Is Zenfone the next big thing?

The fact is that ZENFONE is an elephant in the room ready to march ahead of the competitors in the smart phone market. As the details suggest, ASUS the mother board powerhouse has combined all its expertise and implemented it in the pocket dynamite with 6 inches screen.

Gaming experience had never been such fun as the ZENFONE has deployed new generation GPU to offer top of the line performance to the gamers without the degradation of the picture quality. Similarly, the presence of five element lens with F/2.0 aperture in the camera and extremely large photoreceptors ensure quality snaps irrespective of real time lightning condition.

The trade mark PIXEL MASTER technology of ASUS is instrumental in taking photos even in the low light mode by combining four pixels into a super pixel. Well! It is a stupendous innovation as the photos exhibit startling contrast with the stabilization attribute.

Moreover, Automatic face detection technology combined with shutter control helps in taking high quality SELFIES without any hassles. Asus has leveraged its expertise in hardware by introducing 3D antenna design in ZENFONE as it enhances the signal quality. Furthermore, a viewing angle display of 178 degrees ensures optimum quality of images backed up by the IPS technology. What more can be said about the fabulous product? It would be far more enlightening if you log on to the website Flipkart.com or take a virtual tour of its attributes on Youtube videos.

Sangria Sundowners : Showdown at sundown in Shiro

Shiro is the place that is in the heart of the city and it is in the most prestigious building of Bengaluru, i.e the UB city. Shiro has always made sure that they have something new to the customers, now they have come up with the Sangria Sundowners menu. We were given a walkthrough of the event i.e, Sangria making, tasting, food pairing and the few pointers on Sangria. The main motive behind The Sangria Sundowners is to allow the working class people to finish their work and catch up on friends, family and acquaintance over a few glasses of Sangira with some starters, nice music, wonderful ambience, quick and prompt service and loads of conversation. This menu is being served between 4 pm to 8 pm.

Shiro has the most prominent and magnificent ambience that is fit to serve the King and Queen. We were given the demonstration of making the Sangria next to the bar counter. Before I start off with the Sangria making, I would want to tell about their menu. Let me start with saying that with the drinks, you can opt for the unlimited Sangria (red or white) or unlimited wine (red or white), or you can go by the glass of Sangria or wine (red or white). In the food you have equal choice for the veg and non veg, the dishes have be selected to go with the Sangria and wine, you could either order a dish or the platter also. This is just a brief introduction that I have and with give you the dish by dish experience I felt with the Sangria's

Mr Wayne (the bartender) was to give us the demonstration of how white and red Sangria was made. He started off with the red Sangria. Initially he added loads of ice in glass, followed by 20 to 30 ml of peach, green apple and passion fruit syrup's (during the seasonal time he would mash the fruits and use the extracts other than that of apple), 15-30 of White Rum (can use dark rum or brandy also), cinnamon powder to give it a spicy flavour, orange juice and red wine. This was stirred well and the same is filter to a wine glass, then red apples and some oranges with peal is chopped and added to the glass. This is Red Sangria which is very simple to make The taste of the Sangria was a bit choky for the first few sips due to the cinnamon powder but afterwards this was a pleasurable drink to have when you want to talk to people as it does not make you too high. This drink was slightly on the sweeter side due to the syrups but the cinnamon did the trick.

 

Tickling Tummy

The White Sangria is also prepared in the same manner but with a few exceptions. Everything is same till the white rum, and then the apple juice is added instead of the orange to maintain the color followed by the white wine. The fruits that is added to this Sangria is the green apple (again to maintain the colour) and oranges with peal. This was slightly sweeter than the red wine and this had a smooth flow throughout the drink. This was the second time that I ever had white sangria and I have got a liking towards it, thanks to the short interval between them.

The best part of Sangria is that you can make and have in ten minutes up to three days. Yes, due to the alcohol neither the fruits, syrups and juice would go bad, the more time you keep this drink the flavours tend bend well and gives you the added flavour. One should note that apart from the red/white wine, any juice, syrups, alcohol and fruits can used to make a Sangria but one should keep in mind to balance the flavours as a Sangria should have some sweetness. The main ingredient of Sangria is the wine and based on your requirement the selection of wine as to made to get the dry, rich, other any other flavour that you want in the Sangria, here The Two headed Bird 2013 by Myra was used.

 

combination platter non vegetarian

combination platter vegetarian

For the food we served with the combination platter vegetarian with had Vietnamese vegetable spring roll, mushroom & baby corn in Thai barbeque sauce, Korean chilli potatoes and chi chow dumpling. This is plate looks ideally for two people, who have a fairly good appetite so that it doesn't leave you full in the ending as this just the appetizers to go along with the drink. I personally loved the Baby corn in Thai barbeque sauce that went exceptionally well with both the Sangria's, this has a elegant but a slight sweet taste that made me love this dish with the Sangria's. The Vietnamese vegetable spring roll was also a very out of the box dish that fitted just right with the Sangria's. I personally do not like to eat potatoes with wine but since it had a sweet and spicy taste, I had to change my mind. The Korean chilli potatoes were among the spicy dish on the platter but it had the sweetness in it for the Sangria, which also made it a very good dish. The chi chow dumpling was a bit plain with the Sangria but the dips did make the difference. The best part of the Sangria is that it goes well with all most all the dish due to it slight sweetness and this thing I will never forget. The we were served with some Spicy mushrooms that did not suit my palate but the other bloggers did like it with the Sangria.

Since I still have some of my milk teeth I cannot end anything without dessert, we were severed with molten volcano and some ice creams. The molten volcano kept on oozing the chocolate from inside and the taste of the same was exceptional tasty after so much wine. After the few bites of this delicious dessert it became too sweet for me handle but the vanilla ice came to the rescue by reducing the sweetness of the chocolate. Chocolate do go while with wine but this was my first time that I had Sangria that went very well with chocolate, this was among all the lessons that I learnt in Shiro.

I personally thank Mrs Prachi Gupta for giving me an invite to Sangria Sundowners at Shiro, in which I learnt wonderful and new things. Like I said Shiro’s always have something new for its customers and now it is the Sangria Sundowners. Do visit the place soon for the Sangria Sundowners with friends, family, acquaintance and any other person that you would like to and experience the Sangria Sundowers.

Serafina - Northern Italian Delight

The pleasure of visiting 80^th feet road of Kormangala, Bengaluru is always my delight. This time I had the pleasure to visit Serafina, to try out their Aperitivo menu. Aperitivo is a beverage (mostly alcohol) that is consumed before a meal with the intention to open out your appetite, the main intention of this menu is for socializing. Serafina have kept the Aperitivo menu from 4.00 pm to 7 pm and are planning to extend the same to 8 pm during the week days. This is mostly made for the working classic, so that the people can meet and have a great time. The motive behind Aperitivo is to make people have a great time with friends and still have some room and time to catch up on dinner.

Drinks:

The first drink that I had was a White Wine Thyme Sangria and this was the first time that I had white wine sangria, I had red wine sangria before and I felt that this was not my kind of a drink. The White Wine Thyme Sangria was also not my kind of drink but this sangria had a strong aroma of White Wine but the same had an elegant taste, which blended well with the fruits. The best part of this sangria was the selection and mixture of the ingredients that has gone in making the drink, this was what actually made me develop a taste for the White Wine Thyme Sangria.

I had to change my views on Red Wine Sangria with the Red Wine Rosemary Sangria, the reason for me to change my views on this was the way that the bartender made the drink. The bartender had made a slight change in the drink and due to which, I liked the sangria. The best part was the fruits that didn’t turn bitter after sometime but instead they got a rich taste of red wine in them. 

The Monk’s Sin which contains dark rum, chocolate ganache, banana and whip were served in shot glasses. The first glass that I had was a smooth yet delicious drink, I got very little taste of rum but I got good enough taste of the chocolate ganache and banana. I asked bartender to prepare a slightly stronger one for the second and then I got the complete taste rum with a very good taste of chocolate ganache. I would have preferred the same in a cocktail glass, as the same left me not contain with the quantity that I got from shot glass.

This was the drinks that I experienced. The other drinks that were served are Campari Spritz and Negroni.

Red Wine Rosemary Sangria

Monk’s Sin which contains dark rum

Food:

The most interesting and delicious dish with the drink for me was the herd marinated olives, which had the green, black and kalamata olives with garlic. This was a really unique dish that went extraordinarily with the White and Red Sangria, the fresh olives with a hint of garlic was enriched by my mouth with every bite. This dish was something that I would not forget in my life. Thing that I felt about this dish is that the less you have the more tastily it is.

The Cheese Platter was a delight to the eyes with parmigiano reggiano, smoked scamorza, provolone piccante, gorgonzola dolce, pecorino romano accompanied with balsamic reduction, wine poached pear, onion varckeers, candied walnuts, olives and fig pate, this seems too much on a plate but this is actually just right and enough on the plate. The thing about wine and cheese is that you can never have too much. The wide variety of cheese is always good and I loved the smoked scamorza.

The next thing that could my eyes was the onion rings and I just love them when they are crunchy throughout. This was crunchy throughout and the sprinkled salt made this yum. Usually I prefer my onion rings golden in colour but these white looking onion rings were also very delicious.

Beans & grains – in a rustic Italian salad with tomatoes and onion, I liked this alot because of the tangy and sweet.

Insalate Rinforzo – traditional, was a game changer. Even thou the name is quite new, the dish was pretty delicious. I like the slight tangy flavour in the dish with the Jalapenos that gave me a taste texture in my mouth. This dish actually woke up my taste bugs and my appetite, now I know the meaning of Aperitivo.

Veg pizza rolls – hand stretched pizza dough, roll with zucchini, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and fresh oregano.These were quite amazzing as they served right out of the oven. They were soft but this small sized rolls did carry enought flavours inside.

  

Pizza primavera – hand stretched base, baked on a stone-hearth with fresh tomato, fresh buffalo mozzarella and garden vegetables. I found that the pizza was too much for Aperitivo but the pizza was actually not heavy, the pizza did contain enough cheese and vegetables. The taste was unique and the slightly burnt base did add a little bit of flavour to the pizza.

Gamberi fritti – shrimp popcorn, they looked amazing and smelled even more tempting. The look of the bloggers face was just to see that it was delicious also. I heard the shrimp was an interesting addition to the popcorn.

Serafina is a wonderful Northern Italian cuisine. The determination of the management to bring Aperitivo is truly amazing. The management want to relish the tradition of Northern Italy right here in Bengaluru. The best part of this place I found was the painting that was made by a single artist and this artist has transformed the entire walls of the restaurant to a masterpiece.

Hokey Cokey - The Gastro pub

Picture credits : Prateek Thakkar

This is a gastro pub with a very unique set up on the roof top on 80 feet road of Kormangala, Bengaluru. The place has a wonderful and classy ambiance. Even though the place is new, it was crowed enough for a Friday night. This place has the feel that would make you pick up a drink, enjoy the music, converse with people and relish the food. This is a place that is fit for all ages and crowed of people that would enjoy.

Let me start off with the drinks. I went for the Lipstick On My Collar as it had vodka with fresh pomegranate, passion fruit and basil, I thought this would be on the milder side but this was more of a moderate side with an excellent taste and content of alcohol. This was a very good for me to start off with but if you want a milder drink then you can go with the Newton’s Formula which is also a vodka base with coconut syrup, green apple, cranberry and pine apple juice, this drink has a very good mixture of all the ingredients which upheld the name of Mr Newton. Then I went for the Purple Haze which is also a vodka based with black currant and sweet & sour mix, this drink was a shocker for me as the drink was not over power with the black currant but it had a very nice texture of black currant which was a very nice experience for me. If you are looking for a stronger drink then you might as well go with the Angels On My Shoulder which is a gin based with amaretto, elder flower, sweet & sour mix and nutmeg, which was quite strong but the thing of this drink is that it takes you a level and keeps you happy without the urge of having more.

Newton’s Formula

Lipstick On My Collar

For starters it was Something Corny started the delight for me, this dish had a unique and tasty. I liked the way the corn was crunchy but it was crunchy in a different way and thats what made this dish stand out. The flavours was a very good choice as it had just enough to wake up your taste bugs but not too much that it over powered the drink. The next was the Beirutti Mezze Platter,  is a combination of Lebanese dishes like Hummus, Tabolueh, Falafel and Baba Ghanoush. The spread in the platter is very tasty, on a whole I was left with wanting more in the platter as the quantity was less but the quality was nice.  The non-veg looked and smelled very tempting but due to my religious believe I had to control as I was not allowed to eat non-veg for some days, this urge was control by the fried corn kernels, this dish had a unique yet crunchy flavour that gave me a hint of what the non-veg would taste like and of what I missing. The next thing was Hokey Cokey Broccoli, this had steamed broccoli and this is the one vegetable that I would not prefer eating without my mother shouting behind me, after the first bite I realised that broccoli can also be yum. You read correctly, the broccoli was yum because of the way it was prepared and the Tadka. For the last starter we had ordered the Yankee Chilli Fries, this dish had the most unique way of presentation of serving fries. This dish had crispy fries below with beans and topped with cheese, if I try the same thing at home I am quite sure of getting soggy fries. This was the highlight starter dish that I enjoyed till the last bite.

Beirutti Mezze Platter

Hokey Cokey Broccoli

Yankee Chilli Fries

It time for pizza where Vegetable Garden Pizza was served, the pizza that we served was a thin crust cheese veg pizza with mushrooms. The crust was soft and kinda crunchy. I wanted more cheese in my pizza as I love my pizza with loads of cheese. The veggies was well placed out that made this feel like a starter for me.

Now it is the time for the Arabian burger, the presentation of this burger was unexpected. The burger was a bit dry but after putting in some ketchup the burger was good. On a over all the burger is an average burger but the dips along made the entire difference in the dish.

Arabian burger

After having all of this we all preferred to share the main course and we ordered for the Triple Schezwan rice and Thai Red Curry with Spiced Flavored steamed rice. The Thai Red Curry was not too sweet but the salad that was severed along was but since the curry was not that sweet I liked it a lot. This curry with rice is a very nice way to end the dinner as it will fill you to the extent you are left to have only the dessert. The triple schezwan rice is my idle dish that I want for my main course. The Schezwan was slightly on the spicier side and that what made this dish my favourite dish, the schezwan noodles and the rice with the schezwan sauce just filled me up completely. 

Triple schezwan rice

Chef Naveen has made great efforts to make the dish and that's the reason this is truly a Gastro Pub.

You can head out here with friends to have a great time or take your date that to have a tummy filling romantic time. Add this to your pub list on Kormanagala road, as this is a place to make memories.