[Food] Ole Express

The new kid on the delivery block, Ole is out to impress! Ole Express is an incarnate of the restaurant of the same name that was once located on Zamzama. Being mom-less this Ramzan, I have resorted to ordering in rather frequently and I have to admit, this was one of the most seamless and effortless processes ever.

The food was delivered hot and fresh.  And no leaks! Packaging is so crucial to a food delivery business but not enough businesses pay attention to it. The pasta was double wrapped in cling film to avoid any leaks. Call me weird, but that impressed me! But, taste is king of course. Here's what I tasted and loved (or not).

These Chicken Strips turned out to be my favorite thing on the order. The chicken meat was flavorsome (I am guessing it was buttermilk marinated), the coating crisp and the dipping sauce was not over powering. And real French fries. A starter with a side dish - now that's generous!

My sisters picked the Peppery Fried Shrimps as the other starter. I do not eat sea food but they reported that these were possibly the best fried shrimps they had tried. My only issue is the quantity. Priced almost the same as the Chicken Strips and enough for only one person, as opposed to the chicken that could be shared by up to three people.

Pakistan's favorite pasta - Creamy Chicken Pasta - or some such thing. This rendition of the classic dish was rich but dry. I would have preferred a lighter but saucier sauce. Once again, the quantity is good for two.

The Stuffed Chicken with Tarragon Sauce proved to be the main event. Crispy exterior, moist interior and a sensational sauce to go with it. This was a 10 dish on all counts. Priced at Rs 610, this is a steal! Served with a generous side of fries (or mashed potatoes) and vegetables, this is also good for two.

Ole is a delivery service with class. Their menu is standard restaurant fare and can be served with the same finesse on your dining table. Whether you want to treat yourself or want to host a fancy dinner at home, get in touch with Ole. It would be interesting to see Ole venture into the catering side of things as well.

Will I be ordering from Ole again? Most definitely!

[Food] How To Survive This Summer In The Kitchen

Karachi is hot. And not in a sexy way. It is hot, humid, sweaty and sometimes smelly. So here's a pro tip about how to survive this summer in the average Karachi kitchen... Just don't. That's right, avoid cooking altogether. Well, as much as possible. My mother is away all summer and feeding the family is on my to-do-list. Here's a few basic tips on how to avoid cooking this sumer:

1. Freeze: Make your own kababs. Shami kababs are hard work. I opted for mince based burger style kababs instead. Get creative - add your own concoction of herbs and spices, something to bind it all together and just grill. Cook them fully - about 2 minutes each side for chicken. Then just cool and freeze.

Add carbs to your creation if needed

2. Greens: Being lazier has been never healthier. Get a head of ice berg lettuce every couple of days to make your own salad mix. I usually grill a spiced chicken breast and keep it in the fridge to add to my salad.

My  Citrus Sumac Salad

3. Order In: No really. Just order in. But when ordering for the whole family, it can get a bit pricey and you have to think of preferences. And children. I found the FoodPanda app to be quite helpful in this regard. I usually order in when I am craving something specific like pizza or Chinese. FoodPanda actually turned out to be a great tool for budgeting and planning meals. I gave myself a budget of Rs 1000 for dinner per day to feed the four of us and then spent quite a bit of time scrolling through the menus and prices on the app. Not only was I able to feed the family on a budget but we also got to try lots of new restaurants that we would not usually visit. I was also able to order much earlier on for the food to be delivered at a specific time. So even if I forgot my responsibilities, Panda did not,

BOTH.

What did I order and how did it taste? Watch this space for indiviual reviews coming up. 

[Food]: Sehri Made Easy (and Healthy)

In the first week of Ramzan, I am rather excited about waking up  for sehri, making sehri for the family, eating, talking, prayer. And then, the lethargy sets in. If you are like me, the will and stamina to eat at sehri drops. This leads to some serious suffering during the day. But I have discovered some tips and tricks to keep full during the day.

1. Beans, beans, beans

Beans are the poor man's (and dieting woman's) meat. Rich in protein and comparable to meat in terms of calories, beans are actually better than meat. The higher fibre and water content of beans means that we feel fuller faster. Fibre also means that beans take longer to digest and keep us fuller for longer during the fasting day. Beans also prevent us from feeling hungry. They are low in sugar which prevents insulin levels in the blood from spiking and causing hunger.
Mix and match your beans - make a three bean salad or four or five. Add an olive oil and citrus based dressing and you are set for a delicious, healthy and filling Sehri meal. I make one with red beans, corn and chickpeas. For extra power, replace corn with black eyed peas.

I add some cucumbers to my 3 Bean Salad. 

2.  Cheese and Bread

Too simple to be true. Get some cottage cheese and toast some whole wheat pita bread and you have a delicious sehri meal. Of course, you should jazz it up like I do. My mother makes different flavors of cottage cheese/paneer - with zaatir, chilli flakes, baby garlic etc. You can try cut the cheese into thin slices and stick them in the oven until it is slightly golden. Cheese is a high energy food that will nourish you and the whole wheat pita will keep you fuller for longer.

My mum makes excellent zaatir cheese

3. Loaded Omelette

Try to cram as many food groups into your eggs! Vegetables, grains, meats,dairy and even fruit! With  an omelette, you have the 'meat' covered by eggs but you can add in a sliced sausage or chicken chunks. There's an endless options of veges than can go into your omelette, so try to pick the healthiest ones such as spinach or broccoli. Throw in some cottage cheese/paneer chunks and some tomato or avocado to complete the dairy and fruit sections of the five food groups. As for the grains, you can have this omelette with half a whole wheat pita bread or just add from whole wheat bread crumbs to the omelette. The bread crumbs also help hold this giant omelette together.

You can add all your favorite flavors to eggs!

4. Haleem

Possibly my favorite food in terms of convenience. While making haleem takes considerable investment in terms of time and effort, once it's done you can freeze it in small portions and defrost when needed. It is also the kind of food that requires very little effort - just microwave and eat, even when you have woken up 15 minutes before Fajr. Besides, it's healthy! Packed with grains and proteins, it's a complete meal in a bowl.

Not just for Muharram, but for Ramzan too!

Sehri is one of the toughest meals to prepare and consume. And if you do it wrong, you are going to be in some serious during this warm weather Ramzan. I like to make Sehri fun - I ensure that I have a a variety of different dishes to keep me interested. It has to be something that's worth waking up for! Stock up your freezer with delicious, quick meals for Ramzan.

For more ideas on what to eat this Ramzan, check out YummyMummyAndMe.

[Food]: New York Coffee, Karachi

Another day, another coffee shop in Karachi. Do we need more coffee shops in the city? As a non coffee drinker, I want more tea rooms in the city! But as a foodie, what I do want is more variety in my casual dining menu and New York Coffee - Your Neighborhood Cafe, seems to offer me just that. Located on 8th Zamzama Commercial Lane, the cafe has free valet parking and can be easily seen from the main road - if you are like me and can never remember a Zamzama address, that makes life infinitely easier.

Alright, first let's talk about the food. Between the three  hungry girls at peak lunch hour, we orders three starters, three mains and three drinks. Little did we know that the servings would be THAT generous. There was plenty of leftovers to take home for all of us.

Pesto Chicken Bruschetta

Hands down my favorite thing to eat at New York Coffee. Bits of chicken in pesto sauce on crusty flavorsome bread, with just a few tomatoes. The sticky sweet drizzle on it gives it another layer of flavor. Big thumbs up for getting the bread texture just right! 4.5/5

Thai Beef Salad

I keep hoping against hope to find a good Asian salad...or anything vaguely, genuinely Asian in Karachi and I keep failing. The Thai  Beef Salad was way too spicy for my taste. That balance of sweet and spicy that is key to Asian cuisine was missing. Also, the vegetables were too big for a Thai salad. And alas, no peanuts or sweet Thai dressing. 3/5

Crispy Chicken Tender Salad

Thank god for restaurants who serving dressing on the side! Generous portion of chicken makes this a meal in itself.It would be nice to see a couple more kinds of greens to go with the ice berg. 4/5

Here come the mains!

Half and half Chicken Cordon Bleu & Sweet Corn and Pepper Pizza

Since we could not decide which pizza to order, the staff was kind enough to do a half and half for us. And AMAGAD! That Chicken Cordon Bleu pizza fell out of heaven! This pizza is a sinner and so am I! Perfect thin crust and a balance between the toppings and the sauce make this my favorite non-pizza place pizza to date. Restaurant pizzas often end up being too dry in a bid to be more authentic but this one is just perfect. The sweet corn and pepper pizza is good too but not when it's next to THAT. 5/5

Shrimp Risotto

Risottos are tricky business - from the type of grain used to the layering of flavors to the cooking time. This was not a good day for risotto. The plating was wrong and the rice was too dry. The shrimps were generous and the flavor was well worked into the rice. Did they use shrimp stock to flavor the rice? Certainly tasted like that.  2/5

Chicken Enchilada

Love beans, love bread, love rice! All done well in this plate of chicken enchilada (also available in shrimp). The tortilla was fresh and warm and generously stuffed. The salsa and sour cream worked well together. The beans on the side were absolutely perfect - thank god someone had better sense than to use those wretched baked beans from a can! There should be a ban placed on that rubbish!

Hence, I felt that I wanted more beans on the side. Will definitely ask for extra beans on my next trip there. 4.5/5

I am not much of a drinks person but my friends ordered a few fruit smoothies and were suitably satisfied. 

The ambiance is fairly friendly. The staff is not too over bearing in trying to be attentive (major pet peeve). But the one thing that's missing is a good soundtrack - something more  hip, something more New York, Will I be going back with family and friends? Most definitely!

[Food]: National ka Pakistan

Needless to say, I am a food fiend. I spend much of my time online looking up new recipes, foodie destinations and menu ideas for YummyMummyAndme.  Some of my favorite recipe websites are Rasa Malaysia, BBC Good Food and Yummy. The reason I like these sites is that they are simply organized and give me lots of options and ideas - to search for recipes by ingredients, region, calories etc.

Recently, I was invited to yet another blogger meet up by National Food at Koel Cafe as an introduction to their new website, National Made Easy. The website is actually packed with great content. One can look up recipes according to occasion, ingredients, region (Pakistan) and even everyday meal ideas.

The Good News

The website looks great - slick design, great photography and even short instructional videos.
In terms of content organization, National Made Easy is by far the most well done of all the local cooking websites I have come across. I rather enjoyed the content on the 'National ka Pakistan' tab is a food travelogue hosted by Chef Saadat.

The Not-So-Good News

The website does not have any personalization option yet - no room for creating your own menu plans or saving recipes. There is a registration tab but it does.... nothing. There is a lot of over lap between the different categories, hence, we need more recipes. Hopefully, they will keep updating the content. There is an over dose of video based content! I would have liked some written word and stills for the food travelogue. The mini recipe videos are all kinds of over-stylized - just a bit too fancy in the same vein as our cooking oil/ghee advertising.

Will I be using the website? Perhaps. But unless they add an option for saving recipes and adding more content, I do not think that I will be a frequent visitor.

Luckily for me, National Foods gave me a cook book too.

[Food]: The Magnum Pleasure Store, Karachi

A pleasure store - don't you just love the sound of that? One where you can indulge in all your fantasies without fear or guilt. But hold that thought, I'm talking of halal pleasures - namely rich, decadent, make-your-own Magnum bars! Affordable, legit, delicious pleasure!

The Magnum Pleasure Store in Karachi is only the 14th such store in the world where we can make our own Magnum bars from scratch - well almost from scratch. You start with choosing your Pleasure Maker ie one of the cuties behind the Magnum Pleasure bar to craft your Magnum. I do have a clear favorite Pleasure Maker and I will returning, only to him *sigh*  - anyways, on to the halal pleasures. You get to choose three toppings from a wide variety such as chilli flakes, blue poppy seeds, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, white chocolate, hazelnuts, pop corn and many more. You can be as experimental, colorful and creative as you want. Then you get to choose your Magnum bar - vanilla or chocolate and what you would like to coat it in - namely milk or dark chocolate. My first bar was a vanilla Magnum coated in milk chocolate and covered in chilli flakes, blue poppy seeds and hazelnuts. Don't feat the chilli flakes - they actually work really well with the sweet milk chocolate and gentle vanilla. It's a grown up Magnum bar!

Each bar is priced at Rs 250. A regular Magnum bar costs Rs 80. Is it a fair deal? I think so. It is more than 'just a Magnum' - the Magnum store lets you get creative with your food or rather it lets you play with your food. Personally for me, getting creative with food is always fun. I am a huge fan of cook-your-own-food places - hot pots, grill your own meat -  and the Magnum Pleasure Store lets me make my own ice-cream.

Although the store and the brand itself seems to be aimed at a hip, yuppie crowd - I can actually see myself talking my nephews and nieces (between the ages to 2 and 10) there quite often. The colors and the creative process involved is sure to be enjoyed by the kids and the parents can chill out on the comfy sofas around the store. However, the store does need more kid friendly seating.

Should you go to the Magnum Pleasure Store? Yes. Will I be going back? Most definitely - with the kids, my sisters and girl friends. What else would I like to see there? More experimental toppings, limited edition Magnum bar flavors, chocolate drinks, more seating and perhaps even a photo booth. Team Magnum... please consider...

Oh and here's my second bar... hazelnuts, dried cranberries and white chocolate chips on a chocolate bar covered in milk chocolate.

Warning: You will have to skip a meal for this Magnum indulgence.