Les Amis - Your truly creamy companion!

Les Amis ticked plenty of boxes in the affirmative and can be termed to be a pretty impressive place with it's assorted collection of desserts especially creamy gelatos as well as selective bakery produce. It gives such a vibrant atmosphere with it's delicately done up aesthetics and seeing the display of ice creams and all the machines churning up the mechanics of creating these creamy creations is quite a sight to behold.

They are built up over two storey's with the ground area stacked up with dessert delicacies along with cozy seating arrangements whereas the top floor has more seating space with comfortable laden cushions along with some of their coffees and savory delights holding forte. It even feels like a place ideal to bring your work around for a wee bit because the atmosphere ignites that feel as well.

We tried some of their creamy creations. The ice creams scoops we had were sicilian pistachio and a dino milo chocolate both of which were sinful and oozing with delight all over. An ice cream cone combo of raspberry sorbet and pink guava was just riveting to say the least. Cold icy taste of the sorbet went jocularly well with the milk based rich taste of guava. We even had a shot at the stroop gelato sandwich which looked appealing with the biscuit layers being stuffed with cotton candy ice cream. They also have these lip smacking popsicles in the form of radical flavors such as rose milk, semiya etc aptly titles condensed milk creamsicles.

The savory side also had loads of interesting stuff worth trying but had to give it a pass since we just consumed a heavy lunch before coming in here to satiate our creamy cravings. They also have host of other sweetened items such as cookies and the like along with a fine variety of shakes and coffees. The service is based on self service model.

Les Amis is translated as Friends in its French avatar and there certainly cannot be an acquaintance better than rich delicious desserts which this place definitely conjures with fine quality. Les Amis infuses all the right vibes and is definitely assured to capture your heart to it's fullest content.

Desi Di - Sounding the Dinchak!

Taking Desi Di at face value, it will surely pique your interest. The place comes with the caption 'Dhinchak' which roughly translates to attitude and that is quite clearly seen in their interiors which has a sparkle about it. It embosses and makes use of multitudes of colour giving itself a quirky and bohemian feel. It captures desiness in full vigour and it's the kitschy set up that brightens up the atmosphere and gives it a zany outlook. The seating arrangement is pretty large and converged into different enclosures and you see each of them portraying the shiz through its wall paintings, miniatures, antiques, colour co ordinations etc.

Talking about the food, it goes in tune with the name of the place and is all desi. They have deliberately avoided South Indian cuisine but brought forth a lot of different items from canteen style to road side to hardcore Punjabi flavour and much more. A lot of innovations also came to the forefront with regard to taste and presentation. One more thing is that they have tweaked some of the items mildly in order for it to suit the palette of the localites.

We started our foray with a few drinks and chai. The lemon barley shikanji was more of a refreshing tonic to beat the heat. The Punjabi Lassi with nuts was pretty frothy and flavourful. The kala khatta soda was a lovely iced drink. The red hibiscus ice tea which was presented in a large beaker looked very appealing but somehow I didn't find it to be too distinctive on taste to any other usual fruit infused tea.

There was a section in the menu titled "All Day Menu" comprising of snacks and starters. The paneer bhurji papad waa very nice with smudged pieces of cottage cheese gregariously spread across the roundish oval along with sprucing of masala and inter laden in the center with a delectable pumpkin dip. The samosas were served in a canteen style box with 2 kinds of chutneys and a bunch of chilli's. These contained the usual potato masala but the texture of it was very good. The Arbi Pakoda was super crispy and slathered with the rightful dosage of spices making it a great snacker. The vada bao was quite lovely with the aloo loaded vada made Bombay style dunked in steamed bao buns. This one defined the Dhinchak as it was made in true Bambayya style with generous garnishing of podi mixture in addition to gentle spraying of chutneys and to infuse the spice quotient lengthy pieces of green chilli's were provided as accompaniment. The sambar kichdi was another one dish which was absolutely yummy and this one was great eating with the crispy papads. The Pav Bhaji fondue however was quite a disappointment. It was the usual pav buns torn as pieces and kept like bread sticks to eat dipped with the bhaji. The masala lacked a bit of creaminess and surely could have been better.

In the main course part, we had a Gujarati special item called Panki. We tried the palak corn version and this was basically a stuffing inside a green leaf that needed to be scraped and eaten. Quite a different experience trying this one. We also got naan with Malai Kofta which was done with the right ammunition and went very well with the Indian bread. The best of the lot was the Paneer Kurchan which was an aromatic panneer gravy cooked with much love and going really well with Naan. It was also served interestingly in a cooker and the flavour was very vehement.

The desserts were a complete win. The Pudina chai brulee was toothsome and really rich in taste with a subtle hint of pudina flavour in a cream brulee base. The gulab jamun cheesecake was a conglomeration well done with the mellow effect of the cake and the juicy taste of the jamuns being simply melt in the mouth. And we rounded the proceedings in superlative style through the Gajar Ka Halwa samosa with candy floss. This was totally bindaas with the samosas containing a sweetened pasty essence and coming along with a bowl of Malai floating with nuts and a fruit infused cotton candy floss. The whole dessert was a sinister creation and a wonderful workout for the sweet craving aficionado.

The rates seem fairly reasonable for the quantity and quality of stuff served. The service was quick witted. It was a pleasure conversing with the host who had complete knowledge of the items in the menu and about the specialities of each dish. Parking is of least concern as it's located in a club with abundant space being available. The place radiates with a kaleidoscope of colours and showcases dhinchak (attitude) in resolute fashion. This is a nice little place to visit especially with large groups and spend some good noteworthy time by soaking in the colour co ordinated ambiance and eat sumptuous food to your hearts content.

The Farm - Fresh & Cream

The Farm is like the ideal getaway spot away from the hush and bush of the city side to just soak in the sun and cozy along a laid back easy peasy meal. We were here unfortunately not at the right time in the sense we arrived just after their breakfast window got closed and there was a still good one hour to get sorted before the lunch touchdown were to start. However we weren't in the mood for too much food and hence settled down with a few desserts and beverages for company.

The place as such is in the interior of a divide and you would find plenty of greenery in the adjoining areas. The dining space is under a huge thatched roof and infuses comfort and lazy dining in every way. They make all their products farm fresh and in house. There is a lovely green house passage also which you can witness and the ambiance as such is minimal with not too many stuff stacked up. Miniature vehicles are found at the entrance just as an added attraction.

So we ordered for 3 of their cakes viz a banofee pie, lemon tart and a ricotta cheese cake. The banofee as well as the lemon based one was wonderful with the flavours flowing in resolutely. The added spread of fresh cream to touch up for the soft lemon cake was a total win. The cheese cake though disappointed a fair bit. It was raw with the taste not coming along and also the base crust was a little too hard for the liking. For drinks, we tried the cold chocolate and the hot chocolate both of which were well delivered. And as a breakfast option, we had a shot at the strawberries & cream which was a smacker of every sort. I absolutely loved the dulcy cream which accompanied the freshly made strawberries and this was kinda addictive that we had extra orders of the same.

It's a little hard to rate a place not having consumed their signature food offerings. As we were leaving, they were just about to start on the making the breads and I have a strong feeling the pizza's are going to be very good. Would definitely like to come back here to have a crack at them as well as other continental offerings.

The service wasn't the greatest. I wouldn't want to judge too much as the time which we entered, the place was technically closed. The rates seem quite reasonable. Most of our desserts were priced in the 200 range and seemed worth the money.

The Farm seems to be a wonderful getaway spot for a lazed out weekend afternoon with sumptuous food for company over which you can spend a good worthwhile time of a couple of hours.