[McDonald's Review] The Indian Chicken - Great Tastes of the World

UKs McDonald The Indian Chicken is Two pieces of succulent crispy chicken with a sweet and sticky onion relish, in-between a garlic naan.

I wasn't really keen on trying it but tried it anyway.

Overall, I found the naan too dry and it broke too easily.

The sticky onion relish was very tart and the mango taste was stronger.

There was also some white sauce which was really garlicky so the burger as a whole tasted more Greek than Indian.

As for the chicken it was basically [Chicken Selects] which are strips of tender chicken breasts.

The chicken was a bit too dry and chewy for my liking.

[Chaiwala] Bollywood romance with modern Indian dishes

Society and the food industry scene is rapidly changing so is the way food is served.
We are now in an era where we are seeing a rapid change in society with lots of old things being scrapped, new things built

With lots of cuisines, they are either going backwards or going forwards to get the limelight so it is all about going retro or reinventing dishes.

At Chaiwala, the location couldn't be more perfect as it is located where Zafran used to be.

The restaurant is big and not a spot is under decorated.
You get to Chaiwala by going through Hugger Mugger another successful English bar set in the 1970s with cocktails inspired by David Attenborough, Pink Floyd etc.
I love the way everything is so different once you pass the doors, it is like entering another world yet it feels like home in London especially the living room corner with an old working TV set, dining table and photos on the walls.

Before you get to the dining area, you will see an open kitchen where everything is going on,

When you enter the main restaurant you are greeted with this long table with lots of pretty dangling fabrics and beads above it.

As well as the decor, the menu is humorous yet detailed.

Started with THE MAGIC LAMP which was the beginning of an exciting adventure concocted with rum and citrus.

Being clueless on what to eat, we had the  Dabbawala tasting Menu which includes a selection of signatures from Chaiwala.
The guy who served us was extremely knowledgeable and will ask your likes and dislikes as well as your relationship with spices.

Started with the Pani Puri: These are a must try as they are crispy balls filled with potato and chickpeas.
You eat them by pouring Jal jeera in it.
I love Jal Jeera which is tangy and appetizing laced with cumin.
The challenge was trying to stuff the whole thing in my mouth to get all the flavours!!

Aloo Tikka Chaat: This is another one of my favourite, spiced potato cake topped with delicious yoghurt and chutney followed by the bursting sweetness of the pomegranate seeds.

Moving on to the Modern dishes, the Mexi Thali which is a twist of Mexican cuisine.
It was tender pieces of slow cooked beef served on Indian Tortillas.

The following dishes will amaze you as being a fine Indian Restaurant, Chaiwala serves seafood which you will take your taste buds to the next level.

Malabar scallops (HK$190) are kerala-style Hokkaido scallops, with coconut and ginger sauce, fresh mango and curry leaf.

Lobster nerulli (HK$390), charred lobster with South Indian spices, tomato and pearl onions, lobster claw rice and vegetable poriyal.

The lobster dish was simply lavish and different while the vegetable poriyal cooled the palate down with a crunch as it had lots of grated coconut.

As well as seafood, curries are a must for a complete Indian meal experience.

For curries, there was Kerala Fish curry and Old Dehli Butter chicken served with truffle Naan and rice.
The butter chicken was thick and rich complemented by the truffle naan which was topped with generous shavings of truffle just like they do with pasta at PICI!

The Tandoori range here is more than just chicken with lamb chops and fish.
I loved the lamb chops which were soft and came off the bone easily.

Finished with the Wagyu Seekh Kebab which was beefy yet not overpowered by the spices.

Although I was stuffed, dessert was a blow as it was my favourite carrot cake with delicious buttercream frosting topped with crispy carrots and beetroot.
The carrot cake was quite a substantial portion that will satisfy your sweet tooth as the first mouthful will send you craving for more.

The final act was the Chai tea latte which is poured at a height with skill into the cup so that fine layers of bubbles are formed.
It was mildly spiced and a great finish to the journey.

The evening ended with a book and you will definitely be back for the next story!

Chailwala is definitely the place to go for a memorable night out with great food and vibes.
Although they have brunches and lunches, I recommend going there in the evening as the darker ambiance makes it more memorable.

[Chaiwala]
Basement, No. 43-55, Wyndham Street, Central,
https://www.chaiwala.hk

[Cardamon Street] Indian food reinvented and healthy

I love Indian food so went to Cardamon Street!

Cardamon Street, it is not what you would expect so be prepared to be blown away with fantastic and healthy food.

The all day menu has everything covered, so is their weekend brunch with an Indian twist with dishes like Masala French Toast, Scrambled Eggs Paratha Wrap and Chole Batura.

For the lunch rush hour, there is a fuss free Lunch set where you get a starter, mains and a dessert which is quite basic so I highly recommend trying the main menu which really showcases their dishes.

The main menu will blow you away with Salads, Sliders, Tacos, Curries etc and not Naans, Tandooris, Tikkas etc!
Scouring the menu, you will find super foods and modern ingredients at play like Kale, Quinoa and Beetroot which are healthy.

It was so damn hard deciding what to eat as the tacos and sliders with an Indian twist should be delicious but in the end I went for the Indian Mezze Platter,  Cardamon Special Roasted chicken, Lamb Quinoa Biryani and the Beetroot Halwa. Those who don't really eat spicy food will love this because it isn't spicy!

[Indian Mezze Platter]
The mezze consisted of three dips: chick pea, eggplant and tomato.
The eggplant dip is a fusion Baingan  bharta reinvented. I loved the bread that came with it as it was topped with my favourite rosemary and zaatar so everything was delicious.

[Cardamon Special Roasted chicken]
The roasted chicken was two chicken drumsticks which is convenient and tasty to eat drizzled with Saffron and Cream cheese.

[Lamb Quinoa Biryani]
This was another one of my favourites because it was so tasty and healthy.
The lamb was moist and tender.

[Beetroot Halwa]
Halwa is traditionally made with carrots but here they have used beetroot which is just as tasty.
I actually finished it all because the sweetness has been toned down!

For drinks, I had the Kacche amm Ka sherbet which is raw mango,  cumin, coriander etc. My kind of drink because it was savoury and sour so imagine it like a salted plum or salted lemon drink.

For lunches, you get an appetizer, curry and a dessert of the day.

Appetizer:  Paneer croquettes

Mains: Bengali Fish Curry

Dessert of the day: Kaju Katli

Will definitely be coming back to try the brunch and dessert as the sweets here are not cloyingly sweet.

[Cardamon Street]
38 Elgin Street
https://www.facebook.com/pg/cardamonstreet/

[Bombay Kitchen] Astounding Indian Fare in Kowloon City

Spotted this Indian joint a few days ago and I wasn't sure whether to try it or not as I was worried it would be localized especially in Kowloon City.
On one side it was English and the other side was Chinese so I thought it was two restaurants.
I have always heard "mangmai" on the Chinese weather forecast but never knew that it was Bombay until now when I was told the Chinese name of this restaurant.

Anyway, decided to try it after browsing the menu as it had almost everything but they said the menu would be changed soon which is why I had to try it now!

They even had Bhurji and Momo on the menu!

Every dish we had was fantastic so I would definitely recommend this if you are in Kowloon City.

Started with the fried rice which I usually order because it always tastes better than Chinese Salty Oily fried rice.

Although they used Jasmine rice and not Basmati rice, it was still good.

To accompany the rice, had it with egg bhurji and lamb sagwala.

The egg bhurji was slightly drier than the one I had at Noble Spice but still tasty with lots of spices.

The sagwala was also as good as Chautauri but had a super fiery kick to it.

Also had some plain rice to go with the curry and my favourite jeera aloo.

I was so pleased with the Jeera Aloo potatoes as they were fluffy in the middle with a crispy exterior laced with herbs.

Definitely will be returning to try the Aloo Gobi and Butter Chicken!!

[Bombay Kitchen]

72 -74 South Wall Road

Kowloon City

My picks at Wine and Dine 2018

Wine and Dine is bigger and better this year that it now has different sections.
Hotel Delicious, Feedme Lane, Coffee Fiesta etc.

I was impressed with the creativity and variety this year.

First stop was salted egg chicken drumsticks with a Singaporean twist coated with oats from City Garden Hotel Hong Kong 城市花園酒店.

Second stop Appendix Coffee & Bar, the N2 Earl Grey really hit the spot as I was hot and bothered.
Lightly sweetened Earl Grey with a silky foam cap and last but not least was the Taiwanese messy bun inspired coffee.

In the bakery section, my fave bakery Say Hey Bakery 四喜麵包西餅was there with a unique beetroot quiche, La Mer Restaurant & Loungehad this interesting salted egg duck tart and Fast Gourmet had exclusive alcoholic lava croissants like pina colada.

For filling dishes Westwood Carvery had prime rib sandwiches and uni pasta.

The Drunken Pot 酒鍋 was also here, no hotpots there but they had cute skewers.
I had the spicy trio which had all my favourites: ducks blood, fish maw and stinky tofu.

Last but not least, I love Indian food so had the Kathi veggie roll from Gaylord.

Make sure you don't miss the drones display.

#香港美酒佳餚巡禮