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Feeling Taantastic: Two ways to my Pinafore dress.

07:06
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Food at KAVA( Fairfield by Marriott)

Hello !! Hope everyone is doing well. So here I am back with another food post. Recently I was invited to review food at Fairfield by Marriott. The fine dine restaurant at Fairfield is known as KAVA. This post is about “KAVA” the restaurant and I will be coming up with a second post super soon covering the other services and facility at Fairfield.

AMBIENCE

Kava is spread over a large area with no fuss around. The ambience is not only classic and descent but a perfect balance between a welcoming ambience and maximum seating capacity. It has huge floor to ceiling glass windows on one side which naturally light up the interior during the day time. The large windows open to the garden and also it is the best way to bring nature inside making the place more aesthetic.

Kava has three sections:

Bar section: It offers interesting and exotic mocktails, freshly brewed hot coffees and teas, which will absolutely set the mood right.

Restaurant: It is a modern all day dining restaurant that dish up Indian and international cuisines like continental, Chinese and Italian. They have a facility of three meals a day (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner) in a-la-Carte and buffet both. Also they have nine day different menu.

Private Dining Area: This is a private section just behind the KAVA Bar mainly for the purpose of connecting privately for official or informal meetings. It has a seating capacity of around 20-25 persons. You can book the place in advance.

The Island buffet arrangement and the open kitchen are the plus points in their features. The concept of open kitchen is not very old in Lucknow and along with it, brings a sense of assurance to their customers. Each buffet island has apt number of cutleries placed in a section beneath the table so you don’t have to run all around finding plates/bowls for yourself.

BUFFET AT KAVA

1. SOUP:

There were two soups one vegetarian and other non-vegetarian. I decided to have a non-vegetarian soup.

Chicken lemon coriander soup: It was completely refreshing and really appetising. I loved the lemon-yellowish color of the soup. The soup had a strong flavour of lemon with a hint of coriander along with some chicken and mushroom pieces.

2. SALAD ISLAND

Here you can find all the exotic vegetables, corns and other stuffs for your salad. Not to forget the salad live counter where you can customise your own salad. At the counter they have placed all the sauces, oils and other ingredients that are used in salad dressing.

3. STARTERS ISLAND

I loved the concept of keeping the most famous street food of India “chaat and pani-puri” in the starters menu of buffet. I guess this particular section is life for all the chaat lovers with choices like pani-puri (four flavours water), Dahi batashe and Paapdi chaat. The other starter was the paneer tikka.

I had two of them:

Dahi batashe: The curd used to fill the crunchy puri was thick, cold and faintly sweet. Puri was stuffed with some boiled potatoes and chutney. This completely satisfied my palate.

Paneer tikka: Soft cottage cheese marinated in red sauce and spices, grilled to perfection. It had a delightful flavour.

4. MAINCOURSE

There were almost 8-10 varieties of cuisines in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian main course. I will write down about the one that I had.

VEGETERIAN MAINCOURSE ISLAND:

Veg Biryani: I am a hardcore Biryani lover so there was no chance of missing it. It was full of exotic flavour and spiced up in the right amount. They rice were not sticky at all with no sign of extra oil.

Paneer Lababdar: It is one of their signature dishes at Kava. The gravy has soft cottage. Cheese cubes in creamy flavourful gravy. It is a must have if you are at kava. The aromatic gravy had the balanced flavours and had a little tangy hint. The cottage cheese was so soft that it almost melted into my mouth.

Steamed Noodles: steamed noodles with mixed vegetables like bell peppers, onion and capsicum. Though steamed noodles may seem tasteless but it wasn’t so.

Bhuna aloo: It is probably one of the simplest dishes at kava. It is basically roasted steamed small potatoes but not very spicy.

NON VEGETERIAN MAINCOURSE ISLAND:

Chicken biryani : A chicken biryani is not a biryani unless it has perfect flavour and aroma of spices, fully cooked rice and tender-juicy chicken pieces. Biryani at most of the places in lucknow has disappointed me but to my surprise biryani at kava is authentic both in term of flavour and appearance. So next time when you are at kava don’t forget to treat your taste buds with this flavourful chicken biryani.

Tava fish: It is again a simple one bite dish, perfect for people who prefer eating low carbs.

5. DESSERT ISLAND

This was my favourite section at kava. I have a sweet tooth so I couldn’t resist myself from having desserts. In desserts they had: fruit bread, banana bread, kheer, rajbhog,steamed pudding, kesar burfi, chocolate cake, red velvet cake, fresh fruits, etc.

Few of my favourite picks from the desserts island are:

Fruit and banana bread: They were soft, fresh and perfectly sweetened. I liked the banana bread more over the fruit bread. I had them with the butterscotch ice cream.

Steamed pudding: This is again a signature dessert at kava. The sight of this pudding was so utterly irresistible and heavenly. The pudding was fluffy, gooey and delicious.

Raj Bhog: The lip smacking Raj Bhog was like a spongy soft ball flavoured with kesar.

Kesar barfi: The best part about these barfi was that it was very faintly sweet, soft and fresh.

Caramelised pineapple: I have never had something like this in my life before. I was in doubt when the chef told me that I should try this out although it was interesting to watch the skewed pineapple cubes coming out of a fancy jug with smoke all around it and land on my plate. Since I am a food blogger so I had to taste it and I actually loved it. I love pineapple and now the caramelised one even more.

THE KAVA BAR

MOCKTAILS

Mixed fruit mojito: A perfect for brunch mocktail, this drink of freshly juiced fruits is both nourishing and satisfying. The beautiful color of the mocktail and the way they presented it before us is just remarkable. This flavourful mojito is also a must have at KAVA.

TEA

Kava Tea:

At last when we were all stuffed and done with the eating (excess) then we were served with the magical kava tea. The chef told us that the kava tea is really good for digestion and appetite. The tea had a very strong flavour of ginger and some spices.

Before I conclude I would like to tell you all that the food at kava is for everyone and not only for the food lovers. Friendly diet at restaurants is challenging especially for people who are diabetic or have some other health issues. For them most of the times dining out is a chore and then I think a place like KAVA which offers gastronomic a-la-carte and buffet menu is a perfect place, that can make everyone’s dining experience pleasurable.

SERVICE AT KAVA: The service at kava is good and quick. The chefs and the whole staff are polite, humble and well trained. They will make you feel important.

THE AMAZING TEAM AT FAIRFIELD BY MARRIOTT

LOCATION

It is Located in the commercialised area of Gomtinagar.

Address:

Gate no 2, opposite Indra Gandhi Pratishthan,

Vibhuti Khand, Gomtinagar, Lucknow.

BUFFET CHARGES

Breakfast: Rs 440 + tax

Lunch: Rs 550 + tax

Dinner: Rs 550 + tax

Hope this post is of some help to you guys and don’t forget to pay a visit to this place.

Stay tuned until next.

12:04
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DIY: Dupatta dress ft. IndiSans

Hey guys!!! Hope you all are doing well. I am back with another post and this one is completely different from what I usually post.

India is known for its diversity and rich cultural heritage worldwide. India is a hub of incredibly vibrant culture which comprises of different religions, beliefs, festivals, food, arts and crafts, hand looms and a lot more. Handlooms of our country have always been in demand and loved all over the world but in the recent times there has been a decline in their market value. In order to flourish the Handloom sector our govt came up with initiatives like “Make In India” and the “National Handloom Day”.

Recently I came across a label “IndiSans”; they work in close association with the craftsperson and artisans itself without the involvement of middlemen. As the middlemen has always deprived artisans of their deserved income. So, IndiSans is also created with a motive to empower these artisans and weaver who are otherwise not able to get the value of their products that they deserve. At IndiSans you will find these handloom products very rightly priced as they do not involve middle men and would source all the products directly from the manufacturers.

IndiSans will be lauching with their website soon.Till then you can visit their Facebook and Instagram page to get a preview of products that will be available on their website.

IndiSans on Facebook: Click Here

IndiSans on Instagram: Click Here

Coming up to my outfit, I thought of being little creative for this post and made a dress out of this sequence Dupatta. I wore this Dupatta over a plain black basic T-shirt and Jeggings. You guys must have already seen people wearing Dupatta as a saree, cape, kimono, etc as there are numerous ways of styling a dupatta and fashion is all about experimenting. To make this dress out of a Dupatta, I draped it across the shoulder and let it fall naturally to the sides. Then I used a belt slightly above the waist to give a shape to the dress. I kept it “flowy” from below the belt. I find it really easy and it’s a two minute job. The best thing about this dupatta is its golden sequence work over black and the length which is really longer than the usual length of dupatta we generally have.

I carried a pretty orange sling bag from IndiSans, which has brocade work on it. You can carry it both as a sling and clutch. The bag has three pockets and is of high quality.

I finished the look with round gold ear rings and black pencil heels.