April 2015 - Barbeque Nation @ Pune, India

We visited my parents who have shifted to Pune as their building in Mumbai goes into redevelopment. Pune is a nice place ans with the expressway from Mumbai - it is a 3 hour drive from Mumbai.
We had a good 5 days there and decided to visit Barbeque Nation. We had heard a lot about this new food joint that everyone fondly talked about. So, yes this was part of our India visit and we were glad to visit this place twice in 5 days. In simple words - its a dining experience with a live grill on your table.

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We went to the Barbeque Nation that is located at Amanora Mall the first time and then the night before leaving back for Mumbai, we visited the one located at Kalyani Nagar.
The table has a huge square hole where the charcoal BBQ is set up. The wait staff is very friendly and they know the stuff. You do not need to ask for mineral water as that is only thing served there along with an array of other drinks.
The appetizers or the starters or the BBQ stuff is what you should enjoy at Barbeque Nation. They do have a buffet, but then its just like any other place.

We sat down and the waiter got the charcoal BBQ and set it up. Since my mother is vegetarian she was given a special green colored plate so that everyone knew thats the vegetarian in the group. And then the appetizers came pouring. There was fish, shrimps, chicken on skewers and for the vegetarian option there was paneer, corn, pineapples and mushroom on skewers. These are generally 90% cooked and then put on the BBQ to get fully cooked along with a nice char.

image sourced from Barbeque Nation website

image sourced from Tripadvisor

image sourced from Tripadvisor

They provide with a flag which helps the wait staff to know when to stop getting the appetizers and when we are ready for the main course or desserts. This flag reminded me me of the Brazilian Steak Houses back in the US where the food keep coming as long as the token is kept green and stops when it is turned to red.

image sourced from Tripadvisor

Along with the skewers on the grill there are other things that keep coming to your table like the mutton seekh kebab, chicken tandoori, cajun potatoes. They even got those cute potato smileys for Lil Miss A.

The buffet is just like any other restaurant with an array of veg and non-veg dishes and biryanis. You can order the Rotis and they get it fresh off the griddle or the oven to your table.

The desserts are fun with a number brownies, cakes, gulab jamun, kesar phirni and ofcorse the famous kulfi station. You can get a kulfi of the flavors mentioned in the menu and top it with various toppings. We had the paan kulfi with gulkand and the mango kulfi with rabdi

image sourced from TripAdvisor

We visited this place two times in 5 days - and that sums it up all.

March 2015 - Gajalee @ Andheri MIDC, Mumbai, India

In March 2015 we took a much awaited trip to our motherland India. I call it much awaited as it was a trip to India after 7 long years and Lil Miss A was visiting the country and its people for the very first time.
It was a short 3 week trip of which Mr. A was working from his India office for the first week. But, as always it was a wonderful time we had with family and friends and ofcrose good food.
Gajalee and Mahesh Lunch Home are a seafood lovers must visit place if you have one in the place you are visiting. The food is just lip smacking and finger licking good.
Mr. A and I had been to both of these places when we were dating back in B school. This was a visit with friends after almost a decade.
We met Mr. A's college buddy N and his wife S and then headed to Gajalee.
We knew the bombil fry was to be had. S became the person to order as she knew the menu. So, we ordered the fish kebabs, kombdi (chicken) wade (special puri), teesre (clams) masala, amboli (lentil crepes) and ofcorse the solkadi.

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Well - Lil Miss A liked the bombil fry. But, we found it a little bland. Especially since my Mother-in-law had made the most amazing bombil fry every other day as she knows I love that stuff. The bombil fry here seemed to be dipped in batter and deep fried.
Overall the other things that we savored were satisfying to the tastebuds and we would have it no other way.
The ambiance of the restaurant is simple and nothing fancy - but, food is what matters right?

If you happen to be a seafood lover who is visiting Mumbai. Do make a trip to this awesome seafood restaurant.

We look forward to our next Mumbai India trip to savor the yummy food here.

February 2015 - Cancun Mexican Restaurant @ Fairless Hills, PA

Mr. A seems to have taken this 12 restaurants in 12 months challenge pretty seriously - February just came by and he was all gung-ho about trying a new place in the very first week of this awesome month.
Last weekend we decided to take Lil Miss A for a movie - since "Paddington" was the only kiddie movie around, we decided on that. The movie theater close to home closed down....... I know.... how sad it sounds right? But........ we found a wonder a gem a little away from home and they have recliner seats and also seats that can be reserved before hand.

For people who are not familiar - here in the US - you do not get reserved seats at a movie theatre like back home in India. Its free seating. So, many times for very popular movies, you need to be there much before time to get prime seats.

This movie theater is located in the Oxford Valley Mall in Pennsylvania - United Artists/Regal, thats the name. The seats are bigger and you have lots of foot/leg space as these seats fully recline. Bigger seats means less seating and if they are recliner seats, its even lesser seating. But, you can watch your movie in style and be as comfortable as you are at home. We had a good time - the movie was fun and the popcorn - well, its always welcome when you watch a movie.

Movie was done and taken care of - the most important part was the food. We looked at options and more options and finally chose to go to this quaint little Mexican food joint. Their menu online looked fabulous with a 100 odd options. We saw the reviews and liked what we read.

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It is a medium sized family run Mexican eatery with authentic Mexican flavors. Even the wait staff speaks fluent Spanish and English is minimal. The decor is full of rainbow colors. The place is bright orange and the seats have animals and birds carved on them with lots of colors. Lil Miss A loved telling us what the colors were.

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We ordered a Margarita and "Jorritos" (Mexican Soda) in Mango flavor. Lil Miss A loved the soda.
They served us fresh tortilla chips (they were still warm) along with salsa - this was one of the most amazing salsas I have ever tasted. We finished everything.

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I never get the kids meal for her - she has always eaten what we eat and spice and flavors is known to her. So, we ordered a chicken quesadilla, Pork Carnitas (Well, thats our favorite) and Camarones Al Mojo De Ajo (Shrimp served with exquisite Mexican Garlic Sauce, Rice and Refried Beans). We loved the shrimps and the pork carnitas and the quesadilla was very tasty with hints of jalapeno and the queso fresco (Mexican Cheese). The refried beans were good - but anything refried is always good. The rice was a tad bit bland, but with the addition of salsa it got a different dimension altogether.
Overall a very nice and authentic Mexican food joint. Mr. A is not a huge fan of Mexican food - but, even he liked what he saw and ate.
We did not try any desserts as we had promised Lil Miss A a frozen yogurt treat from a shop nearby - she loves the idea of stuffing her frozen yogurt with gummy worms and gummy bears.

I had not carried my camera with me - I promise to take it with me for the next 10 restaurant visits. These images are sourced from the restaurants website which is Cancun Mexican Restaurant

January 2015 - Ohana @ Orlando, FL

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Well this image says it all, doesn't it? Lilo and Stitch are Disney Characters and they come from the island of Hawaii. Ohana is a word used to describe family. Just like its name the restaurant is also all about family style eating. 

We took a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL in January to celebrate our 9th anniversary and make it the first ever trip for Lil Miss A as well as us to this amazing magical land. Well, every other day was going to be  something special planned for the munhckin - but, the first day dinner was for us to celebrate 9 years of being married. We loved the menu and the family feel of this place as mentioned on the Disney website and made reservations. Getting reservations is not an easy task - guess, everyone wants to come here. We got dinner reservations for 9:30 PM that day and we were escorted to our table at 9:20 PM ish.
I did not carry my camera here and hence do not have pictures clicked by me. Pictures have been sourced from Disney Website and from TripAdvisor and I have mentioned that in the captions.

Well, you enter the seating area and you are greeted by huge statues which resemble a tiki room. and the seating is also typically like a family style restaurant. Below are the pictures of the seating areas inside the restaurant. Image sourced from the Disney Website.

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As you enter, you can see the huge fire pit area where all the food is roasted on open fire. Yes, it does resemble a Brazilian Steak house. Below is the image showing the place where the meat and shrimps are roasted on an open fire right in front of the guests. Image from the Disney Website.

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As you enter the restaurant, you are greeted very warmly by the server who will explain what the restaurant is all about and how the food will come over. They also ask if you have a dining plan that you have picked up along with your Disney Experience booking and if you have a magicband which is very much a Disney World thing (You can read about that here)

We were seated at a window table that looked at the water and also gave a small glimpse of the castle at Magic Kingdom. We were served our softdrinks and then we waited for the food magic to happen.

We were served with their signature pineapple and coconut bread. It had small pineapple chunks and had a very distinct coconut flavor to it too. I am a lover of bread and I ate almost half of it before the server came with the appetizer course of pork dumplings tossed ginger garlic sauce and honey coriander chicken wings along with vegetable lettuce wraps with a hoisin ginger sauce. Did not care much about the chicken wings - but the pork dumplings and the lettuce wrap were very very tasty. The ginger garlic sauce on the dumplings was one of the best.

pork dumplings and chicken wings - Image Sourced from TripAdvisor

We were then served with some noodles stirred in teriyaki sauce along with some stir fried fresh vegetables. It was a bit oily for us - but, the vegetables tasted very nice and had a crunch to them.

Noodles and Veg Stir-Fry - Image Sourced from TripAdvisor

Then came the skewers of steak and pork and shrimps. The shrimps were the most juiciest and the most tasty among the meat skewers. Lil Miss A enjoyed the shrimp with some noodles too. We actually asked the server to get us about 4 to 5 of the pork dumplings as they were tastier than the meat skewers. 

And then came the most delicious dessert - the bread pudding with bananas and pineapple and coconut and an amazing banana caramel sauce. Mr. A is allergic to pineapples - so, I had the whole dessert to myself. Lil Miss A was given a brownie with butter frosting and some M&M's.

Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce - Image sourced from TripAdvisor

All in all - we had a wonderful 9th anniversary dinner where we did not have to choose from a big menu nor did we have to hunt for the best food in a big buffet setup. It was indeed a quaint family dinner in a family style setup.

You should visit this place if you ever go to Disney World Orlando, FL - ofcorse you need to be a meat lover. The only vegetarian options are the noodles and veg stir fry and the lettuce wraps.

Dinner cost on an average $30 per head and this did not include any alcoholic drinks nor gratuity.

12 Restaurants in 12 Months

A little late in posting this here - but in my defense...... I just started this digital diary today.

As the title says - this is our new year resolution for 2015 - we hope to visit 12 restaurants (new ones) in 12 months - thats 1 new restaurant in 1 month. Hopefully this can be a tradition and we continue to follow it in the years to comes.

All the very best to Mr. A (my hubster - husband - hubby), Lil Miss A (our munchkin) and myself.

Ciao