Barbeque Nation- A delectable rendezvous.

       Each taste receptor on our tongue tingled away to glory. Item after item was being served, re-served and re-re-served; but we were not to be satiated. The travails of an arduous week lay mindlessly forgotten in the mélange of Zucchini cottage cheese, Assorted Mediterranean Grill, Lebanese chilli garlic potato and Gobi aachari (we being vegetarians were gorging on the shakahari upahaar. Of course, our dad, ever the carnivore, was busy devouring the chicken and the fish!). Even the humble cauliflower, usually lying forgotten in the gloomy confines of the refrigerator, was being greeted with eager anticipation and heartfelt delight. Yes. It really was that spectacular. (And we were just one round down!!!)

     Inaugurated a few months back, Andheri’s Barbeque Nation near Fun Republic Mall is one gratifying, tantalizing, scrumptious and gargantuan experience. With a seating capacity of nearly 270 people, this restaurant is surely going to be the next suburban hub. The taste is rich, the ambience, pleasing and the service is a delight. The live music jives well with the food and the humongous space gives one enough privacy and comfort. The interiors are intelligently designed with ample places for couples, gangs of friends and families alike. It is an apt place to spend an evening out with close ones where the food competes with the chit- chat!

         As is its USP, the barbeque was exquisite! The variety offered in both the courses was good and there was a fine consistency maintained in the taste levels. No particular taste was over- whelming and there was a feel- good factor about every dish. The buffet was interesting and in spite of the monstrosity of the barbeque, it was nice to have the succulent staple to add to the already full innards. The desserts were ravishing with my favorite Gulab Jamuns taking the cake (in that manner of saying!). Lastly, the mukhwaas and paan were, as usual, amazing! (Collected around 10 packs in total I guess :P)

          One thing however, that marred the wonderful night was the effort involved in reaching the place. A south Mumbai resident has that 'god-knows-where-this-forsaken-place-is' experience which was a disappointment. Another drawback, in spite of the unmatched service I told you about, was probably the over enthusiastic waiter who would insist on stuffing us with the starters every time he crossed us by. Though amusing at first, the unbridled service ate up significant main course tummy space!

         The august restaurant regaled our appetence and stoked both our gustatory and olfactory senses! The mouth watering symphony along with the tranquil karaoke spread appetizing delight to tongue, tummy and heart. All in all, the medley of food, music and banter enraptured our minds and gladdened our souls.

Looking forward to another reverent visit to this delicious restaurant.

This is the Sciolist, along with Tilak Vaidya.

Signing out!!!

About the authors:

Pranav Vaidya, who goes under the pen name The Sciolist, is an avid reader, food enthusiast, zealous blogger, Lord of the Rings fanatic, Android addict, fervent writer and sporadic poet. To follow his other work, visit Sciolism, which is an advocacy of his perspectives.

Tilak Vaidya is a budding computer engineer, amateur cricketer, neophyte guitarist, voracious reader, effervescent blogger, spasmodic poet and aspiring novelist. When he isn't gobbling up books by the dozen, he preaches at Opinionate.

OMG, What a Movie !!!

Rating: 4 out of 5

To describe in one word – Amazing

To describe in two words – Simply Outstanding

OMG is an outstanding movie, delivering a strong message. Movies are usually not for me, as I seem to hardly like any movies. However, OMG has an amazing concept, something which one can relate to. It would touch that very part of your belief in God and make you think whether your belief about what is God is actually true.

The director gives interesting insight and perspective about what is God. Not denying the fact that the movie does preach about what is God and what is not. But the best part is, the director has managed to mix entertainment and a strong message in a smooth way and there is not even a single moment in which you would feel like taking a loo break or fidgeting with your Android.

The story begins with Kanji Mehta (Paresh Rawal), a typical Gujrathi, who knows how to do business. Atheist to the core, Kanji does not believe in God. His business is to sell the idols at super expensive prices by making up stories. He even manages to go to Haridwar in a trip sponsored by a son in memory of his mother an all he does is buy more stuff.

Then one day Kanji’s son takes part in a dahi handi. In order to dissuade him, he spreads rumours and the whole dahi handi thing goes for a toss. And as one would guess, God punishes him for his act. An earthquake completely destroys his shop. But hold on, everything else is unmoved. Thus, God plays the cruel role of destroying his source of income. Even the insurance company rejects his claim saying that the damage is due to act of God. That is when, he decides to sue the God and your movie begins.

The movie has amazing dialogues and arguments put forth are nicely scripted. Each and every character is flawless and plays his role to perfection. Paresh Rawal, Mithun Chakraborty, Mahesh Manjrekar, Akshay Kumar and Om Puri are wonderful and keep you engaged. The real life resemblance of Mithun Chakraborty, Govind Namdeo as Siddheshwar Maharaj and Poonam Jhawer as Gopi Maiyya makes them all the more fun (That is if, you can guess that they actually portray real life sadhus).

After ages, there seems to be a Hindi movie which has balanced the fun and the message part nicely. I would even dare to say that this movie is better than Barfi. Must watch movie, do not miss it. It’s something you will never regret.

Mumbai Board Gamers

When we were kids we used to spend our days playing games with friends, usually without bothering about anything else. As we grew up, we continued playing games with our friends, only now the games weren’t limited to dice or boards or pawns. The words ‘business’ , ‘monopoly’, ‘ludo’, ‘snakes & ladders’ or ‘chinese chekkers’ always bring a smile to my face as they remind me of those wonderful childhood days. Sometimes I miss playing these games. I tend to wonder why I grew up to busy myself with this corporate life. For those who liked such games played other games like ‘scrabble’, ‘the game of life’, ‘pictionary’, ‘scotland yard’.

Eclipse

I recently came across this group of enthusiastic ‘board gamers’ who meet almost every week to play board games. These games are not games which you would have normally played before. These games are more advanced and they need strategies, thinking and anticipating your opponent’s moves. The games have gigantic boards with hundreds of pawns with which you can perform various actions. To name a few - ‘Eclipse’ is a game which involves space age battle, ‘Civilization’ on the other hand allows  you to build your own civilization, promote your own culture and win battles, ‘Powergrid’ makes you use resources like oil, coal, money to power cities which you control. There are more than 100 such games with them.

Stone Age

So if you are in Mumbai and want to spend your time in a constructive manner then I suggest you should try out at least one session with them. If you feel you don’t know how to play these games, then worry not, they are kind enough to explain all the rules in detail and before starting a game they do conduct a trial game. Games vary across all genres and difficulty with number of players ranging from 2-10 depending on the game. Some games need 1-2 hours whereas some may even take 5-6 hours to finish. These sessions are organized all over Mumbai but generally at Parel, Mahalaxmi, Bandra and Juhu.

The Mumbai Board Gamers was formed 5 months back. They already have around 100 members. The people in the group are down to earth and very helping. Some of them are alumni of IITs  and IIMs also. One needs to just give their time and dutch in for whatever they eat / drink, rest everything is on the house.

I joined them last week and have already attended four sessions and it is truly addictive. It’s certainly better than watching a sitcom or lazing around watching TV. Some of these games are also part of business school games. And additionally it serves the purposes of networking and meeting new people.

You can reach them by joining Mumbai BoardGamers or for any details / queries please leave a comment here or get in touch with me @gaurav_agrawall on twitter.

Barfi ! - Unadulterated Innocence...

Unadulterated Innocence! That is how you describe the ‘Barfi’ experience in two words. The movie which travels from the hustle bustle of Kolkata to the quaint, mist-laden environs of Darjeeling is much a treat for all age groups alike. It captures the yet-uncorrupted parts of your brain well and does manage to enthuse the hidden child or maybe just the die-hard romantic in you.

The script revolves around the life of Barfi, a young guy who cannot speak or hear. And what is Bollywood if not for a love triangle? But this triangle is as beautiful as it is different. The story is a beautiful rendition of how differently abled people can and are like any other human being. It speaks volumes how much one can communicate even sans words. How emotions and love can be conveyed without speaking. That is where the movie’s USP lies. It’s simple yet elegant and it does manage to leave you teary-eyed.

Barfi or Ranbir Kapoor, happy go lucky as he is, falls in love with Shruti, played nicely by the newcomer Ileana D’cruz. But as luck would have it she is already engaged. Love still blossoms in the hills and there comes a time where she needs to make a choice. And choose she does! In some other part of town, Jhilmil or Priyanka Chopra, who suffers from Autism is living her own story. Barfi who has grown up with Jhilmil decides to kidnap her when he needs money for his father’s operation. And there begins the comedy of hits and misses. From Darjeeling to Kolkata and back - it’s all seeped in raw emotions and love!

Travelling back and forth in time, the movie narrates itself as a story with constant flashbacks to different periods in time. One may get a tad confused but if one engrosses oneself in the movie enough then I am pretty sure it will be a relish. The cinematography and direction are spell binding and keep you entertained throughout. And the acting is simply marvellous – be it Ranbir or Priyanka or even Inspector Dutta (played by Saurabh Shukla). Although the first part is a bit slow and may make you take your eyes away from the movie, the second part more than makes up for the slip. The plus point of the second part being better than the first is that it leaves a lasting and lingering good-wala feeling on you. Overall it is a good watch and I would rate it 3.5/5 !!

Catch the official trailer here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZxrao3zou4

US Open 2012 – Preview of Men’s Singles preview

So the final slam of the year is here. Considered to be the fastest of the four courts, the US Open has always been exciting. Last four years have produced four different winners, most notable was the US Open of 2009 where Juan Martin Del Potro came from 2 sets down to win the match and the tournament. I still remember how I had written off Del Potro after being 2 sets down and had gone off to sleep. But as the saying goes, you can never win at half time and the goal is not scored until it is actually scored.

So, time for predictions of US Open 2012 winner. People would call me foolish and also thoughtless if I say that this year’s tournament will be won by someone apart from Federer or Djokovic or Murray and it may be right too considering the way these people have dominated tournaments year after year. There are few who have managed to challenge these players in grand slams and no player has been able to keep winning against these players on a consistent basis.

Obviously, the withdrawal of Rafael Nadal from this year’s tournament may be the talking point but everything would be forgotten once the tournament gets underway. Talking about the grand prediction, it doesn’t take in-depth tennis knowledge to guess the winner.

Roger Federer has rolled back years and sublimely taken over Wimbledon again. The elegance, the skill and the mastery seems to be back. Besides, his bogey player, Nadal has also withdrawn. He is thus a formidable opponent and a challenger for title. Novak – he is another contender to win the title. With his fighting spirit, his rise to the top, his stamina and bringing out his best at toughest times, Djoko is now one of the favourites. Murray has now formed a reputation which he may not like - of not performing at a big stage. But, it seems, with Ivan Lendl being his coach, there is a difference in his mentality. Shockingly, his previous defeats in grand slam finals were in straight sets but in Wimbledon finals he managed to finally win a set. His comprehensive victory against Federer in the Olympics gold medal match may come as a shocker but it seems that his time has finally come.

Apart from these three, the only player which I feel can challenge top three is Del Potro. The fast pace court will suit his game. Del Potro is one whom I assume to be a dark horse and certainly consider him better than Tsonga and Ferrer.

However, if you ask me to put my money on a player, I may still go with Novak Djokovic. According to me he just has that extra edge which may help him to overcome other 127 players. Lets wait for 8th September !!!

66th year of Indian Independence!

Thousands of ‘midnight hours’ have come and gone by, the world slept and awoke as a routine and India managed to complete its 66 years of existence as a democracy when states around it succumbed to military rule and autocracies. This by no means is a mean feat but India now needs to rise from the ‘midnight hour’ phenomenon as we certainly did not catch the entire world napping; for the record it was 2.30pm in the American Capital and most would have been wide awake. Nevertheless, the allegory symbolises the intrinsic value of the historical event that was unfolding – the lowering of the Union Jack and hoisting of the Tricolour!

India will always have a special place in history. Not only because the Indus valley civilisation was much advanced than the contemporary world but also because it has resolutely but subtly had its effect on the entire world. UK would not have been such a roaring economy (pre-crisis I mean) but for the gold that was looted from India. Bangladesh would not been born if not for Indira Gandhi’s timely intervention in the erstwhile East Pakistan. So also South Africa would have taken a few more years to rid itself of the apartheid that was prevalent therein if the Mahatma had not stood against the whites. These are the few direct impacts we have had on the world. But we still continue to prop up the IT industry of the world and many of NASA’s scientists are Indians.

But now India needs to reclaim its lost glory – lost because the current glory is but a mere shadow of its original being. India needs to assert itself on the world stage. By assert I do not mean that it should disturb world peace or disrupt the democratic systems around the world. But a point needs to be driven home that we shall not take things lying down. Indian diplomacy needs to rise to the occasion and re-engage with like-minded countries and untie to fight the scourges of terrorism, violence, corruption and similar global vices. Using the platforms of multilateral platforms a refreshing change needs to be brought in the way systems function. From expansion of the UN Security Council to giving impetus to the Non-alignment Movement, from establishing channels of communication with the African nations to building bridges with the South American continent, from playing a meaningful role in the Middle Eastern crises to taking decisive action to arrest global warming – the time has come for a nation to reawaken.

National interest should be at the forefront of any decision, political or otherwise. If anyone falls short of the patriotism that is needed to support India in nation building, well, simply tune in to the numerous patriotic songs that are playing around. The heart-wrenching voice of Lata Mangeshkar singing Vande Mataram instantly makes one teary eyed. It affects you because somewhere within you know you are falling short of doing your bit for your country, your motherland. It is time you wake up to the nation’s call. Take a pledge to serve your country in whatever way possible. Be a responsible citizen. And remember – we are all Indians first and lastly we are Indians!

The Irish House

For all those who wanted a Mclarens kind of bar to hang out at, here’s a great option – The Irish House at Phoenix Mills. Yes, it’s inside Phoenix Mills. In case, you are wondering how come you missed even though you Phoenix mills is your second home on weekends, join the club. JFYI, it’s up the stairs next to Smoke House Deli and Noodle Bar.

Conspicuousness apart, the place has great ambience. They've got the typical bar look just right with brick walls, bare wooden tables and high chairs. Just the right mix of the classy and the casual. The walls are interspersed with TV screens playing the ongoing  sport events. What takes your attention away, and I mean this literally, is the huge roll down screen. If you want to enjoy a match with buddies over beer, this is the place to be. Gives the place a sports bar-ish feel. I ve heard they also have a Karaoke and stand up comedy too. Should check that out sometime.  There’s something about the place and one liners. You’ll find one liners “Ask not for what your country has done for you, ask whats for main course” and “Reality is just an illusion caused by the lack of alcohol”J all over the place right from walls to the coasters. The crowd quality is also pretty good (Read between the lines!).

 Anyway, the ‘must try out’ as far as food is concerned would be the Grande Nachos. Cheesy and saucy, it forms the perfect munching option .There is another heavenly dish full of cheese rightly named ‘Heavenly Cheese’ - a delight for cheese lovers. In general, the place has yummy appetizers are quite good. Vegetarians are not really left with too many options as far as main course is concerned though I would recommend the Meditteranean Sandwich for veggies. The pastas and spaghettis are nothing special but then hey it’s an Irish pub and not an Italian restaurant. My carnivore friends say that the shrimp bucket was excellent so you may want to try that out.  If you are a lover of cottage cheese, then you got to try out the Double Double – An ultimate delight consisting only of cottage cheese. They serve most beer brands and also a decent variety of cocktails though the mock tail menu leave doesn’t really leave you spoilt for choices.

The menu is slightly overpriced but worth it I would say considering the quality (and quantity) of time that can be spent there. If you believe that “Beer is the answer ... who cares about the question!!” or you are a sports aficionado or you are just looking to chill post work, just grab hold of a couple of friends and go Irish.