Falafel Express

While browsing through this amazing food-loving city of Ahmedabad, we happened to stumbled upon this small maroon coloured place, situated near Vijay Cross Roads, Navrangpura, named Falafel Express. Being one of the few places to sell the authentic lebanese delicacies, we definitely wanted to try this place out.

As we entered the place, we were a little startled to find that it was entirely empty. Being a sunday afternoon, food-zombie-ahmedavadis definitely flock places like these. Anyways, we entered and started to browse the menu. Good thing that I did some R&D on Lebanese Delicacies the other day, which helped me to browse through the menu and show it off to my friends. I helped them to order a Falafel in Pita - Traditional and an Onion and Roasted Red Peppers Pizza with Mozzarella Cheese.

The pizza arrived first and to our surprise it had a thin pita base instead of a the traditional bread base. It was a turn off as no where it was mentioned about the base being of pita. The pizza was fine but there was nothing special about it. It was topped with Falafels Secret Sauce, veggies and olives and a fair amount of mozzarella cheese. But all our despair was lost, when the waiter handed us our Falafel in Pita - Traditional. It was beautifully wrapped and served with a pickled chilly. The falafel was long and was overloaded with stuffings. Without any delay, I took a big bite of it. And the despair was back again. The falafel looked all beautiful and attractive, but was very bland and tasteless. Even the falafel balls in the wrap didn't give a distinct taste of beans. All we could taste was bland humus. We thought we had ordered something mild, hence we ordered Falafel in Pita Spicy Garlic Sauce, just to get the spicy feel of falafel, but the taste was the same with a dash of spicy garlic.

When leaving the place, we were a bit disappointed with the food out there. But again, maybe thats the way the arabians and the lebanese like their food. What say folks? Any Arabic folks reading my blog?

Golden Sticks

"Sandwich without bread? Pizza without a wheat base? Chat without puris?" These were the questions which came to my mind when I came across this eatery near Mansi cross roads in vastrapur area whose name is- 'Golden Sticks'.

When we entered this small and cozy place we were surprised to know that the Golden Sticks actually meant the Good Old Gujju snack- Ganthiyas. For those who don't know about ganthiya, it is a deep fried snack made with gram flour. But this eatery had redefined the way to eat this tea-time snack. Golden Sticks serve Pizzas, Sandwiches, chats and more, all with a variation of Ganthiyas. After ordering a Chilly Cheese Garlic and a Vegetable Sandwich, we took a glance of the eatery. It was small and barely had 4 tables. The center theme of the eatery was yellow representing the Golden Ganthiyas.

The Chilly Cheese Garlic was the first and the best item we had that day. It consisted of a layer of Ganthiyas, covered with a huge layer of melted cheese, topped with garlic and freshly chopped chilies. The cheese gave a delicious and a cheesy taste to the crunchy gujju delicacy. The Sandwich had a base of ganthiyas, stuffed with veggies and topped with Sev and spicy chat masalas, thus giving it a typical street food feel. We also interacted with Mr. Prakar Gandhi, the owner of Golden Sticks, who boasted of the quality of food, cleanliness and hygiene of the eatery. He also urged us to try the Ganthiya Pizza which again had ganthiyas as the base,  and was topped with their special sauce, veggies and a thick layer of cheese.  

The quick service and the amazing fusion of Western and Gujarati snack, did take our taste buds for an heavenly treat. I do recommend this place to everyone who are  are not afraid of trying and experimenting new delicacies.

Amdos Kitchen

So the other day, my friend and I were on our way from the old city towards Paldi. On the way, my friend started craving for momos (Girls! You know). So we decided to go to Amdos Kitchen.

I have been to Amdos Kitchen many times before. It is one of the few places in Ahmedabad where we get authentic momos. Not only momos, they also have a variety of Tibetan delicacies like Shaptak, Thukpa, Chow Mein and some soups. Amdos kitchen is actually in a small residential hut. Its not a restaurant with a hut theme, its an actual hut. There are only 2 rooms, one is the cooking area and another is the sitting area. There are a few small tables and we have to squat on the floor and eat. They recently put a cooler and a TV in the sitting area. Even though the setup is very poor, this place is flocked by a lot of youngsters from NID, and the nearby colleges. Another thing about Amdos Kitchen is that it is run by Tibetans who run this eatery only in monsoon and winter seasons. During summer, they go back to their villages for cultivation.

We ordered our standard plate of steamed momos, Shaptak and Lemonade. Within a few minutes, we were served with a plate of momos and  a bowl of broth along with some spicy red chilly sauce and a plate of shaptak. The momos were smoking hot as they were just removed from the steam oven. I quickly scanned through and took the biggest piece of momo and took a bite of it. I could distinctly taste the semi bland beef and the mild spices wrapped in a steamed coating of Maida. Seeing the greed in my eyes, my friend quickly added some sauce and gulped 2 momos. She was also lost in the taste of the momos mixed with the spicy sauce. And in no time our plates were empty, and so were our hearts, so we decided to order another plate. After placing the order, we had some lemonade and munched the shaptak. Shaptak is roasted sliced beef served with some veggies. The beef was crunchy and chewy and the oils gave a heavenly feel to our mouths. Then we were blessed by another round of momos which felt better in our tummies than in the plate.

When we left Amdos kitchen, our stomachs were full, wallets weren't that empty and our hearts satisfied.  We are definitely going to hit Amdos Kitchen again, before they go back to Tibet. What say? Wanna join?

Qwiches

Last month one of my friends celebrated his birthday. And as usual, I had forgotten to plan a treat for him. So, we three friends dropped at his place with a cake and wished him. There we planned where we would hangout and thus ended up going to Qwiches. Now, I had heard a lot about Qwiches from my cousins and friends, but couldn't get a chance to go there. So that day my dream came true. Qwiches is basically a sandwich joint, situated on University Road, just a little ahead of Vijay Cross Roads.

The moment we reached there, we were astonished by the number of vehicles in front of the eatery and thought it was a bad idea to get in as it would be overcrowded. But as we went through the simple looking entrance of a residential building, we were amazed. Wow! It was like we stepped in a totally different dimension. We made our way through the eatery and went upstairs through a metal staircase as the lower floor was already occupied. Still in awe of the interior, we saw young crowd enjoying themselves in a vintage setup.

After deciding to finally place the order, we went to the counter, near the entrance, to order some subs and coke. But the personnel at the counter was kind enough to introduce us to some offers. Thus we ended up ordering a vegetable hummus sub, chilli cheese open sub, sprouted salad and some refreshing drinks. Once our order was placed and the payments were done, we were handed a small round thing, which looked like a disk-man. My friends said, it would light up when our order would be ready which reduced long queue and no cluttering up of customers near the counter. Impressed with the funda, we went back to our seat and started chatting about love, life and other things. Suddenly, the lights of the disk-man illuminated and it started to vibrate. All of us were astonished and excited that our order was ready in no time. When we went to the counter our order was ready. We took our tray with all the delicious looking food and went to our seats. The chilly cheese open sub looked the most delicious, as it was topped with cheese and other veggies. It was really delicious and was the best thing we had at qwiches. The next thing we had was vegetable hummus sub. Hummus is basically a paste made of chick peas and olive oil. It is a very popular delicacy of the middle east. It also had some tomatoes and cucumber in it. The veggies here had overpowered the taste of the sub making it difficult for us to notice the taste of the hummus. But it did give us some idea of the Arabian delicacy.

We continued to hog and take in the ambience of the place. We saw many college groups and couples there, giving a very youthful vibe to this place. It's indeed an awesome place to lock out the world and spend some quality time with your friends and loved ones. I strongly recommend this place to all who have a young heart and a growling tummy.

Image Courtesy: Keyur Panchal (KPhotography)

TGB's Little Italian

When someone talks about Italy, all that I can think of is delicious pizzas, pastas, lasagnas and wine. So when my friend requested to try this Italian joint on S.G. Road, I was very excited.  The name of the restaurant (or ristorante, as they called it) is TGB Little Italian, a venture of the renowned The Grand Bhagwati group of Ahmedabad.

When we reached there, it took us a moment to figure out where the entrance was, as a huge petrol pump covered it. There was a huge banner of the ristorante and a small gate that led us through a small garden. When we entered, we were welcomed by one of the waiters who led us towards a table for 2 which was right besides a huge window. We had a classic view of the garden. The ristorante was quite big and posh. It was low lit and not very crowded. It seemed Amdavadis weren't a big fan of italian delicacies. There were only some people and a whole group of Gujju aunties who had come for their Kitty Party.

But all my excitement went out of the window when I opened the menu card. Not mentioning about the price, but the names of the items were quite difficult to pronounce. My friend had a hilarious time watching me trying to pronounce them. I was completely lost in the menu as i did not know at all what to order. At that moment of frustration, my eyes discovered something I wanted to have since quite a while. Something Monica Geller never got tired of making and Joey Tribbiani never got tired of eating. (from F.R.I.E.N.D.S.) The Lasagna. Here, it was named as Napoletana Alla Lasagna. I remember, bugging my cousin to make me one of those. All she said in despair was that we don't get the pasta sheets and the other material we needed to prepare them. And Lo! Here I was sitting in the Italian Ristorante about to order one of those. Before I could place the order, my little annoying friend ordered a Tiramisu for dessert. Who knew, that a guy who hadn't heard the name of tiramisu, ever in his life, would do anything to have it again.

After waiting for quite a while, the waiter served us the smoking hot lasagna. He served in our plates a serving which consisted of layers of pasta sheets and a mixture of some tangy tomato sauces. What really caught my attention was the layer of cheese on it. The lasagna was soft as i effortlessly took a piece of it with my fork and put it in my mouth. The combination of the flavors of tomatoes and cheese were really amazing. As i was savoring the lasagna, my friend recommended me to try the Tabasco Sauce with it. A Tobasco Sauce is a sauce made from the peppers of North America which adds a sour and spicy taste to your food. I sprinkled some sauce on my lasagna and took another bite and the taste had entirely changed. Now it was more spicy and more tangy. Both of us enjoyed the lasagnas to the fullest and finally my desire of having lasagna was complete. Then we waited for the mystery dessert, tiramisu. The moment tiramisu arrived, I started analysing it. It had a 2 layers, one of which was of a thin layer of cake and the other was of a pudding textured creamy layer. It was generously dusted with cocca powder. As i was analysing it, my friend quickly grabbed a spoon and took a bite. I became very furious, stopped my analysis and took a spoon of it. And I was speechless. It exactly tasted like pudding with a chocolate mild crunchy feel. The texture was smooth and creamy. And in no time I and my friend were fighting with our spoons to have more of that sweet delight.

Later in when I reached home, I googled about tiramisu. And guess what, it literally meant "make me happy". Well, this tiramisu did make me happy and from now onwards when someone talks about Italy, all I can think about is Little Italian and Tiramisu.

Image Sources: Internet

Delicious Chef's Pizza

"Chall, I'll take you to a good place to hog!", said my friend as I kept nagging her to take me to have some really amazing non-veg eatery. She led me to the road leading to Bhadrakali temple and pointed to a small shop where the old Advance Cinema stood. The entrance was small, and just had a banner on which it was written: Delicious Chefs Pizza.

The place was small and cozy. Its walls were painted with yellow and the ceiling was designed with green decor. On the walls, there were advertisements of the Spicy Chicken. The joint had a few tables, a large bar-table and a counter. The entire menu was printed underneath the counter.

When we reached at the menu, my eyes started browsing through the items and its rates(Typic Gujarati mentality!). The menu consisted veg and non-veg Pizzas, Sandwiches, Rolls, Frankies and Submarines. While browsing the menu, a certain delicacy caught my attention. I had heard its name before, in The Avengers Movie, but never got the chance to try it. So I ordered the 'Shwarma Roll'.  My friend was in the mood of having a pizza (After all, it’s a pizzeria!). We requested Mr. Taufiq, the guy at the counterto recommend us something as it was our first visit to the eatery. He promptly recommended us the 'Chicken Chilly Pizza' and we immediately ordered it.

In no time our order was ready, and an 'Attack' signal was given by our tummies. The Shwarma Roll is basically sliced Shwarma Chicken pieces, capsicum, tomatoes and cabbage along with a thick layer of creamy mayonnaise rolled in a wheat-based wrap. The chef had cut the roll into 2 pieces, so it was easier to eat. The pizza on the other hand looked more delicious, as it had large chunks of chicken, corn, jalapenos, chillies and a thick layer of cheese.

I couldn't resist having the hot pizza, so I took a bite of it. The feeling of the first bite was truly mesmerizing. The taste of the spices and the chicken along with the cheese melting in my mouth was totally out of this world. Even though I am not a big fan of spicy food, I thoroughly enjoyed having this deliciously spicy pizza (and ended up having more than half of it). Then it was time to conquer the shwarma roll. The mayonnaise was almost dripping out of the roll. I held it carefully and took the first bite. And oh! The mayonnaise, the shwarma chicken, the veggies were properly balanced and in one bite I could taste and relish all of it. The shwarma chicken was totally different from the chicken chunks of the pizza. They had a different and subtle taste. And within no time that was also over.

While leaving, Taufiq asked us about our experience. It was truly an amazing experience at the Delicious Chefs Pizza. The food, the quality and the quantity (and of course the price). All of it was amazing. Since then, I am recommending it to all of my hogger-friends and family members as of the best non-veg pizza joint in town.