Tata Get. Set. Bolt.

I had to pleasure to go to Embassy Tech Village to see the Tata Bolt kept on display. I traveled 15 km one side just to go see the car. I am going to tell you the five features of this car that made me travel so far.

Firstly, I love the connectivity which is a hi-tech infotainment system, exclusively designed in collaboration with Harman. This is has the smartphone enabled navigation with MapmyIndia maps, advanced voice command recognition to make calls, change tracks, control AC (Yes! Voice controlled) and incoming SMS notifications and read-out. This is the main feature that I look into a car these day.

Secondly, I like comfort of the vehicle. The body hugging rugby shoulder seats, a power first-in-class fully automatic AC with controls on the touchscreen. The seating's are really comfortable in front and back with good leg space, the back seat are completely foldable to to increase the already 210 ltr (approx) boot space. The adjustable steering wheel is also a easy to use and gives you a better control of the vehicle.

Thirdly, the safety equipment's in the car are up to the mark. The car has Dual front airbags that is standard requirements for a affordable car. The car is equipped with 9th Gen ABS by Bosch with EBD and CSC, which is the latest technology. I loved the speed sensing auto locks on all doors that locks the vehicle when the it reach 10 kmph or more.

Fourthly, the LED high mount stop lamps, the floating roof and the alloy wheels. The LED stop lamps looks really neat and I personally love the flame finish, which is evident even in the day time. The floating roof would look wonderful on the highway when your travel in the range of 90 to 110 kmph. The company gives you approx 1.5 feet black alloy wheels that looks slick and very neat.

Fifthly, the move that is taken up by Tata to present the India's first Multi-Drive car. The company provides the option of Sport for a burst of power, Eco for unmatched mileage and City for perfect balance. The petrol engine is a Revotron 1.2T and the diesel engine is a Quadrajet 1.3. The max power is 90 @ 5000 and 75 @ 4000 that is reasonable for petrol and diesel engine respectively. The max torque is 140 @ 1500-4000 and 190 @ 1750-3000 which is really good for petrol and diesel engine respectively. Both the engine are manual 5 speed. The max fuel capacity is 44 liters which is great.

This post is a part of Get. Set. Bolt. activity at BlogAdda Check out the latest book up for review at BlogAdda, Apply Now to get the book and review it.

Legacy Bangalore Derby - 2015

Bangalore, January 23, 2014: In its maiden association with this premier-racing event, Legacy, a leading luxury real estate developer in the city has collaborated with the Bangalore Turf Club to present the Winter Derby Race. The event, now known as Legacy Bangalore Derby - 2015, will be held on January 26, and promises the thrill of racing accompanied by its glitz & glamour. Kick starting the exciting line up of events, the evening witnessed the unveiling and handover of the official Race Day Trophy.

A perfect blend of intense racing action, runway fashion and glitz, Legacy Bangalore Derby - 2015, ranks high up in the social calendar of events in the city. With the finest of thoroughbreds competing in the presence of Bangalore’s elite, the winner of the high-octane race will walk away with the victor's trophy and a prize purse of around INR 90 lakhs.

During the event,  the Official  Derby Trophies were unveiled along with the much-awaited starting stall draw – wherein the representatives of the horses picked the slots from which their horses would start the race. 

About  Legacy:  You can visit www.legacy.in or their facebook page www.facebook.com/legacygroupbangalore

Yauatcha - Cantonese delight in Bangalore

This was the best Christmas present that I received in my life. The opportunity to going review Yauatcha's new additions was my great pleasure. Yauatcha is a Cantonese cuisine.

Drinks:

The only mocktail that I had till the main course was orange & chilli mocktail. This was exception a great drink. The drink was sweet and you can taste the flavour of orange and when it settles in the throat, you get the spicy flavour settling. This was a very pleasurable drink to have with the dimsums. The combination of orange juice, lemongrass, palm sugar, chilli and mint. This drink enrich every dimsums that I had.

I did have a sip of Tokyo Sunrise, this was a bit on the sweeter side than the orange & chilli mocktail but I preferred my drink. This was a combination of lemongrass, raspberry, guava juice, peach juice and elderflower syrup. This was very nice drink too.

Dimsums:

I have usually thought that the dimsums are a standard way, i.e, they are wrapped in rice-flour either steamed or fired. This is not the truth, dimsums can be served in varies ways. You can come across the same in the dimsums that I have below.

Beetroot and celery dumpling. This was a steamed dimsums, you can get the proper taste of both the ingredients and this went very well with the sweet dip.

The pan fried charcoal lamb bun became my favorite one. I love the way that lamb was cooked to perfection with the bun which is pan fried. The lamb was juicy, you can still feel the bun melting in you mouth and making its way to lamb.

Crispy duck roll. I couldn't get the proper taste of the duck complete but this was more of teaser for duck meat but the crispy layer was a unique way to present the duck.

Sugar chicken roll, the was a shocker when the same came on the table. This does not like like you average dimsums. I loved the way the chicken was fried and I was surprised to find sugarcane in the center. The chicken was kinda plan but with the dip and the surprise sugarcane did give a very unique and wonderful taste. I enjoyed each and every bite of this dish. I wanted the same on a carrot or radish that is marinated and I did suggest the same but I was told that the carrot and radish wouldn't be firm.

Prawn and seaweed dumpling. I had this before in different places but I found the seaweed over powering the taste of the prawn, but in here, this was cooked in a very nice way that I got a proper taste of prawn and seaweed. 

Sesame Prawn Toast, I like the minced prawn and the sesame coated, I personally do not like sesame but this dish  had just just enough to give me taste of it and the proper taste of sesame.

Spicy squid cake, if you are a sea food fan then you just can't miss this dimsum at all. Usually squid is served either completely squashy or completely fried. I thought that here also would be the same, the truth was that the outer layer was fried but you do get the squashy feeling. The batter that was used will give you a proper taste of squid but not a complete one. This one is not to missed cause if you miss it, then you have missed a lot.

Wrapped chicken with black pepper, this was served over butter paper. I was really taken by the presentation, as it did not look like a dimsum but forget the looks cause the taste it more that enough to make you forget the pepper chicken that you ever had elsewhere.

Vegetable yin yang dumpling. This was a dumpling that offered more than just a dimsum. The same
was served over a cooked sauce that confused me about all the ingredients in it with it taste. I can this was a yum yum dumpling.

Soup:

I had the sweet corn soup with chicken but personally I did not like it cause the corn and the chicken were both minced, I prefer my sweet corn not minced, as I like the way the corn comes occasionally in my mouth. Saying this I want to say that the soup is well made, this had the right amount of ingredients.

I had a taste of the hot and sour soup with shredded chicken, I found that the same had excess of soya sauce.

Main course:

We ordered Stir-fry prawns in home town chilli sauce, Stir-fry kam heyong lamb, Jasmine rice steamed and a glass of white wine. The white wine did not go well with the prawn dish but same went exceptionally well with lamb. 

The Stir-fry prawns gave me different taste in the course of time that it touched my lips and going down to my tummy. I fell in love with the prawns, cumcumber, capsicum, sweet tomato and carrot. I ate this dish without the jasmine rice for a few minutes cause the dish was very tasty. This was sweet but it carried a slight hint of spice along with it.

The Stir-fry kam heyong lamb, this was on a spicier side and I loved the way this dish went with my wine. 

The Jasmine rice was an ideal choice to go with both the dishes. This jasmine rice did not have the extreme jasmine smell and taste but it just enough for me to get the proper flavour and not overpower the prawn and lamb dishes.

Dessert:

Selection of macarons we were served pista, orange and chocolate. I loved the chocolate.

Raspberry delice, it contains Raspberry insert, dark chocolate mousse and hazelnut brownie served with raspberry ripple ice cream. This dish just look beautiful, it was so good looking that really did not want to pounce on this dish at all but we still got courage to attack it. This actually became too much raspberry after a point but it was still worth it until the last bite.

Religieuse, it had chocolate choux pastry with hazelnut cremeux, chocolate pralime ganache served with ginanduja ice cream. This was also a wonderful looking but a even better dish cause it had chocolate. One word to explain this dessert is "Yum"

Mango mascarpone gateau which had feuilletine crunch, parlime mascarpone cream, litchi sorbet.

I had the pleasure to have some dishes from the new additions and the ones that are already there. I am looking forward to coming back with a couple of people. You cannot miss the Pan fried charcoal lamb bun, sugarcane chicken roll and spicy squid cake in the dimsums, Stir fry prawns in Home chilli sauce for main course and for dessert you to have the Religieuse, Raspberry delice and the chocolate macaron.

Amrut - The Indian Whisky, known to the world

I was trilled to hear that I was invited for a whisky tasting and the event was held in Glass house, on lavelle road. I wanted have made up my mind to take that special person for date to glass and this event has confirmed it. This has been my most knowledgeable event form me. Amrut whisky is based in our Bengaluru, I was shocked to know that I was going for tasting a set of an Indian brand single malt whisky. They have reached international market and already been sold in over 30 countries across the world. Amrut Fusion has been rated at no. 3 by Jim Murray from over 4,000 (approx) whisky he tried from across the world, with a score of 97/100. Amrut whisky actually started out as a MBA project of Mr Rakshit Jagdale, this project of his has put India in the whisky market and has shocked a lot people all across the world.

Mr. Ashok Chokalingam, Mr. Rakshit Jagdale and Mr. Vikram were from Amrut to take us through the blind whisky tasting. This was a blind whisky tasting, where there were just six glass with whisky without any identification of the brand to anyone of us. The tasting session was taken forward by Mr Ashok Chokalingam who was in fact the Whisky Ambassador for the year 2012, voted by the Icons of Whisky. He explained us the various aspects of whisky that can be briefly explained as nosing, tasting, balancing and finish, along with guessing the age and origin. Let me tell you that I got the age and origin of all the whisky (It not that easy to get it right).

To briefly say talk about the above, we identified the smell of the whisky, firstly we smelled it we one nostril and then by both and we got various smells like orange, apple, smoke, walnut, spices, chocolate, etc, this was my first time to approach whisky like this and was enjoying every bit of it. Then we actually change the temperature of the drink with our palm, this enabled us to get the different layer of whisky. This was an interesting factor that I like. After doing we taste the whisky by allowing it to move to all parts of the mouth and get the proper taste of the whisky. The whisky actually felt different on the tip of the tongue, in the mouth and the throat (it was different for the each whisky that we had). The we were asked to feel then balance of the whisky as it was in the mouth, i.e, the tongue, mouth and the throat, some of the whisky was hard of the tongue but smoothened later on and vice versa also. Then came the finish, there are basely three category i.e, short, medium and long. Finish means the lasting effect of the taste that one carries with him. We were told that the finish and the age of the whisky run parallel to each other. I also came to know that the color of the whisky does not tell the age of the whisky as the same can be tampered with also. This was what I learnt under the guidance of Ashok.

This was rating on the whisky :

1. 22/40 for Glenmorangie
2. 30/40 for Amrut Classic Malt
3. 26/40 for Black label
4. 31/40 for Jim Beam
5. 34/40 for Amrut Fusion
6. 32/40 for Amrit peated

Do note that one man's whisky might not be liked by others. I just wanted to share my experience to you just to show that at time a blind tasting can actually give you a surprising score like the one I made.

After the whisky tasting, we were served a few of the chef's choice. We were served Stuffed mini eggplant roulade, Goat cheese lollipops, Margarita pizza, Chicken fire cracker, Beef carpaccio, Lamb sliders and Fish and chips. The chef used very less ingredients in his dishes which is his signature dish.

I loved the chicken fire cracker that was Tender chicken covered in a mix of mango puree and mustard which was the most interesting combination that I have come across, this dish also tasted wonderful and the mango puree and mustard complimented each other in the most unexpected way.

If you like goat cheese then you have to try the Goat cheese lollipops. I do not like goat cheese much but did not mind the flavor lingering on my tongue for long. The saltiness in the goat cheese and the dates and jalapenos stuffing really gave and very wonderful taste.

For more information, you can contact them at

Sales inquiries:
Ashok Chokalingam ,General Manager – International Operations, Amrut Distilleries Ltd,

Tel:+44(0)191-233 6316 Fax:+44(0)191-233-6346 

E-mail: info@amrutdistilleries.com

Head Office:
Amrut Distilleries Ltd, (N.R.Jagdale Group), # 41/1, 72nd Cross, Rajajinagar 6th Block,

Bangalore, 560 010, India.

Tel: +91 80 23100402, 380, 379, 389, 23503860 Fax: +91 80 23351542

Web Site: www.amrutdistilleries.com www.amrutwhisky.co.uk

Chili's - Indranagar Review

It is always a wonderful experience at Chili’s, this time I had the pleasure to visit their Indiranagar Branch on 100 feet road, Bengaluru. This is place is huge and has a different vibe to it, that can be enjoyed but all set of people. The choice of music here is good and the volume is just right to either enjoy the music or to have a conversation with your friends, family, date, acquaintance, colleagues, etc. You can feel a celebration at Chili’s with their special menu that is there for three months or so, these dish are quite the same from their permanent menu but with the exception of a few changes in the dish that would provide with a different and unique taste. As I mentioned that the place is huge and the management have used the space to provide enough privacy to each table. Recently Chili’s had held the India’s first cook out and that was a major hit across the country, I am looking forward to their next cook out.

Drink:

I wanted to try Watermelon Margarita from their special menu which has Sauza tequila, fresh watermelon puree and in-house sour, this was wonderful drink. The Sauza tequila was wonderful blend with the watermelon puree, which made it mild yet a very good drink. This was a wonderful drink for me to start off with. The highlight of this drink was the house made sour that was felt after the first two sips, this sour was just right to give you a mild taste which did not over power the watermelon taste.

Now I was stuck between Flavored Classic Margarita and Mojito, the waiter suggested me to go with the margarita. The margarita contained Tequila and triple sec with a splash of lime, this drink contained a lot of crushed ice which was a disappointment to me but this crushed ice and the splash of lime was the true creation of the drink. The crushed ice enabled me to take my time in having the drink slowly. Splash of lime gave me the tangy taste that was a different experience all together; due to this the order was repeated once more.

Persidente Margarita will shake up your day, as the is an hand shaken Margarita made with Tequilla, Cointreau and premium brandy. This is a two serves drink. This drink is really strong in alcohol content but the way this blends the taste of the food is mind blowing. This is among Chili’s wonderful creations.

Cosmopolitan that has Citron vodka, Cointreau and cranberry juice was indeed a very strong drink. This was the first cocktail that I had in my life. Even thou I felt this as a very strong dish, I still loved it that taste of vodka blend with cranberry juice.

Food:

For appetizers we had first order the Triple dipper with Paneer bites, Texas cheese poppers and Fried paneer quesadilla bites, I loved all three of them. The paneer bites was really good and that have wonderful crunchy with all the flavour intact inside of the paneer and the other ingredients, the paneer did have a unique texture inside for which I loved it. The Texas cheese poppers are always great in Chili’s, I just love them as the cheese in the poppers are really great and the way the cheese fills up the mouth is wonderful. The fried paneer quesadilla bites very delicious and all I can say about this is “Finish it while it’s hot” because if you don’t, then the others will finish it. The chipotle sour did the wonders in this dish.

We ordered the plain nachos that were served with in-house salsa. The salsa has a fresh texture to it which I love, the salsa was so great that I even used with the cheese poppers and paneer bites and with my big mouth burger bites also. For me nachos have always been a favourite snack and whenever I get fresh salsa with it.

The plain nachos were followed by Classic nachos and this look just amazing. I look it when there is jalapenos, this dish was made by melted cheese with jalapenos, beans and queso served with house-made pico de gallo and sour cream. This dish vanished into everyone’s tummy within a matter of minute. This dish was something more than just classic, this was more of a modern classic with all the texture and the whole dish was balanced was just delicious. The same was also available with citrus garlic chicken or buffalo meat, which be on my menu the next time that I go.

The Big mouth burger bites was the next to hit our table. The burger paddy was well made but the burger as a whole was a bit dry for me but the salsa did it trick. The big mouth burger bites is severed with onion string, fries and jalapeno ranch dressing that was really good. The onion string and fries were crispy and the jalapeno ranch dressing was delicious.

Then came in the BBQ grilled paneer salad (actually know as BBQ chicken salad, which is also available with Spicy garlic and lime shrimp), this was a crispy mixture of grilled paneer, cheddar cheese, pico fe gallo, corn relish, cilantro, crispy tortilla strips and a touch of BBQ sauce with is served with ranch dressing. I guess the mixture made your mouth water, like the way we did when the dish came to our table. The mixture was wonderful but it was too dry for me and i would have preferred a bit more BBQ sauce on the dish.

Cilantro pesto pasta with veggies was a blend of fresh green, cilantro, nuts and olive oil enlivened in a cream based sprinkled with pico de gallo which was simply delicious. I loved the slight tangy flavour that was there in the cucumber, the bread should have been a bit most crisp but other than that this dish was yum.

Marinara pasta with veggies was a tangy tomato based sauce with a proficient flavour of garlic and basil. I love tomatoes but after having so much I found the pasta a bit too tangy as I had was having the Flavored Classic Margarita, here the bread was crisp enough to relish the tangy flavour of the pasta.

Dessert:

Chocolate chip paradise pie was the same dessert that I had before and the taste just yum all over again. The chewy bar was slightly sweeter than before but it was enough to blend with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and caramel.

Molten chocolate cake topped the chocolate chip paradise pie on my dessert list. This was just yum all throughout. The master creation was devoured by us in a matter of seconds. Even thou everyone had eaten enough but once this was on the table, everyone of us became hungry again. This is one dessert that you just can’t miss having.