Aqsha Bombay Fry Center

According to Wikipedia, a tava is a large, flat or concave or convex disc-shaped frying pan (dripping pan) made from metal, usually of sheet iron, cast iron, sheet steel or aluminum, used in major parts of south, central, and west asia, for cooking a variety of flatbreads and as a frying pan for meat delicacies. Whereas for a foodie, a tava is a place where he/she can satisfy his/her spicy meaty cravings.

My foodie endeavors had taken me to such a tawa joint. Situated along the roadside of mirzapur road, this tawa joint creates an amazing sight and aroma to all the passerbies on that road. The name of this small abode is Aqsha Bombay Fry Center.

While parking our vehicles near the joint, the ushers led us to a small hot and stuffy room. We quickly browsed through the promising menu and without further delay ordered some chicken rolls and mutton rolls. The rolls were stuffed with chunks of tandoori chicken pieces or mutton pieces, wrapped in fried egg and maida roti, deep fried. Yes, deep fried! Served with coriander and mint chutney, fresh mint and onions. These rolls were crunchy, juicy, spicy, flavorsome, and every other adjective to stress on the point of how delicious they were ! The chunks of chicken were spicy and well marinated, prepared in a tandoori style. The mutton on the other side was freshly cooked, minced and mixed with onions. Between the chicken and mutton rolls, I would vote for the chicken rolls, because of the explosion of different flavors of the tandoor masala, chicken, egg and other veggies. 

These rolls grew our appetite for other things. We quickly ordered some mutton and chicken sheeks, and after sometime they brought us the hot and spicy sheekhs served with deep-fried parathas and more of the minty assortments. Sheekhs are minced meat treaded over skewers and roasted directly on fire or using charcoal. These are served with a big fat naan and mint chutney, onion rings and mint leaves, and are surely a pure delight to someone who loves meaty delicacies.

After devouring the sheekhs, we saw the cook preparing something. He was fry roasting something ‘Squarish’. Out of curiosity, we asked what that was, to which he replied that it was a meat item called baida roll. Now that's something we’ve never heard before. The cook took a maida roti and stuffed it with tandoori chicken pieces, some chilies and later broke an egg into it. He folded the maida roti giving it a square shape. Then shallow fried it on the tawa giving it a crunchy coating. It looked tempting and delicious. He cut the roll in 4 pieces and served us. The delightful baida roll was indeed hot and juicy because of the chunks of chicken and the crunchy coating of the roll.

Overall, the place is not so great when it comes to ambience and service, but when it comes to tawa style eating there is no match to this. Aqsha offers other delicacies like biryani, chicken fried leg pieces, fried mutton, various types of chicken and mutton curries. I would definitely visit this place again and again to satisfy my sheekh pangs.

Gandhi Cold Drinks

“Uff... This heat will kill us someday…!!” This is the common cry of the city whose temperature has already crossed 45°C. To beat the heat, people wear light colored and loose fitting clothes and deck themselves up with Dupattas, Sun Glasses and Gloves to protect themselves from the heat wave. Some people prefer to be in the confines of their homes or offices, to avoid this unbearable heat.

Apnu Gujarati Banner

But there is another way to beat this heat. On the way to Teen Darwaja, near the Bhadra Fort, there is the Gandhi Cold Drinks Shop. It is one of the oldest and the best place to have Faloodas, in aapnu Amdavad. ‘Falooda’ is basically a beverage served in the Indian sub-continent, originating from Persia. It is made by mixing Vermicelli, Basil Seeds (Takmaria), Milk and Flavoured Syrup. Served chilled, this refreshing treat is more tasty when it is topped with a scoopful of ice cream. This place is always flooded with people who have come to shop in the walled city, working class people and ardent Falooda lovers.

Deluxe Mix Falooda

On a  sweltering Saturday afternoon after doing some shopping with my family, we decided to cool ourselves at this Falooda joint. It’s a nice decent place, having three separate areas for people to sit. Two on the inside, and one on the outside for people who just want a quick refreshment. The owner was seated in a small cubicle right at the entrance of this shop.  The walls of this shop were made out of marble stones, that gave some respite from the heat. Hardly had we found ourselves comfortable seats, our eyes had started browsing through the variety of options mentioned in the menu that was printed on the walls.Without much delay we ordered the Royal Falooda and Deluxe Mix Falooda. The Royal Faluda had Saffron (Kesar) Syrup, topped with Milk, Vermicelli and Basil Seeds, with a scoopful of ice cream and Kesar shreddings. The Deluxe Mix had Red Almond syrup, and was topped with mixed dry fruits. When the waiters handed the glasses of Falooda, our hearts and tummies delighted on their sight. Served in a tall glass, this cold beauty melted our hearts. We carefully stirred the Falooda, and took a first taste of it.It sure was love at first taste. Immediately we felt the temperature drop. The Basil Seeds did their job of cooling down our senses, while the ice-cream satisfied our taste buds. And within no time our glasses were empty.

Royal Falooda

Situated amidst the old city, this Faluda Joint is a heritage in itself. It’s a must visit for people having an inclination towards sweet food, couples looking for some personal time, people coming to the walled city to shop, and ‘Foodies’ like us, who appreciate good food with a good story! Keep reading for more such foodie experiences.

Dunkin Donuts & more

The tiny looking banner... Ofcourse its zoomed, duh!

The title of my blog post says it all. Yes, the most awaited donut store is finally here in Ahmedabad. Foodies from all over the city had flocked to this place, on the first day itself, to get a bite of their infamous donuts, DD is known for. After weeks of planning and researching, we finally got a chance to drop by this donut place and try their confectioneries.

The warm ambience... 

So, when we saw this tiny outlet, in the newly opened CG Square Mall on CG Road, I was completely bewildered. But the moment we opened the door, an aroma blast of chocolate and coffee engulfed us. Without any delay our eyes started to scroll through the menu and the Donuts which[that] were beautifully decked in the glass display. Our eyes got glued to the terms Death by Chocolate and Alive by Chocolate and quickly ordered those along with a Chocolate Cake Donut and the highly favoured Moccachips Cold Cappuccino. While we waited for our order to get processed, we started to check out the ambience. The outlet did seem small from the outside, but the interior was smartly done to give it a spacious and a lively look]. There were different seating arrangements made for different sizes of groups, making it an ideal hangout spot. There are two entry points, one from outside and the other one opens towards the CG Mall. The walls were decked with huge blackboards having witty quotes and eye-catchy drawings scribbled over, that surely grab your attention.

Breathing heavily!

As soon as our order was processed, without any further delay we took our first bites of the tempting chocolate donuts. The supersoft Death by Chocolate donuts, were a marvel. They were regular donut shells with chocolate cream, chocolate sprinkles and cream toppings and had a gooey molten chocolate in the center. The Alive by Chocolate donut, was the same but had different toppings. It had crushed chocolate cookie crumbs with the same molten chocolate surprise filling. The Chocolate Cake Donut did look delicious with the chocolate icing and rainbow sprinkles, but was dry and tasteless. Or maybe our expectations soared sky-high after having the Death by Chocolate and Alive by Chocolate donuts, that we found these a bit bland and not upto the mark. But the taste was compensated well with the Moccachips Cold Cappuccino. It was a perfect blend of cold chocolate and strong coffee, topped with a thick layer of nicely whipped cream and lots of choco-chips. Slurping it slowly was a delight in itself. Phew, all of it was so filling and heavy, we couldnt ask for anything else.

Breathing more heavily!

DD is a must go for all those young by heart ! After all age is just a number, ehh ! And the Death by Chocolate and Alive by Chocolate donuts are the best things to try. We did manage to have a glimpse of some killer burgers out there, but we were too full to have anything further. Will surely go again to try some other donuts and some other burgers and eatables at DD. Till then, Happy hogging!

Shakti - The Sandwich Shop

Welcome to the Sandwich World!

Sandwiches are always the best solution for last minute hunger pangs. Just take some slices of bread, stuff it with anything and voila! Your sandwich is ready. So when we heard about this chain of sandwich outlets, which made the best designed sandwiches served in our city, i couldn't resist to try them out. So we decided to drop into one of its outlets and see what is the buzz all about.

The Fabulous Mexican Sandwich

Entering this outlet of Shakti - The Sandwich Shop, situated just on the opposite side of the famous Law Garden, we were surprised to see not a soul in that outlet. It was small but could accommodate 20-25 people. We quickly got hold of the menu and browsed through it. My hopes began to shatter as there were only a few options on the menu. Hesitantly we ordered the Mexican Sandwich, Cheese Chilli Sandwich and the much-favored Chocolate Sandwich.

The Hot and Sweet Cheese-Chilly Sandwich

We waited patiently for our sandwiches, hoping that they would at least be worth the wait. And it turned out to be more than that. The moment they handed us the Mexican and Chilli Cheese sandwiches, our eyes popped out. Our tongues could no longer resist tasting the gorgeous and tempting sandwiches. I actually had a tough time keeping my friends at bay when I was taking snaps of the sandwiches. The triple layered Mexican Sandwich was flooded with Mexican Mayo, chilly flakes, spices and topped with cheese and creamy mayo. The crunchiness of the grilled bread and the smooth and soft Mexican Mayo did take our taste buds to a mesmerizing trip. The creamy and spicy Cheese Chilli Sandwich was a marvel in itself. The coarsely ground paste of chilli mixed with cheesy mayo and topped with Creamy Mayo and Cheese were relished by us to the fullest. We were literally drooling with cream and mayo and our tummies were enjoying themselves to the maximum. The moment the Chocolate Sandwich descended on our tables, all of us turned out to be “Chocolate-Zombies” (Undead Creatures craving for Chocolates). The sandwich seemed like a chocolatey boat, in which all of us desperately wanted to sail away. The sandwich contained chocolate Cream, Chocolate shavings, Dark Chocolate Syrup, Cheese, Butter and more chocolate. Taking the first bite the chocolate literally exploded in our mouths flowing to the corners of our mouth. The combination of Cheese and Chocolate on slices of bread does sound weird, but the taste is simply heavenly. This is a marvellous treat for all you chocolate lovers.

Behold! The Chocolate Sandwich

So our verdict of this Shakti Sandwich is that, this place is only meant for those with bigger pockets, who do not care about catching some extra calories and who do not mind their hands and lips getting messy. Also, please don’t forget to try the main outlet of Shakti Sandwich at the heart of foodie-heaven, Manekchowk!

Faaso's

Sign Board to know we are at the right spot!

Popular in Mumbai for its Wraps and Rice culture, Faaso’s has opened two new eateries in our hogger-filled city. After reading a lot about it online and having heard a lot from my friends, i decided to check out one of its outlets situated on Judges Bunglow Road, Bodakdev.

On a regular weekend

Entering the small eatery, we found it difficult to accommodate ourselves. We managed to settle ourselves on some weird sitting arrangement made for bigger groups. Immediately we browsed through the illuminated menu board. The items on the menu seemed delicious with different types of veg and non veg wraps, cheese, chicken, paneer and all the things required to increase the appetite of a hogger. Moreover they provide an option of Maida wraps and Multigrain wraps for the health conscious (Air Quotes). Not only that they also serve their own green apple juice and jaljeera juice named Swig.

The beloved Chicken SheekhWrap

So we allowed our tummies to decide what to order. We ordered a chicken seekh, fiery chicken tikka and cheese melt chicken wraps, a chicken tikka rice bowl and a bottle of Swig. Within 5 mins, they processed our order and we were handed our beautifully packed delicious looking wraps and rice bowl. The Chicken Sheekh was a simple looking wrap, with fat chunks of baked chicken, creamy mayo and onions to give a smooth and at the same time  a crunchy feel.  On the other hand, the fiery chicken tikka was a wrap filled with super hot chicken and tikka masala. The Cheese Melt Chicken had cheese, Reshmi Chicken and more cheese, a cheese-lovers delight. Our hearts and tummies totally relished the flavour of the chicken with the fresh and crispy Maida Wraps. Then came the chance to behold the Rice Bowl. Well packed in a container, the rice bowl seemed to be appetizing with the toppings of curry and chicken chunks. But the moment we opened it, the rice looked stale and bland and was nothing as we had expected it to be. We could only taste the spiciness and tanginess of the curry and the chicken. We had the Swig to wash it all down our throats.

The Tangy Chicken Tikka Rice Bowl

So, our final verdict for Faaso's is that it has really delicious chicken wraps in the city which is suits the health conscious and pocket conscious. And do not forget to check out their second outlet at Prahladnagar Garden Road.

Bon Pasta

Not a big fan of pasta, but when i heard of this amazing new place which served Cheese Pasta Bhajiyas, I couldn’t resist trying this new place. So i ended up with my hogger friends at this small yellow joint near Nehrunagar Circle, Ambavadi, Ahmedabad named Bon Pasta.

The moment we entered inside, without going through the menu, we quickly ordered the Cheese Pasta Bhajiyas. In this delicacy, the cheese was stuffed in a huge penne, dipped in bhajiya batter and deep fried, topped with chat masala. Meanwhile while browsing the menu, we discovered that, at Bon Pasta, we could customize our pasta. We could choose our own pasta shape, add pasta sauce, and our own veggies. And Viola! our pasta dish is ready.

Anyways after a while the most delicious delicacy arrived, all our mouths were watering and our tummies growling. The moment we took the piece of the Pasta Bhajiya in our mouth a weird sensation engulfed us. All our expectations were shattered. The Bhajiyas were totally tasteless and there was no sign of my beloved cheese. Only the taste of the Bhaiya mixture was evident. Deeply disappointed we ordered some other snacks- Pasta Chat and Pasta Spring Roll. They also seemed quite tempting but the fusion of Italian delicacy served in the Indian Street Food style was disastrous. Then amidst of all despair, one of my friends requested we’d have the Classic Alfredo and reluctantly ordered it. When it arrived, our eyes popped out. It looked delicious and deep within our hearts we prayed, it better taste the same. The penne pasta was amazingly topped with creamy white sauce, cheese and herbs. And this time, it seemed that the Goddess of food heard our prayers. Thanking her, we attacked the pasta, taking as large as portions as we could. To our surprise and awe, the creamy white pasta indeed was delicious. The blend of cheese and cream, along with the herbs gave us an amazing feeling to our taste buds and to our tummies.

Would definitely go there again to try the other pasta dishes. And to sum it all up, our verdict for Bon Pasta is that it is an amazing place for the pasta dishes but don't bother trying the side dishes.

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?