Year: 2015

Top 5 famous Restaurants in Delhi

Posted on by Nirav Thakker
New Delhi is the capital of India and it surely deserves to be occupied with best of the restaurants and hotels. Delhi is no short of most alluring and spectacular bistros where you can dine in with your family. For all those that are moving to Delhi for a vacation, here are some of the recommendations of best restaurants where you can find most scrumptious food with perfect ambience, take a look below:
1. Ricos: For anyone who possesses a special thing for great ambience and likes to relish Italian, American or Mexican cuisine, Ricos is just the right place for you to visit. You don’t have to worry for the affordability, given the modish ambience and multiple cuisine offerings as you will find Ricos quite reasonable and pocket friendly. This place is beautifully decked with photogenic décor, making you fall in love with its pleasurable environment. It is among the most occupied bistros in Delhi.
2. Café Delhi Heights: Café Delhi Heights is not exactly situated in Delhi; it is actually a part of Gurgaon. People who like to spend some time with their loved ones in peace and at the same time relishing their taste buds with most amazing food come here at this bistro. It is actually a luxury restaurant given the price of the food here. Here you can find most amazing Continental, American, Thai, Italian food etc. You can preserve this one for special occasions if you are a routine diner.
3. Khan Chacha: People from north love to relish Mughlai and ever so spicy North Indian food. Delhi is a city of people with mixed races and thus it is essential to house all kind of cuisines. You can visit Khan Chacha for most authentic and delightful Mughlai meals. It is an affordable place to visit where you can find good quality food for two in just Rs 650. It is situated in Khan Market at Delhi and serving luscious Mughlai taste to many individuals residing there.
4. Nazeer Foods: Nazeer Foods is another treat for lovers of Mughlai cuisine. This place is also renowned for serving best North Indian food in Delhi. You don’t have to carry huge amount along-with while planning a visit at Nazeer Foods. It is also named under the category of most affordable places to visit at Delhi for best food. Other than North Indian and Mughlai, you can also find best of Chinese food here at the bistro. It is the finest place for all the Punjabi families living in Delhi.
5. Zu Tisch: New Delhi is no short of most delectable cuisines and one of the biggest examples is Zu Tisch. This bistro is one of a kind where you can find rarely found German and European cuisine. There are not much restaurants in Delhi that serves German and European food so it makes this bistro different from others. It is situated at Greater Kailash and rated among the expensive bistros in Delhi.

The Taste of Yauatcha

Posted on by Nirav Thakker

The awesome Yauatcha restaurant has come up with a new Toy Menu that is equally awesome with loads of new Cantonese Food

Specially designed for pronto lunches, preset for you to enhance the value of your time and for those who value the time with family and friends.

Price :VEGETARIAN SELECT ₹888 PLUS TAXES PER GUEST

MEAT SELECT ₹988 PLUS TAXES PER GUEST

Days: Monday – Friday

Time : 12 noon – 4:00 pm
Venue : Level 5, 1 MG Road Mall, MG Road, 1MG Road, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560008.


YAUATCHA
Yauatcha is a Michelin-starred dim sum teahouse from London and is present across India; Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Kolkata. Aimed to be an affordable luxury brand, Yauatcha is a Modern Cantonese restaurant and believes in upholding their standards and quality to ensure the guests have a wonderful experience.


California Pizza Kitchen – New Range of Pizzas @ 249

Posted on by Nirav Thakker

CPK recently launched 7 new pizzas from the previous food festivals that they had held. These are the ones that the patrons at CPK have loved and liked so much. Comprising of 3 Veg and 4 Non Veg options, the pizzas are presently on offer at just Rs. 249 each until the end of May, 2015.
We tried the new Veg Pizzas (we are Vegetarians only) and here is our take.

  • Spicy Cilantro Pizza : Mouthwatering pizza topped with lots of Cilantro
  • Kasundi Paneer Pizza : A fast moving Thin Crust Pizza with lots of Paneer
  • Capriciossa : Thin Crust Pizza topped with lots of Paneer, Olives and Basil.

This was followed up with mouthwatering desserts. Sadly, by the time we got to it, I was so full that I barely managed to do it any justice. To top it, it really looked so beautiful that I had no heart to break it! 🙁

  • Tiramisu
  • Red Velvet Cake and more


 

Fresh Treats at California Pizza KitchenCalifornia Pizza Kitchen has won legions of food experts for its innovative, fresh, great tasting pizzas & unparalleled experience. CPK has always been serving innovative recipes brought to life with fresh, high quality ingredients and it now brings an exciting introductory offer presenting brand new pizzas just at Rs. 249++Give the mundane meals a break & indulge in all the new scrumptious 9″ pizzas to spice up your weekdays. Choose from a variety of fresh & novel hearth-baked pizzas throughout theday Monday throughFriday at an amazingly economical price.
Enjoy the Apollo Pizza wrapped with the goodness of Marinara sauce, relish the sumptuousness of Kasundi Paneer Pizza with the Kasundi flavoured paneer or grilled garlic chicken, try the lip smacking Rustica, indulge in the zesty Deli Style Bistro, meat lovers can dig into Tijuana Chicken Pizza, experience the authentic flavours of Capriciossa and surrender your senses to the captivating Spicy Cilantro Pizza.Witness innovation meeting perfection as you try the fresh & novel additions to the list of pizzas. Rush to California Pizza Kitchen at Whitefield, Indiranagar, or Koramangala, 16th March onward every week from Monday to Friday to avail this exclusiveoffer valid for a limited period only.



Speed up and Get Stylish with Philips!

Posted on by Nirav Thakker
Speed up and Get Stylish with Philips!
o    Vanity will finally pay off with #PhilipsSpeedStyle
o    Flaunt your stylish best this Valentine’s
o    Winners get the chance to meet Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor
           
Philips India, the leading lifestyle brand for male and female grooming gadgets, brings to you this Valentine’s Day an opportunity to show your styling prowess and get rewarded for it! Beginning 5th February, participate in #PhilipsSpeedStyle and get to meet Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt! Philips India invites you to style yourself, smartly and speedily, using the Philips styling products, post your picture and voila! – get a chance to meet your celebrity Valentines. With Philips styling gadgets for men and women flaunt new styles and deliver a new style statement, everyday! 
Philips SpeedStyle stations will also be set at the following colleges-
·         Bangalore
o   Jain College – JP Nagar – 9th February’15
o   Jain College – KR Market – 10th February’15
o   Garden City College – 12th February’15
To participate in #PhilipsSpeedStyle, visit the Philips Men (https://www.facebook.com/PhilipsMen.in) or Philips Beauty India (https://www.facebook.com/PhilipsBeautyIN)Facebook page and logon to the SpeedStyle tab click on the participate button and select a Philips Styling product for use. The SpeedStyle app will first click a pre-styling photo. The participant will then have to use a styler/trimmer/straightener and style themselves as fast as possible. Once done, the participants will be required to click a post styling picture and upload on the SpeedStyling tab. The interval between both these uploads will be automatically recorded and the participant’s pre and post styling photos will be posted to their Facebook Timelinewith the #PhilipsSpeedStyle.
Ms. Anurita Chopra, Marketing Director – Personal Care, Philips Consumer Lifestyle India says, “Youngsters love latesttechnology; new styles and can’t wait to try them out! Therefore we bring grooming gadgets suited for their lifestyle and personalities, delivering quick styling with effective results. Through #PhilipsSpeedStyle we are giving youngsters an opportunity to celebrate Valentine’s season with all the things they love- styling, speed, social media, selfies and gadgets that make new looks possible! Philips is providing the freedom and gadgets to style; all you have to do is bring your speed and show the world how stylish you can be using the Philips SpeedStyle app!”
Check out these cool videos on YouTube that are bound to pique your interest!  
              
One can also participate in #PhilipsSpeedStyle by visiting Philips SpeedStyle stations at
·         Infinity Mall, Malad, Mumbai (7th and 8th Feb)
·         Great India Place, Noida (14th and 15th Feb)
Philips SpeedStyle stations will also be set from 5th to 20th February at the following colleges-
·         Delhi
o   KMC – 9th February’15
o   SRCC – 10th February’15
o   Ramjas College – 11th February’15
o   Khalsa – 12th February’15
o   Hindu – 16th February’15
·         Mumbai
o   MMK College – 9th February’15
o   Thadomal – 10th February’15
o   Atharva College – 16th February’15
o   Thakur College  18th February’15
The most stylish and speedy of the lot will get to meet the young and vibrant brand ambassadors of Philips! Grand Prize winners i.e. one female and one male will meet Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor respectively. Everyday lucky winners will be picked – one female and one male who will win Philips goodies and vouchers for fun dates. The participation for the campaign closes on 20th February’15.
Philips recognises the changing needs of the modern, evolved consumer and understands the need and emphasis on carrying new looks and changing styles more often than ever. Philips steps in as your style partner and allows you to quickly and easily style yourself at home using products like Philips KeraShine Straightener, Philips KeraShineAirStraightener for women and ProSkin Advanced and Laser Guided trimmers for men.
About Royal Philips
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a diversified health and well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through meaningful innovation in the areas of Healthcare, Consumer Lifestyle and Lighting. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips posted 2014 sales of EUR 21.4 billion and employs approximately 105,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. The company is a leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as male shaving and grooming and oral healthcare. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.

Bon 6 – The unboxing – #BonTheOriginal

Posted on by Nirav Thakker
Over the past few days, I have been telling you that I have received a box that claims to be Bon 6. Given the instructions, I was supposed to unbox it today. I just did that. Check out for yourself what I found.

Let me repeat once again the Specs of Bon 6:

  1. BON6 has super surround sound!!!
  2. BON6 runs on Chocolaty 2.0 OS.
  3. BON6 has Auto Charge.
Bon6, the latest iteration of the Britannia Bourbon is now crispier and crunchier resulting in a super surround sound when you take a bite of it. Its chocolaty heart, aka Chocolaty OS is so yummy that it transports you to a magical land so very unknown! A sparkling exterior with lots of sugar sprinkled on it, it is so very tasty that I could not compare it to anything eatable next! Chocolate is known to be not just a great “pick me up” but also a great aphrodisiac! So literally, auto charge! the next time you plan some fun, make sure you pick something right!!! 😉

Unknown parcel received at home; Claims to be Bon6

Posted on by Nirav Thakker
I have been working out of Trivandrum for almost a month now. It was strange when today somebody called me up enquiring for the directions to my home. He said it was a parcel that had been sent for me! After receiving it, I received a call from my wife that it is a box and tends to appear like a phone. While I tend to review quite a few devices, I assumed it was just that! But then, I had not received any review requests in the past few weeks and even when any of them came, I politely turned them down. This was however a bolt from the blue.
Take a look at the packaging. It makes me wonder what it is and if I should open it at all.

Anyways, it is said that curiosity killed the wild cat! Similarly, my curiosity got better of me and I opened the parcel. It says it runs on Bon6.

Specs:
1.     BON6 has super surround sound!!! Woah! I would love to watch movies with surround sound!
2.     BON6 runs on Chocolaty 2.0 OS. I have never heard of it. I wonder which version of Android it runs!
3.     BON6 has Auto Charge – Does this mean no more begging anybody for chargers???
All these features sound too good to be true, however, the instructions inside the parcel asked me not to open the box until two more days! I just cannot wait for the unboxing of the mystery box, but then, just 2 days to go! I have asked my wife to keep it away, hidden in safety!

Other than this, all that I got was this -> http://www.bontheoriginal.com

Press release: Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad to Commission India’s First Hi-Speed Rural Broadband Network in Kerala

Posted on by Nirav Thakker
  
Department of Telecommunications
Ministry of Communications & IT, Government of India

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad to Commission India’s First Hi-Speed Rural Broadband Network in Kerala 

Bangaluru, 10th Jan 2015:
Hon’ble Minister for Communications & IT Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad will be commissioning India’s First Hi-Speed Rural Broadband Network in Idukki District, Kerala under the Digital India Programme at a function to be held in Thiruvananthapuram at 12th January, 2015 at 5.30 p.m. 

Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala Shri Oommen Chandy will be the Guest of Honour at the function which will be held in the august presence of Shri P.K. Kunhalikutty, Hon’ble Minister for Industries & IT, Govt. of Kerala, Shri M.K. Muneer, Hon’ble Minister for Panachayats & Social Welfare, Govt. of Kerala, Shri P.J. Joseph, Hon’ble Minister, Irrigation, Govt. of Kerala, Shri V.S. Achuthanandan, Hon’ble Leader of Opposition, Kerala, Shri V. Muraleedharan, State President BJP, Kerala and Shri Joice George, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Idukki. 

The event marks a key milestone in ushering in a new era of Digital India. NOFN is the largest rural connectivity project of its kind in the world. It seeks to link each of the 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats of India through Broadband optical fibre network. On its completion, NOFN is expected to facilitate Broadband connectivity to over 600 million rural citizens of the country. 

NOFN, which is being funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), Department of Telecom, Ministry of Communications & IT, Govt. of India is envisaged as a non-discriminatory telecom infrastructure, which will bridge the gap in rural telecom access. 

NOFN will enable each of the 2.5 Lakh GPs to have 100 Mbps of bandwidth, thereby facilitating the delivery of various e-Services and applications including e-health, e-education, e-governance and e-commerce in the future. 

In the first phase NOFN shall be extended to cover 50,000 GPs, with the balance 2,00,000 GPs expected to be covered in a phased manner by 2016. The project is being implemented by three central PSUs (CPSUs) namely BSNL, PGCIL and Railtel in the phase first. 

A key feature of the project is that the GPON equipment used in the project has been indigenously designed and developed by C-DOT and manufactured domestically. The project will be centrally managed by BBNL through a high capacity Network Management System being developed by C-DOT. 

With the commissioning of Idukki, the district, which is relatively inaccessible and has a large tribal and rural population, will become the first district in the country to have all its GPs connected through NOFN. It is expected that the establishment of NOFN would open up new avenues for access service providers like mobile operators, cable TV Operators etc. to launch next generation services, and spur creation of local employment opportunities encompassing e-commerce, IT outsourcing etc. as well as services such as e-banking, e-health and e-education for inclusive growth. This will also enable delivery of various services such as local planning, management, monitoring and payments under Government schemes at panchayat level. 

Digital India is a flagship programme of the Central Government which aims to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. The provision of broadband connectivity to every citizen is one of the key objectives of Digital India, and the commissioning of the NOFN network at Idukki is expected to mark a significant step towards realization of this ambitious vision. 

Amrut Distilleries’ Whisky Tasting Event

Posted on by Nirav Thakker
Amrut Distilleries recently held a blind whiskey tasting at The Glass House, Lavelle Road, Bangalore. Being a scotch aficionado, it was an opportunity I personally looked forward to since the stakes involved were high. The eventful afternoon was brought to life by Mr. Ashok Chokalingam introducing us to the art of blind tasting of whiskeys from around the world. He is a renowned whiskey expert who was also voted whiskey Ambassador for the year 2012, by the Icons of whiskey.
Ashok guided us trough the samples of whiskeys, each time explaining how to appreciate your whiskey and walking us trough different ways to ensure we understood it right. With ample helpful insights, he brought us to understand the smokiness of oak barrel, the sweetness of caramel, the punch of citrus or the spiciness of anise just by nosing the drink and then by letting our taste buds rejoice the glittering whiskey.
We started off with nosing the aromas in the first glass. It smelt a little strong. This was followed up by warming up the glass and the liquor inside with our body heat for a good few minutes before nosing it again. And boy, it was stronger and richer in citrus and wild berries. The taste was sweet, smooth, and almost too sweet. Rolling it around my mouth followed by swallowing it gently, it left a feeling of being smooth in the mouth with no burning in the throat and a short caramel finish.
The flavors and complexities of the whiskeys were interesting and overwhelming as we moved along the glasses. One smelt of bananas but turned out to taste like vanilla and spice. Another was sweet as liquorices with flavors of bourbon, but in reality made in India! We spoke of factors affecting color, taste, how soft water and peaty water make their differences with Ashok guiding and helping us with dollops of hints and directions; all the while trying to keep the event fun and informative but not overwhelming. While no water was allowed, soft drinks were a definite taboo. We consumed several drams in a little over an hour, and though I would have personally liked more time to understand the drinks, huge pangs of hunger struck.
 We moved on to the rest of the glasses. We needed to score the drinks as well on those parameters. The exercise took longer than I anticipated. It was almost 4pm as we were totaling our guesses and scores to see how the whiskeys had fared. The crowd highest was Jim Beam, but got the lowest from me! There were three of Amrut whiskeys in the tasting, single malt, fusion blend and peated whiskey, with JW Black Label, Glen Morangie and Jim Beam being the other three whiskeys in the tasting.
In 2010, Jim Murray named the Amrut Fusion single malt whiskey as the third best in the world
The blind tasting ended with evaluation of the score cards here the most popular choice was Jim Beam followed by- The Amrut Fusion and the Amrut Peated Single Malt then on the list was Johnnie Walker Black Label and Glen Moraingie.
‘Amrut Distillery’ has won numerous awards worldwide and also won the third best whiskey in the world title. The fact that such fine whiskey is made in India makes me proud and the distinct taste has put it on my favorites list.

Photo Credits to All those who made it there and were nice enough to share them with us.

Chilis – An American Restaurant – Review

Posted on by Nirav Thakker
Chilis, notice a missing ‘L’ and ‘E’? If I was take it from the mobile perspective, LE stands for Low Energy and that is exactly what is missing! The staff was full of gusto and a highly motivating manager!This high energy definitely reflected on to the food which was typically American Styled. More about it below.

Designed uniquely, the place reeks of privacy and elan! You could go and plonk yourself on any table and peacefully have your meal without having to worry if somebody is overhearing what you talk! This definitely is a USP of the place I would say! While most places make judicious use of the place to ensure maximum people can be seated, Chilis ensures that while you are with them, you are very much cared for!

Starting up with something to drink from their elaborate choice of cocktails and mocktails, we were suggested to start out by trying their Mojitos and Margaritas! First up was the Watermelon Margarita followed by the Persidente Margarita which literally shook us up! This was a hand shaken Margarita made of Tequila, Cointreau and premium brandy serving two people. While it was really strong in terms of alcohol content, the way it blended with the taste of the food was mind boggling. This was followed up by Cosmopolitan. A blend of Citron vodka, Cointreau and cranberry juice, it definitely was a very strong drink leaving me totally in love with the taste of vodka blend in with cranberry juice.

When we drink, we eat. Starting with the appetizers, Chilis put forth to us a suggestion of Triple dipper with Paneer bites, Texas cheese poppers and Fried Paneer quesadilla bites. Since we were already hungry, we were game enough to try anything vegetarian. The Paneer bites were excellent and had a wonderful crunch to it. In fact, the entire flavor was intact on the inside of the Paneer and the other ingredients. It had retained a unique texture which was definitely yum! The Texas cheese poppers have always Chili’s USP so I would not go into its detail here. The fried Paneer quesadilla bites was deliciously made which resulted in it being gone in a jiffy. Make sure you do not miss it out for anything when you are there!

The Big mouth burger bites was the next to hit our table. They were good, but I found them too Indianised for the restaurant. I did not like them as much as I liked the others. The big mouth burger bites is served with onion rings, fries and a jalapeno ranch dressing which was really good. The onion rings and fries were crispy and the jalapeno ranch dressing was delicious.
We went on to order the BBQ grilled Paneer salad (actually known as BBQ chicken salad for the non veggies, also available with Spicy garlic and lime shrimp for the sea food lovers), because I wanted to taste their salads. The ingredients appeared interesting. What had appeared to be great was even better when devoured. It was a crispy mixture of grilled Paneer, cheddar cheese, pico fe gallo, corn relish, cilantro, crispy tortilla strips and a touch of BBQ sauce served with ranch dressing.
While we do personally make pesto pasta most of the time at home and know how it should taste; the Cilantro pesto pasta with veggies, which was a blend of fresh green, cilantro, nuts and olive oil enlivened in a cream based sprinkled with pico de gallo, little did we expect that it wouldn’t taste like the traditional Pesto recipe.The cilantro flavour over powered everything and the dish fell flat. I am guessing it was a one off incident.
Marinara pasta with veggies was made with a handsome dollop of tangy tomato sauce with a tinge of garlic and basil. I have nothing against tomatoes but then after having eaten so much already, I decided to take a break and skip it. To top it, I found it a tad little too tangy for my taste anyways.

Chillis has a commendable fare of desserts and really deserve brownie points for that. The desserts were ordered twice and we literally jumped into them. The Chocolate Chip Pie paradise was the first to come in. It was nice and sweet and went really well with the Vanilla Ice cream topped over it.
Molten chocolate cake topped the chocolate chip paradise pie on my dessert list. We managed to report it missing and safey tucked inside the stomach in a matter of seconds. Although everyone had eaten enough, once this was on the table, each one of us were drooling. This is one dessert that you must have if you have a sweet tooth!

Pics Credit to Prateek

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