Thursday, July 27, 2017

Sizzling Sizzlers Festival at Cafe Mangii, Bengaluru




I usually skip the events if I need to travel a lot within the city. But when few restaurants which always treat some of us like family members, I can’t say no to them. In such cases, distance won’t be an issue to try some lip-smacking food. Recently, I visited Café Mangii at ‘Orion Mall for their ongoing Sizzling Sizzlers Festival’ (from 15th July – 31st Aug). Located at Level 2 in Orion Mall, Café Mangii is an absolute spot to spend quality time with your loved ones. Café Mangii’s primary focus is on Italian and Continental dishes.



So what’s special about their Sizzling Sizzlers festival? My answer is fusion food at its best! Most of the places follow the regular pattern of serving sizzlers with mashed potato or flavored rice along with sautéed veggies. Here the game was completely different. Chef created some crazy sizzler combos and I never had such good sizzler experience in Bangalore.






I always choose light drinks to go with sizzlers, just to balance the taste. So this time it was a chilled, refreshing mocktail, ‘Strawberry and Guava Cooler’ along with a glass of Fratelli red wine.




We started our lunch with pizzas. Café Mangii is famous for their thin-crust wood-fired pizzas. Even non-vegetarians will say ‘Wow!’ to Café Mangii’s Verdure pizza made of caramelized onions, 3 peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, and zucchini. We also loved their Smoked Barbeque Chicken pizza, Fettuccine Siciliano, and Greek pizza.





The first Sizzler to come to our table was the Chermoula Cottage Cheese one. Paneer in Sizzlers? Seriously? That was the first thing to come to my mind. The answer to my question was the bursting flavors of Chilli Mint Pesto Grilled Cottage Cheese with crispy Baby Potato and Zucchini strips. I liked the combo but I have better suggestions.


Next, we had the Lemongrass Chicken Sizzler. It came with a Char grilled Chicken, Carrot Noodles, Mace and Pepper Pilaf served with Rum Raisin Jus. Lemongrass flavor was very minimal and the buttery sauce overpowered the flavors.


I do like veg sometimes :P The cheesy Broccoli and Quinoa poppers with Lyonnaise Potato, Pepper slaw, and Turmeric Coconut coulis made the ‘Broccoli and Quinoa pops sizzler’ just amazing.


I was about to say ‘No Thank you’ for the next sizzler and the Café Mangii team told us that’s the best selling sizzler and it’s a must try one. When I heard the name Mushroom Baklava I was like :O as for me Baklava is always a sweet pastry filled with dry fruits.  But what’s in the name? The mild aroma and creamy flavors from the phyllo pastry stuffed with Truffle Oil Scented forest Mushrooms and Gruyere served along with Riso Bianco and Thyme Butter Peas was one of the best Sizzlers I’ve ever had.


Ever since I saw an Instastory of Coconut Prawns Sizzler by Debolina (a blogger friend of mine), I was craving for the same. I couldn’t quite enjoy this sizzler as I was so full. The honey mustard sauce went well with the crispy golden fried Prawns served on a bed of Rice.


Tahini Lamb Kebabs Sizzler surely had interesting flavors but it was not up to my liking.


For desserts, we had a luscious Velvet Brick Brownie topped with a scoop of Vanilla Ice cream.

View infront of Orion Mall

Compare to mall standards, Café Mangii has great ambiance and you can have a relaxed time there. The service can be a bit slow on weekends as the restaurant will be so packed with mall visitors.
Address:
Cafe Mangii
Level 2, Orion Mall
26/1, Dr. Rajkumar Road
Brigade Gateway
Malleshwaram West
Bangalore
For table reservations, contact - 080 22682213


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Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Quattro Mani, the Second Edition Italian Food Festival at Alto Vino-Bengaluru Marriott Hotel, Whitefield




Bangalore is the hub for global cuisines and one of the top cuisines on my list will be always Italian. What happens when two Chefs from North Italy and South Italy meets in Namma Ooru? They will cook up a storm for epicurean diners. Recently this is what happened when I visited Alto-Vino at Bengaluru Marriott Hotel, Whitefield for the second edition of ‘Quattro Mani’- a 10-day long Italian Food Festival (July 4- 14th). This festival is all about the special Italian menu curated by Alto Vino’s Chef Marouane Rahali and visiting Chef Nicola Costa which brings together the flavors from South and the North Italy. To make it more special there are selected wines by Wine Sommelier Anushka Padkar from Wine Park.

 
Venice <3



This was my first time at Alto Vino and absolutely loved everything about this place. Beautiful ambiance, carefully crafted menu, exclusive wine selection, top-notch hospitality and best Chefs in town are some of the highlights about Marriott hotels. These highlights make Alto Vino no different than the other Marriott Hotels in Bangalore.


The Chef Marouane Rahali and Chef Nicola Costa gave us a brief description on Quattro Mani fest and here is the menu we tried for the dinner.



We started off with slices of rustic Italian bread followed by an Amuse Bouche – Pizza Montanara.


Antipasti


Insalata di primosela – Canederli beans salad with tomato, cucumber, onion, olives, and goat cheese.


Carpaccio d’anatra affumicata, ravanelli sott’aceto, salsa al miele – Smoked cured duck breast, apple chips, pickled radish in honey dressing
Light, tasty and full of fresh ingredients; these salads were a great start to our meal. I liked the crispy apple chips and smoked cured duck breast combination in the second salad.

Soup


Crema di porri e patate con gnocchetti di pane e formaggio porfumo di tartufo – A dense soup made of Potato, leek soup, and brown bread cheese gnocchi Truffle Parfume. The Truffle taste and the brown bread cheese gnocchi were the best part about this soup.

Primi


Orecchiette al pomodori fresco, mozzarella di bufala (not in pic) – A South Italian Homemade Pasta - Orecchiette with fresh tomato, and buffalo mozzarella was a satisfactory meal for vegetarians. I tasted it while waiting for the Lobster Ravioli and loved the flavors.


Tortelli di Astice, Crema di Zucchini e basilica – beautiful and handmade ravioli stuffed with Lobster in basil and zucchini cream can steal any seafood lover’s heart. All of us loved it.

Secondi



Marinated Beef Tenderloin pistachio crust, potato cream, and asparagus –  This dish was my favorite. Medium Beef tenderloin with crunchy pistachio crust served with a potato cream base and asparagus – OMG! Where was I for a while? In heaven? I guess so :P


For those who don’t prefer beef, there is a lamb version of this dish and for vegetarians, they’ve the ‘Grilled Eggplant stuffed with Mozzarella, olives and tomato, rocket and Parmesan cheese’.


I couldn’t try the Branzino e riso venere which was beautifully made and plated Seabass fillet with black rice, olives, and green peas coulis. I skipped tasting this to save some space in my tummy for desserts.

Dolci



Dolci word itself sounds so interesting. For Dolci (desserts) we tried Sfogliatella Napoletana – a traditional Napoletan pastry stuffed with ricotta and custard cream. Chef Nicola’s special dessert made us say ‘Wow!’.



Tiramisu Rivisitato – The moment I tasted it I felt like I was having a double espresso coffee shot. Tiramisu was so blissful. Chef Marouane has used an Espuma gun to infuse Mousse type foam (air) in this dessert; a very avant- garde technique used in most of the modern restaurant kitchens nowadays.

Wines we tried

Bibi Graetz is considered as one of Italy's most ingenious winemakers who has risen from artist to cult winemaker since the release of his first wine back in 2000. We paired the following wines with Italian food –

Bibi Graetz Casamatta Bianco
Origin: Tuscany
Grape(s) used: Vermentino, Trebbiano & Moscato
"Casamatta," or "crazy house," is Bibi Graetz's creation of a Tuscan-style house wine.
Tasting Notes: Floral, citrus and tropical fruit aromas and flavors pick up a hint of orange blossom, honeysuckle, and lime. Rich, tangy acidity, dry, moderate length.


Bibi Graetz Casamatta Rosso
Origin: Tuscany
Grape(s) used: Sangiovese
Tasting notes: A medium bodied red, sporting jammy cherry, herb and sweet spice aromas and flavors. Fruity, appealing, with moderate length.


Tenuta Sant Antonio Scaia Corvina (2014)
Origin: Veneto
Grape(s) used: Corvina
Tasting notes: Floral notes of red rose and sweet violet, fruity hints of cherry, wild black cherry, plum, fruits of the forest such as blackberry, redcurrant, blackcurrant, and raspberry. Well-balanced, flavorsome and fresh wine. Intense and medium bodied despite its youth.
All the wines were so intense and smooth in taste and went well with all the Italian food.



Chefs were so devoted and they kept on checking the feedback for each and every dish which came to our table. Though most of the dish names were like tongue-twisters, I had a great time savoring some incredible Italian dishes along with some classic Italian wines. If you love Italian food, then don’t miss this fest. The festival is on till 14th July. A meal for two would be ₹3,000/- (approximately).

About Marriott International

Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is the world’s largest hotel company based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, with over 6,100 properties in more than 124 countries and territories. Marriott operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts. The company’s 30 leading brands include: Bulgari®, The Ritz-Carlton® and The Ritz-Carlton Reserve®, St. Regis®, W®, EDITION®, JW Marriott®, The Luxury Collection®, Marriott Hotels®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Renaissance® Hotels, Sheraton®, Delta Hotels by MarriottSM, Marriott Executive Apartments®, Marriott Vacation Club®, Autograph Collection® Hotels, Tribute Portfolio™, Design Hotels™, Gaylord Hotels®, Courtyard®, Four Points® by Sheraton, SpringHill Suites®, Fairfield Inn & Suites®, Residence Inn®, TownePlace Suites®, AC Hotels by Marriott®, Aloft®, Element®, Moxy® Hotels, and Protea Hotels by Marriott®. The company also operates award-winning loyalty programs: Marriott Rewards®, which includes The Ritz-Carlton Rewards®, and Starwood Preferred Guest®. For more information, please visit our website at www.marriott.com, and for the latest company news, visit www.marriottnewscenter.com and @MarriottIntl.

Address:
Alto Vino
Bengaluru Marriott Hotel
EPIP Zone, Whitefield
Bengaluru
For more information and bookings, contact  080 49435000

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