The Kukkad Diaries

March brought along a mini break for the kukkad diaries. With all the pressure at work and slogging that we were doing, we decided that it was high time we took our dose of vitamin SEA. So tickets were booked, reservations were made and we found ourselves in Goa with our backpacks on.

Goa is a treasure trove of eating places. All you need to do is get a scooter on rent and travel around discovering all these eateries while you take in the scenery on offer. 

Backpacking in Goa is the best form of cheap therapy on offer. And when you find some time off (or if you don't, take some!) book tickets to here. It's a cauldron of every possibilities and has everything on offer. Newly married couples have their beautiful sunsets and typical beachy backdrops for the mandatory honeymoon selfies; pot-heads have their secretive rave parties and hippies by the beach thing going; quiet reserved ones have their reflective moments by the beach, lying on the sun-beds and reading and contemplating on life and world; while wandering hungry reviewers have their fill of sundry cafes and eateries to sample, some amazing while some not as easy on their gastronomic well-being.

The Kukkad Diaries, as the name would suggest are very emotionally and psychologically connected with chicken, but the same may not be true for seafood. Prawns remind me of insects and as much I love looking at the flora and fauna of the under-sea, I'm not thrilled about consuming them as much. This piece of home-truth is always followed by a deep pang for potentially not being absolutely at home in Japan, as I would have hoped to be, which has been on top of my must-travel-to list. So this time, we decided to dispel my fear of sea creatures by, you guessed it right, having them prepared in the spicy local flavors and devouring them.



Initially we wanted a homely (preferably a home), authentic preparation of the local konkan fish dish to try. A quick calculation brought our grand total of people we knew, actually living in goa, as null. Hence, Mr.TKD suggested we ride around the random streets of Baga and Calangute and around, looking for places that might seem like they'd have a friendly Goan aunty cooking meals of sumptuous local flavors and coaxing guests for second helping. Even though we eventually conceded that a place like that didn't exist or if it did it'd take more than a day to uncover. Famished with all the hunting we ended up as we always do, at Fat Fish.


Now, Fat Fish has its own special place with us. It was the first place in Goa that we'd had a meal on our first trip here and on every trip, Fat Fish always warranted a visit. Eating out at shacks can be a dicey experience. You might end up having the best Cafreal or you might end up with 15 trips to the loo the next day. But in all the previous trips, Fat Fish has always been impressively consistent, both with quality and taste.
In our past visits we have mostly stuck to the chicken dishes and they have been amazing. The chicken Cafreal is always a favorite. The juicy chicken marinated in the best amalgamation of spices, the pungency of the chillies and the spicy gravy makes sure we are begging for more. Couple that with their jeera rice, it's heaven.




Another dish that we loved was the chicken steak in mushroom sauce. It is a perfect meal on a plate with the succulent meat and the crunchy boiled vegetables. No wonder Fat Fish has always been our go to. So in the event of inability to locate the elusive Goan aunty with her perfect Goan lunch, we decided this had to be the next best place we could dine in.


So feeling rather audacious we ordered in the Special Goan Fish Thali. We were just beginning to wonder if we had made a bad choice by ditching our much beloved chicken, when it arrived. It was a feast on a plate. The big plate was lined with small bowls of different curries with rice, papad, salad on the side. There was also a couple of fried fish , fried to a perfect golden. There was a Crab Xacuti which was basically crab curry which was interesting to try given we never really had had crab before. In one of the bowls was Tisro, which is a preparation of clams in coconut curry. The other bowls had vegetables cooked in different ways.

All the curries tasted great and not as we were supposing them to. We specially loved the fish fry and Crab Xacuti. We soon had everything polished off our plates. Fat Fish had done it again. At that reasonable price, the fish thali was a steal. We only found out later that it was an award winning dish at the restaurant. But we already knew why.

Our food cravings take us to new places all the time. No matter what the distance, the time or weather. Usually we limit our gastronomic excursions to the weekends but when the food craving hits, there's no turning back.

On one pleasant, odd Tuesday evening , we started pining for piping hot, spicy pieces of tandoori chicken and aromatic, soft and warm tandoori naan. A quick search pointed to Taareef in Aundh as the best bet for this. Taareef was easy to locate as its right beside crossword for starters and bang on the main street with a huge neon board announcing its name and trees decked with fairy lights.

Now, we don't get our expectations too high with North Indian food. Because every place, more or less, starts tasting the same, eventually. So we were basically just out and about hunting for some decent tandoori chicken before we headed home.

You wouldn't think the place was that spacious or as fancy from the inside if you'd just be looking at it from outside. But once you step in through the ornately carved front door, it is a different place.


The whole place is partitioned into two seating areas, both with roughly 4 tables. The ambiance is very ethnic with Persian and mughal accents. There is faint wisp of incense in the air and mystical trance music. The music suited the whole environment and to top it all, one end of our room had a glass partition to the tandoor room where you can look while the tandoor experts craft your rotis out of dough and pull out skewers of precisely charred, spicy and hot chicken out of the ovens.



The cutlery and plates were all in line with the theme, all of them brass and steel. We ordered for MURG GILORI, MURG TANGDI KULFI, AFGHANI PANEER TIKKA for starters. We opted for the sweet Lassi as our on-the-wait drink and masala papad to go with. We had to order more glasses of lassis eventually, it was that good. All creamy and smooth with just the right amount of sugar.
We don't know if it was the place or the fact that we were ravenous but we absolutely loved the masala papad too.




Before they started plating the starters, the waiting staff served us with bowls of green chutney (we dig it so much with tandoori!), small, round globes of vinegared onions and lemon slices. It went famously with the starters which were almost a revelation in itself. The MURG TANGDI KULFI was super moist, perfectly marinated and spiced. We could hardly wait to get some decent clicks before we could attack our food.



The MURG GILORI were tiny rounds of spiced minced chicken evenly coated with smooth, creamy gravy. It tasted heaven with the green chutney and onions.


The chicken starters were so sensational that we ended up ordering another plate of MURG RESHMI KEBAB. It was better than we expected.... So soft and so well seasoned. We were short of licking our plates.

The AFGHANI PANEER TIKKA, though ordered for a vegetarian friend, couldn't be saved from the hungry TKDs and we shamelessly ate it up too. The paneer were tender and if I'd have been a vegetarian and never known what chicken tasted like, I'd think it was the best. But it came quite close.


We spent the next few minutes guilt-tripping for having polished off a poor vegetarians food so we asked him to order anything he wished. Sadly he wished BANARASI SEEKH KEBAB which broke the spell of enchantment that tareef had woven so far. It came in sad, green turd shapes (apologies for the crassness, but that was the general consensus of the table that night) and tasted not very impressive. It tasted like fried mashed peas. Maybe it was the aftertaste of all the delicious spiciness of the chicken, but this was a damper.



For mains we agreed to make right the unjust treatment of the vegetarians at the table, hence we got in the TAREEF SPECIAL PANEER JAIPURI good enough for three people. We also ordered tandoori roti to go with it. The paneer curry was pretty basic. After the extraordinary starters it felt a bit, ordinary? It did have good amount and spices were as you'd expect in a good paneer dish. The tandoori roti was a bit of a downer too. Maybe it was just our lot but our roti was a bit undercooked.



The few kinks were smoothened out by the great service that the staff provided, always on their toes and quick to respond. We were served meetha paan with the bill, which cheered me up considerably.


However the chicken starters did make us sit up and notice Taareef. It's been awhile since we've had such good North Indian /Mughlai preparation. Do visit and try if you are a kukkad lover just as we are. And we'd love to know if you loved this place as much as we did. Comment or write to us. We love getting your messages and mails to read! Also let us know if you have places just as these because we still have so much to discover and we'd sure appreciate some help :)

Though the end at Tareef wasn't as we would have foretold from the glorious beginning, but we are still willing to come back again, just for the kukkad delights in store.

The more you know your fellow food bloggers, the more you realize how close knit this community is. As soon as we took a leap into blogging, it was like meeting old friends every time. People look out for you and help you and are are always up for a laugh. 

Us both, we are a nerdy lot. We are one of those Star Wars/ LOTR enthusiasts, lounging at home tinkering away at our laptops and preferring indoor in our pyjamas,  to only head out because we heard someplace serves great chicken. We also have a set of mad friends each and more often than not, they devise great plans to stop us from our ever ongoing job of warming the couch. So it was surprisingly fun making new friends and meeting new people.

Last week would have been a dreary week at work when our fellow-blogger friend, Neha (you guys should check out her great blog, by the way) recommended us for a review of MoMO Cafe in Courtyard by  Marriott, Hinjewadi. After a couple of calls to and fro we settled for a Saturday lunch.

It was a rather sultry day when we landed up at Courtyard by Marriott for our appointment. We were received warmly by the Executive manager, Mr. Pankaj, who gave us an insightful tour of the place and the menu. It was a rather busy day but he made sure he was around to answer our incessant queries.

The spread, aptly befitting to the reputation that MoMo cafe holds. Not to mention that the Hinjewadi one has been a recent recipient to numerous awards. Our attentions, were meanwhile captured by the 'Asian Counter' at one corner of the buffet hall. It had a display of various vegetables, noodles, rice, egss, chicken, sauces and whatnot all around with a pan in the center.


Shankar,  incharge of the counter made sure that your craving for oriental cuisine is looked after. And the best part is, it's customized to how you like it! I spent a good half hour (though Shankar is super quick,  I was feeling a bit more creative than usual) pointing at ingredients, weighing my preference for the different sauces and being a kid in a candy shop. My customized sweet and sour flat noodles with shredded chicken were so sensational, I refused to eat it for a while until Mr. TKD started to eye them. I'd gladly come back just for these provided Shankar remembers the recipe, because I forgot it as soon as I went back to my table. 




The waiting staff made sure we were attended to, welcoming us with refreshing passion fruit drinks to start with and they also brought us DEVILLED MUSHROOMS and BARBECUED PINEAPPLE to try. We were also served our choice of breads whenever we wanted. 




There was great variety of starters and salads with a counter full of veggies and dressings so that you could make your own salad. We also tried the ROASTED CHICKEN salad,  BACON AND CREAMY POTATO salad, crispy chicken and Fish starters which were impeccable. Also,  inspite of all the choices around, we couldn't stop loading on PAPDI CHAAT because it reminding us of home. 





For the mains we hardly had anything much other than CHICKEN STROGANOFF with rice, because as much as we love it, we hardly find places that really get it right. Hand it over to the expert chefs working in the kitchen because the Stroganoff here was deliciousness. The tender chicken coated with creamy mushroom sauces and every flavor on point. 


There were a lot of Indian preparations too to choose from. We also sampled the CHICKEN BIRYANI and MEXICAN SPICY BABYCORN . 


It might sound like a mash of everything, but you can't help it if you are spoilt for choice with the multicuisined fare. Try as you might, it would not be possible to conquer the intimidating spread by the MoMo team and still be up for dessert. So I gave up the daunting task and headed for the inticing dessert table instead. 

There were everything from hot SEVAI KHEER to FRUIT CUSTARD to the rich CHERRY POUND CAKE. I settled in with the KIWI CHEESECAKE, ORANGE PROFITEROLLS and FRUIT FLORIDA pastry. It was a perfect way to end a great meal. 






The amazing meal called for compliments to the chef in command. Chef Bhushan not only posed for our cameras but he also invited us to try out their dessert from the mango festival currently in progress. We were skeptical whether we'd be able to stuff ourselves more after the hogging session we'd just finished but we surprised even ourselves when we cleared out our bowls of freshly made mango ice cream garnished with cubed mangoes. The mangoes were succulent and sweet and the icecream was heavenly. 



We have been since planning to visit and try out their mango platter. If you love mangoes as much as us we suggest you do that too. Thank us later. 


To wrap the perfect visit, we chanced upon Rambo, the security in charge of the main gate. Given his job portfolio, Rambo looked uncharacteristically cute in his doggy shoes and happy demeanor. He set the mood to the typical Momo Cafe experience: satisfied, well taken care of and happy in our shoes.