The Kukkad Diaries

Hola mi amigos! The kukkad diaries is going all Mexicano this month. We have always been fans of Mexican food right after Italian and our perfect meal would definitely have nachos in it. So no wonder that given a chance we'd jump at the opportunity to celebrate the mexican cuisine. But the best part is, you get to join in on our celebration too! This is because Hard Rock Cafe is bringing THE TASTE OF MEXICO to all foodies this entire month.


Come 2nd of May (it's today! Yay!) all of Hard Rock Cafe patrons will be treated to a whole new, exclusive menu featuring the ethnic and authentic taste of Mexico crafted in the true blue rock and roll, Hard Rock style. The menu boasts of specially crafted dishes and cocktails that pay homage to the traditional Mexican spices and flavours.

So why should you head down to the nearest Hard Rock Cafe near you just to sample the Mexican fare, you ask? Because apart from the authentic Mexican dining delight they are offering, it's a festival in it's truest sense. There will be fun, games and experiences like the karaoke to give it a Mexican twist.

We were lucky enough to get invited for a preview and a tasting of the festival in question. So we joined some of our blogger friends in sampling the highlights of the menu.

Though we were the late ones to get to the gathering, we were welcomed warmly and managed to participate in a nacho eating competition. It involved a team of two with one teammate feeding the other. Mr. TKD won the match with finesse (he was starving) inspite of a minor hitch where he bit my finger along with a piece of nacho (ouch! ).

We were first introduced to the colorful cocktails in the menu. They were mostly tequila based and had unique flavors. We could tell that utmost care had been taken to bring as much Mexican flavors as possible. There were tequila shots (featuring the Jose Cuervo Especially Respasado tequila) along with shots such as Shot in the head.


We also got to try some of the more exotic cocktails like the classic blue margarita for two, Mexican Bulldog margarita, Diablo, Amigo and Cranberry and lychee margarita.


We really liked the CLASSIC BLUE MARGARITA for its pretty blue color and cool, tangy taste.


Our other favorites were the CRANBERRY AND LYCHEE which was sweet and went perfectly with the spicy food we had.



TROUBLEMAKER true to its name had jalapeño bits and chilli floating in it, but tasted not as troublesome.


The MEXICAN BULLDOG was the bad boy of the table with a bottle of Corona tipped over a huge glass of icy margarita. It was hard to miss and hit with the beer fans.



AMIGO was probably the prettiest with nice cherry pink color with the soury sweetness of cherries but the kick of the tequila.


Diablo tasted like summer in a glass with fruit of the season, mango and sliced cucumber along with tequila. It was great for refreshing your pallet after a spicy taco. However, the taste of the cucumber was a bit overpowering.



The drinks were soon followed by amazing food. The first being the TEX-MEX SPICED CHAR GRILLED CHICKEN SKEWERS which were probably a top favorite. It came with a sunny mustard dip which really rounded off the flavours. The chicken was spot on with the tex mex spices and charred just right. We couldn't get enough of skewers and were soon rifling through the other end of the table looking for more.



The FIESTA CHICKEN QUESADILLA came next and it was packed with flavors. It might have been one of the best quesadillas we have eaten lately. It came with Chipotle sauce, quacamole dip (oh so yum!) and sour cream. Do give this one a try.



The BURRITOS both veggie and non veg versions were huge! So huge it was intimidating to try and eat one. Also the size made it a bit awkward trying to eat it. The tortilla was flour based so it went soft quite fast making it a struggle to try and keep the stuffing from bursting out. However the saving grace was the amazingly crispy and spicy fries it came with! It was such mad tasty I'd order in burritos just to eat the fries.


We also tried the TACOS and COTTAGE CHEESE BBQ SKEWERS, but it's the curse of the kukkad-love, we really didnt register the vegetarian numbers. Either that or we were busy hogging on the leftover chicken skewers.




The Hard Rock Cafe team was warm and inviting as usual. Led by Chef Sardeep Singh the HRC team led us through a gastronomic Mexican journey. The entire place was decked up with Mexican themed festoons and baubles and there were props at hand if you'd fancy a Mexicana selfie.
So put your Sombreros on and hop to Hard Rock Cafe for all the treats in store. Thank us later.
P. S. Do post all your HRC shenanigans on insta or Twitter with #tasteofmexico so that we can follow the fun !

When we were starting off with the whole idea of blogging, we had shortlisted a few places that we wanted to visit and review for the sole purpose of the blog. It was a crazy time. Enthusiastic as any newbie blogger could be,pumped with the idea of getting as much pictures and visit as many places that we physically or rather gastronomically could. We often dragged along friends to new eateries,for company and help us hog along with us as we tried to eat our way through the food blog scene.

There was this one time we decided to visit FC road and ate in 3 places in a row. We only stopped at 3 because we couldnt eat anymore. We were really stuffed at the end of the morning; my stomach was positively bursting and threatening to declare independence from the rest of the body.
Well we did learn quickly, that we might as well mellow down and take things coolly. So now we visit places that sound promising and we keep it restricted to one restaurant a day on the weekends. We have also found, that apart from anything else, a food blogger really needs good digestion especially when you start attending food tastings regularly and sometimes every other day.

But our mad quests also yielded some interesting result. On our FC Road sweep we chose The Chaai as one of our stops. It was very difficult not stopping for some shoe shopping spree because we had so much ground to cover. So we just walked into the The Chaai, which was located at the first floor of the main building right on FC road.


The place is quite large for a cafe. It has a lot of tables and some strategically placed ones right by the glass facade looking out on to the road. There are cabins too if you might prefer some privacy. Although you have to pay for that, apparently. There is also a large TV playing the day's matches if you might feel ever so inclined to check the day's matches and scores. It's built with afternoon hangouts with friends with all the comfy couches and air conditioned seating area. One wall has a cabinet with quirky cups and kettles. We liked the general, cafe vibe of the place.



By the time we had properly settled in we had placed our orders. One thing that happens when you are out and about with vegetarian friends is that you have to order more vegetarian food so you can share it with them. Because lets be real, its no fun going out for a meal as a group and not stealing a bite from the person beside you. So no matter how much we crib about it, we end up eating the herbivorous fare anyway. We opted for Neopolitan Pizza, Chicken tender, Pomodoro Queso pasta, Pancakes, Almond Frappe and Masala Chai.

The order arrived promptly. The CHICKEN TENDER was like fritters, deeply fried and a bit dry. We didnt really fancy that as much. Also it was the only chicken dish we ordered so it was rather disappointing.



NEOPOLITAN PIZZA had a thin base which is how we prefer it. However we wish it was more crispy. The toppings were as good as vegetarian pizza topping can get, though it may be up for a debate as we soon did. The opinions about the pizza varied from good to decent to meh. But we liked it anyway.



POMODORO QUESO pasta was a mix of the red and white sauce. It was perfect balance of tangy and creamy with al dente pasta. Being a hard core non-vegetarian means you are bound to miss the chicken bits in your pasta but our vegetarians friends loved it. So that means The Chaai people did good. A+ for the pasta.



Now the PANCAKES were the last, but it took the cake. It came neatly stacked with side of maple syrup and cream. It was spongy and soft and delicious. I generally love pancakes so I tend to like pancakes any which way but going by how the other "I'm-too-full-for-sweet" sayers attacked my pancakes, it's safe to say they were indeed good.


ALMOND FRAPPE was a bit too watery for our taste. Though it looked nice with the whipped cream and had a subtle almond taste but the consistency was off-putting. The CHAAI too wasn't impressive especially for a place named just so.


The Chaai wasn't the only stop that day but it was one of the most noticeable ones. Try it out the next time you are in FC Road for shopping.

Being a food blogger has been rewarding so far. But to be honest it's only just another excuse to wolf down not very diet friendly food on the pretext of tasting it for review later. 'For the love of blogging', we placate each other as we devour slices of pizzas and plates of ravioli.
To be honest, it does tone down the guilt trip considerably.

A part of our blogging business, got us down to Aundh for a quick chat with Saili, who runs the delightful Yolkshire Cafe in the area. While we were at it, we made sure to take some pointers about eating joints, in case we had missed a place out. Well, nobody knows food better than a person who actually deals in food. Apart from other places, Skips Cafe got a glowing recommendation from her for its burgers and sandwiches. Now we have had breakfast here before a while back and quite liked the bacon and eggs; although we hadn't tried much out of its menu. Skips Cafe is just down the lane from Yolkshire and as we walked back, we decided we had to give it another good try.

We decided the BACON AND EGGS sandwich and SALAAM SALAMI sandwich. We have also tried the CHICKEN and MUSHROOM sandwich along with a breakfast platter consisting of eggs and bacon with toast.

The service, we have found is always a bit slow, which might also be because of the constant crowd. However the taste is uncompromised all the time.
The BACON AND EGGS sandwich was delicious. It had a filling of mashed boiled eggs and crispy fried bacon. We always love the bacon here, just the right amount of crispy.

Bacon and eggs sandwich

Bacon and eggs sandwich

The SALAMI sandwich had a good amount of salami filling. If anything Skips Cafe is generous with it's meat.

Salam salami sandwich

The BREAKFAST PLATTER is perfect if you are a bacon and eggs lover. We requested the eggs be done sunny side up and they obliged with perfectly done juicy eggs. Pair that with crispy bacon and you have perfect start to the day.

Bacon and eggs

Bacon and eggs

CHICKEN AND MUSHROOM sandwich had an overload of chicken with succulent flavored mushrooms.

Chicken and mushroom sandwich

Chicken and mushroom sandwich

Indeed the sandwiches are commendable here. It's a reliable place to go for eats when you get that hankering for light bites. However the menu has remained the same throughout. Addition of new dishes would always be a refreshing change to the options available at Skips and we hope the management considers this.

Nonetheless, do hop, skip or jump over to Skips for your mandatory plate of sandwiches.

One weekend we decided that enough was enough and we had to stop hogging on too much breakfast on weekends which majorly compromised the lunch timings and we'd usually end up eating a large meal in the early evening, making us incapacitated during the mandatory 'dinner out with friends'. And didn't our parents keep harping on the importance of having regular mealtimes for the sake of our (as per their imagination) extremely fragile health and ridiculously weak disposition? That's the thing about parents, if you are living away from home, no matter how many kilos you strap on to your bottom half or how many jeans that you grow out of, you will always be the sickly, starving child always losing weight and their favorite target for force feeding whenever you are in the vicinity.