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~

Hyderabadi Food Festival : Daawat-E-Nizaam at Sepia, by Renaissance Lucknow

Wait! Did we just read 'Hyderabadi food'? One of the most exciting cuisines in India, or should we boast like it and say around the world? Yes, the food and beverages team at Renaissance Lucknow Hotel has managed to bring down the authentic flavors from the city of Nizams to city of Nawabs to savour!

Hyderabad is hugely admired for its sophisticated, spicy and absolutely scrumptious cuisines. Like any other historical city, the food of Hyderabad blends royal zest with regional tang and delivers a mouth-watering potpourri of Andhra (now Telangana) specialities and Hyderabadi cuisines that is loaded with spices, ghee and dry fruits and displays the indigenous culinary tradition of the land. Since centuries, Hyderabadi food has attracted bon vivants with its delicate taste and aromatic flavor. The food platter of the city of Nizams not only boasts of local zest, but is also influenced by the culinary traditions of Persia, Arabia, Afghanistan and Turkish nations.

Upon my recent visit to the Sepia restaurant, situated on the third floor at Renaissance Hotel, I was treated with a smorgasbord of finger-licking delicacies straight from the aesthetically curated Hyderabadi menu by Chef Moshin Qureshi and his team, where they beckon its guests to come and experience a 'Shahi' fine dining event. From delectable kebabs to heavily spiced curries to highly aromatic biryani, the on-going HYDERABADI FOOD FESTIVAL at Sepia is a delightful haven for the foodies! Scroll down below to take a look at what all I tasted..

STARTERS

Of all the Muslim cuisines, Hyderabadi is the only cuisine in the sub-continent that can boast of a major vegetarian element. Well, I could sense that from the starters, and it continued till the main course. But first things first, I was served some delightful looking Paalak Anjeer Kebabs which were basically made of spinach + green chilly + coriander + lemon leaves + mint soaked all night and made into a paste, and binded into kebabs while filling them with anjeer (figs) and khoya, blended with spices that burst flavours in your mouth. And, similar was the case with the Veg Shikampuri Kebabs that melted in the mouth right as you feel the taste of cumin, cloves and cinnamon rolled into bengal gram lentil. Lastly I tried the Hariyali Paneer Tikka which was grilled perfectly on the sides, but became coarse on the centre, but were beautifully marinated in the green paste with subtle spices and tasted just yum!

Paalak Aur Anjeer Ke Kebab

Veg Shikampuri Kebab

Hariyali Paneer Tikka

MAIN COURSE

Hyderabadi cuisine contains a variety of ingredients that are commonly used, ranging from vegetables, spices, rice flavors, fruits etc., with tomato and tamarind being the most commonly used ingredients. So, among the widely displayed main course, I chose to taste some Bhaghare Baigan (a dish consisting of stuffed eggplant with grounded peanut-coconut mixture, cooked in a rich and creamy paste) with the other dishes including the very famous Mirch Ka Saalan, (gravy with bigger green chillies as the core ingredient) Khatti Daal (whole gram lentils boiled with tamarind and curried with tomato and other spices), and Paneer Khatta Pyaza (cottage cheese with pearl onions in a tomato based curry topped with mint). Each of the dishes were rich in taste and texture with mouth-watering aromas, and relished with breads that included Roghni Naan (a soft, fermented crisp bread with a tinch of sweet and salt), and Muraani Naan. Highly delectable, I must say. And to top it all, came the Subz Biryani (vegetable biryani cooked with the dum pukht technique) that tasted nothing less than what the non-vegetarian could substitute on a 10/10 scale! 

Bhaghare Baigan

Khatti Daal

Paneer Khatta Pyaaz

Mirch Ka Saalan

Roghni Naan

Muraani Naan

Subz Biryani

DESSERTS

There is literally no better way to end a royal meal than slurping off some derivative desserts from the city of Nizams, that included Khumani Ka Meetha (an apricot pudding, topped with almonds and cream) and Double Ka Meetha (Bread toast pudding, topped with dry fruits and cream). The apricot pudding being a fruit based was however a bit too sweet than the other one containing just the right amount of sugar to resolute with bliss!

Khumani Ka Meetha

Double Ka Meetha

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One thing that bowled me over this time at Sepia was the decoration at the entrance. The global icon of Hyderabad, the CHARMINAR stood tall on a cut-out surrounded by pots and buckets filled with pickles, chutneys and whole spices, displayed to give an authentic touch to the festival as running inside a dimly lit Awadhi restaurant with a sophisticated ambience that included LIVE music to add to a fine dining experience! 

The decoration at the entrance

The table I chose to sit at, diagonally opposite the musicians' dais.

Clicked while sipping some guava juice, waiting to hog on the main course.

I hope you enjoyed exploring this post, but must have missed reading about non vegetarian food, right? Well, for all you non-veg lovers, my friend Azman Khan reviewed it entirely for you in his LIVE video session on facebook. You can CLICK HERE to watch! PS :  The Hyderabadi Food Festival is up till 26th February, 2017 at sepia restaurant, so you can go and experience it yourself. Make your bookings HERE, and do share your experience with me! :)

 

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~

Sigdi food Festival at Sepia, by Renaissance Lucknow

Hello foodies, hope y'all are doing great! Firstly, thank you for making my last post a mega success, and you'll be glad to know it reached at the no.1 position on this blog beating others within a span of 5 days, and I cannot express how much your views and comments mean to me! So, I'm back with another yummy treat for you all in association with Renaissance Lucknow Hotel.

Some of you watched me dine out with my team at Sepia restaurant at Renaissance on my snapchat and instagram stories a few days back, and asked me to publish some details about the on-going SIGDI food festival there. So, as per your request, below is the full story for you to take a look and drool!

Renaissance Lucknow Hotel is well known for its unique food festivals that keep on taking place every month. With the start of winters this November, Sepia at Renaissance arranged a new concept of dining under the stars with their chefs preparing various Awadhi delicacies in the balcony area of the restaurant and serving everyone with love. The mix of cold, foggy weather in the evening with the barbeque setup looked ecstatic and I too tried roasting some paneer tikkas on the flames. With that, I along with my team tasted some scrumptious food from the chefs' set menu for the festival and we loved it like always (see all pictures below).

The SIGDI food festival is up till 4th December, so you can go and enjoy it yourself! 

LIVE Barbeque Counter

STARTERS

Mewe Maawe Ke Seekh Kebab

Tender kebabs with a melt-in-mouth tendency. Tastes sweet with a blend of rich flavors.

Musabbari-E-Aloo

Baby potatoes roasted perfectly to core and coated with spicy flavors all over.  

Faldaari Falon Ki Chaat

Barbequed fruit chaat bursting with juicy flavors including sweet, spicy, sour.

Aurangi Paneer Tikka

Paneer is one of my favorite food items and the variety of dishes that can be prepared are innumerable, and the chefs at Sepia never fail to serve me something new everytime! The aurangi paneer tikka that I tasted this time was wholesome, marinated and barbequed perfectly and tasted delicious. 

MAIN COURSE

Paneer Korma

Like I told you, paneer is something I've loved always and paneer korma is something that pampers my senses with its rich aroma every time. The soft, succulent paneer cubes in a onion-tinged tomato gravy with accents of cardamom and the abundance of fresh cream make this dish a true luxury. 

Sarson Saag

I've always savoured the authentic taste of sarson saag in winters. Its my staple food if I frankly tell you that's cooked at my home, but the unconventional taste that this saag contains at Sepia is winsome. It isn't too runny, nor too dry but contains the perfect texture and aroma with a hot spicy flavor! 

Bhuney Baigan aur Matar

I'm someone who doesn't experiment with food much, I like to eat something I've often tasted at a particular restaurant, and one dish I never forget to order at Sepia is a dry sabzi of roasted egg plant mixed with peas, tossed with onion & garlic that fills up your mouth with pungent flavours! (must try)

BREADS

Makke Ki Roti

That's a crisp corn flour roti, often eaten with sarson saag. Extremely palatable and tasteful.

Warqui Paratha

Favorite bread at Sepia, these warqui parathas are the most ordered on our table always. Once tasted you're never getting over it, mind you! 

DESSERTS

My favorite part of any meal are the desserts. I mostly tend to eat some before the main course and save the yummiest part of it for later. This time at Sepia, as I told you they had this new concept of welcoming the winter season with love, so they arranged a LIVE HALWA COUNTER for all their guests to experience something amazing. The huge variety of colorful ingredients ignited the sweet lover in me, and I along with my friends tasted various kinds of Halwa mixed with lot of dry fruits and other sweet toppings. #MustTry at the fest!

An array of Halwa ingredients at the counter

Three favorite desserts from the counter : Phirni, Malai Paan Pudding, Mix Halwa

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P.S. : I'm sure many of you must be missing the non vegetarian food menu in this food review. Well, I'd like to tell you all that from now onwards I will not be posting about non vegetarian food on this blog or on any of my social media platforms due to some reasons I strongly stand for! I've always been a vegetarian by choice and one of the greatest reasons I refuse eating non-veg food is because of the extensive animal killing. I am a blood shed hater and strongly oppose the act of animal slaughtering anywhere.  

So, if you're looking for non-veg food reviews on Picker At Pace, this place isn't for you anymore. But you can always enjoy all the vegetarian food reviews here! :)

If you liked this post, go ahead and share it with your family and friends. Also, I write something for everyone on my blog so if you wish to, do check out other categories other than Food on Picker At Pace that include Fashion, Beauty, Travel, Lifestyle and Poetry, and I'll be happy to read your comments on some posts that might excite you. Until next time, lots of love!

Photographed by : Saumya Kumar

~xoxo~