Tigers Experience of Eggspectation

Enzo Renda Co-Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Eggspectation - The Man Behind the International Chain of Eggspectation .Enzo spent six years at IBM Corporation Ltd. His core marketing responsibilities helped him in developing his leadership, marketing and presentation skills, while learning to develop and apply tools like effective teamwork. ENzo trains his team like a true marketing man - he is hands on with the food , the culture , the ingredients availability in India and soon is joining the billionaire boys club .

Well read well traveled - follower of his mom's original recipes , a true Italian at heart ,who loves the family eating in the kitchen like all of us  - he is passionate about his recipes and is very choosy about the ingredients that go into making magical dishes . BTW when i showed his pic to my wife she went like "Tiger why didn you take me along"  hadd hai yaar , these Italians Studds have something about them .

Eggspectation - A franchise of the Canadian chain that has already made a mark in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto in Canada and South Portland and Ellicott City in the US... Jaypee is the first i have heard of who got a franchise of a International coffee shop  chain into India 12 years ago.  Sorry they call it the 24 hour Resto Cafe ,please excuse me hahahaha. Spacious , airy ,comfortable with loads of natural light -in short just my type  , just my idea of a Breakfast cum Brunch Place . 

The Lunch at Eggspectation  turned out into a major food construction , deconstruction afternoon  with the Italian Studd ENZO RENDA - we sat and discussed recipes, menus , dishes in depth - the man knows his stuff - being an Italian he has inherited  food passion 
as a legacy - its deep in his blood .
Enzo believes in Italian Italian food and not American Italian cuisine -  apparently his family also owns a old favorite in Venice where the locals eat out across the rialto  . We had gone for a simple coffee shop meal which turned out into a Proper New Menu tasting afternoon for the next 4 hours LOL  Kha Kha Ke pagal hogaye. 
The only promise I had to make was that NO EGGS just eat what i Give you today and you will go home happy - I did just that . To be honest i had eggs and more eggs in my mind keeping the name in mind and also after reading every review on the Net about eggspectaion - but the new menu was an eye opener - simple food done beautifully and tastefully . Enzo told me he has tried to experiment with street food , global food and a bit of Indianisation too . They have a great franchise model where out of 135 dishes globally most of the dishes are common to most of the restaurants they operate . We discussed how he translates his moms recipes to the chefs , he was a bit disappointed and said its a real tough one ,but yes they manage to turn the almost same dish out . Ingredients to them is a big challenge - it is a fight to get the same quality in every order - quite agree with  him and thats what leads to different tastes every time you visit. Enzo has fantastic sense of humor like all of us , he travels ten days every month exploring global cuisines. Love India and says India has taken hospitality to the next level , ahem ahem .

The New Menu

After a long time saw a eye pleasing menu card - visual appeal 100% - I respect restaurants which display pictures of dishes they serve - so much easier to understand what you are going to eat - You go anywhere in Thailand most of the places have a pictorial menu , so much easy to order and expect . Well the menu at Eggspectation was really nice well designed colorful - good readable font ,simple design as below - i must compliment them for this effort of being simple ,wonder who's influence was this Enzo or Jaypee . Very Ambitious Menu.

And The Tasting of the New Menu Begins - sorry the series of the dishes served is not the same , still learning how to lay with blog writing :)

BRIE & WALNUT CROSTINI Ciabatta slices broiled with Brie and

drizzled with honey. Garnished with

walnuts and fresh apple slices.

A little toast topped with Brie apples and walnut with a dash of honey - all the flavors kept coming as I bit deeper  and together made perfect Bite . Love it acid ,cheese , sweet and crunchy - a good combination .

VEGGIE RICE WRAP Delicate and light-tasting colourful rice

paper wraps filled with fresh vegetables,

served with a crunchy chilli peanut butter

sauce.

Hmmmmm Enzo was very enthu about this being his discovery lol and when he looked at my face he wondered where he went wrong hahahhah i was like what this dish doing here lol .  Fresh crunchy veggies wrapped in rice paper wraps - not to be dipped in the peanut sauce but dollops of the same to be put on top the full wrap and then bite to get the  chilly cum fresh flavor instruction by Enzo on how to eat this wrap . I loved the collection of rainbow  colors in the wrap . The accompanied peanut sauce had chilly init  which was nice and different .

NOVA SCOTIA POUTINE A mound of fries covered with shrimp,

smothered in mozzarella cheese and

special homemade sauce.

"Homey" A typical North American, Canadian Dish originated from Quebec , known to be served in Greasy spoon type diners - a fast food dish with french fries topped with brown gravy , Egg ,Cheese Curd and meat - they put beef , bacon , duck etc here they used shrimps - A very warm comforting dish - was dying to add ketchup the minute i heard french fries lol but with enzo sitting around killed the feeling instantly and enjoyed the Dish .Need to figure out why they called it Nova Scotia ??

FIRE ROASTED LEG OF LAMB Grain mustard marinated and herb crusted lamb served with oven roasted eggplant and baby potatoes

Brilliant Dish - Perfectly cooked Lamb , crusted with herbs . The Meat shredded on its own effortlessly,no struggle to cut deeply and fight .... Super flavors of Mustard and the crunch of herbs combined with the meaty taste  - served with beetroot beans and corn - i loved the oven baked baby potatoes and eggplants  . This was definitely the dish of the day . Not to miss the awesome presentation. If u r Lamb Lover go for it . A very Challenging Dish.

Flat Breads - Assortment

1.Seekh kebab, rarrha mince, onion, tomato, coriander and green chillies - hmmmmm not a fan off ready made seekh kebabs - those spicy ready made types , i avoided it .

2.New Delhi Tandoori : Tandoori paneer, peppers, onions and green chillies.- and yet again the indianisation effect but not bad at all ... great piece of flat bread for the veggies.

3.Greek Style :San Marzano spicy tomato sauce, roasted red peppers, black olives, grilled eggplant, Feta cheese and oregano. - loved this had everything Italian on it to be loved .

4.Tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and olive oil.- my favorite Magherita .. nothing beats this one for sure .
Total Crowd Pleaser

But can someone explain to me the difference between flat bread and a pizza - wiki says flat bread is made without yeast thats it .... couldn ask the Italian for sure , he would have laughed at Tiger the foodie LOL 

OVEN ROASTED FISH In parchment paper with white wine, spicy

tomato sauce, herb garlic butter, black

olives, capers, jalapeño peppers and green

beans.

Do i need to describe this experience - its all said above - steamed for health - wine for the acidity ,spicy tomato sauce , garlic butter olives pepper jalapeno for the TING , Delicious - superbly presented .. not being so fond of fish i always smell the fish first ,my good luck it had no fishy smell so went right ahead to taste the same - ek dum mast dish . Loved the presentation , packet style , open infront of you .. brilliant .

CHICKEN PARMIGIANA A lightly breaded chicken breast broiled with Provolone cheese and served with tomato sauce    with ancient grains served with asparagus.

The chicken was perfectly cooked topped with cheese and sauce , but what amazed me was the ancient grains - oats ,quinoa ,barley  and dressed in a sweet flavorful playful dressing for the buzz . Combined with cheese meat veggies  salad it was sure an healthy option .

Mushroom, Saffron,Spinach Risotto

Perfect Risotto with saffron, spinach, mushrooms and  Parmesan cheese. My benchmark of any restaurant serving Italian Food  is its Risotto and i told Enzo about it - he was like huh - try this you punjabi hahahahahahaha the color and mild taste of saffron , deep flavor of mushrooms with a twist of spinach .... perfectly cooked with just the right acidity in it . The resto cafe passed .

CREPE SHADRAS Stir- fried exotic vegetables flavoured with

Indian pickling spices.

Honestly speaking when i saw this dish i was like no man cant eat paranthas - sorry crepes with veggies , reluctantly took a small bite - achari veggies in a crepe perfect delite for a vegetarian . they served it with basil and Olive oil - i think mint sauce would have been better lol . kill me Enzo .

SCHEHERAZADE SALAD Ancient grains tossed with apricots, sliced almonds, fresh mint,

exotic spices and cinnamon, served with char-grilled cottage

cheese.

So persian and named after the persian queen too .... great fusion of Persia and India with the paneer tikka included in it . A complete meal on its own . A good vegetarian healthy option , soemthing unsual never seen or tasted before - fresh .

GREEK COUNTRY STYLE SALAD tomato, cucumber,

black olives, peppers, red onions, seared Feta cheese and

watermelon, tossed with our house vinaigrette made with extra

virgin olive oil and lemon.

YOU think i have had enuf hahahahahaha keep reading more coming up - mind you i just took a bite of each dish to grasp the flavors the textures thats it - but actually loved it all .

The Burgers

1. Bad Boy Tenderloin Burger - Grilled to perfection with slices of crispy bacon and Cheddar cheese, served with our special secret sauce, lettuce, tomato and caramelized onions. A Total Drool -perfect Bun , Perfect Patty .... i deconstructed tasted the patty on its own then reconstructed it and ate it up ... super burger ,one of the best i have had so far .

2.BBQ Burger - Chicken - Bacon, Cheddar cheese, onion rings and topped with our unique Memphis sauce.(Barbeque Sauce )  - did the same here too - found herbs in the patty spoke to enzo about it - he then explained that they have to put some herbs in the patty to give it the buzz otherwise it would be so bland - i agree with him chicken onits own is quite bland .

3. The Mushroom Melt Burger - tofu burger served with thyme-aioli sauce, sautéed mushrooms and melted Provolone cheese. A tough one to make for sure - mixing things in tofu is a mission impossible , well they have mastered it . Good choice .

PRAWNS MAC & CHEESE PASTA

Very classic dish .Basic Cheese Pasta with prawns an all time favorite . Playing it safe dish

MASALA MAC & CHEESE PASTA 

Totally Masala marke - i think it was something like a maggi masala put in it ... Ok Ok but veggies would love it . Very indianised Dish .

CHILLI GARLIC PRAWNS Served with garlic sautéed vegetables,

mashed potatoes and beurre blanc.

Just YUM and the portion was amazing Ten huge perfectly grilled prawns on a plate is a sea food eaters delight . Beurre Blanc - "white butter"— is a hot emulsified butter sauce made with a reduction of vinegar - great sauce not found everywhere . Enzo this dish was magic - a great combination . The prawns fresh and grilled perfectly , the accompaniments well matched.

The Desert Options - Waffles, Pancakes and French toast

Enough is Enough - guess everyone must be tired of eating like i was but this man Enzo refused to let me get up for a smoke also - insisted a quick palate wash in between and thats it - so painful eating can be na . Anyway the deserts were just all my favorites - French toast with marsh mallows and Nuttella a very american dish was the killer followed by the banana bread with maple syrup and waffles  . Just YUM !!! great portions pls share.

Tigers Favorite.

Tigers Overall Experience : 

A perfect Breakfast and Brunch Option - with this new menu a late night binge can also be done with the deserts . I feel they have certainly made or about to make a dent in the normal coffee shop culture . The food is actually to die for - home style cooked to perfection . Each recipe is simple yet exotic . 
My concern is on the consistency - will the desi Cooks be able to produce the same as drafted by he Italian food Guru ?? will go again and check and revert lol . 

Ambiance - Perfect as described above 
Pricing - Yes five star equivalent - but value for money with the quantity and quality . 
Food - Uffff need i say more m very authentic recipes with a slight twist to match the Indian Palate - the international standards have been kept in mind . A piece of advice , please dont serve the same garlic toast with pesto with every dish :(
Seating - Very comfortable 
Interaction - Chefs always around to explain the dishes , staff is getting used to the new menu 
Going Back Again : Yes , that reminds me Enzo and the chef asked me if i had been here before - i said yes in a drunkin state LOL . They fell down laughing .

Point of Jealousy : ENZO has invited me to Jaypee Greens for authentic taste of Italian cuisine, where one can also savor on Enzo’s mom’s special recipes as he conceptualized the Italian restaurant – La Brezza with Enoteca Bar at Jaypee Greens Golf and Spa Resort, Greater Noida ..lalalalalalalalala  promise i wont eat as much . 

To Conclude Eggspectation is definitely a place to visit Sooon and it is sure going to give stiff competition to other 5 star coffee shops . It is definitely better than it needs to be .

*Note from ENZO post reading my Blog "As I said on Thursday, while I was busting my core belief of my cooking philosophy, at Eggspectation we do not " Indianise " food but we "Fushionise" it!

Tigers Experience of Ano Tai - Vasant Continental

Ano Tai- Vasant Continental, Vasant Vihar , The Experience – Located on the first floor overloking the busy Vasant Vihar market road , wooden flooring , dimsum lounge and a banquet style sitting central open kitchen and  Superb home Style Hunan Chinese cooking. Sour and Spicy – loads of Flavors .

Was there for lunch with friends met up with the  Expat Chef Eagle Hu (Not me definitely Lol)  17years of cooking experience all over China , was in the Chinese for a bit moved to Jayee Group 3 years ago . Inspite of being a Hunan Cuisine specialist he finds Desi Food Spicy J . Well anyway like always asked the chef to suggest a complete Hunan meal experience or the way he would feed his family and that was it , I believe the Chinese have great appetites and follow great customs when it comes to hospitality . Guest are god for them – the food bowl can never be empty at the end of the meal very unlike what we do – scrape the bottom of the dish to get paisa vasool. Oh ! so when the expat chef came to india could not speak a word of Chinese , always dealth with every one with a interpreter which irritated him and as well as the guest . He made an super effort to Learn English which he has successfully done and as a bonus learnt quite a lot of Hindi also . Im glad he did that becos we are entering the era of chef Run and not led restaurants – where want a interaction with the person behind the food . So the chef recommended we go for a HOT POT meal on the table with all meats besides prawns . Sounded super to us .

The meal started with Two varieties of Dim Sums – prawn and veggie – have had a lot of dimsums all over the place and have learnt that the wrapper has to be a bit sticky , and the maal inside has to be finely chopped well fused and juicy to make it a good dimsum. They were served with this most amazing dip – Garlic chiily ginger paste – something to die for . Honestly speaking the dimsums were a killer , Prawn Hargao and  Vegetable Sui Mui. Alongside the served us the usuals prawn crackers and kimchee dunno why , they were not required at all .

Some complimentary apetisers came up - Chongqing Fish and Sichuan Lamb. The Fish was made in mustard and ginger – beautiful color of orange  tasted divine , the lamb was ok ok .

The HotPot came – Divided into to two compartment one had the Cantonese broth and the other the hunan killer broth.LOL. The smells that came from the hunan style broth were beautifu and divine, the othe was Sichuan chicken and bamboo stock – the other was a basic chicken broth .Infact my first exposure to a hot pot meal was in Bali Hi at maurya – grt memories of it .  And this was followed by Chef Eagle Hu himself who insisted he served us personally , very touching I must say . Alongside the gave us plates of pork , Lamb , tenderloin, chicken , mushrooms, Lettuce, Chinese cabbage, Tofu, Pok Choy and yes some fresh fish . Chef soaked all the meats one at a time into both the flavors checked if they were cooked and served us with his tongs and chopsticks . The hot pot was on a induction plate so was boiling in seconds . In a couple minutes the meat was ready to be eaten with two sauces – sesame peanut sauce and garlic ginger sauce both went well with the meats . I loved the hunan flavored pork and tenderloin , and in the clear broth fish and chicken . A great experience , the fact that we had two different flavors at the same time made life and the palate very interesting.

We very quite FED Up towards the end of it until this punju friend of mine woke and said yaar fried rice to khaya nahi – lo karl o baat hahahaah – chef heard that and sheepishly went into the kitchen , came out after exact 15 mins with and amazing Egg and scallion fried rice , Tofu in black bean sauce  and  spicy sliced lamb with greens….  We all felt so silly but dug into them like silly kids – I personally loved the Fried Rice never had them better , the other punjus loved the combo of tofu and lamb.

The Kitchen

The Expat Chinese Chef Eagle Hu

                                                                           Chongqing Fish

Sichuan Lamb

The Hot Pot Meal - Left is the Spicy Hunan Style Broth and the Right is the Simple cantonese clear Broth

  Fish , Tenderloin

Pork , Chinese Greens

 Chicken , Lamb

Chef Eagle Hu in Action with his Chopsticks

Hot Pot for Individual Servings - very cute lil pot 

The Yummy Egg and scallion fried Rice 

Chunky Spicy Lamb - actually forgot the name lol.

Tofu in Black Bean 

Sorry forgot to take pictures of the amazing Dimsums and its sauce .:( 

Overall experience – Super Super Food – amazing concept , textures , flavors keeping in mind it was home style cooking , Fantastic Chef Interaction, the ambience sucked a bit – very formal , nothing very Chinese besides Chef Eagle Hu , huge empty spaces – apparently under renovation , very spacious , nice bright natural lighting  - I love it - hate dark restaurants  , the crockery and cutlery needs a drastic change to complete the fine dining experience. 

We felt that Ano Tai was a underplayed restaurant amazing food and specially when we heard the money 1000 per head only without taxes  OMG only. Yes Only . Run For it . we are for sure going back to eat the rest of the menu . 

Overall Tigers Experience :

Food - Mind Blowing - thats reason i would go back
Ambiance - can be better
Service - Prompt - server needs to speak louder LOL  or am i going deaf 
Quality - Fresh meats , Fresh Greens - authentic cuisine
Smells - None from the Kitchen