Review: Mr Basrai's World Cuisines, Blackpool

When you visit Mr Raghubir Basrai's outlet in Blackpool, you can't imagine it began just10 months ago! This big outlet at Cookson street in Blackpool is now full on most evenings, and it isn't hard to see why.

Mr Basrai's World Cuisines is a family-run business and arrived in Blackpool last year. Located near Blackpool's town centre, this restaurant with nearly 350 covers is possibly the best thing to happen to this town when it is facing a downward trend in the places tourists visit in the UK.  It offers multiple cuisines from around the world - all in an eat as much as you like buffet. The price is also very reasonable, considering that it includes over 50 different main-course items and another 50 or so items from within the starter and dessert menus. Most items are prepared fresh as you wait for it to be served on your plate, except for the standard Indian, Chinese and Japanese items, which are prepared beforehand and are available to take on your plate directly from containers which are being constantly heated electrically from below.

I have been to this place 4-5 times since it opened. While my first visit was when I was by myself and had just returned from an outing from outside Blackpool late evening, the rest of them have been in the company of either my family (when they were in the UK with me in October) or my friends.

This time, it was with my dear colleague and friend Luckey Kaur, and we went there on the 27th of January 2017. It was a no-reason dinner outing, and we decided to make the best of it as both of us were free the next morning. Beginning with a Mr Basrai's famous cocktail, we then proceeded to have a great time.

The beauty of it all is that Mr. Basrai himself attended to us. When we told him Luckey was a Punjabi too (as is Mr Basrai), he was quite happy to extend special hospitality services to us. His son, Rajbir, who normally minds the till, first went and found us both a cosy table at the back, then kept sending waiters with smiles to ask us how the meal was and whether we were enjoying ourselves. Here are some pictures of the two of us having a gala time.

Samosas and tikkis with chhole

Enjoying the Mr Basrai's special cocktail

Dessert that Luckey had

The chaat we had

The huge collection of starters

Both of us enjoying a selfie and the desserts

Dessert that I had

Having fun

 Additionally, we also ate a main course of noodles with vegetables and, in my case, prawns as well. Wow! When we were about to settle the bill, imagine our surprise when Mr Basrai sent us back to our table and then sent a complimentary cocktail each! We were pleasantly surprised. He was all smiles as we greeted him while leaving and, I suppose, it was a great gesture by him to make it 100% certain that I would return again to his place for a good time.

Ratings:

Food: 5 stars
Décor: 4.5 stars
Hospitality: 5+ stars (he he).
Costs: Great VFM, hence, 5 stars
Location: 5 stars, unless you live away from the town centre. 

Recipe Tips: Dal gosht

Okay, so everyone knows how to make dal, right. It is quite an easy job to mix different dals, combine them with tomato and spices, cook it all together and serve it as a soup. However, when it comes to making finger-licking good dal, it does need a bit of learning. 

I make dal the traditional way Bohra Muslims do. It is a kind of thick, spicy dal. It doesn't have the sweetness and dilute texture of a Gujarati dal; neither does it resemble the Dal Maharani. It is more like the tadka dal of the north. 

There are two ways to spice up dal. One way is to temper it from over the top after the dal has already been cooked. The second way is to start a tempering in a kadhai, and then add the cooked dal over it. You could go either way. The most essential steps are thorough cooking of the dal, using a hand mixer to homogenise the dal (if it hasn't done so already with the cooking) and using spices in the right proportions. 

During the initial dal cook, use only turmeric, whole green chillis and salt, with tomatoes. In the temper, first splutter cummin seeds and mustard seeds, then add the long, thin onion; after the onions have turned a pink-brown, add garlic paste, temper further, then add ground spices like coriander-cummin powder, garam masala, red chilli powder, etc.

The lamb pieces you use to make the dal gosht must be from a tender animal. I use lamb chops with bone in; you may want to use other portions. The shoulder or the shank are equally tender. Again, there are two ways to cook the lamb. You may either marinate the lamb pieces and then add them to the cooking dal so that it all cooks together, or you can cook the lamb separately and then combine the dal with it at the last step. Regardless of which way you go, you do need to make sure that the lamb meat is properly cooked. 

For the meat marinade, use tomato paste or live curd along with powdered spices, a ginger garlic paste and salt as per taste.

I have often found that using whole green chillies during the initial cooking of the dal in a pressure cooker gives you a satisfying pungency with the freedom to eat those pieces of chilli with your dal or dal gosht. Others may prefer small red chillis or red chilli powder. Again, that is your personal preference. How much chilli to add is also a personal thing. The same is true of salt. I do advise adding salt into the dal initially rather than adding it as a last step to "season as per taste".

Finally, what do you eat the dal-gosht with? Well, freshly cooked basmati rice is one option. I usually stir in a few chapatis broken into bits. And garnish the whole mix with onion kachumber - the simple thin diced onions with coriander, diced green chilli and lime juice. 

Try these tips and see how your dal-gosht turns out. 

Do you have your own tips on how to make dal-gosht? Do share them in the comments section.

Review: World Streat Food, Mumbai

On the 13th of January 2017, my family and I went to this new place located at the Dalamal Tower in Nariman Point in Mumbai. Find the location HERE.  World Streat Food is a recently opened restaurant (to be precise, it opened in August 2016). Its concept is simple: make available street food from around the globe in the comfortable environs of a restaurant where you can sit and eat them at leisure. 

In my conversation with their marketing manager Ms. Shachi Mody, I learned a bit more about this eating out place. It is one of the several eating outlets that have opened or are opening in the city of Mumbai. Even as we ate, one more outlet of this chain is being readied to be opened within a few months, Ms Mody informed me. The entire chain is owned by an Indonesian businessman of Indian origin and their website lists all their other ventures as well as outlines their vision etc. 

Review:

When we reached the place (without a reservation), we found it to be fairly full, but there were a few empty tables and we were seated immediately. 

Blueberry smoothie

We began our journey down the lanes of Asia with a Tom Kha soup with chicken. My daughters do not have soup, hence they ordered mocktails - while Inas ordered the strawberry shake, Hannah had the blueberry smoothie - and both were very tasty indeed. 



  While we were having our soup, we observed that the waiters were very busy entertaining a food reviewer at the next table. This lady had a professional photographer who kept taking pictures of each dish as it was brought to the table. Presently, we began to converse with her. She was Geeta Sridhar, and she is a top reviewer for Zomato. She also has a food blog - and it was her blog that actually stimulated me to start this food blog as well! 

The family: awaiting our food

After the soup and the shakes, we ordered a starter in the form of Kung Pao chicken dumplings. This dish was steaming hot when it arrived at our table. It was within a bamboo container. The dumplings were quite delicious and not at all spicy. 

 For the main course, we chose a Sri Lankan Chicken Kottu Roti, which, actually, was delectable. We got so busy eating, I forgot to take photos of the newly arrived dish. 

After this, we had the Mozambique Jerk Fish and finally, the Sumatran Lamb rendang. This was a rice and lamb dish that literally tasted like Indian or Mughlai lamb and rice, only, it had the oriental flavours that we liked a lot. For the dessert, we ordered a three-flavoured pannacotta, at the recommendation of Ms Mody. It was really nice. 

The entire meal was great. And it was quite reasonably priced. I think it set us off by a little less than INR 2000 - which, if you believe me, is less than 25 British pounds! 

Rating:

Food: Five stars
Service: 4.5 stars
Ambience: 4.5 stars
Cost: 5 stars
Excitement ratio: 4.9
Overall rating: 4.5 - 5.0 stars.

Recommendation: 

Do visit on weekdays if you don't want to wait. I think the exact foods you might want or really enjoy will be different from mine, but if you choose any thing we ate, you will really enjoy yourself. 

Eat: Why should one eat out?

More often than not, eating out is more about having a good time rather than getting good nutritious food. On some occasions, though, it could be that you really get healthy, nourishing food. 

I usually eat out because it is not always possible to create exotic dishes in your own home kitchen. Even if you are able to do so, you will face great difficulties in assembling more than one dish on a single day of eating. The second reason, is, of course, getting the whole experience dished out by the restaurant. A theme restaurant is one example. I once visited a restaurant with a jungle theme in Mumbai. It had trees, manikins of animals, drum and wind rustling music, and dark cave-like seating places. Another example of an experience would be eclectic food that would be too much of a bother to learn to prepare by oneself. The third reason I can think of is to eat out with a group with similar likes and dislikes. Every visit I have made to a restaurant has been for one or more of these three reasons. 

An aspect of dining out that I particularly enjoy is being able to eat at leisure, This does, however, beg an explanation. It is not that one CANNOT eat at leisure within one's home. It's just that at a well-heeled restaurant, one is able to enjoy this without worrying about someone knocking at the door, or you having to fetch the ready dish from the kitchen, or, as is usual, keeping an eye on things simmering on the stove or heating in the oven. All this adds up to too many distractions, and is certainly not something I would welcome when I am in the mood to enjoy my dinner!

Let me also tell you that there is yet another reason for me to eat out. This reason is about feeling as if you are embarking on a new adventure, discovering a new place to eat, or a new form of cuisine, or a new aspect of eating at a particular place that you haven't experienced before. The new aspect may be about eating in a different way - for example, an innovative buffet, or a barbecue that is working for you at the table where you sit (such as the one I enjoyed at Barbecue Nation at the Atria Mall in Worli, Mumbai); or, even something as exotic as eating in an underwater restaurant! Alternatively, it may be about meeting new people at your adjoining table, and making friends with them for life; finally, it may be that this is the one opportunity you have of advancing a relationship that was not going as well, or that you wish to take a step further. 

Finally, for an NRI like me who stays overseas without his family, eating out with the family is joy unparalleled. It enables me to connect with my wife and daughters simultaneously in a quiet environment where we cannot easily shed our social masks and get down to an argument or unpleasantness that is often common in a family. 

So, there. Why do you eat at a restaurant or eat out? Do share your own comments. 

Live: My views on eating right

Eating with pleasure makes it nearly right every time. This is the bottom line when it comes to eating. There is a very thin line between eating to live and living to eat, at least in my case. Sometimes, I weigh in on one side, and occasionally, the other. Either way, I am happiest when I am thinking, making, eating or talking food. 

There is immense satisfaction when what you cook turns out just right in taste and flavour. Similarly, I am quite excited to see well-laid out food, a pleasing restaurant ambience, enthusiastic diners (at home or when eating out) and when discussing food.

Don't get me wrong. I am a diabetic, so certain foods are taboo for me in excess. I am also never going to eat pork as I was brought up a Muslim. I do have a small drink of alcohol on occasion, but I would not discuss this in this blog as my experience and knowledge on this are extremely limited. 

I do indulge, however, in gastronomic adventures. When I describe to you these, I am sure you will want to jump aboard the bandwagon and share in the excitement. This, then, is what this blog is going to be about. 

Tomorrow, I will start sharing concrete experiences with you. Ciao.

Foods that I enjoy

I enjoy practically every kind of food. There is little that I do not wish to consume ... and yet, I would not call myself an indiscriminate eater. I will, for example, never say no to a masala dosa, but, if asked where I would love to eat it, I would, most often, indicate a specific place - or a few places - where I would enjoy eating it. 

Also, I savour food. Not just eat it. The preparation is as important as the consumption. This might mean an elaborate preparation where I am planning to eat at a street-side dhaba or a fine-dining restaurant or the actual preparation that goes into cooking a certain kind of food. 

This blog is also about drinking - but, I daresay - I am not going to talk about alcoholic beverages. This will be about drinking in non-alcoholic stuff and about drinking in the fun and the rest of it all. 

Finally, in this blog, I will also talk about life. Life, not as a philosophical subject, but living, breathing life as a co-adventurer on a journey that we will jointly embark on. Welcome ...

Introducing myself

My name is Taher. I was born and brought up in Mumbai, a large metropolitan city of western India and also the country's de facto financial capital. Over and above this, Mumbai is also, in many ways, the melting pot of many different cultures of India as well as the rest of the world. 

To a foodie like me, Mumbai represents the best of the world. From cheap street food to the most epicurean experiences in fine dining places, it has everything. In addition, it fosters experimentation and love of food for anyone who has the time and the inclination to savour its offerings.

This blog is not, however, about Mumbai. It is about food. Hence a bit more information about me is in order. I have been reviewing restaurants, publishing recipes, helping people who search for good places to eat and doing more since many years over the net and off it. Many of my reviews are located at www.tripadvisor.com, where you can find me at THIS link.

I have travelled to many places in India and some outside it as well. I will, therefore, share with you nuggets from my homeland and from wherever else I have been or lived. I spent nearly four years in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and have been living in the U.K. since mid-November 2015. 

I will share cooking tips, some easy recipes, some restaurant reviews, etc. Be prepared to enjoy reading about all these things, and more.

If you are a foodie yourself, do share your views on what I write. Please feel free to comment. Even if you are not a hard-core foodie, I will welcome your comments and views. Do feel free to share this blog with your friends through social media. 

If you are an advertiser related to the food industry, I am open to carry your advertisements on my blog. Do contact me on drtaher@gmail.com for the same.

Finally, if you are a blogger yourself, please do provide your blog link and I will be happy to visit you and share in your happiness. 

Thank you for your visit. Happy eating/drinking and living! Cheers!