Cinderella | Movie Review

Cinderella

The story we grew up with is back on the big screen. It might have been told over and over but still has the magic which can charm you; and this version is no different.

Director Kenneth Branagh doesn’t play around while telling Cinderella’s tale, and that actually what makes this movie work. Direction is good, however, the emotions could have been more powerful. The evil wicked mother wasn’t really evil, and the love story could have been better. Screenplay by Chris Weitz also seemed a little out of sorts, especially in the ball episode. A little more engaging screenplay would have worked wonders.

Lilly James is perfect as Ella; she has the innocence needed to play the character, and does total justice. She looks gorgeously beautiful in the ball gown. Richard Madden is handsome enough to be Prince Charming, and does well. Cate Blanchet could have been more evil. The rest of the cast is alright.

Music by Patrick Doyle is decent, while sound mixing and effects are good. Cinematography by Haris Zambarloukos is excellent, and editing by Martin Walsh could have been crisp. Disney has its stamp all over the movie.

Is it worth your time and money?: It might not be an excellent film, but it is a decent watch nevertheless.

Worth mention: Cinderella in the ball gown.

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

Verdict: 7.5/10

Habanero | Restaurant Review

Place: Habanero
Location: Above Starbucks, Opposite Trident, Hitech City
Cuisine: Mexican
Meal: Dinner

Was invited to the opening of the new Tex-Mex restaurant in town, so dropped in to give it a shot. The place was very well done and the ambiance was pretty neat. There were few other foodies invited along with me, and we were also seated in the private dining area.

The owner of the brand and the chief chef came in to greet us foodies and make us comfortable. They briefed us on the brand, the variety of food, and the experience one can expect at Habanero.

Habanero Restaurant Review by Sasikanth Paturi
Varieties of Salsa

Chips were served as we settled down, with three different types of Salsa – Spicy Chilli, Cucumber and Papaya. I liked the chilli sauce but wasn’t really impressed by the other two. The tortilla chips on the other hand turned out to be light and crispy; perfecto!

The veggie crowd soon ordered for a portion of Macho Nachos, Jalapeno Poppers, and Queso Dip.

Habanero Restaurant Review by Sasikanth Paturi
Macho Nachos

The Nachos came in first and looked quite loaded. Tons of veggies, salsa and sour cream with yummy cheese – perfect way to start the meal. While the chips tasted yum, I would have preferred more cheese topping.

Habanero Restaurant Review by Sasikanth Paturi
Jalapeno Poppers

The Jalapeno poppers were in next and were served with a flavoured mayonnaise dip. These were good but nothing spectacular; the cheese was there but the jalapeno weren’t ripe, and so the required punch was amiss. Apparently, the restaurant has been facing problem sourcing the right quality jalapeno. They did serve a variation with chopped jalapeno instead of stuffed ones, and this turned out to be more of cheese poppers than jalapeno poppers (not that I was complaining 😛 ).

Habanero Restaurant Review by Sasikanth Paturi
Queso Dip

The best of the lot however turned out to be the Queso dip. It was served along with some more chips, and man, it was excellent. Creamy and cheesy, just perfect. We were so in love with it that we ordered for another portion; this again tuned out to be excellent and was finished in a blink. So we now ordered for a third portion; and bam! This now turned out to be the worst dips I’ve ever tasted. The creamy cheesy dip was gone and this one turned out to be some kind of  gooey stuff with absolutely no taste. One of the foodies actually said it tasted like broken cream. Disappointed.

Anyway, while the Queso saga was on, we ordered for more starters; Messy Bean Dip, Zucchini Fritters with Tomatillo Relish and Tostada Salad. I was also tempted to taste the Chilli Cheese Fries, so ordered for the same. But before that came my drink – Softie Colada.

Habanero Restaurant Review by Sasikanth Paturi
Softie Colada

This turned out to be a refreshing drink; it had a distinct coconut taste, and was as perfect as it could get.

Habanero Restaurant Review by Sasikanth Paturi
Messy Bean Dip

The Messy Bean Dip arrived again with more chips. This turned out to be good, but I would have preferred it to be a little more spicy. It actually reminded me of the Rajma curry we make at home.

Habanero Restaurant Review by Sasikanth Paturi
Zucchini Fritters

The Zucchini Fritters tasted very different from the regular stuff, and turned out to be excellent. The Tomatillo sauce (Tomatillo, also called Mexican Tomato, is a kind of gooseberry) had a tangy taste to it and went perfectly well with the zucchini. One of the best dishes of the day!

Habanero Restaurant Review by Sasikanth Paturi
Chilli Cheese Fries

The Chilli Cheese Fries turned out to be another version of the Macho Nachos. The cheese sauce was good, but the fries were very soggy. I had to eat this using a spoon and fork, so you can imagine. They weren’t bad, but definitely didn’t suit my palate.

Habanero Restaurant Review by Sasikanth Paturi
Tostada Salad

The Tostada Salad turned out to be a Tortilla topped with different veggies. The crunchy base actually made this taste good.

While we were munching on the food, the chief chef Dan walked in to make some Pico de Gallo salsa for us. He actually wanted to make Guacamole, but they were out of avocados, so. He started from scratch, and voila, in about 5 minutes, we had another dip to taste.

Habanero Restaurant Review by Sasikanth Paturi
Pico de Gallo

This turned out to be a very very spicy dip, with the spice hitting the throat after a while. Though I was almost in tears, I enjoyed it.

While we were stuffed, it was now time to taste the main course; Tacos and a Chimichanga.

Habanero Restaurant Review by Sasikanth Paturi
Tacos

Two stuffed Tacos were served along with Mexican rice, salad and sour cream. While the Tacos were good, the rice turned out to be disastrous. It was uncooked and lacked any kind of flavor.

Habanero Restaurant Review by Sasikanth Paturi
Chimichanga

The Chimichanga, served with same disgusting rice, turned out to be crunchy and stuffed well. It could have done with a little more cheese stuffing though.

Finally time for desserts. We wanted to have the Molten Mexican Chocolate Cake (stuffed with chili powder) but they were out of it. We wanted to have the Tres Leches Cake, and they were out of it as well. They were actually out of everything but for Churros and Snickers Chimichanga. While I prefered neither, Chimichanga it was, again.

Habanero Restaurant Review by Sasikanth Paturi
Snickers Chimichanga

And as I guessed, this wasn’t for me. Too sweet for my liking!

Overall, an average meal. While some of the dishes were very good (Queso was exceptional but only the first time around) consistency seemed to be a major issue. Actually, a few days after our gathering, there was another foodie meet here, and most of them complained about the food. Not surprising as we experienced something lack of consistency in a single meal. So that’s something they definitely need to work on.

Food apart, the place has great ambiance, perfect for small parties and get-togethers. On money front, everything seemed reasonable, and I was told that they are cheaper than competition.

So give it a shot. You may expect good food, but nothing exceptional (please don’t curse me if you have a terrible experience 😛 )

Food: 7.5/10
Service: 8/10
Ambiance: 8.5/10
Meal for 1: N/A

Verdict: 7.5/10

Filmy Tadka | Restaurant Review

Place: Filmy Tadka
Location: Opposite Reliance Fresh, Shivam Road
Cuisine: Indian
Meal: Lunch (with family)

Was meeting my relatives and decided to eat out rather than cooking something at home. After doing a bit of research on Zomato, zeroed in on this small Indian joint on Shivam Road. Finding it was a challenge for the place didn’t look like a restaurant from outside. Once in, we realized that the place was named Filmy Tadka because of its filmy décor. It had partitions which looked like film reels and a few filmy posters on the walls.

It’s a small restaurant with around 10 tables, most of which were empty when we walked in. But there was one huge gathering which was making more noise than we could handle. Anyway, we looked at the menu and asked for 3 South Indian Thali, a North Indian Thali for myself and Sambar Rice for amma. The South Indian Thali wasn’t available so we all went for North Indian Thali. We also ordered for a Paneer Mali Tikka for starter.

Filmy Tadka Restaurant Review by Sasikanth Paturi
Tomato Soup

The soup (part of the Thali) was served in about 10 minutes. It was thick, creamy and pretty yum. The waiter was kind enough to serve an extra bowl of soup for amma as well (though she didn’t order Thali).

Filmy Tadka Restaurant Review by Sasikanth Paturi
Paneer Malai Tikka

I ordered for the Paneer Malai Tikka because the description was quite tempting. However, it didn’t really live up to my expectations. Not that it was bad; the paneer was pretty fresh and well marinated, but it lacked that punch I was looking for.

Filmy Tadka Restaurant Review by Sasikanth Paturi
North Indian Thali

The Thali was served with 2 pieces of roti, Dal, Mixed Vegetable curry, Paneer curry, a bowl of Pulav, white rice, sweet and papad. The roti was soft and both the curries were yum. The paneer curry was actually delicious. Dal derves a mention. We were offered extra roti, and I asked for the same.

The rice (both pulav and white rice) were very cold and we asked them to reheat and serve; and they did so without any row. We were actually under the impression that curries were limited, but they served us more when asked for. The sweet was decent.

Overall, a good meal. There were a few hiccups with respect to the service. There were just two guys managing all the tables and it got difficult as crowd started coming in; we had to constantly keep calling for the waiter before the guy would respond. The ambiance didn’t impress, mainly because of the huge (loud) gathering. That apart, the food turned out to be very good. Give it a shot if you’re in the surrounding area; I’m guessing you won’t be disappointed with the food.

PS: I observed that they’ve changed their menu recently. I hope food and taste are still the same.

Food: 8.5/10
Service: 7/10
Ambiance: 7.5/10
Meal for 5: Rs. 1350/-

Verdict: 8/10

The Big Mouth | Restaurant Review

Place: The Big Mouth
Location: Next to Ram Ki Bandi, Road No. 2, Banjara Hills
Cuisine: Fast Food
Meal: Take away

Having read a  few good reviews about this place, dropped in one night to get some food for myself, amma and dad. The Big Mouth is a small kiosk next to a couple of other food joints including Ram Ki Bandi. There was one guy managing the place, and he was attending to another order when I reached.

I had to wait for about 10 minutes before he could take my order, and I asked for Couch Potato and Mushroom Italiano sandwiches, Chilli Cheese Burger, and a portion of Pav Bhaji. The guy started making the sandwiches one after the other, and so it took a while for my order to get ready.

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The sandwiches had gone cold by the time I reached home and I had to grill them for a couple of minutes before biting in. The sandwiches were stuffed adequately, and amma loved the Couch Potato sandwich. The Mushroom Italiano sandwich was equally yum, with butter oozing in every bite; one of the best sandwiches I’ve had in Hyderabad.

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After biting into some yummy sandwiches, it was time for the Burger, which was quite small in size. It was stuffed with cheese, veggies and a thick patty, but overall, wasn’t really palatable. The bun wasn’t fresh, and the patty too didn’t taste good. Kinda disappointing.

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Pav Bhaji was probably an odd choice/order, but I opted for it wanting to taste most of their offerings. This was a major let down as the bhaji was very thin and lacked the punch. The Pav again wasn’t fresh.

Overall, a mixed meal. While the sandwiches were really yum, rest of the meal wasn’t up to the mark. The fact that I had to wait for about 30 minutes, standing, to get my food wasn’t a good experience either; they definitely need more people to manage the store. I might come back for the sandwiches, but then again, for 70 bucks, I could eat something more and fulfilling, can’t I?

Food: 7.5/10
Service: 6/10
Ambiance: N/A
Meal for 3: Rs. 435/-

Verdict: 7/10