thin crust pizza. With a crispy crust and fresh mozzarella cheese on top, I realised there is more to Italian food than just thick crust pizza from the Pizza Huts and Domino's and the pastas with thick sauces. Bruschetta is now one of my regular dishes to try at restaurants which serve them. Italian food introduced me to the wonderful taste of basil pesto and how it works so amazingly with starchy food like pasta and potatoes.

Tuscany is the latest Italian addition in the Hyderabad culinary scene. A family restaurant, Tuscany boasts of having a wine tasting room and an olive oil tasting session. The restaurant has a simple decor which is looks elegant with the soft lighting. The whole room has a cosy feel to it. The food they serve adds to that feeling.

Tuscany/Trident has been very good with its different promotions. When I went for dinner, they were running a promotion of complimentary wine tasting and olive oil tasting for Tuscany's guests. So if you want to try some beautiful Tuscan wine and interesting olive oils, you must visit this place soon.

You are welcomed with this wonderful pan of freshly baked focaccia bread. It's crusty and savoury with soft insides. This is one of the freshest breads I've had in any restaurant. It made a great accompaniment to taste the olive oils. 

This is an easy bread to make as well! So if you want to learn how to made this easy yet tasty bread, here's a link to one of my favourite recipe sites with clear and easy instructions and 4 very good looking guys teaching you!

I've always wanted to try olive oil tasting. It usually puts people off, as they imagine the tasting to be similar to sipping wine. At Tuscany, they make you try the oils with the help of the fresh focaccia bread. We tasted three kind of olive oils - an organic filtered olive oil which had a peppery taste to it, an unfiltered oil which had a fruity, olive flavour (my favourite) and an extra virgin olive oil which was in between the two former oils - lesser flavour and not as peppery. I highly recommend trying these oils. But beware, it could convert you into an olive oil snob.

As my appetiser, I had the Italian buffalo milk mozzarella cheese with tomatoes and pesto. The cheese and tomatoes were really fresh and worked so well with the pesto and basil leaves. This dish is more like a salad with the addition of fresh baby asparagus. I love asparagus but I like mine grilled in olive oil and sprinkled with salt (if you try it, you will love it too!). I would recommend this dish if you love cheese.

We also got the chicken liver pate. This was one of the different dishes on the menu. I personally don't find the concept of pate very appealing but my friend liked the appetizer, though we were trying it for the first time. It was a cold, slightly seasoned chicken liver blitzed into a smooth paste. Definitely an acquired taste, but not too bad. Also, the potion is pretty huge, so I recommend getting this dish if you are group of chicken lovers.

I love ravioli! The soft pockets of cheese and veggies/meat are the best. The most common combination in Hyderabad that I have seen is spinach with a mild cheese like ricotta cheese. Tuscany had ravioli stuffed with cauliflower and blue cheese. The pasta sheet was soft and generously stuffed with cauliflower and flavoured by blue cheese. But what I would have liked was more seasoning to the stuffing. The taste of the cauliflower and the cheese was fresh but bland. I requested for extra pesto sauce to get in more flavour. The white cheese sauce served with it was creamy yet on the blander side but I loved the parmesan crisp. Nothing like fried cheese! I recommend this dish if you love fresh, straight flavours but do request for extra seasoning if you find it bland.

The tenderloin tortellini with pumpkin sauce and pine nuts was loved! The beef stuffed in the tortellini was smooth and well seasoned. The juices created a sauce of their own in addition to the smooth pumpkin sauce and cream. The dish was garnished with some water-cress and sun-dried tomatoes which added a nice flavour to the whole dish. If you love tenderloin, do try this.

We had the lavender crème brulee for dessert which was amazing. The right amount of sweetness with a hint of lavender and a creamy custard. They also had a nice crunchy layer of caramel just like a crème brulee should have. The tall sweet batter biscuit was a nice decorative touch but was mostly ignored for the smooth dessert. Though it's a simple dessert compared to their other fancier desserts like their tiramisu or one of their delicious looking gelati, I would still have this for a light yet tasty dessert and also I love lavender which is hardly available as a food flavour anywhere in Hyderabad.

All in all, I loved my experience at Tuscany. They have a very different and delicious menu with good service. Our server, Kim, was very attentive and knowledgeable. I recommend this place for a nice date or pleasant dinner with close family and friends. Also do follow them for great offers and promotions. Trident loves its food and they make sure to share that love!

Location: The huge building next to Shipakala Vedika

Timings:  7 PM to 11PM. 

Cost for 2: Rs. 5500 with alcohol

Taste: 7/10 

Service: 9/10

Ambience: 8/10

13 Dhaba - HYD

It's been a year since I've been this excited about the food I was eating. 13 Dhaba gives me an idea of how a small eating joint like Bikanervala, Haldiram and Adigas which served good food became so big, having multiple joints across the country. 

Started by a big, happy Punjabi family, they 'piloted' their homely food by selling it off a small truck and it was loved! They ran out of food within the hour of setting up. Encouraged by the response, they finally opened up a small place in Gachibowli serving a small yet tasty menu. 13 Dhaba shows how ambience and size of a place does not matter when the food served is brilliant. I can't stop praising the food I ate here! I've been recommending this place to everyone ever since. So let's talk about what makes 13 Dhaba such a good place.

Their rajma chawal is one of the best I've had. The rajma was soft unlike other restaurants where the rajma is never fully cooked. The curry was thin with onions and lightly spiced with red chilli, coriander and cumin powder and some coriander leaves. It reminded me of home and how my mom makes rajma. Served with slivers of onions, this is a perfect lunch or dinner without the guilt of eating 'outside food'.

If there is anything you should go here for, it's their kadhi chawal! The kadhi made of besan and sour curds is by far the best I've had. Again not made very thick, the spices blended so well with the curd it just melts in your mouth. They also added potatoes in the kadhi which I've never seen before but it added a nice touch to it. We just couldn't stop eating the kadhi chawal! The pakoda was good too. The onions had a light coating of the besan batter and fried. It did not have the pasty taste of usual pakodas you get with excess of baking soda in it. This is a MUST TRY!

Don't like rice? Then just gorge on these beautiful chole-bhatures. Now I've had these in Delhi and the chole I've had there is always the bench mark I use. The chole in 13 Dhaba did not disappoint. It has the same taste as any place in Delhi and it doesn't give that oily heavy feeling! The chole is also served with rice. But the star of the dish was the bhatura. It reminded me of my childhood when my mum made the same kind of bhaturas. If you have eaten the same type as I have (even at home), then you will love the sour fermented taste of this bhatura and the plus point is they aren't too oily! This is the most authentic bhatura you will get in Hyderabad and I urge you not to miss it. 13 Dhaba has finally shown how a true bhatura should be made!

The aloo puri was good. The puri was thick and had hints of ajwain. The aloo curry was thick with a taste of coriander and red chilli blending so well. This dish did not disappoint at all but I feel it is and will be overshadowed by the it's cousin the chole bhature!

To end the excellent meal, have their moong dal halwa. Not many people know of this sweet and people might find the idea of the halwa strange but it is worth being adventurous. the halwa wasn't laden with too much ghee, had the right amount of sweet and just tasted home-made. 

I hope 13 Dhaba keeps up the homely taste they are recognised for. They are already popular among the IT crowd in and around Gachibowli. I'm also inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit of the Matharu family for having started and set up a permanent place to serve great food within a matter of 2 months! I hope to see them grow and it is too early to say this, I also hope they are successful in the challenge of ensuring the same taste is served no matter how big they grow!

Location: Near ORR flyover

Timings:  12.30PM - 3.30PM, 7 PM to 9.30PM. Closed every last Monday of the month.

Cost for 2: Rs. 200 - if you eat 4 dishes like we did

Taste: 9/10 - 

Service: 9/10

Ambience: 7/10 - I like how they set up the place beautifully like a dhaba even though they have very limited space  

Masala kart - street food festival - HYD

The amount of street food we have is just not enough to be showcased in an exhibition. But its amazing how Masala kart has been able to feature some popular and some interesting street food its street food festival.

Go here to taste some scrumptious street food from all major regions of India. They have street food ranging from Kerala's appam with stew, Mumbai's vada pav, Punjabi paratas and tikkas, Gujarati dhokla and Bengali egg rolls. You will also get a taste of interesting local street food from Tamil nadu, Parsi food and Chettinadu style chicken. There are a lot of sweet options too - Andhra's kaja to Kerala's unni appams and Thirunalvelli's famous halwa made fresh in front of your eyes.

All these stalls are run by the local chefs who probably sell the same in their home towns. My suggestion would be to go in a group since there is so much to try! Here are some of the dishes I had when I went:

Vada pav! They ran out of chutney by the time I went at 8PM so I suggest you go there early to make sure you get to taste the whole dish. The pav and vada were good nonetheless - almost authentic.

Mangalore dahi vada was as good as I remember it to be. It's different from the usual chaat dahi vada and uses the urad dal vada soaked in tart curd and topped with coconut and carrot mixture and spicy boondi.

This was one of the best sweets I had here. Fresh and syrupy kaja which was fried in pure ghee. Do not miss this if you have a sweet tooth.

This was Karandi omelet from Tamil Nadu. Made in an appam pan, the eggs are stuffed with country chicken curry and taste really good! The eggs are fluffy with a nice spicy taste of the curry. Do try this dish.

Burmese egg was really good. A simple boiled egg made interesting with bits of spicy chicken and sliced onions. It was Rs.30 which stopped me from gorging on more eggs. 

The chicken momos weren't the best I've had. The casing was thick and it was stuffed with a spicy chicken with fried onions. The red chilli sauce wasn't the best either.

This is Kerala sweet made using banana as the casing and has a filling of cardamom, coconut and jaggery. I've had the version where turmeric leaf is used but this would taste equally good. If you want a taste of a authentic Kerala sweet, this is a it.

The Chettinadu chicken fry was not I expected. The board mentioned spicy fried boneless chicken but I got a chicken curry which was delicious nonetheless. So there were misses like these but I guessing it was because I was late and not because they actually didn't have the dish.

The Bengali egg chicken roll was delicious. A soft maida wrap with egg inside and spicy chicken, onions and green chillis rolled in. 

This was one of the better dishes we had. It's called chicken patiya and is a sweet-sour Parsi preparation. The curry had succulent boneless chicken and was served with soft chapati. This is a must try!

You can walk by paneer being tandoored right in front of your eyes. 

I had the sambar vada at the MTR stall and it was not the best. The sambar was watered down and the vada was cold. I was disappointed with the dish since I was expecting to taste some Bangalorean food.

The parata sold was the famous Delhi Paratewali galli style. Paneer paratas deep fried in ghee and served with curd. They were out of paratas by the time I reached so again I suggest you reach early for a taste of Delhi's famous paratas.

The dahi bhalla papadi chaat was good too. My friend who recently had Delhi chaat didn't feel it was the best but then again I guess this is the best we could find.

This Naneri sharbath is a MUST HAVE! It a coolant which has this amazing herby taste with a hint of lemon juice. We had three of these. 

The famous oversized rice papad! This brought back childhood memories of going to Interior Decor exhibitions and having these giant papads with chaat masala and red chilli powder. But I don't remember it being Rs.40! I guess things have become expensive.

This was another interesting dish we had. These are betel leaf bajjis. You can't take the betal lead much though. There is too much batter than betel leaf. 

Ah the famous Thirunalvelli halwa which was fast moving and was over by the time I got to it. I strongly recommend this sweet!

This was the best dhokla I've ever had! A fresh batch had come out and it looked delicious. You can have the usual white dhokla or the yellow khaman version or a mix. I had the mixed one. She serves the dhoklas with peanut oil, a spicy powder of dal, red chilli powder and more peanut oil and green coconut chutney. All this is topped with yellow sev. This is a must try again! 

Location: Hitex, Kondapur

Timings:  6PM - 9PM on 14th and 15th December, 2013

Cost for 2: Rs. 400

Taste: 7/10 - it's a good place for an intro to various street food though they might taste as authentic. 

Service: 8/10

Ambience: 7/10 - You'll love this if you loved exhibitions