প্রবাসে পূজোর স্বাদ

পুজোর সময় কলকাতা যাওয়ার জন্য ব্যাকুলতা আর নেই, ছোটবেলার যেসব বন্ধুদের সাথে পুজো কাটতো সেইসব বন্ধুদের অনেকেই আজ কলকাতায় নেই, নেই এখানে সকালের সেই চেনা হিমেল হাওয়া, নেই বর্ষার ঘন কালো মেঘ কেটে গিয়ে নীল ক্যানভাসে পেঁজা তুলো। কলকাতার পুজোর অনেক কিছুই এখানে নেই। তবু যা আছে সেটা দিয়েই মনকে বোঝাতে হয়, মন ভরাতে হয়। আর ধীরে ধীরে সময়ের সাথে সাথে মিস্‌ করাগুলোর সাথে আপস ও হয়ে যায়। পাওয়া যায় নতুন বন্ধু, পাওয়া যায় নতুন পুজো। এখন আর পুজোর সময় কেউ কলকাতা গেলে, নিজে যেতে পারছিনা বলে মন খারাপ হয় না, বরং উল্টে এটা মনে হয় যে 'এমা, অমুক তো আমাদের হায়দ্রাবাদ এর পুজোটা এবার মিস করবে'। ভগবান, পুজো মণ্ডপ, পুরোহিত - এসব তো নিমিত্ত মাত্র। উৎসব এর প্রাসঙ্গিকতাই তো পরিবার-পরিজন-বন্ধু-বান্ধব কে নিয়েই. আগামী চারটে দিন তাই শুধু হই, হুল্লোড়, খাওয়া দাওয়া, চেঁচা মিচি, ঠাকুর দেখা আর ভেসে যাওয়া। আর গত এক মাসে মর্নিং ওয়াক করে যে ২ কিলো চর্বি ঝরিয়েছি, সেটাকে সুদে আসলে উসুল করে নেয়া। কলকাতায় নয়ত তাতে কি যায় আসে, এটা তো গ্লোবালাইজেসান এর সময়। ৪টে বাঙালি আর ১টা দুর্গা পুজো, প্রাণ ভরে হাসতে এর থেকে বেশি আর কিছু লাগে কি। শুভ মহালয়া… সবাই কে নিয়ে আনন্দ করুন, সুস্থ থাকুন, সুন্দর থাকুন। পুজো আপনাদের সবার ভালো কাটুক…

Food Review: Aao Khao (Hyderabad)

This place just came up recently & was already getting very good reviews in the foodie circle. So, I had planned to make a visit for dinner. As this is a standing eatery, so planned for parcel. Reached the place around 7pm. The initial look, the neatness, sufficient number of fans + AC makes it a convenient place for eating unlike so many other standing eateries.  I had ordered half butter chicken, half Tandoori, one Amritsari Kulcha & one Naan. The food was packed within 10 minutes & I headed for a 30 min drive towards home. In the car while driving, the aroma of the Kulcha was just making me irresistible, already had a feeling that this will not disappoint.

Upon reaching home, got ready for the food. The first bite of Kulcha just melted in the mouth, have never tasted Kulcha like this before. The butter chicken was just mesmerising.  The soft, creamy gravy with the right mix of sweet yet mild spicy was very good, and so was the Chicken Tandoori.  Overall it was a very good experience with complete VFM of 600/=.

I will definitely go there to try some of their veg dishes as they also seem to be very authentic. A must try place for office lunch as well as weekend lunch/dinner around Gachibowli area..

Food: 4.5/5
Ambiance: 3.5/5
Self Service
VFM: 4.5/5
You can find my Zomato review in https://www.zomato.com/review/qzbxPQ

Food Review: Ayati (Hyderabad)

When I was looking for a place for team lunch around Hi-Tech city area, I got to know about this place from foodies' group as well as from some of my friends. This was a Friday lunch, so had called them a day before for reservation, we were asked to come sharp @12.30pm. Though we reached on time, the buffet was not ready till 12.45pm, a disappointing experience to start with. If you expect punctuality from your customers, you better demonstrate that first!

Anyway as the food was getting ready, we were greeted with a Mango Panna, which tasted really good. Then we proceeded for the buffet, I must admit that I was impressed with the sheer number of items they had for buffet. Around 3/4 types of salad, Dahi Vada, Veg Sikh Kebab, Fried Corn, Kung Pao Fish, Murgh Adraki Kebab, deep fried Moroccon Egg. All of the starters tasted very good.

In the main course, they had Kadai Sabzi, Kadai Paneer, Chicken Malai, Murgh Makhani, Egg Nilgiri(egg cooked with Palak curry). I specially liked the tenderness of Chicken Malai & Egg Nilgiri, the later one was a rather unconventional dish. They also had Veg & Dum Gosht Biriyani. Worth mentioning is the large size yet tender mutton pieces in the biriyani, which is very rare in Hyderabadi cousine.

In the desserts, they had Fruit Pudding, Mango Pudding, Double Ka Meetha, Gazar Ka Halwa, Fresh Fruits & 3 flavours of ice-cream. The Fruit Pudding was the best. 

Overall a satisfactory experience as far as food is concerned. On the service, felt they were bit under-staffed. Also, we went in a time where maximum tables were not yet occupied, still they were having difficulty serving. Not sure how they will manage when they will have all the tables booked.

Also felt the number of items were bit heavy for a weekday lunch & the price (375, though they had mentioned that the buffet price would increase very soon)

Food: 4/5
Ambiance: 4/5
Service: 3/5
VFM: 4/5

Disclaimer: As they had too many items for the Buffet, I might have missed out some dishes that I had or even might have mixed up with dishes that were not on offer. My sincere apology in advance.