From The Little Black Book - BoomBox Cafe

Review: RESTRO BAR CAFE

Gurgaon sector 29 is a hub of countless hip-hop cool eating joints. Every food joint tries to offer something different to win customer loyalty. The newly opened BoomBox Cafe has also joined the bandwagon and welcomed us for a food review meet. 

Boombox live upto its name with peppy foot tapping numbers and musical aesthetics on display. I loved the music. Atleast they don’t play the irritating Honey Singh numbers. You would be stunned with the superb ambiance, the moment you enter. Glowing BOOMBOX branding at the ceiling, cool retro musical artefacts, a beautiful large bar and variety of seating arrangement will leave you in awe. 

There were tall tables as well as lounge sofa seating. We chose the low table with four chair seating since our friends Mandira and Manoj had their two years old daughter with them. While the height of the table was perfect, I found the chairs a little uncomfortable. That’s the only area of improvement for Boombox. 

            

Guava Mary

 

Kiss of Kiwi

Chilly Paneer

We began our evening with Guava Mary and chilly paneer. Unfortunately the Guava Mary didn’t suit my taste buds. This mocktail is prepared on the likes of Bloody Mary with salt smeared on the glass rim. I don’t have a taste for bloody mary, so asked for another drink after few sips. The replacement – Kiss of Kiwi exceeded my expectations. Soothing, refreshing and filling it was!

Chilly Paneer was a surprise package. Usually I don’t find spice in pizza or rolls as they claim, so I happily ordered chilly paneer thinking it to be the same case. But the spicy punch inside paneer took me by surprise. It was well marinated and spices had seeped inside. Neither soggy nor hard, this dish was a killer!  

Dahi k kabab

Cranberry mocktail

Chef Deepak met us in person to tell about the menu selection. He personally recommended Dahi k kabab for starters. Sharing the secret of Dahi k sholay, he told us the correct proportion of curd that should go in its preparation. My apprehensions of cholesterol with deep fried stuff was resolved when he told Dahi k kabab were shallow fried. With a great presentation and tinge of tanginess, these soft dahi k kabab tasted heavenly. A good variety of chutney accompanied the dishes.

For another rounds drinks I ordered Cranberry mocktail which had subtle sweetness. Thankfully it did not have the taste of strawberry juice which usually is the case. Hubby tried Italian Smooch which was my second favourite after Kiss of Kiwi.

Veg platter

As the evening sky grew darker, the music tracks changed from one pop number to another groovy song. We swayed to the fantastic music as Chef Deepak curated a non-spicy bowl of veg noodles for Mandira’s daughter. The noodles kept her occupied as we ordered two platters. Non veg platter for husband and Mandira, veg platter for Manoj and me. They highly apprised non veg sampler. The veg platter had Dahi Kabab, Tofu Yakitori, Paneer Harrisa Tikka, Cottage cheese Spring Roll ,Tomato Bruschetta and Caesar Salad.

The cheesy spring rolls and Tofu Yakitori are things to die for! Every dish had the perfect balance of spices and salt. The spacious, beautifully decorated place won our hearts as we left with great memories and the promise to come again.

Highly recommend this place for office parties and large group of friends to chill and spend fun time. 

My rating- A good 3.5 on 5

The treasures in McLeodganj

My travel journal of the trip to Mcleodganj continued from day 2. This is the second half story of our second day in McLeodganj. 

Memorial at Dalai Lama 

As we left from St John's Church, it poured heavily for a good forty minutes. We were stuck in a massive traffic jam for more than an hour on the two kilometer road. Yet, we enjoyed that traffic snarl because of the pleasant weather and lush greenery around. Such amazing weather is so rare in the city.

We reached McLeodganj by half past one. The slippery wet roads and traffic in the narrow lanes of the market welcomed us. Post a hearty lunch we headed to Dalai Lama Temple.

On your visit to McLeodganj, Dalai Lama temple is a must visit. You never know you might get lucky to meet his highness, the holy Lama.
The temple premises has basic infrastructure with beautiful view of the mountains around.

As we entered the security check zone, to my surprise mobile phones and cameras were allowed as against my last visit in 2014 when they were not. People were free to take pictures even inside the premises this time!

Prayer Wheels of Dalai Lama Temple

Prayer Hall at Dalai Lama Temple

The temple complex attracts tourists globally who come in search of answers to questions of life and death. His highness Dalai Lama's temple houses a hostel complex for monks and students. Many have converted into Buddhists who spend their lives serving mankind or mediating there. The first floor with prayer bells and mediation hall gets the maximum footfall. 

Deep dive into the beautiful spiritual sojourn as you witness the large holy sculptures of Buddha, Avalokiteshwara and Gilded Chenrezig

Buddha

Avalokiteshvara

                Chenrezig

We had looked forward to spend some quiet peaceful moments in the temple, but it just did not happen. The place became noisy and a ground for selfie obsessed crowd. It surprised me to see the priests totally cool about it. We settled with some pictures of the deities and moved towards the prayer bells. It was not a pleasant experience unlike my last visit. Teens and young people obstructed the way of the prayer bell direction, posing for pictures and refusing to budge. Whatever happened to the peace of mind and maintaining the sanctity of a holy place?

The view from the first floor overlooking the green mountains is a visual treat. Infact the balcony view is more soothing than the statue premises. 

The whole premises takes less than an hour to see and soak in the positive vibes. We sat across the front gate of the ground floor trying to calm our minds and heal our hurt soles. By 3 pm, we departed from Dalai Lama temple, ticking it on our travel bucket list. :-) 

Our cab driver, suggested us to either go for para gliding or visit Khanyara. For the former we were not prepared nor had planned anything. So choosing the latter sounded a better option to us. Curious to explore, we covered a distance of around twelve kilometers to this lesser known place.

With very less footfall and serene beauty around, the isolated place boasts of a very old Aghanjar Mahadev Temple and a little river flowing in the backyard. Of-late this has emerged as a fun picnic spot.

Walk through this main entrance and see the open temple under the sky. The simplicity of the temple and the people is worth noting. No show of money, no royal ancient carvings on walls, no customary 'chadhawa', no loud bhakti sangeet would make you feel so free and at peace. I pondered over the show offs God is disturbed with. Isn't it? Why not just thank God for his blessings and give him a break? That's my idea of praying to the almighty.

History of the temple- During Mahabharat era, once when Arjun, was on his way to the Kailash Mountains. Lord Shiva appeared in front of him and blessed him with the Boon of Victory over the Kauravas. At this place Baba Ganga Bharati has fired "Akhand Dhuni" (Sacred Fire). 

Descend from a flight of stairs at the backyard, cross a little bridge and treat yourself to a splash of cold water from the Himalayan river.  

  

Slippery in many places, its good to seat yourself on the big stones. Dip your feet in water and relax. The backdrop is perfect for few selfies too! hehe

                                  

Though the place is extremely relaxing and worth travelling a long distance, Indian tourists always disappoint big time! Needless to mention how they litter all places and prove their cheap traits. To add to all this, there were beer bottles  at a holy place! Only God knows why does the temple authority ignore this. Atleast  people should respect the place! 

Anyway, we left the place heading to The Kashmir House crossing the Kotwali bazaar where we shopped for local specialties. We filled our shopping bag with lemon and honey flavor green tea, coconut cookies and tangy apple jam, of which the latter is my favorite. 

We retired to our lovely hotel and unwind-ed before packing and leaving from Dharamsala the same night after an eventful weekend. Dharamsala and McLeodganj happily ticked on our travel list in two days :-)

Mesmerizing McLeodganj

Day 2 of our trip to Dharamsala.


Continued from Day 1- http://expressunleashed.blogspot.in/2016/06/breathtaking-dharamsala.html

As the morning rays kissed the sky and the chirping birds woke us, we knew it was going to be a long day! After monakeying around the tea gardens and soaking in the natural beauty on day one in Lower Dharamsala, day two was more adventurous and tiring. Post a scrumptious heavy breakfast, we boarded our taxi which ferried us to Naddi.

Scenery from the view point

  

Barely ten kilometers from Dharamsala, Naddi is a quiet village in the Kangra Valley. At an altitude of 2000 meters above sea level and surrounded by the Dhauladhar mountains, Naddi is the starting point of trekking to near by hill tops. The dreamy clouds playing hide and seek with Sun, the lush green mountains and foggy trails leave you asking for more. It's a treat to watch the hills engulfed by fog one moment and clear sky the next moment. You instantly want to spread your arms like a bird, breathe in the clean fresh air as you close your eyes and fill yourself with tranquility.

Sun playing hide and seek

Tourists flooded to the "viewpoints" where a person loans his telescopic lens (in return of a nominal to fee) to watch the farthest points of the mountains. Thanks to husband's DSLR and my Moto X phone, we did not use the view point lens.

Man at work

  

The cameraman hubby

The serene surroundings have been encroached upon by reckless construction of hotels/guest houses. Countless felling of trees and drilling mountains will lave nothing for us in future. Don't be surprised to see international tourists (mostly bag-packers I assume) running small eateries or grocery shacks for a living. Perhaps India is very pocket friendly for them.

Approach roads to Naddi are steep with sharp curves. Drive carefully while descending the hills. Returning from Naddi, we stopped by Dal Lake. 

Mesmerized by the beauty of Kashmir's Dal Lake, this lake was named the same. The water source is believed to be Manimahesh Lake (situated at Bharmour, Distt. Chamba) which has dried now. Boating is no more allowed due to depletion of water table, silt deposition and soil erosion. The lake is literally a garbage dump now but the forests around the lake makes it worth stopping by. Since the place is peaceful, we choose a bench to sit on and relax for some time. Lines of deodar trees add to the beauty of the Lake.

Plastic waste and bottles in the lake bed are certainly big turn offs. Though the Himachal Government has taken measures to restore the place, it is also the duty of locals and tourists to cooperate. Why spoil the natural beauty like this?

A two hundred years old sacred temple of Lord Shiva on the river bank adds to the mystique of the river. Across the road, many other temples are a major source of attraction for tourists.

We resumed with our journey to McLeodganj, barely three kilometres from there. On the way our driver stopped asking us to visit St John’s Church. Against our expectations and no plans to visit this tranquil place, St John’s added joy to our journey. Such a magically wonderful place to visit. 

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The church is said to have survived the massive earthquake of 1905 which had killed close to 20,000 people in Kangra. However the bell tower was destroyed in the earthquake. Later, a new bell, cast in 1915 was brought from England and installed outside in the compound of the church. It is said many failed attempts have been made to rob the bell many times. 

    

Surrounded by green forests and well maintained by the authorities, the vicinity offers you calmness and natural beauty.

Backyard of the church

We spent a lot of time capturing the playful beauty of nature and the luxurious greenery. The cold breeze caressed us as sunshine revealed different shades of green. We walked, we hiked, we sat on a stone with our legs dangling down and enjoyed the sound of silence, occasionally broken by tourist buses.

The churchyard is the final resting place of Lord Elgin ( then Governor General of Canada). He later became Governor General & Viceroy of India in 1861 during the British rule.  He soon died in Dharamsala in 1863, and was buried there. It was Lord Elgin's wish to be cremated in the vicinity of the church as Dhramsala reminded him of Scotland. He was quite fond of the flora and the lovely weather of this quaint hill station.

What attracted me the most was the inclination of the authorities towards wildlife and fauna protection. The little bird houses and the well maintained beautiful garden bear a testimonial to the fact. Considering that I volunteer at animal NGOs and have built bird houses, I know the importance of these little shelters for the birds. Totally appreciate their efforts.

                                                 

The neatly paved pathway towards the church symbolizes a gateway to peaceful solace. People from all religions are welcome to the church. St John;s Church was worth the visit.

We left the place with sweet memories, happy heart and a calm relaxed mind.

Rest of the journey in next post....

The Ancient Barbeque

On the same concept of Barbeque Nation, The Ancient Barbeque too has similar live grills and unlimited buffet.  Our colleagues planned a day out for lunch at this newly discovered place at Good Earth Center, Sector 50, Gurgaon. 

As you enter the premises, the aesthetics with Gothic touch and pleasant lighting, instantly attract you. TAB (Read- The Ancient Barbeque) has good food and quick service. The staff is courteous and fast, who serves with a smile.

TAB is less spacious compared to Barbeque Nation. Seating arrangement seems a little crammed up which leaves less room to move around. It becomes uncomfortable for the staff to serves while pushing through the table gaps. Personalization hence becomes difficult. I am sure they can handle space issues better.

The live grill has the Barbeque Nation famed crispy corns, creamy cajun potatoes, corns kernel, pineapple, veggie cubes, chicken, fish and mutton. What looked like potatoes turned out to be juicy   pineapple, and I loved it! Roasted paneer is vegetarian’s delight, which wasn’t the case here, as paneer was too soft and not well marinated. I enjoyed the rest of the vegetarian grill with Virgin Mojito. The latter was well prepared with no fizz and the right balance of salt & sweet. I can hence righty claim that I had nice mojito after a long time!

The buffet menu had a large variety comprising dal makhni, noodles, veggie and black bean sauce, Kashmiri paneer, mix vegetables, steamed rice, veg pulao  in the vegetarian menu.

Since I prefer dal makhni with less cream/fat load, TAB’s Daal Makhni perfectly fitted the bill. The consistency wasn’t thick nor watery, and I loved the preparation! Veggie and black bean sauce

was another item I loved. This tasted better than preparations of Chinese cuisines. Kashmiri Paneer was a bit disappointing for me because of thin ginger grates. All I could taste was raw ginger that killed the dish.

  

Salad had a colourful spread of kimchi salad, green salad, aloo chaat, pasta salad, sprout salad, papad and lettuce mix. Pasta salad is something you must have. Very well made with a hint of sweet. I would suggest TAB to roast papad on stove. The microwave roast left papad half raw.

Since I am die hard dessert lover, the sweets’ spread had to be good! The attractive spread comprised ice cream, gulabjamun, fruit tart, hot choco brownie, moong dal halwa, kiwi cake, pastry and cup cake.

Obviously, one can’t dig into everything post a hearty meal, so I chose few item. Brownie gets a special brownie point! Soft, fluffy and warm it was. A bite off the Kiwi Cake felt refreshing!  Moong Daal Halwa was the usual. If only I had more space in my tummy, I might have tasted them all, but I was full to the core.

As we were a large group of 16 people, we were given group discount. On an average we paid around 500 per pax. Happy reasonable deal it was.  

Though it is unfair to compare TAB to Barbeque Nation, yet I cant help since the concecpt is the same and TAB scores a little less than BN. Still worth giving this place a try. A nice place recommended for big teams or families.  

Cafe Hi5

Café Hi5 reopened this year and buzzed the market with a new menu and expanded place. The interiors are quite cool with funky graffiti on walls and ceiling. The cafe has separate space dedicated for private parties, match screenings, DJ and usual diners. Music was excellent. Credit to the DJ who did not stick to the usual Punjabi songs but played kicky foot tapping numbers.

Chicken Lollipop

We started with paneer tikka, chicken lollipop and fish tikka. Paneer was fresh and not greased with oil. The good thing about the whole experience was that management was open to feedback and ready to improvise. The manager sat with us and tasted paneer tikka when I told him about high salt content. Chicken lollipop and fish tikka were well marinated and soft, juicy from inside. The nice smoky flavor was appealing. Papad & Mint chutney accompanied the dishes. The spread had a great presentation.







The manager showed us the whole place. The showstopper was the bar and they claim that to be the only one in India with tap bar! Take a look at the picture!

Tap bar- The only of this kind in India

Italian Smooch

Juicy Jullian

Chef's own innovation -Juicy Jullian came to us when we asked for a non-aerated mocktail. It was a mix of crushed pineapples, orange juice, mint leaves and sweet lime slice. Mind you, there was no added sugar in the drink. It felt extremely good and refreshing. Italian Smooch is another refreshing mocktail to watch out for. Peachy, minty and no sugar, the drink is a perfect summer cooler. I highly recommend the drinks to all mocktail and non-alcohol consumers.

We scanned the whole menu for something interesting and ordered thin crust veg pizza on manager's recommendation. I sipped Nutella Hazelnut Shake in the meanwhile which was filling and good. Loved the perfect crispy thin base of pizza.  Unlike the usual pizza, this was not overloaded with cheese!  Cheese topping on pizza was fresh and it was not high on salt either.

The manager insisted us to try a dish named “Dal chawal beyond imagination”. The dish lives up to its name and gets a standing ovation from us. Now who would have imagined spotting daal chawal in a hip hop café menu? With the first bite of it, our appetite multiplied and our curios minds jumped out again asking about the masala of it. A simple yet delicious arhar daal and steamed rice with crispy fried potato balls and papad was an out of the box experience! So we now know where to find good healthy home cooked food in Hauz Khas.

The concept behind designing such a dish is to provide economical meal for a single person or twin sharing basis, since it is difficult to find home cooked traditional simple food in cafes.

Brownie

With tummy almost full and guilt tugging at health consciousness within ourselves, made us try the ceasar salad which was a mix of assorted veggie leaves, lettuce, olives topped with mayonnaise. It turned out to be a bad choice as we left more than half of it uneaten. It wasn’t good. Anyway, the last thing we tried was brownie. It was no different than a piece of overtly sweet black forest cake. I was a little disappointed since a brownie is light and non creamy that melts in mouth. But the presentation was nice. It was a compensation for the ceasar salad.

Movie Review- Wazir

Director- Bejoy Nambiar            Producer-  Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Genre- Thriller                            Release Date- 8 Jan, 2016          Duration- 1 hour 44 minutes

Wazir is one of the most talked about thriller films in Bollywood and the screen presence of Big B Amitabh Bachhan with super talented Farhan Akhtar gives you a reason to watch it. The duo feature in unique roles like never before. O yeah that’s intriguing enough.

As the name suggests, this thriller plot is based on a chess game where the pawns represent the characters. No, the movie does not revolve around the game of chess or but on dirty politics and corrupt thoughts that the characters portray, just like one does in chess.

The plot- The protagonist Pandit Omkar Nath Dhar (Amitabh Bachhan) is a wheelchair bound grand chess master who lost his daughter in an accident. Deep down in his heart he knows the killer of his daughter but is unable to avenge him because of two reasons- Lack of concrete proof and his disability.

The second character Daanish Ali (Farhan Akhtar) is a high ranked cop in the anti-terrorist squad who is married to Ruhana (Aditi Rao Hydari). The couple lives a happy life with their cute six year old daughter Noorie. In an unfortunate accident, while chasing a terrorist, Noorie gets shot and dies on the spot. A grief stricken Ruhana blaming Noorie's death on Daanish, gets separated from the latter, refusing to see him.

A devastated Daanish promises himself to avenge the death of his daughter. He finds confidante in Pandit Ji and as both share a common thing – grief of their dead daughters. In their unique friendship, Pandit teaches chess to Daanish and narrates to him how he had lost his own daughter Nina. Daanish is intrigued by Pandit's story and promises to help him find Nina’s killer. The suspect Minister Quereshi holds the story in the second half. The hunt grows messier and shocking truth gets murkier as reality unfolds.

Screen brilliance by Farhan

Neil- The surprise package

Character analysis-
Needless to mention, Big B outshines and Pandit’s character is unbeatable. Farhan Akhtar gives his hundred percent in every role. The intensity and the hard work in his performance clearly shows on screen. This is Akhtar's another commendable performance after Bhaag Mikhaa Bhaag. From an officer on duty to a father mourning his daughter’s death, Farhan’s shift in expression and body language is superb. He is superb as the new age actor.

Aditi Rao in the role of a classical dancer and perturbed mother, justifies her presence quite well. I surely would love to see more of her classical dance moves. John Abharam adds just the right amount of spice in the climax. What’s more- Neil Nitin Mukesh is a surprise character, who is slyly named Wazir. Why slyly? Well, you gotta watch that for yourself!

Cinematography by Sanu Varghese is brilliant, giving an excellent angle and feel to the story.

The plot is promising and very well executed. Yet the punch of spice unlike in fast paced thrillers is missing. The climax was a little over the top and not out-of- the-box. Could have been better!
In many a places, the story was kind of predictable.

The songs are excellent and enjoyable. In fact it was the song "Atrangi Yaari" that made me watch the movie. (But it does not feature in the movie). Kudos to Big B abd Farhan for singing, considering their talent and energy they have always displayed for audience. A special mention of Ankit Tiwari, Shantanu Moitra hence!

Rest, the songs are not disturbing, performance was excellent and in a true sense a potentially great thriller.

Spoiler- If minister Quereshi could kill Nina, he might as well had killed his own daughter and easily fabricated it as an accident. Sympathies would still remain with him. No?

Rating- 3.5/5

Book review- Bankerupt

Book -Bankerupt                 Author - Ravi Subramanian                       Publisher-  Penguin

Genre- Thriller                     Number of pages- 319, paperback        Purchase Price- Rs 250 from book stall

Available- in all book stores, online stores

The plot- Aditya Raisinghania is a senior investment banking manager at the prestigious Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2) in Mumbai. Cirisha Narayanan and her father walk into BG2 on a warm summer morning of 2000 for a huge loan amount. Cirisha is a research scholar at M.I.T Boston struggling for a permanent job there. The duo meet and get married a year later. While both are doing well in their fields, Aditya bumps into his old classmate Shivinder who is a top shot with a footwear giant. Aditya helps Shivinder professionally to inflate the profits of the company on papers and cook up a false success story to attract international investment. Aditya soon gets promoted to the head of the bank, Shivinder is able to show profits for the company and together they literally mint money.

Meanwhile Aditya and Cirisha’s marriage starts to fall apart because of the growing distance between them. Her frequent trips to Boston and absence in Mumbai frustrates him.  To make the marriage last, Cirisha comes to India on a long break for a research project only to find something fishy at Shivinder’s company. Oblivious of Aditya’s involvement, she requests authorities of the parent company to investigate the fraud. The whole scam balloon built by Aditya and Shivinder bursts one day, costing Aditya his job. Aditya moves to Boston with Cirisha in quest of a new career. The worse and unexpected happens when an esteemed M.I.T professor supports the National Rifles Association (NRA) against the favour of gun control and wins several accolades across the country for his book. Richard, Cirisha’s colleague and closest friend, is also struggling for a permanent tenure in M.I.T since long. A frustrated Richard, on losing his last chance of tenure during the campus interview allegedly shoots the council members before shooting himself dead. Multiple rounds of chasing the culprits, protecting the victims and fishing out the clues happen. What follows next puts the readers in awe with an unexpected series of incidents, difficult to believe.

The 319 page book is a true thriller that involves financial fraud, politics in educational institute, murder of characters, all driven by desire and greed!  The story is quick paced without a single boring or dull moment. It keeps you riveted throughout. At least I was engrossed thoroughly! Subramanian’s style of writing is unique where he keeps the chapters short, interesting enough to keep readers at the edge of their seats.

The character portrayal is good, could have been better though.

Bankerupt lives up to its name and the tag line (desire, greed, murder). The plot is very well written and sub plots neatly weaved in together.The climax is not a happy ending fairy tale. It’s tragic and sad, leaving the readers thinking about the protagonist’s future. (I do so when I am totally attached to the characters).

Spoiler, loopholes of plot- Mr. Subramanian, why did you kill the character and take the story in reverse? By the time the actual story is revealed, the readers forget the initial incident and the time warp.  Secondly, checking email is one of the first things on a crime investigation, especially when a prestigious institute is concerned. Thinking of doing so and hacking a password would not have been difficult by Boston police team!

Recommended for- Thriller lovers, or Finance professionals in large corporates who would love the story and its twists.

My rating- In spite of a gripping plot and quick pace, I would rate it 3.5 on5, owing to a weak climax and loop holes in the plot.

About the author- (Source:Wiki page)- Ravi Subramanian is a banker by profession and an alumnus of IIM Bangalore. Post a career spanning two decades in the banking industry, he has authored novels such as Devil in Pinstripes, If God Was a Banker, The Incredible Banker, and I Bought the Monk’s Ferrari. He is also a columnist for The Economic Times. He has won the Economist Crossword Book Award twice, and has also won the Indiaplaza Golden Quill Book Award.