My first ever Hookah Experience

Before I could start this blog, I must convey this Statutory Warning

"Smoking causes Cancer. Smoking kills. None of the person shown in the video supports or promotes smoking since smoking is injurious to health"

Being a teetotaler, I always had a fantasy when it comes to smoking. I however refrained myself till date from smoking and in fact asked my friends to stay put from that. I also did gift an eCigarette to one of my friend in order to make him to get rid of smoking slowly. As a kid, I had tried with various other options like smoking a candy chocolate which satisfied my desire.

When I came to know that there is a restaurant which gives an unique "Hookah" experience I wanted to try it. Unlike the usual stuff, this Hookah was unique. It offered various flavors since even the management of this restaurant were actively promoting "No Smoking" which they have even put it up inside their property.

The restaurant V Lounge  is located at 6,College Road, Nungambakkam. It is just two buildings away from the renowned K.C.Das sweet shop and is located on the first floor.

Coming to the food that is curated which would go well along with the Hookah were the likes of Mongolian rice,Triple cheese grill, Mexican grill sandwich, Chilli cheese toast, Chiili mushroom, Dragon baby corn, Chilli paneer, Basil rice to name a few.

Each and every item is so well prepared that it gave me a mixture of all kind of taste be it with hot, sour, salty, tangy among others. I must say that these offered a very good alternative to pizzas but was more tastier than that.

The place is a great one to hangout with your friends. It offers 2/4 wheeler parking too. 

What makes this restaurant a must visit?

1. Unique Hookah experience

2. Ambiance

3. Taste and Quality of food

4. Delicacies

5. Presentation

6. Seating arrangements

7. Parking facility

8. Affordability

9. Hygiene

10. Location

If you are looking for a place with all the above to spend some quality time with your family or friends, you know where to head over to....

Seeds for healthy life

We live in a world where adulteration is imminent. There are lot being done in our day to day consumption of food. Not all could be blamed but at the same time, it is our precaution that would keep us at bay.

There are few in which adulteration cannot be done or even if done, can be figured out easily. It is nothing but the seeds. Seeds are organic since it will not be manufactured using chemicals but is the end result of something which are either a flower or a fruit.

There are so many varieties of seeds which are available out there for our daily consumption but we hardly use them. I was lucky to find a bunch of them on Amazon. Without giving a second thought, I ordered few of them. I am going to list them here and talk about them in detail. 

Oregano is usually used as a seasoning to give that tangy taste and flavour to the final product. It goes really well with bread toasted in sandwich toaster where it has to be applied along with salad in the centre. Similarly, it can also be used as a topping on pizzas.

Chia seeds is known for keeping your heart hale and healthy. It also helps you in maintaining the complex of skin. The seeds are rich in minerals.

While these seeds can be used in various ways including baking, toppings or sprinklers, the best way is to soak them in water. You would see them bloated up but when you drink it, you will feel real good when it come on your mouth as you will bite it to enjoy its crispness inside.

Regular consumption is good for you to keep you hydrated and my better half has seen her weight being reduced to a decent level.

Flax seeds are really good for heart.It helps in preventing heart attacks and strokes. This is due to the presence of Omega 3 fatty acids in these seeds. 

Flax seeds can be had as it is. It can also be powdered and sprinkled on salads. Alternatively, it can even be consumed along with water or roasted and added to the food.

Gond Katira looks like big crystals or dried pumpkin which is used as sweet. It is a natural coolant and hence helps you fight heat strokes. For better results, this must be soaked for few hours in water before being used.

You can use this in making sweets or can be consumed along with vegetables/curries or can even be prepared as a drink.

Most of us love coffee. Usually the coffee beans what we see is the one which has been roasted that gives that dark brownish look but here is the one with a difference. These are fresh coffee seeds which are not roasted and hence the colour is greenish. Coffee is generally known to invoke our senses thereby keeping us fresh and active for few hours and give us that instant energy when we were feeling low.

Green Coffee beans are good for diabetes patients as it helps in balancing not only the sugar levels but also the blood pressure levels. This also helps in weight loss management. If you feel you are above the normal weight, try using this on regular basis to see the difference.

Using green coffee beans is simple. Boil the beans and filter the water. Add honey to it for natural taste and goodness instead of sugar. Sip it leisurely.

Halem seeds are the must for women as it helps in increasing the menstrual health. It also helps in boosting the immunity in the body and can also help in hair loss treatment.

These seeds can be mixed with cereals. Since they have that natural peppery and aromatic substance, it can be used along with salads, vegetable curries too. They are reddish orange in colour which looks attractive.

Juniper berries are rich sources of Vitamin C which can help you in fighting common fever, cold which may affect you from day to day. Since these berries are helpful in detoxification, you can add them on veg,non-veg, salads or even stew. Kindly ensure that they are either ground or crushed or soaked in water for better results though it isn't compulsory.

Since these are natural food items, do not be averse in using them on a regular basis.

Pumpkin seeds are usually used by us. It is a natural ingredient which is rich in iron, magnesium, minerals and proteins.

These can be had along with salads or powdered and can be used in soups by sprinkling them on the top.

Quinoa is rich in fibre and minerals such as Zinc, Iron and Magnesium and can be used regularly since it helps in the digestion process.

This can be taken as a breakfast or mixed in salads. It can be had as a side dish or consumed in roasted form. if the kids doesn't like it, ground it and add it to the food.

Raw Hemp seeds naturally has Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids along with Vitamin E and various other minerals.

These seeds can be powdered and be consumed along with fruit shakes and vegetable soup apart from being eaten raw and also with salads.

Each and every seed has its own advantage and goodness. Sunflower seeds helps you in fighting thyroid. Since these seeds are rich in magnesium and is a great source of anti-oxidant, by taking this, you can help fighting thyroid ailments.

The seeds look similar to pumpkin seeds but this is little bigger and thicker.

You can use it as it is or in powdered form. It can be had along with dry fruits as a navratan.

Why Sorich Organics?

The company is a 9001:2008 Certified with license from FSSAI which means the end product what you are having in safe apart from being of highest standards in quality. They are available in leading stores apart from being available on Amazon which you can order sitting at your home, conveniently.

The product comes in a sealed, reusable packs and are priced affordably. Each product which has been reviewed above has a shelf life of 1.5 years or 18 months.

 You can also read my reviews on Amazon.

Tea Treasure - one stop destination for all the tea lovers

Do you love drinking tea? 

Do you get refreshed with the mere aroma of tea?

Is Tea your best companion?

Then you have reached the right destination. How many cups of tea do you drink in a day? A research says drinking 3-4 cups of tea will enhance immunity and also keep you young and healthy. Tea has lot of goodness in it which will never do any harm, anytime.

Do you get bored by drinking the tea? I am sure you wouldn't unless you are not that much interested in sipping tea. It is one of the most preferred drink worldwide. It goes well with lot of things. For goodness purpose, I am not mentioning all but a very few which includes chaats, biscuits and samosa to name a few.

I was not a great fan of tea myself but when I came across Tea Treasure on Amazon, I was amazed. The reason was that I could see not less than 30 varieties of tea. You read it right. They have a collection of various combination of tea which you wouldn't have even dreamt about it. I did not wait any further but started ordering all that I could.

As you could see, there are so many and they also have some accessories like tea cup, filter, filter bags which are reusable, Honey(which can act as a substitute for Sugar) etc.,

The products I ordered includes Sweet Dreams, Slimming, Kadak Masala, Premium Chai Masala, Immunity Booster, Mint Fusion, Tulsi, Lemon Tulsi, Premium Chai Combo, Topical Hibiscus,

Kashmiri Kawa, English Breakfast, Herbal Tisane, Oolong, Zesty Lemon, Silver Needle, Darjeeling FF, Darjeeling SF, Premium Chai, Green Butterfly, Princess of Green, Coconut Sencha, Pure Sencha, Pure Rooibos, Rooibos Temptation, Chamomile, Peepal Baba and Infuser.

As the name itself suggests, you can go for specific ones in order to see better results.

For instance, drinking Immunity Booster will help you get more immunity in your body in a natural way.

Topical Hibiscus -> You will find the hibiscus leaves infused with tea leaves.

Slimming Tea -> will help you in the slimming process.

Darjeeling SF -> Tea sourced from Darjeeling plantations

Mint Fusion -> Works well during cold.

Princess of Green -> Green Tea.

Tulsi -> Good for cold.

Lemon Tulsi -> Goodness of Tulsi combined with Lemon.

Eventhough some of the product names may look similar, each and every product differs from one another greatly. The speciality of these tea are the ingredients which I am sure that you would not have seen/witnessed it elsewhere. Only when you buy and use it, you would vouch my claims as you could see it yourself.

I could see that you are already having a near fatigue on going through such a huge list of varieties they have.

Each and every pack comes with unique ingredient which also sports a illustration mentioning as to how to use it. Most of the times, it is all about heating the water and add the the powder as usual and once it boils, remove from the stove. Add honey. Filter it and drink it. The smaller packs can serve atleast 8-10 cups which may differ according to your usage.

As you could see, I had the pleasure of tasting some of the best teas available out there sitting at home. Had I ventured out for the same to taste it in a high end restaurant or a dedicate tea house, I would have shelled out a bomb to sip/taste these many varieties of tea which luckily I avoided.

Now you also know where to head out to.....

#TheCulinaryQuest2017 at Phoenix Market City, Chennai

Phoenix Market City has always been the place which has been frequented by youngsters and others all through the day. The mall keeps buzzing with one activity or the other. Having located very close to Guru Nanak College, the mall houses some of the top notch brands from across various industries like Gadgets, Fashion, Technology, Entertainment, Food among others.

Having tasted the success with its #TheCulinaryQuest edition in 2016, the mall announced it this year as well which began on July 1st and would be going until July 31,2017. The announcement came at the time when the nation is already reeling under the shock of the proposal of GST which has seen the prices of the most of items being shot up with restaurants and multiplexes taking the maximum heat.

Having said that, Phoenix Market City decided to treat its customers during this testing time and announced the culinary quest where it has tied up with 10 top restaurants namely - Jonahs, Kobe, The Chocolate Room, Bombaysthan, Mamagato, iD, Noodle Bar, Spaghetti, Punjab Grill and Nandos. Each restaurant is unique in it's own aspect be it with its food or with the style they were being served with one common scenario for all - that all of them are situated inside the Phoenix Market City which means, you may prefer a Vegetarian or a Non Vegetarian food, Tandoori or Chinese, North Indian or South Indian, you get them all in one place.

Coming to the most interesting part. What is the OFFER in store?

There is a 15% off on all the above restaurants and the terms differ from one brand to other but having said that, most of the time, it would suit all and it would effectively offset the proposed GST of 18%

The team from Newspatrolling had an opportunity to visit Punjab Grill to taste the specially curated menu for this festival. We were served with Paneer Tikka Satay, Beetroot Ki Tikki, Tandoori Brocolli, Button Mushroom as starters.

This was followed by the main course which included Garlic Nan and Laccha Paratha with Dhabe Wali Dal and Roasted Masala Aloo and ended with Gulab Jamun Rabdi.

Some of the core points to be noted here:

1. The taste has remained the same over the period of time since we tasted the same items back in 2016 Culinary Quest as well.

2. Paneer is made in-house which ensures that it is prepared properly which cuts like a cake instead of being chewy in the centre.

3. The masala used in these items were blended evenly giving a perfect aroma and an everlasting taste.

4. The food tasted real good and at the same time, it did not burn a hole in our wallet.

5. The offer is valid till 31st July,2017. Make the best use of it to dine at some of the finest restaurants to taste the unique food and enjoy the delicacies thereby celebrating the real spirit of #TheCulinaryQuest2017

Grow with Fivestar

I along with fellow bloggers had an opportunity to visit the Five Star outlet in Besant Nagar. The showroom is located in Besant Avenue near Royal Enfield showroom.

Unlike other places which operates on kiosks model, this place is a dine-in place. It has a facility to accommodate even 15 people at a time.

What items did we get to taste?

1. Crunchy Masala

2. Thai Crispy

3. Hot 'n' Smokey

4. Chilli Nuggets

5. Spicy Fingers

6. Chicken Popcorn

7. Hungry Bird Burger

While we see about the food items in a while, I would talk about the store. The store offers a free wi-fi and payment can be made via JdPay. The store is available on Swiggy which means one can place online orders too.

Needless to say, the store is present on Zomato as well.  Do leave your review about the store.

What are the take away from the event?

There were few. Firstly we had an opportunity to taste the above mentioned delicacies and needless to say the taste remains the same ever since I had it which dates back to 2015. This shows the brand's commitment towards maintaining the standard and quality.

How is this possible?

The reason is simple. The brand which is a part of the global conglomerate CP Foods which is head quartered in Thailand and has over 7000 outlets in 9 countries namely Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, China, Bangladesh and India believes in 3 aspects:

1. Great Taste

2. Best Quality and

3. Great Value

The brand does not source chicken from outside but get it raised in their own poultry farm in Chittoor. The chicken gets distributed before sunrise to all the outlets which means whatever you eat is as fresh as they are. One should make a note that because of this, the chicken are not frozen enabling them to maintain its taste. This makes them say proudly that they adapt to "Farm to Food" methodology.

The chicken which is served is Halal Certified. Hence any one can eat it without any second thoughts.

Coming to the food:

Each and every item we ate were prepared and is unique with regards to its taste. The Thai Crispy is for those who wanted less spicy chicken an with international taste whereas hot 'n' smokey is just for Indian consumers. Chicken popcorn is a hit among youngsters because once you eat it, you will not go elsewhere.

Spicy fingers are prepared with chicken and binders are used to hold the grind which may include soy flour. Chilli nuggets are unique as they give you the feeling of eating a chicken paw. Crunchy Masala and Hungry Bird Burgers are the other delicacies which the brand is known for.

As mentioned above, the chicken would be delivered along with the ingredients/mix that would go in the making of the food item to ensure uniform taste across all the outlets. Only the preparation is done at the store.

We took few snaps inside and outside the outlet.

What makes Five Star special?

The brand operates on its own not depending on raw materials from other vendors hence making it possible to price their products low. A birthday party can be host for as less as Rs.1,000 covering 8-10 people either at the store or at your home.

The brand is also looking at expanding its base in Chennai and other parts of South India. The new model which they have come up will enable any one who is willing to put in their hard work and with a small investment of 6 lakhs onwards, can own up a franchisee where all the support like branding, staff training support, customer handling, set up of infrastructure and food items would be given by the brand.

You need not have to own a huge place. Even a mere 80-100 sq.ft space is enough to take up the franchise and at an expected profit after overheads pegging at approx 30%, one could take back their investment in 3 years max which means anything after that is just your profits, completely.

What more you are waiting for? If you do not want to work under some one and has the will to put in your hard work and want to be your own boss, join hands with the leading brand Five Star and grow with them.