June, 2014 | I'm just a...

Swathi Tiffins | Restaurant Review

Place: Swati Tiffin Center
Location: Behind the bus stand, Mehdipatnam.
Cuisine: Tiffins and Indian
Meal: Take-away

I last reviewed this place 3 years ago (review). Since then, a lot has changed in Hyderabad. But there are still a few places which serve pretty good food at reasonable prices, and Swathi remains one of them. Was passing by Mehdipatnam last week, and decided to pack some yummy food.

I ordered a Kaju Masala, Butter Naan and Vegetable Biryani. It took forever for the food to be packed and I was starting to get restless while my food was finally ready.

The Kaju Masala looked yum and tasted pretty good. Though the gravy was thick and full of cashew, it was very spicy. Even with the best Butter Naan in Hyderabad, it was hot! And ya, theirs is definitely the best Butter Naan in town without a doubt; in layers, oozing butter, and as thin as a Roomali roti.

Their Biryani used to be pretty good and I was hoping that it’d be the same. Stuffed with curry under the rice, it’s similar to Bombay style Biryani. While it still tasted good even this time around, it also was pretty spicy. Looks like the chef was trying to get rid of all the chilli in the kitchen.

Overall a decent meal, but for the spice. Both the Kaju Masala and Biryani would have been excellent if they had gone easy on the chilli. The service, while I was waiting for my food, seemed bad with waiters getting into arguments with customers. The place always had mediocre ambiance and it hasn’t improved over time. So opt for an take-away. Give it a shot if you haven’t already, and make sure you ask your food to be less spicy.

Food: 7.5/10
Ambience: N/A
Service: N/A
Meal for 2: Rs. 230/-

Verdict: 7.5/10

_____________________________________________

Place: Swati Tiffin Center
Location: Opp. Yashoda Hospital, Raj Bhavan Road
Cuisine: Tiffins and Indian
Meal: Take-away

A couple of days later, happened to pass by Raj Bhavan road and decided to pack some dinner for me and amma. This place looks almost similar to the one at Mehdipatnam (almost all Swathi’s look the same), and has small seating area in the basement. Ambiance is also very similar, a basic tiffin center.

I ordered the same food as a couple of days ago, mainly to compare tastes: Kaju Masala, Butter Naan and Special Vegetable Biryani. The food was prepared pretty quick, and I was on my way home in about 10 minutes.

The Kaju Masala looked a little different from the one at the other place, and was much less in quantity. The gravy was pretty tasty but apart from cashew, it was full of finely chopped capsicum pieces (I hate it when restaurants do that for I hate capsicum, and I had to pick them out before I hogged). The Naan was decent, but not the best.

There was nothing so special about the vegetable biryani, but it was decent nevertheless. It actually tasted yum with the gravy served along.

Overall a decent meal. Both the restaurants had different tastes, and had their own merits. The best part of Swathi is the pocket friendly prices. The taste too is pretty good, and so is the quantity. They might not be fine dine restaurants, but do give the take-away a try.

Food: 8/10
Ambience: N/A
Service: N/A
Meal for 2: Rs. 205/-

Verdict: 8/10

My Kitchen: Biryani and Gravy

I was really bored the other afternoon, and was too lazy to go hog outside. So decided to cook something for myself really fast, and decided to make simple Vegetable Biryani and some gravy to go along with it. So, here’s the simple recipe for a delicious meal.

Rice:
Ingredients Required
1 Onion (chopped or diced), diced vegetables (Potatoes, Carrots, etc.), 1/2 cup Basmati rice (soaked), Cumin seeds, Maggi Masala cube (if available), Garam Masala powder, Coriander powder, Cumin powder, Chili powder, Salt, Ghee/Butter.

Procedure
In a pressure cooker, heat some ghee or butter and add some cumin seeds. Once the seeds pop, add the onions and fry them until golden brown. Add the vegetables and fry them for a couple of minutes. Next add all the masala and chilli powder, and mix well. Now add the soaked rice and add appropriate amount of water for the rice. Add salt and mix well. Close the cooker lid and let it simmer. Turn the flame off after two whistles. Once the cooker opens, garnish with some ghee or butter, and chopped coriander. Your Biryani is ready!! 😀

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
____________________________________________

Gravy:
Ingredients Required
1 Onion, a handful of peanuts and cashew nuts, Maggi Masala cube (if available), Garam Masala powder, Coriander powder, Cumin powder, Chili powder, 1 spoon Curd, Salt, Oil/Butter.

Procedure
Put the onion, peanuts and cashew nuts in a mixer grinder and make a fine paste. Heat some ghee or butter in a pan and fry the cumin seeds. Next add the paste and let it cook for a while. Add all the masala, chilli powder and salt and simmer it for 10 more minutes. Finally add the curd and cook for another couple of minutes. Add some cooking colour if desired. Garnish with cashew nuts and coriander. Yummilicious gravy is ready 😀

Preparation Time: 1 minute
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Filmistaan | Movie Review

Filmistaan

So often, a movie with raving reviews disappoints you, probably because you walk in expecting too much. Thankfully, Filmistaan doesn’t.

Directed by Nitin Kakkar, this is a simple story of how we humans have created differences among ourselves because of a stupid line drawn by a Britisher, dividing us into India and Pakistan. It shows that we still share the same passion for things: cinema and cricket (they missed food), and a border cannot really divide us. Nitin was able to execute this message brilliantly, and was able to bring out the emotions from his actors to the best. He never complicates things, and I really liked the way he ended the movie. Apart from screenplay and direction, dialogues by Sharib Hashmi are a major asset; they are as filmy as possible, yet convey a lot.

Sharib Hashmi is brilliant not just with the dialogues, but also with his acting as the lead. He portrays such innocence and oozes out such charm that you can’t stop yourself from falling in love with his character. Inaamulhaq compliments Sharib in every sense and comes up with one of his best performances. Their acting in the climax is excellent. The rest of the cast, from the kidnappers to the village folk, everyone put up fine performances.

Music and background score by Arijit Datta is perfect, and editing by Sachindra Vats is crisp. Cinematography by Subhrasnsu Das is another major plus point. The arid sands of Rajasthan have been beautifully picturized. It’s sad that a such a brilliant film came into limelight two years after release, only after it won a National award.

Is it worth your time and money??: Absolutely! It conveys the message I believe in, that a border does not separate us Indians and Pakistanis, so gets a bonus yes. Go enjoy some brilliant performances by the cast, and enjoy the beauty of cinema.

Whether you’re in Hindustan or Pakistan, go watch Filmistaan!

Worth mention: The Maine Pyaar Kiya episode, film auditions, and the beautiful climax.

Acting: 9.5/10 Story-Screenplay-Direction: 9.5/10 Technical Aspects: 9/10

Verdict: 9.5/10

PS: I prayed for the survival of the lead pair during the climax. The only other film I’ve ever prayed for was Lagaan. Now that say’s a lot 🙂

Ulavacharu Biryani | Movie Review

Ulavacharu Biryani

A remake of a Malayalam blockbuster, Prakash Raj’s Ulavacharu Biryani is a feel good film. But, it could have been way better.

The story is pretty simple – two elderly, unmarried adults accidentally start talking to each other over phone and eventually fall for each other, but the problem arises when they decide to meet. The first half of the film is very witty, and the food background creates the right impact on the audience. However, it’s the latter half which is a huge disappointment. Instead of staying with the humorous thread, the script takes a u-turn and steps on sentiment. This really doesn’t work well and the effect created by the first half fades away slowly because of a bore dealing with self-confidence and self-pity. Instead, it would have been nice to see a quick-witted screenplay even in the second half, and create more humour while involving food. Direction by Prakash Raj is pretty good, and he shines as a director in parts. Screenplay could have been a little better, and the scenes involving the tribal men could have been avoided.

As an actor, its’ a cake walk for Prakash Raj. He is one of the most versatile actors with great screen presence and voice in Indian cinema today, and I hope he keeps up his good work while staying out of controversies. Sneha makes a very good comeback. She looks pretty, and Sunita’s dubbing is perfect for her. Newcomers Tejus and Samyuktha are alright. M.S. Narayana and Brahmaji have good roles and perform well, while Urvashi and Aishwarya shine in their brief appearances.

Music by maestro Ilaiyaraaja is a definite plus point of the film. However, the background score could have been better. Another major plus point of the film are its dialogues by Vallabha. Cinematography by Preetha and editing by Kishore are decent.

Is it worth your time and money??: Ulavacharu Biryani is a feel good film on the likes on Anand and Godavari. If you like these kind of movies, then this one is for you. Plus point are acting by Prakash Raj and Sneha, music, and entertaining dialogues. On the other hand, a laggy second half with unnecessary sentiment spoils the fun. Nevertheless, it’s an enjoyable watch, and after Manam, a family entertainer.

Like the name, the film is an odd combination of fun (first half) and sentiment (second half)!

Worth mention: The entire first half with mouth-watering food was super fun.

Acting: 8/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 7/10
Technical Aspects: 8/10

Verdict: 7/10

Edge Of Tomorrow | Movie Review

Edge Of Tomorrow

Given that the super hero movies are done for the season, I thought we might get a break with all the action. But Edge of Tomorrow turns out to be the biggest action movie of the year thus far.

Set in the near future where aliens have invaded earth, Major William Cage is put on the front on the front line against his will. He inadvertently kills an Alpha alien, which results him reliving a day from his past, repeating everything. Adapted from a Japanese novel All You Need Is Kill, the plot needed perfect execution, and director Doug Liman makes doesn’t disappoint. The first hour of the movie is brilliantly showcased, especially Cage reliving his past over and over again. Everytime he woke up, there was a buzz in the theater. The screenplay for this kind of film needs to absolutely perfect for it is wafer thin, and one wrong move jeopardizes the entire movie. However, Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth did a wonderful job, and made sure everything is perfectly connected without unnecessarily repeating scenes. The first few relives were amazingly picturized.

Tom Cruise is awesome as William Cage. He puts up great performance as an amateur soldier initially, and builds on confidence with every life. The mild humour her creates during the most critical scenes needs a special mention. Emily Cage is good as Rita Vrataski, but I thought she could have been more expressive. The movie almost entirely relies on Tom and Emily’s characters, and they don’t disappoint.

On technical front, music by Christophe Beck is alright. With a run-time of less than 2 hours, I thought the movie was perfectly edited by James Herbert and Laura Jennings. Cinematography by Dion Beebe is good while visual effects by Nick Davis are excellent. However, the 3D effects could have been better.

Is it worth your time and money??: Absolutely. It’s by far the best movie I’ve watched this year and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The perfect screenplay and acting by Tom Cruise are major plus points. The reason the film works (at least for me) is because the director was able to keep it simple though the script is quite complicated. It’s a movie not to be missed for any movie-holic.

Worth mention: Every time Tom Cruise wakes up. As already mentioned, these episodes have been brilliantly shot.

Acting: 9/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 9/10
Technical Aspects: 8.5/10

Verdict: 9/10

Shriji Rasoi | Restaurant Review

Place: Shriji Rasoi
Location: Surekha Chambers, Opp. Vijaya Textiles, Dharam Karam Road, Ameerpet
Cuisine: Indian
Meal: Dinner

Wanted to eat something yum the other night but didn’t wanna travel too far either. Searched on Zomato for a reasonably priced, high rated restaurant near Ameerpet, and found Shirji Rasoi. Wanting to explore and experiment, rode down to this place which is in the interiors of a building opposite Vijaya Textiles on Dharam Karam road. You need to walk in through another restaurant to reach Shriji (which I thought was pretty weird). Anyhow, the place is more of a shed with the kitchen in the background, with no ambiance of any sort. A number of tables were placed very close to each other, few under open sky, and I sat in the center, trying to get a view of the small TV placed in a corner.

I had to call for the waiter twice before he came down and handed me a menu. I asked him what their speciality was, and after a minute of cluelessness, he pointed at a special menu board hanging next to me (which had nothing special). He didn’t have any idea on what those items were either. Realizing that he was useless and had no clue on the offerings, I ordered a Punjabi Chole Kofta (for it sounded different and I was curious) and a couple of Phulka.

CYMERA_20140524_211435

The food was served in about 15 minutes (I was actually starting to get a little impatient for I was very hungry). The curry looked good, and apart from a couple of Koftas made of mashed channa and aloo, there was chole in the gravy (quantity of which seemed less for the huge koftas). On taste front, while the Kofta was decent and well cooked, the gravy was pretty spicy. The Phulkas served along were soft and good.

CYMERA_20140524_212823

Wanting to try more dishes, I ordered for a Kaju Pulao and it again took forever for it to arrive. Filled with as many cashew nuts as different garam masala – cardamom, cloves, pepper, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, etc, it tasted pretty good and I actually liked it better than the Kofta. However, it was quite overloaded for Pulao and so tasted pretty much like mild Biryani.

Overall, the food was pretty decent. However, the service was pathetic. The waiter was getting into arguments with customers and was acting callous. Ambiance too isn’t great for it’s a shed, and the tables aren’t so clean either. For the price, quantity of food served is good, and so is the food. So I’d suggest this place for a take away rather than dine-in. Give it a shot for some cheap fare Indian food.

Food: 8.5/10
Service: 5/10
Ambiance: 5/10
Meal for 1: Rs. 236/-

Verdict: 7.5/10

Theobroma (Mumbai) | Restaurant Review

Place: Theobroma
Location: Colaba/Lokhandwala
Meal: Dessert

I’ve always loved cakes and pastries more than ice-creams when it came to desserts, and Theobroma serves the best pastries in Mumbai, so I had to be here. After the heavy meal at Cafe Churchill, which included a Blueberry Cheesecake, and a long walk along Gateway, me and a friend dropped in to their store at Colaba. At around 4:00 PM, the place was pretty much packed (as usual).

We walked to the counter, and while we’re deciding on what to indulge on, the elderly lady at the counter suggested we try the Vodka Chilli Cheesecake. That apart, we asked for a Devil’s Mousse Cake.

CYMERA_20140522_161816

We took a seat in a corner, and the cakes were served immediately. The Cheesecake tasted very different from what I’ve ever tasted before (probably because of the liquor) and had a strong aftertaste thanks to the chilli. Thought not my favorite, it was good nevertheless.

CYMERA_20140522_161810

On the other hand, I absolutely loved the Devil’s Mousse. This flourless cake was creamy, very light, and melt in my mouth. I wouldn’t mind travelling to Mumbai again just for a taste of this cake. Yummilicious.

The very next day, met a few college friends and we dropped in to the store at Lokhandwala. Surprisingly, this place was empty, and had fewer options compared to the store at Colaba. While others tried a sugarless Brownie and Red Velvet Cheesecake, I opted for Banana Caramel Cupcake. I had tried their Blueberry mini cupcake the last time around at Colaba, and it turned out to be the best cupcake I’ve ever tasted, so had high expectations from this one.

While it wasn’t as great as the one I remember, it was still pretty good. I don’t think it was fresh, and that is the reason it didn’t taste great.

If you love your desserts, this place is a must try in Mumbai. They have stores all over the city, but I’d suggest you try the one at Colaba. Everything is reasonably priced, the ambiance is pretty neat, and most of the cakes and pastries are excellent. I wish they opened a branch in Hyderabad. Go try their cakes now!

Food: 9/10
Service: 8.5/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Avg. Price per slice: Rs. 90/-

Verdict: 9/10