New Yorkers!

Date: May 20, 2010
Time: 8.00 PM
Occasion: 1st of my 21st Year Birthday Treats!
Place: New Yorkers
Location: Kings Circle, Matunga
Ratings: ***1/2
Courses Tried: Mocktails, Pastas, Sizzlers
Moolah: Moderately expensive
Pricing: Rs. 180-250 per dish, mocktails 135-155 odd !
Quantity: 1 dish = 2-3 persons
Transport - Closest Station - Matunga East



finally i turned twenty-one and it was time for those beckoning treats. the first one was to be an all-veg affair so we decided upon New Yorker's at Matunga. I reached a little late and since most of the tables had a maximum of six chairs, we had to order an extra chair - free free free !!!


hungry as ever, i entered late, only to find ayushi, nisha and pooja (the first two read as dummies), were already there. the sofas are quite comfortable but the negative point is that it can seat maximum six. so bigger groups will have to split. also people who would want to talk and share their joys with others - beware! you will be non-chalantly chided for talking too loudly! so we first began with mocktails... of varied hues and sizes, filled in differently sized glasses. so we had lemon breezers, blue caracao breezers, strawbeery, peach, etc etc the blue curacao breezer was yummy. fizzling with soda and draped in the sea blue colour, topped with a spring of mint and a slice of lime. and the strawberry was a treat for the eyes. then came along the nachos. with the ever-favourite cheese!!! it was really good. the nachos were more like kahkras though and there was an evident dash of turmeric. but it tasted good with all the capsicums. next on the menu was pasta and sizzlers. we had the two ring pasta - a nice blend of sweeet and spicy, spaghetti and penne, white sauce and red sauce! the sizzlers were not good though. overly priced, less quantity, VEG and not great! the italian one had only pasta , beans and cabbage!!! all for 320??? whereas the shashlik was more like manchurian! a big let down given he starting fare!

Prices as on the abovementioned date -
Lemon Breezer - Rs. 155
Blue Curacao Breezer - Rs. 155
Peach Margarita - Rs. 135
Strawberry Margarita - Rs. 135
Nachos with Cheese - Rs. 200
Two Ring Pasta - Rs. 200
Italian Sizzler - Rs. 325
Veg and Paneer Shashlik Sizzler - Rs. 365

its a good place to go if you are a veggie. they don't tolerate too much noise though and you will be served with regular reminders to keep your volume low. good place to dine with one's family. they have many branches here and there so location is not an issue generally.

Timbuctoo

Date: May 1, 2010
Time: 9.00 PM
Occasion: Nightout at Akanksha's!
Place: Timbuctoo
Location: Mulund R Mall
Ratings: ***
Courses Tried: Mocktails, Starters and Continental
Moolah: moderately expensive
Pricing: Rs. 125-145 per dish, mocktails 100 odd !
Quantity: 1 dish = 2-3 persons
Transport - Closest Station - Mulund


surprise surprise!!! one more outing after exams, this time at Mulund at Akanksha's amazing Place. and we had to go out for dinner so we zeroed in upon timbuctoo. I was rather indifferent about the place but certain people made it sure that we ended up there. The place is a part of urban tadka and pop tates and is an open air affair! the place is filled with hooka fragrance and there are many tables for the ever-starving tummies.


we were 9 of which 4 were vegetarians ( :( ) so we arranged ourselves that way affording us convenience to eat directly from the plate! We concluded on ordering separate mocktails for each of us rather than share. I particularly didn't want to share those thirst quenchers. So we ordered around 7 mocktails with names like Sunset and Sun rise, Virginia and Zulu something. Virginia was quite nice, with lots of strawberry and a hint of other flavours. The zulu thing was colourful too, with the major drink being Orange juice. I was gettign restless with us having ordered zilch food. So we decided to order starters. a few veg and 2 non-veg. Dunno what the vegetarians ordered but we had Thai BBQ Chicken and Blasted Chicken. Thai BBQ chicken was little spicy, tangy, flat chicken discs fried in oil. The blasted chicken was good. Very tender and superbly herbed, roasted to perfection. It had a dressing of a tangy sauce and served with mashed potato and sour onions. The main course included a Chicken Lasagne and something called as bananani (not sure of the name though). The Lasagne was piled with layers and cheese and flat pasta and was filled with a very tasty mixture of minced meat. The Bananani was a sort of penne and chicken pasta with white sauce. I certainly disliked the fact that they served it an hour after we ordered and only when I threatened them to cancel the order. But it was more than sufficiently cheesy. We ordered an additional barbeque starter called Friday Night Fever or something (sorry but I really dont have an online menu to quote the correct names). That was the most awesome chicken started I had had. The chicken was deliciously soft and tender. And was roasted to perfection.

I guess it is a good place to hangout with friends. It is more of a hookah place and is a very good deal for non-vegetarians. It's not too costly and the bill came to around Rs. 300 per head. The quantity is okayish though. You could book a place in advance during peak times.