Tigers Experience - The Youth Brigade - Mahabelly

Mahabelly By Chance - Yes By Chance - Client meeting got over at the bar next door , had read a few reviews about this new entrant by the Youth Brigade , so landed up there . The Food mall behind DLF Mall in Saket is very interesting corner ,has seen a number of changes ever since it opened , today it has TC Cafe , Rajdhani , BBQ nation etc and Mahabelly .. earlier used to be a food court . The funny part is that i have had two meals there and both i have eaten alone .. i know my nature can never eat alone wonder why Tiger became so greedy all of a sudden and ventured to eat at Mahabelly all alone .. well i did and i loved it . The first time i went was just a couple of beers down hence  had the guts - tho  before entering i called a couple of Mallu friends to accompany me ,but who comes last minute .  Anyway entered only a couple of table occupied . serious mallus feasting , the manager recognized me greeted me and made me feel at home . like always never checked out the menu just blatantly told the manager "Please get me one chicken , one mutton and maybe some beef too " hehehehehehe So what he gets me is chicken roast , erachi (beef)fry and the mutton moplah biryani . And the second time i went was for the greed of the amazing cuisine. 

The ambience nice not very mallu influenced but modern trendy with the touch of youth playfulness , the chairs and tables made from wood from down south ,not very comfortable .. hard wood - need to loose weight i guess, the music thankfully not the typical carnatic drag .. upbeat and nice . The menu simple black n white easy to read an understand , the team small but all there. Quite an simple art gallery with a whole lot of "CurryCreatures ".

So while the order is getting ready i see two lanky looking dudes walking in going to the cashier desk , i understood these are the men behind mahabelly - post reading so much about the Mallu Educated dudes. Anyways i got this opportunity to interact with the these two Stephenians who have ventured into restauranting . Very open to suggestions , super belief in what they are doing , a bit nervous - anyone would be when you have a the axe of the rent hanging on your head . Very creative  and determined .  So Thomas Fenn sat down with me and answered by several questions thru the course of the meal . 

So here is what they have to say about 'Mahabelly'.

The Concept

A specialty restaurant serving authentic Kerala cuisine fuelled by a wide variety of flavours , textures, and tastes. Culinary influences include Syrian Christian, traditional Nair, the Malabar region’s Moplah, coastal cuisines, and the ever famous fare from the toddy shops of Kerala. The restaurant offers an exquisite menu staying true to its traditional roots and heritage that will excite and captivate a South-Indian, local as well as a cosmopolitan audience.

The theme of the restaurant draws its inspiration from Kerala pop culture such as Malayalam cinema, performing arts, traditional lore and artefacts.

Why/How did Mahabelly come about?

Zachariah & I came to Delhi in 2006 to study at St Stephen's College. Over a period of time, we increasingly missed the food that we grew up on and couldn't find a place in Delhi that came close. Sure, there were small shacks in the INA market that served some decent fare, but they weren't places that you could take your family and friends to. There were also a few mid level to high end restaurants that served food from the southern states as a whole rather than specialty restaurants. The idea was perhaps conceived as early as then. Post college we went on to pursue our respective careers, but the idea of an authentic Kerala cuisine restaurant kept niggling at us. It also helped that there was a mini revolution of sorts in the Delhi food scene with new restaurants, concepts and consumers mushrooming all over. The time was ripe.Neither of us had any experience in the F&B industry but we had a clear idea about what the product should be and more importantly what it shouldn't. We figured that starting up something would be a very exciting journey if nothing else. 

A lot of brainstorming, hard work, blind luck and three months later Mahabelly was born.

Regional Cuisine is slowly catching up in Delhi , and high time it did. Education of the foodies is very essential , India has so much to offer and learn from in the culinary bracket that one could spend a lifetime doing so . The idea is to be open to the food , the flavours , cooking styles . Kerala cuisine is found in places like Sarai Jullena , Khari Baoli , RK Puram etc .. and aren't we glad that we have places like Mahabelly now in upmarket areas and more accessible to us foodies . I personally think it is a slow climb for regional cuisine but definitely here to stay .

The Entrance

Backgrounds

Thomas Fenn is a graduate from St Stephen's College, New Delhi. He has worked as an Analyst with an infrastructure consultancy Feedback Infra Pvt Ltd for two years before taking over Operations, Marketing & Business Development for the Stellar Children's Museum, Ambience Mall Gurgaon since it's inception in 2012.

Zachariah Jacob is a graduate from St. Stephen's College, New Delhi and completed LL.B from Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. He has been working as Manager (Law) with IFCI Ltd., New Delhi which is a Govt. owned Public Financial Institution since 2012. He is also a Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Banking and Finance (CAIIB).

WOW what a youth Brigade , Educated , Talented , enterprising , visionaries , determined and top it all adventurous .. absolutely amazing . With such backgrounds , getting into the food business and that too in a punju dominated city .. its incredible . Dumping a job for a passion is a wow and then making a success of it is the cream .

Brilliant Interiors

Family History in Food

Zachariah's family has a rich history in the food business. His father Jacoby Jacob is a founding partner of Hotel Aida in Kottayam in Kerala with over 30 years of experience in the field of hospitality, food & beverages. The wisdom, support and mentorship that Mr Jacob provided was indispensable in the project especially when it came to defining the business side of things.

Beautiful Wall Art

Amazing Wall art what an collection of Mallu Sketches .. each worth taking a picture off . This keeps you busy while the food is being prepared.'Currycreatures'.

Chefs

At Mahabelly, we don't have any celebrity chefs or the like. These are men and women who have put their nose to the grind at small restaurants and cooked their way through.My sister Ann Thomas (who's a home cook herself) took a month off work to help us

conceptualise the menu and standardise the recipes of almost all the items that we serve at the restaurant today. The result is a certain uncanny honesty that we bring to the table.

So while the dishes are cooked homestyle they are the popular dishes one would eat down there in Kerala. They mentioned a word above called standardise - now this is an art ... You have to keep in mind the portions , the cooking time in mind while being in the food business . 

Erachi Double FRY

Erachi Double Fry

Outstanding .. actually outstanding , beef well cooked , no smell , amazing coconut flavors , chewy  .The meat so well cooked that it could shred so easily . Have you heard the lastest fad about healthy eating they say coconut oil is the healthiest and one must have a tea spoon of it everyday .. and the mallus are proved right .The dish was a winner and i could see the other two tables also gorging on it .

Chicken Roast

Roast is a crazy word in a foodies dictionary - everyone interprets it differently - the brits , the muslims all do it differently and the  Punjabis also they put a lot of Pyazza in their roast to make a chicken do piyazza  or dry subzi but how this was handled by the chef is just fantastic . Onions well roasted perfect mixed flavors , thick gravy , tangy and robust . hehehehe whatever that means lol . It tasted amazing with the malabar porotta .

Appam & Malabar Porotta

A Special mention here the Malabari Porotta was not the usual , was crisp flaky and yet soft in parts .. wasnt the kadak types which u normally get . The appam was crisp from outside soft from inside .. well done .

Mutton Moplah Biryani

The most talked about Biryani in town , so while the hunt for the best biryanis is going on in the country moplah is one of the very different biryanis i have ever had .. a well cooked mutton preparation hidden well under a bed of rice .. loved the sweetness of the combination . Biryanis are solely related tot he muslim dominance in areas , they tried their own versions with the ingredients available locally and that's the difference in a Moplah Biryani 

Veg Stew

Now this was one dish i was so familiar with and TRUST ME THIS WAS THE BEST STEW I HAVE EVER HAD ..... a touch of pepper , a hint of sweetness ,deliciously flavored with coconut gravy a real to die for dish with a nicely made fresh appam .

Caramelized Banana With Ice Cream

Well well like i said earlier a foodie must have an open mind , I had a picture or rather palate looking for ripe bananas - but what iw as served was almost raw caramelized banana - which were good .. kept the desert together . A Nice try , but shud have ordered a payysam .. silly me .

Need to try their Regular Thaali  and also Specials of the Day - the spread looks very interesting for sure . 

Future

We have our hands full with just one restaurant right now :) Our plan is to consolidate Delhi NCR and then span out.

Tigers Overall Experience with the Youth Brigade .. Keep the good work up and do anything to sustain and scale up Mahabelly , you have a winner on hand . Your food excels , the service needs to be tightened a bit , valet parking needs to enforced , fill up the blank spaces , ass some cafe sort of food for the time pass people and the last thing is make noise to welcome people to try authentic Kerala cuisine .

PS - please call me for breakfast one day i believe your chicken dosa is quite commendable . The advise to other foodies with amazing palates is that be open to discovery , dont have pre conceived notions about the food .. let the senses decide .

Mahabelly - MA A-05, Restaurant Block, DLF Place Mall, Saket, New Delhi, India

Tigers Experience of Kadaknath with Dr Ashish Chopra

Padosan Apni Murgi Ko Rakhna Sambhal

Mera Mugra Hua Hai Diwana :)

Black Chickens .. Sounds strange , sounds racist but trust me there is a whole range of black chickens in the world right from China , England , Italy , Bulgaria, Poland , Indonesia and of course India . The hero of them all is the “Kadaknath” .

Kadaknath is a native breed of poultry inhabiting Jhabua and Dhar districts in Western parts of Madhya Pradesh. The Kadaknath has been reared by tribals over a long period of time and its unique breed characteristics have been established through many generations of selection and fixation of genes. It tolerates extreme climatic conditions of summer heat and cold winter stress and thrives very well under minimal management inputs like poor housing, no health care or supplementary feeding while exhibiting appreciable degree of resistance to diseases compared to other exotic breeds of fowl . The Kadaknath lays around 80-90 eggs annually and is not a good brooder. However its dark coloured meat is considered a delicacy and is also attributed with medicinal qualities much sought after by the tribal.I tis sup[posed to be having higher protein levels than a Salmon , Cures TB,asthma, osteomalacia, womens sterilty problems,headaches, renal(kidney)Problems,Good for high BP, heart diseases as it as low cholesterol.  It is locally known as Kalamasi and is used for the traditional treatment of many diseases in human beings and is also considered an aphrodisiac. The meat and eggs are also reckoned to be a rich source of protein. Characteristics of Kadaknath Poultry Breed include Black coloured meat; Black Blue plumage; Black hued internal organs; Body weight at 20 weeks (g) 920; Body weight of adult cockerel 1.5 -2kg; Body weight of adult hen 1-1.5 kg; Age at sexual maturity (days) 180; Annual egg production (number) 105; Egg weight at 40 week (g) 49. The skin, beak, shanks, toes and soles is dark gray colored, whereas tongue is dark gray or light black in colour. Comb, Wattles and earlobes are light to dark gray or have purple hue. Most of the internal organs of the Kadaknath breed show intense black coloration

The three main varieties of Kadaknath breed are: Jet black - The Jet black adult males and females are black in colour; -Pencilled - In Penciled variety, adult male and female plumage is black with white feathers on neck; -Golden - The Golden adult male and females are basically black in colour with Golden feathers on head and neck.

The Breeders of kadanath have refused to expand the flock only for one reason tha they dont want the bird to loose its qualities .:(

It was Dr Ashish Chopra who introduced me to this beautiful Bird .

 So the story goes like this .. on FB I see this man dressed like a chef , then like a cowboy sitting across a chefs Lab with masalas and other ingredients around him and actually cooking something and not just posing hehehehehehe. Then I see loads of comments aksing Ashish to cook for them , share the recipe with them , call them over etc etc . Now tiger was curious, who is this man , so he sends the man a friends request . which he accepts . I get chatting with him. In between post a picture of this kadanath. I  love his passion for  food ,being the curious tiger im like tel me more about the meat , the texture etc 

We exchange numbers , mind you he speaks amazingly well , his voice is authoritative, he is a charmer with full on knowledge .. speaks Punjabi , angrezi , nagamese and other north east languages .. so be careful dude and to top it all he is a master of his trade, a.k.a known as FOOD . So we do a call, we find common connects  and the man without hesitation says Tiger “come and have dinner with me, I wil personally cook some amazing kadaknath for you ” , im like no reaction for a minute .. im surprised at his generosity and spontaneity .. kaun boola ta hai kisko aisae aaj kal .  I jump for the offer , why wouldn i.. anything for Food and Food Gyan .

So Time Date fixed and then I hear the address Greater noida , im not worried about the distance, that is my drivers hassle not mine , im worried about two silly things . .how many drinks to carry for the journey and second agar sus aa jayega toh kahan karoonga hehehehe.  Chalo koi na when you have to go you have to go … and then one day in between Ashish calls me to inform that his co chef is back from almora and the man shal be cooking the Kadanath his way , now I was super excited and eager to find out who Ashish was and what this bird was all about .

Stage is  set, I am all excited . and then the last dilemma going to a foodies house for dinner for the first time what to carry .. thought thought and thought , contemplated and decided nothing beats a good old monk .. so picked up black and white old monk , my style .

Now out of habit I always do a recky on the person who im meeting .. so this is what I find ….

Dr. Ashish Chopra,was the founder Executive Director of the Institute for Environmental Management and Social Development (www.iemsd.superhit.in) when he decided after retrospection and introspection to take permanent sabbatical to pursue his passion for food and travel.

• ·        He is currently dedicating his quality time to pursue his passion as a Culinary Historian / Food Critic / Travel Writer / Photographer / Author & Television Host.
• ·        He is also the consulting editor of the Business India group. He organizes culinary tours and heritage food walks for food lovers.
• ·        He has contributed to the EXOTICA magazine, INSIDE OUTSIDE, The PIONEER newspaper, CONDE`NAST Traveler, Global food & Traveler magazine.
• ·        He is also on the editorial board of an online magazine www.folks.co.in, Advisor,Center for Global Research & Initiatives and a Consulting Director with the H.H.R Group of Hotels running Heritage properties in Madhya Pradesh, India.
• ·        He has worked in the field of Environment, social development, culture and cuisine especially in North East India for over a decade now.
• ·        His latest book being“A Travel Guide to North East India“. He is also the author of NE Belly-A book on the cuisines of the eight North Eastern states. He calls North East India his obsession, which has taught and given him much.Presently, he is documenting the traditional tribal foods of India and writing a cookbook on the –TRIBAL CUISINES OF INDIA and one on STREET FOODS OF INDIA.
• ·        Apart from that he has interest in regional cuisine, folk music, tribal art, indigenous knowledge and filmmaking. He is also a keen documentary filmmaker and has worked on documentaries on the Chins of Mizoram, the Nocte tribe of Arunachal, the Konyaks of Nagaland, amongst many others.
• ·        He has published various papers on development, conflict management and culture.He has hosted a series of talk shows called-”To the Point” on one of the prominent satellite news channels.
• ·        A foodie at heart and not by profession but by passion- He has also been a food consultant with ITC Welcome Heritage group of hotels having documented the Royal cuisines of the erstwhile Maharajas. Amongst his projects has been the conceptualization of the first cross Cultural Heritage Cuisine Restaurant for Carlsons Country Inns and Suites, a traditional Punjabi Heritage cuisine Restaurant with Sufi as its theme, A middle eastern cuisine restaurant at Jaipur.
• ·        He has been invited to co-author a book on the Royal cuisines of Bhagel with Pushpraj Sinh- the erstwhile Maharaja of Rewa and subsequently GAJRAJ SINGH the Thakur of Diggi State in Rajasthan has also commissioned him to do a coffee table book on the erstwhile secret recipes and food traditions of the Diggi State.
• ·        He has consulted for the television series, Gordon Ramsey’s Great Escapes on “North east Indian Cuisine”
• ·        Currently consulting BBC for forthcoming India unplugged series to be aired this year end.He in 2011 consulted for the show “Chef on the Road“, by Hurrah Productions for National Geographic Channel
• ·        He is the principal consultant and has co-hosted a few episodes on the TRAVEL XP Channel on the Ancient cuisines of India called “QUEST”
• ·        He is the Principal Advisor for the forthcoming International Woodpecker Film Festival
• ·        He is also hosting his own food and travel series for an International TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE CHANNEL called BICKY’S GASTRONOMY.Here is the rush teaser of the forthcoming show

·      It is his firm belief that food, music and culture transcend all boundaries of caste, conflict, creed and religion. To respect food, tradition and culture is the best way to respect and understand humanity.

(data Courtesy www.theculinaryhistorian.com)

The Dinner with the Culinary Historian.

WOW .. now I actually felt honored to be invited by this gentleman. Well my driver and me switch on our GPS and reach Greater Noida .. lovely drive good music good booze and the perfect hunger for the Kadaknath.  Reach the apartment , enter , get led to the Study  cum library where Ashish is sitting on his favorite revolving chair with his comp opposite him , warmly welcomed by Prescilla and Symphony his show girl (a 13 year Black Lab). The feeling was awesome there was an aura of intellectual fumes floating in the room , recipe books and ancient recipe books written by hand . collectors items , I was like thoroughly impressed. 

The man organizes his single malts while the poor tiger settles for his old faithful Old monk (sasta tikaoo guest.. hehehehe).  We discuss from recipes , to bloggers to cultures  to travel for food experiences , people in food .. u name it we discussed it , yes we left Kadaknath for the dinner table,  so that was the comfort we had with each other . Yes in between Symphony came with her packet of biscuits for her bit of snacks in this heavy discussion. I have never ever seen such a obedient well trained pet in my whole life . 

Special mention on the way they have done up the apartment gorgeous tribal ware on display carpets , wall hangings , murals amazing collection . one could be assured that this man has collected these items and not just bought them to show case his taste for tribal art and culture . Shows his keen interest in Interiors as mentioned above.

So its Dinner time folks . simple food Bharvan Kerala , Yellow tadke wali daal , steamed rice and the Gorgeous Kadaknath cooked the pahari style . Mind you this was one half of the table , the other half was only Pickles . you name it it was there . 

The kerala was fantastically stuffed nice shallow fried on the pan ek dum bemisaal - the trick of making a good kerala lies in the before cooking preparation where u dab it with salt to kill the bitterness , yes it was perfect blend of mild bitterness and khata masala, the daal was simple with ghee ka tadka that’s it , had lovely homely flavors . Sorry but my eyes, palate were stuck on the Kadaknath and nothing else .

The Kadaknath .. cooked the Almora / Pahari Way … cooked in a curry form , with minimalistic masalas essentially for me to taste the flavors of the bird rather than the masalas over powering the experience . I grabbed the chicken .. it was sensibly cooked with the skin which does the magic , wonder how many households do this ? First point I wanted to be convinced that the meat was actually black , I held the smallest leg piece to verify , yes it had shades of grey hehehehehe naughty chicken. Yes the skin was black , the meat was greyish brown and pink , overall Yes Kadaknath was a black bird . The meat was delicious had a lovely meaty flavor very distinct from the normal chicken that we eat , more closer t the country fowl or the desi murgee, being a big bird the pieces were big and flavorful . The Bird was definitely rich in all its claimed medicinal and culinary qualities ..  Thanked the Chef from Almora for the lovely variation of the Kadaknath his way .

Im sure Kadaknath can be cooked many ways . would be an great idea to do a Breast the conti way and soak it in its own Jus , tandoori im not very sure . I would personally not like to shred the meat , it should be eaten in pieces and that too on the bone .;  Definitely looks like a meat which needs to be soaked in a curry and relished .

Kadaknath The Almora Way

On the way out Dr Chopra takes me around the house , he has a liquor Lab too . where he experiments making liqueurs with different alcohols and varied ingredients .. was a pleasure to see the collection . left it for next time  hehehehehehe ab sab kuch first visit mein thodi kar dete hain, apni bhee kuch izzat hai ya nahi  lol .

So that was a fantastic meal with the Chopra Family .. relished , cherished every morsel and every minute spent with them . Havent ended as yet while they are seing me off he ask Symphony if she would like to go for a drive , and that was it , the lady disappeared back tot he apartment , gets her leash and is all set for the drive .. i was like shocked . 

BTW Dr Ashish Chopra has curated a fantastic Awadhi Food Festival at the Radisson Blu in Paschim Vihar starting July 23, 2015 a must visit for the chefs experience . 

His last parting line for the evening " I rather die with a Pork Chop in My Mouth " need we say more . 

Tigers Overall Experience : " Nailed Two Big Birds with one Stone" - Had dinner with an Amazing Man ,loaded with knowledge , passionate to the core about food ,in tune with global cultures ,blessed with humanity  and more so got to taste the famous Kadaknath. Im Blessed . Thank you ever so much Dr Ashish Chopra for the fantastic evening .

Read More : About the Kadaknath 

http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/JB1xUOu3hSl8SYMlhXMqGK/Who-wants-to-eat-an-allblack-superbird.html

Tigers Experience at The China House - Connaught Palce , New Delhi

If a Dosa can be modified to the North Indian Palate / If an American  burger Can be modified to the indian palate / a pizza can be made the Punjabi way THEN  why cant Chinese Food be modified to adapt to the Indian palate... I feel; we in INDIA have created a new wave of food called Indianised Chinese or Indian Chinese food . The Ingredients may be original , the meats maybe the same , the style of cooking maybe the same but the end result maybe different .. its called cooking  Our Way and why not ?Basic Chinese food from the entire continent .

The China House .. Swank ,gorgeous airy interiors caters to the masses and the Indianised Chinese appreciators... serving super comfort Chinese food . It is definitely not a touch me not tye of a place ..Affordable , Comfortable, Pocket Friendly place for the Foodies.

The Interiors really need to win a prize - beautiful thai umbrellas hanging from the roof , metal orchids on the white  rough finished walls .. very artistically done for sure , they have used the double height of the ceiling to their advantage . Typical red and black used on al signage attracts the eye .... most Chinese restaurants back home have red painted all over as it is a sign of wealth , luck and relationships. . The restaurant has two levels - on the ground floor they have the bar and pure dining , on the first floor they have a private dining section .

The restaurant is positioned for - the Shoppers of CP , The Strollers , The Tourist , The Lunch time eaters, The after Office Grabbers and the foodies like me who like Chinese food our way .

Chef Anil Kumar - 18 years of Experience in Chinese and thai kitchens - has worked in places like QBA, Bercos, Ego Thai  and Monk .. he is well aware of the Desi Palate and pelts out dishes with pure experience ..  the only thing he said to me was Sir please leave all your historic flavors behind and try my dishes ..  yes he was right.

Crispy Rice Thai Salad

Thai Chaat lol . crispy rice made the Thai way excellent - sweet sour like all thai salads - excellent crunch of the crispy rice like out own bhel puri .. mildly spiced .. great chat pata starter . Now say , how much research the restaurant has done on the punjabi habits - they know all punjabis love chatar patar with a drink , they all love khata meetha flavor and this starter fits it all . You will definitely ask for more , like i did.

Butter Prawns

A very rich dish - butter laden prawns . The Prawns are marinated in butter , condensed milk and a Chinese sauce for the flavor - the lachha that u see is something known as the Crispy Egg - a good discovery. Yum dish to start with .. perfectly cooked prawns , the flavor  of the marination lingers in your mouth for long . A must have .

Vegetables Lemon chilli Sauce

The most popular dish in any Chinese restaurant beside honey chiilli potato - Lotus stem , Broccoli and baby corn stir fried in chiili paste and lemon . Loved by all for sure . Is it true that anything fried taste awesome ??

Dimsums Three ways - Chicken Garlic/Chicken three spice/Prawn corriander

Three variety of Dim Sums - trust me they were one of the best i have had - the chicken with three spices is a good version of the duck dimsums , cooked chicken as the filler of the dimsum - fab flavor ; The chicken and garlic dimsum was a traditional chicken momo juicy and soft ; the prawn coriander is always the most flavored dim sum - the mix of prawn and coriander is a very thai concoction and works superbly - the dimsum was bit dry tho but i loved the colorful presentation . 

Fish in Black Pepper Sauce

Simple Ethnic Dish - stir fried sole fish with black pepper topping  and sauce . my yard stick for fish is very simple - shud not smell , shud not have thorns thats it . Being a true punjabi i love fried fish the most - batter fried wil do also with some spicy dips .

Khao Suey - chicken and Prawns

Every house has there own version , every hand makes it differently - having tried it in many places i do confirm the fact that all khao sueys taste different - even though they are born from two specific regions - Burmese and Singapore . This is one of my most favorite dishes and the reason being you can add your favorite condiments to make your flavors - i love it with more garlic , lemon and fried onions . Some of the other condiments served along with a khao suey are peanuts, boiled eggs ,fried noodles,green onions etc - but the bests part of a khao suey is the flavor of fish sauce -its yum .The one at china House is the chefs adaption - more to the Thai side of flavors but a good effort .

Sticky Rice with Chicken in XO Sauce 

This is the food of the future... actually this is the prediction for the year to come - Bento Box, meal in a bowl etc ... This is for the people on the Move , People who want a quick meal, people who have a economical budget , people who know what they want to eat ... Meal in  bowl .. simple sticky rice and a gravy mix . i personally love to eat meal in bowl when in a hurry , its a complete meal just enuf for one person .

Garlic Fried rice

Garlic Fly Lice hhahahahahahahaha as they wud say it in Thailand, too much thai is it .. simple fried rice no soya to make it black just plain rice with veggies and topped with burnt garlic - all u need is a nice chilly sauce to complete the dish .. good one

Lamb Chilli Bean

Chilli lamb - with chily bean sauce and topped with bell peppers , yet again a ethnic dish of Delhi an loved thoroughly by all . Trust me chatting with the chef i finished the full dish lol had the crispness, the sweet n sour tinge to it .

Chilli Garlic Noodles

This has become my latest obsession - taken over from hakka noodles - i think the reason is the garlic chilly mix and the noodles a bit sticky .... this is a dish on its own - maybe if we put some prawns in it , cud be a hot seller 

Fish Sichuan

Quite similar to the fish in Black Bean but the fish this time was Basa .. dont know whats the truth about basa - i quite like it . The best part was the combination of the fish and bell peppers, earlier was not so fond of bell peppers but ever since they are available every where they have become a household veggy and liove them stir fried in some tangy sauce .

Chinese Greens

Boss after eating so much meat Veggies to banta hai na - otherwise i wud feel guilty hahahahahahaha .This is the only dish i complained about - not for any other reason but the size of the greens was small - i prefer my Chinese cabbage etc in full length - the flavors were simple the burnt garlic affect was good . This is one dish we must order when ever we go out to eat as a family - wife insist, otherwise imagine tiger ordering veggies huh .

Prawns Kung Pao

Oh Gawd how much food , luckily the chef gave me small portions - and he insisted i ate this last dish of Prawns kung Pao - becos we were discussing common dishes in menus - so chicken kung pao is one of the most common onces in all Chinese restaurants , hence he insisted to try his dish with prawns hmmmmmm ya it was nice topped with bell peppers and cashew ... 

The Trio Sauces 

What i like about Chef Anil , like me he also loves trying new sauces - the red one s the traditional chilly garlic hot sauce , the green on is a pepper corn sauce - something new ; the yellowish one is chilly lemon yet again a new one tasted awesome ; besides this they have a jaggery chilly sauce which wil go superbly with any thing fried . See the indianisation of Chinese here the achaars . Im mad about the chutneys more than anything else.

The Legendary Caramel custard - 10 Years and Still in Demand

This is a new dirty habit i have picked up in my journey of being a foodie - i ask the restaurant very blatantly if te deserts are made inhouse or r they out sourced - yes there is a difference for us and for them too . The Caramel custard is an inhouse produce of QBA and claims to be the landmark desert . Well yes nicely made specially the burnt lower part - which i love . 

The Boss - Atul Kapoor (Binny)

The Boss and the Group CEO Sunil Tickoo.

The Team A of the QBA chain , a successful boss and a very successful CEO - sorry about the pic they refused to pose .LOL . Thanks to them QBA service and customer management is just amazing . The entire team takes pain in pleasing a customer - food recommendations etc . they help in making the entire dinning experience a delight . Atul popularly known as Binny is the creative man behind the interiors and man management - he is a people man ., and this is seconded by the retention rate of their employees. Binny come a long way from a linen store called bed n bath in HKV  to the first Kathi outlet in Ghitorni and South Ex  followed by the entire QBA chain - he is a experience Khiladi - loves to entertain , look after guest and loves to eat . 

Tigers Overall Experience : Very Good , beautiful decor , great food and service . The ambiance is amazing , double height ceiling , airy good natural light ,no running smells from the kitchen, elegant furniture ... comfortable sitting .

Food : Well done food - only advise is cut down the presentation on the sides and give more emphasis on the food itself , Simple on the move food , Flavors , quantity superbly modified to the Indian Palate .The plating definitely impress's you in the beginning but then it gets a bit over powering , need to tone it down a bit - chef has been told.

Ambiance: Swank , Trendy yet traditional  - beautifully rather tastefully decorated - easy to access , easy parking .

Service : Is picking up , the waiters knew the food .Give them time to settle down , dont bully them LOL.

VFM : 800 is the cost per person 

Ps : The Sizes Quantity of the dishes shown are not actuals , these are much smaller than the actual portions , you can expect much bigger portions .. so smile on

Tigers Experience at Pollo Tropical

Tigers Experience at Pollo Tropical - Poyyo Tropical  - loved the vibrance of colours , after a long time visited a eating place which was bright, filled with cheerful colors , and that too tropical  yellows , greeens, organge - energetic colors . The Ambiance is so Festive very unlike anormal fast food place .

The total Tropical Mood .

                                        

Chef Mike Garcia - humble cuban gentleman , the man behind the operation. I really enjoy speaking to chefs - it is so interesting to know where they come from , what is der comfort food, what s their forte ... mike was Cuban ... and that say s it s all . He is the chains main receipe tester - he sets standards for al Pollo Tropicals

  

Check out the lively colours - so festive

Below chicken put in a roller machine which marinates the chicken for two hours and then it is put to rest for 24 hrs - the marination as per them is more of tropical juices etc . Amazing aint it 

The Massive Grills  - Poyyo is griled without any oils - just natural flavors.

And thats my nicely marinated , grilled bird 

The Glowing chirpy Team !!!!!

And this is what we were served - pollo with BLack beans , Caesars Salad, 5 Dips and nicely made rice dish. Well the chicken was perfectly grilled and thats what matters and thats the business they are in - globally.

The Sauces : Clilantro, Caribbean Pineapple Sweet n Sour , Hot poyo poyo, Fresh Mexican Salsa and curry Mustard

The Veg combination had quite nicely griled Paneer with the same sides.

Yes the shakes - Strawberry was my favorite 

Mojito 

The Deserts- was afresh Pineapple Cake with Cream 

And thats me with Shriya and Mike 

well there menu is quite simple with full focus on The Poyyo nicely grilled - they have added chicken wings in a real tangy sauce .They have fixed meals , Burgers, Salads as other options for all day dinning . 

Good to have such lively , flavor filled food options in the country . 

Experience : 

Ambiance : Lively , Peppy  - had the buzz

Seating - regular benches like others

Food - Chicken is good  - well u have to combine it and eat it with black beans and rice 

Value for Money - Yes

Staff - Self Service but more than happy to help

Going Back for Chicken and the wraps.