International Street Food Festival at L-14, by Renaissance Lucknow

Hey loves, what's happening? Is it just me or you too are excited about the fact that the weather in Lucknow has taken a drastic turn and cold waves have hit Northern India once again. Its been raining heavily here and the climate has become delightful with a hint of romanticism! People are planning long drives and enjoying. And, amidst that, the all day dining restaurant at L-14, Renaissance Lucknow Hotel has this on-going INTERNATIONAL STREET FOOD FESTIVAL welcoming foodies, giving them a chance to dig into global cuisine from India, U.S., China, Thailand, Mexico, Italy and the Middle East for dinner!

For many of you who keep asking me if I get bored going to the same restaurant again and again, let me tell you what keeps me getting back here is the newness and the innovation the F&B team at the hotel offers each time! LIVE food stations is just one of the many things I experienced this time, where you see the appetite for good food, cooked with passion and authenticity with the wide spread of the ingredients that offers you to choose your favorites, and for anyone who loves everything customised, its going to be really exciting for you!

STARTERS

The map (you see in the picture above) displays all the food stations as placed at the restaurant to help you find your favorite cuisine. Starting from the CHAAT COUNTER, which included everything that I could find at any random chaat hawker across the streets in town, but displayed in a much more beautiful setup with all hygienic contents. I tried the Paani Puri in 4 different flavoured water, along with Aloo Tikki, Matar Chaat, Aloo Chaat and Bhel Puri. All items served in recycled structured donas (banana leaf bowls) to keep the authenticity of the Indian culture as best known for reviving the age-old eco-friendly culinary traditions!

Around the world street food is one of the biggest, most loved, yet most unstructured culinary cultures. My second stop was the SOUP STATION where they served Soup with a variety of condiments and offered to choose between fried and boiled noodles, assorted veggies and types of breads! And, amongst other starters, I had some Nachos and Pita Bread with Salsa and Dips from the Mexican cuisine, and really yummy vegetarian Sushi rolled with rice, herbs and spices from Japan.

Asian Soup Station

Mexican Station - Nachos & Pita

Japanese Station - Sushi

MAIN COURSE

With variations within regions and cultures, street food vending is found across the world. Sold by vendors and peddlers, chief characteristics of street food is that it is reasonably priced and flavoured and easily available! And for all of you who might be thinking why would one go to a 5-star hotel to eat the same food that's available on the streets in less than half of the price, guys I feel you should know that there is much diversity in the raw materials as well as in the preparation techniques of dishes, which is much hygienic and healthier. 

The MONGOLIAN COUNTER opposite to the bar in the restaurant had an array of stuffed and regular Pasta including raviolis, spaghetti, bucatini, fusilli, fettuccine, etc. I ordered for some spaghetti in red sauce and assorted vegetables and it was indeed a lovely sight watching them prepare for me LIVE! From the ASIAN COUNTER, I picked some Veg Shawarma that was filled with some sauce and vegetables which of course was a very simple dish and tasted just regular salad in pita. Also, some Green Thai Curry, Gobhi Kebabs, Beetroot Kebabs, Momos, and Side Vegetables sauted and fried on the authentic Indian tawa. And one thing that came as a surprise was the Kottu Paratha from the SRI LANKAN CUISINE. Its basically a kottu roti chopped into waves and fried, served with vegetable curry or eggs, and tasted delcious!

Mongolian Counter - Pasta

Spaghetti in Red Sauce

Veg Shawarma

Thai Green Curry

Momos from Dehradun

Asian Counter

Garlic Butter Sauce Veggies, Garlic Mash Potato, Gobhi Ki Shami, Nawabi Chukandar 

Tawa Sabz

Srilankan Counter - Kottu Paratha

DESSERTS

Renaissance Hotel is a chalk full of desserts, and its vast array of options make it difficult to decide which ones to indulge in. At the on-going International Street Food Festival, you will get to discover the top delicious sweet dishes from different corners of the world that will win not only your heart but also your soul! 

At the restaurant, the CREPE STATION attracts you with the LIVE setup where you can opt for your favorite sweet condiments (chocolate bars/choco chips/brownies) that will be rolled into your crepe and layered with maple/chocolate/strawberry syrup, or honey. I chose chocolate brownie with strawberry syrup and it tasted exemplary! Next at the Dessert Theatre is a wide layout of Fresh Fruit Cakes, Truffle Pastries, Fruit Savarin, Baked Yogurt, Choco Tart, Strawberry Buns, etc. All in all, you cannot go without digging into each one even if its just a bite!

Crepe Station

Strawberry Choux Bun

Baked Yogurt, Chocolate Hazelnut Tart

Fresh Fruit Savarin, Fruit Cake, Chocolate Truffle Pastry 

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I hope you liked going through this post. Don't forget to share it across and let people know that the International Street Food Festival is running up till 12th March, 2017 so you can go there and experience it yourself. Tip : Take the entire family along! INR 1350+ taxes per head. Make bookings HERE.

Photographed by : Azman Khan

~xoxo~

Indonesian Food Festival at L-14, by Renaissance Lucknow

"Once the rice is pudding, it's too late to reclaim the rice!" - Indonesian Proverb

Since I was I kid, every time someone used the word "Indonesia", my first thoughts about the place flashed as an island full of volcanoes, jungles and people eating rice. Or re-framing it, rice always came first because my daddy said Indonesians eat too much rice, so you know why I used that proverb above! PS : I haven't still visited the country but today, several years later I feel incredible writing down this post for you sharing my first experience with the Indonesian cuisine.

So, the food and beverages team at Renaissance Lucknow Hotel put together an amazing Indonesian dinner buffet to gorge upon naming it AYAM : flavours from Indonesia to relish the Awadhi palette, at their L-14 restaurant. I was invited to taste the bit along with my friend Azman like always who reviews the non veg delicacies because I refrain from doing it anymore! Anyway, let's get down to read my take on the Indonesian cuisine as served with love at the on-going Indonesian food festival.

Many of you must already know that Indonesian food is full of colors and flavours, mainly because its indigenous techniques and ingredients have been greatly influenced by other cuisines, including Chinese, Indian, European and Dutch, but has been adapted and modified to suit the local palate. Upon researching, I got to know that there are six main Indonesian cooking methods that are used to prepare the best of meals : frying, roasting, grilling, sautéing, boiling and steaming. With that, I was also told by Chef Balvinder at Renaissance Hotel that Indonesian food is usually cooked in advance and served at room temperature, although there are some dishes that should be consumed hot and fresh from the stove or barbecue - like the 'satays'!

If you now feel excited enough, scroll down to take a quick look at what all I tasted!

STARTERS

Unlike my other visits at the hotel, this time it was so much more fun. You could say it was so because I dropped in after 3 whole months and everyone greeted me with so much warmth since it had been so long we saw each other. Well, I was served some veggie satays including Paneer Satay and Babycorn-Mushroom Satay first. To notify, "Satay" (or sate as they put in Indonesian spelling) is a dish of seasoned, skewered and grilled veggies, served with a sauce. Its one of the most loved recipe in the cuisine and tbh, I loved it even more. The soft, succulent, grilled satays were a blast of spicy, tangy flavours in my mouth!

Along with that, I also tried the Khow Suey soup which in real is a Burmese dish but it was served with just green onion and one of the world's hottest and Indonesia's favorite pepper as the core ingredient, the Bird Eye Chilli. For all those who watched the coverage LIVE, already know I could just sip like 5 spoons and I was done because man, that chilli was HOT, but tasted yum! 

Veggie Satays, Paneer Satay (cottage cheese)

Khow Suey Soup

MAIN COURSE

After that real awakening from the hottest punch ever, I really wanted something subtle and hence took some Bani Goreng, also known as Mie Goreng, which is a flavorful and spicy fried noodle dish common in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The veggies in there helped me cut down the extra spice from the soup, with some Caponata which is a Sicilian dish consisting of a cooked vegetable salad made from chopped fried eggplant and celery seasoned with vinegar, with capers in a sweet and sour sauce. Too many vegetables for the night, ah!

Let's talk about my favorite for the night - Nasi Goreng, a fried rice dish with vegetables and spices (notably cardamom, coriander, cumin, ginger, onions and garlic), the Spanish chilli, and peanuts. I took some Stir Fried Chilli Basil Vegetable Curry along with it and some Mushroom Fricassee on the side which tasted heaven in white sauce. Rice is the staple food of Indonesians and the aromatic rice they use is unmatchable. Well, I tasted just that! Beautifully soaked flavours in rice with the perfect crunch of veggies.

Bani Goreng

Nasi Goreng

Caponata

Stir Fried Chilli Basil Vegetable Curry

Mushroom Fricassee

Some aficionados never go beyond the usual Nasi Goreng, Bani Goreng or Satay but for the more adventurous there is a wonderful variety of tasty treats available at this food fest! My first experience with the Indonesian food has been exemplary in real and has provoked me to repeat the entire course (hehe)!

PS : Don't forget to try the delightful tender coconut mocktail blended with orange juice and served in a coconut shell topped with mint and strawberries. 

DESSERTS

You know, desserts are something I eat before the meal every time, but while writing my posts for you guys, I put it at the last because that's my favorite thing! At L-14, apparently most of the chefs now know how much I love Mahalabia. So much so that I tried the same at other hotel in another city recently and told them its nowhere close to the heavenly dessert I eat at Renaissance. So ofcourse, 3 bowls of Mahalabia to taste, and a Sago Pudding (made of sabudana in and garnished with mango) were my first picks.

The second round of desserts after the meal included some Brownies, Orange Baked Yogurt, Fresh Fruit Savarin, Chocolate Pastry and Meringue. Well, I did a third round too as Chef Balvinder puts it "there's always a side space in your tummy for abundance of desserts", and I was served another bowl of Mahalabia to complete my meal!

Round 1

Round 2

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If you liked reading this post, do share it across and subscribe to this blog for all new post updates. And, the Indonesian Food Festival at L-14, Renaissance Lucknow Hotel is up till 12th Feb, 2017. If you're a real food lover, you must go and check it out! Make reservations HERE.

 

Photographed by : Azman Khan

~xoxo~

Punjabi Food Festival at L-14, by Renaissance Lucknow

Hi everyone, hope y'all are doing good. Well, for all my Indian readers, I know guys we are all going through mixed feelings at the moment with the new currency notes issued. But, I really hope the government is able to do what they have pictured for future, for the betterment of everyone!

With that, I'd like to mention that for past few days I've been getting requests to post a full story about the PUNJABI FOOD FESTIVAL that's going on at L-14, Renaissance Lucknow Hotel, on my blog as you'd been seeing pictures from there on my social media. But amidst all the currency affair, I just got delayed. As I collect the energy to write this down today, I thought of just quickly taking you through the entire buffet that I captured the other day on my visit to try some authentic Punjabi food at the restaurant!

You know I tend to eat a lot when it comes to dinners, and Punjabi food has always ignited the foodie in me. I love the cuisine of Punjab, as it has an enormous variety of mouth-watering vegetarian as well as non vegetarian dishes. The spice content ranges from minimal to pleasant to high. Punjabi food is usually relished by people of all communities. In Punjab, home cooking differs from the restaurant cooking style. At the restaurants, the chefs make a liberal use of desi ghee, butter and cream to make the food lip smacking and finger licking. Since I was a kid, my parents were keen on feeding me dishes from the land of five rivers, as they say. And developing a taste so good is always useful because now that I have so many Punjabi friends, I keep getting the flavor love!

So, I recently attended the on-going Punjabi Food Festival at L-14, Renaissance Lucknow and got to taste some authentic but exclusively prepared dishes from the dinner buffet curated by Chef Balvinder and his team. To be honest, they always make me go crazy with their innovative flavors and that's exactly what happened this time again. I chose to try the maximum vegetarian dishes I could, and my friend Azman did all the non vegetarian tasting and we have a complete review for you all below.

Also, the fest is up till 13th November, 2016 so you all can go and enjoy all of it yourself!

That's my plate full of sarso saag (topped with white butter), makka roti (corn bread), rajma, chathkara pyaaz (onion), gud (jaggery), paneer tikka, and corn kebab.

Like always, let's start with the starters first. As I like spicy food, I kind of also keep it subtle, and hence tried the famous Bhutta Kebab that's made of corn and is amazingly crispy and full of Indian flavors, and along with that tried some Paneer Tikka as the starters, beautifully roasted and topped with spice that matched my taste so much! In the non vegetarian section, Azman picked some Lamb Chops and some Amritasari Machhi (fish) and in his words, "I simply loved the mouthwatering lamb blended with flavors of real Punjab, and the fish I've tasted has never been so crisp and on fleek." So first come first rank the starters are always so good at Renaissance.

Bhutta Kebab

Bhatti ka Paneer

Coming to the main course, I'll first tell you about the vegetarian dishes as that's all about my liking. I love paneer more than anything in the main course mostly, and hence I tried the delicious Butter Paneer along with the authentically prepared Sarso Saag, Rajma and Karare Matar that are always the highlight of the Punjabi buffet, as lentils have always been the important ingredients of the cuisine! My three favorites cooked to perfection and I just couldn't resist getting second servings of each!

Butter Paneer

Sarso Saag

Rajma

I'm not sure but do you too feel that Punjabi cuisine has more Non Vegetarian dishes than Vegetarian and I kinda dislike it, because why the difference bro? Well, good for Azman because he got to try so many varieties of lamb and chicken and fish and everything was so appealing and like always he did insist me to try some but I'm just against animal killing (and also eating). But, I'm sure many of you are hard core non-vegetarians and must be drooling looking at all the pictures below. As per Azman's review, he liked every bit of the soft cooked lamb which bursted with Indian flavors leaving the spiciness on the tongue for a log time! The Chicken Wings were so delectable and the Butter Chicken had a distinctive local flavor to it which was irresistible. He also found the Bhuna Gosht and other lamb dishes really toothsome and tasted more than a piece for satisfaction!

Tandoori Kukkad (chicken with Indian spices)

Bhuna Gosht (Lamb with Indian Spices)

Butter Chicken

Chulhe di Champee (Lamb cooked in Traditional Indian Spices)

Asian Style Chicken Wings

Gosht Pulao (Lamb Pilaf)

 Oh, and guys don't forget to taste some Papad. It'll just add to the Punjabi flavor!

Traditional Punjabi thali consists of varied kinds of breads; some are baked in the tandoor such as Tandoori Roti, Lachha Paratha, Naan and Kulcha, while others are dry baked on tava like Chapatti and Jowar ki Roti. There is another fabulous variety of roti called Rumali Roti, which is larger in size as compared to the normal one and is also easily absorbable. Also, there are breads that are shallow fried such as Parantha and deep fried such as Poori and Bhatoora. And we tried so many varieties all together, simply because they looked so inviting and tasted scrumptious!

And it was so sweet of one of the chefs to show us the proper technique he uses to make the best tandoori rotis/kulchas for us!

Variety of Naan and Kulcha we tasted, including Makka Roti, Methi Naan, Pudina Naan, etc.

High on calories maybe but Punjabi dinner cannot end without a serving or two of authentic Indian desserts. You won't just do justice if you forget trying the indigenous Gulab Jamun and Rasmalai with melting-in-mouth tendency. They are two of my favorites in the Indian dessert list, and adding to that my most favorite Mahalabia at L-14, which is always impressible! Along with these, we also tried some other desserts from the counter and I really liked the Strawberry Mousse because it had that soft texture and light sweet flavor that appealed so much!

Gulab Jamun, Rasmalai, Mahalabia 

White Chocolate Strawberry Mousse

Cheese Cake

Baked Yogurt

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I had a wonderful time, enjoying the Punjabi dinner buffet at L-14, Renaissance Lucknow Hotel and I highly recommend you all to visit there and try the specially crafted food for all. Its not something you get in town everyday, and so you shall MAKE RESERVATIONS NOW.

 

Photographed by : Azman Khan

~xoxo~