Before I pen this review, I just want to put it out there that I absolutely love Mexican food – it’s my ultimate comfort food. Which is why I was super excited to try it out.
Adobo is a small, cosy restaurant located at Shahbaz Commercial with limited sitting. The interior is very bohemian with graffiti on the walls.
Like the sitting, the menu is also limited. However, the options are enough to satisfy your Mexican cravings. The menu includes tacos, mini tacos, Burrito Bowls and guacamole among other things.
Considering that my husband and I visit this place almost every week, I can confidently say that the food is fresh, clean and absolutely delicious. The spice levels are perfect and sauces perfectly curated. The satisfaction at the end of a meal here is unlike any other I’ve experienced in the past.
However, the food is not the best part. The best part of the restaurant is the warmth it has to offer. The owner is almost always there to make sure his customers are comfortable and get the best service.
As far as the price factor is concerned, the restaurant is reasonably priced. But if you order items like guacamole, except the bill to be slightly higher.
All in all, if you don’t care about the calories, Adobo is the place for you to go.
There’s a door, like Narnia and it’s so exciting to get to where it is. It’s an experience you could never get in any other city of Pakistan because it requires, no, demands the warmth of Lahori Punjabis. The owners of the restaurant with the blue door have tapped into exactly that; the fact that Lahoris will always be ready for an open and warm conversation.
It’s not easy to get a seat at the restaurant, ‘The Blue Door Super Club’. I came across them on Instagram and after inquiring about it from a friend who had recently gone, messaged the owner, Unum. She replied to my inquiry about a reservation with a hint of energy and bubble.
I got a reservation for four, paid half in advance, and we took the long trek out to the restaurant. The boonies of Lahore always has an air of mystery and with Google Maps having a tough time finding the restaurant, the whole experience became even more intruiging.
I was apprehensive though – so much mystery could be the gimmick that made up for the lack of good food.
I saw the menu beforehand and was bemused. So Punjabi to do a menu that was Mexican but also Korean but this one had a flair and the sound of actual, honest fusion. It looked and sounded comforting, not pretentious, and I wondered how well it would do in Lahore, where one would only pay 5000 rupees for a plate of overrated sushi.
Waiting for dinner service to begin
We got to the restaurant and expected to be seated at our table of four. Except it was a long, singular table of 12. Oh great, I thought. There’s a single table, people I don’t know, and they’ve already chosen our spots for us. This is going to be an experience I might not want to have.
The property was large, the restaurant small and cosy. The kitchen was small and the chefs, Unum and her husband Ali, came out to greet us. It quite literally felt like we had walked into someone’s home for Thanksgiving dinner and there were a lot of ‘relatives’ coming.
But like a cold winter night, when its time to get warm, there is a soft and tender warmth that starts to surround you. It started from the warm way Ali and Unum greeted us, and extended to the true Punjabi warmth of everyone getting together to sit at the table. A girl, who later became the life of the party, came and hugged us, exclaiming about how it was so lovely to meet new people. It was warmth, connection and conversation. Everything you expect from a dinner you will never forget.
Camerones al Mojo de Ajo served on a darling little plate
We were seated and the five course menu began with a prawn and garlic appetizer served on a homemade corn tostada. Giant prawns, seared to perfection, perfectly seasoned, it crunched with freshness , with hints of citrus. But what made it explode with flavour was the lemon chilli salt and the green chilli sauce. My God, what a sauce.
The kitchen was her grandmother’s room, explains Unum as she comes to chat between courses. Her nani was the one who taught her to cook, and as Unum spoke, her voice was full of memories of flavour. Which is what usually happens when one loves food and remembers who taught them their passion. Unum learnt hers and it is most likely what’s driving her to follow her memories.
By the time the chicken soup came along, the conversation was in full swing. A couple married for eleven years, one about to get married, everyone started exchanging stories. It was so swinging that we forgot to take pictures of it. There’s nothing better than a homemade bone broth, crispy tortillas floating in a soup with heart. The soup was finished in what felt like seconds as the conversation with strangers warmed into being a conversation with friends.
The fancy samosa that Mexicans call Empanadas was served next with a rocket and cucumber salad. The empanada was basic, which is something I didn’t expect. It lacked flavour but it was bound to, since it required heavy seasoning for the organic chicken and potato to surrender their blandness. A good dose of the saviour chilli sauce elevated it, but here began the downfall.
The conversation never wavered, and sometimes all twelve people listened to one person talk about a life story. Bursts of laughter, waves of silent listening, the conversation was the star. From chefs, to businesspersons, bureaucrats, homemakers and journalists, it was as if Unum and Ali had a secret sauce of mixing the right people. The food didn’t have to be good anymore. No music was needed. The hum of different life stories took over and never stopped.
Yang Nyeom Tong Dak Tacos
I ordered the Korean Chicken Taco, my partner, the Slow Cooked Beef. Having tried to perfect Korean Chicken, I was looking forward to this main course since it is not as easy as it looks. The handmade tortilla was perfection, the Korean Chicken left me wanting. The chicken pieces were crispy – a bit too crispy. They needed more meat and a lot more zing. The Pakistani palette loves spices, mixes of flavor which is why when a dish requires a tablespoon of sauce, add another two and you’ve got the Pakistani feel down. The chilli sauce. Yes. It came back on my plate and added another dimension.
Beef Birria de Res
The Slow Cooked Beef was having an off day as well. I had heard smashing reviews of the beef, with its chipotle aioli and roasted tomato salsa. It was meant to be slow cooked taco heaven. But again, lacked in flavor.
They started as chefs when they missed home living in England. Just like every nostalgic Pakistani, who goes abroad, braves the cold, carries their groceries and walks home to a place that doesn’t smell like ami kay haath ka khaana, they started making desi food for their friends and their friends for them. It happens to most of us.
Ali and Unum cooking for friends when living abroad
When we make our first daal with our mothers on the phone giving directions on how to do it and then slowly progress to biryani with masala mixes, or from scratch. It’s almost a right of passage, and Unum and Ali had the courage to take it forward and do what they love.
Unum and Ali at their graduation
Its apparent in the way they talk about their food. It sings in their dessert, a caramel flan with a chocolate cake base.
Pastel Imposible
The flan was creamy and joyous, the chocolate cake a tad dry. The two fought each other, the chocolate and the caramel vanilla flan, refusing to marry but forced on top of the other. I enjoyed every single bite of the flan, small savoring bites that didn’t last long enough.
The Blue Door to the restaurant
The Blue Door is starting brunch soon and is already booked out from what I hear. Not surprised. As we left, spending more than three hours at the restaurant, we exchanged numbers, promising to meet again and following each other on Instagram. It was the beginning of new friendships and as the tinkling and clatter of plates and cutlery being collected faded, it felt like the end of a meal we would all remember. It’s a magical place, The Blue Door, its fairy dust being the coming together of people being served food that’s grown and cooked with love.
The All Pakistan Restaurant Association organized the first ever APRA Awards, which were based on customer choices and were created to celebrate Karachi’s innovative food scene.
But after the awards were announced this week, Karachi’s foodie groups are criticizing the award list, questioning the authenticity of the awards, especially the fact that the best restaurant of the year was awarded to McDonalds.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1A29iGhmJZ/
The restaurant of the year award nominees included the uber popular SteakbyCFU, Karachi’s favourite Kebabjees and the once great Koel. Not only did McDonalds not fit in the list as it was the only fast food joint, but as the winner, it raised many eyebrows.
Ginsoy won the food legend award which also caused much grief since Waheed, Karachi Broast and Hanifia were also on the list
Many people called the list a joke, others questioned why Karachi’s legendary restaurants weren’t on the list and other came up with award lists of their own.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5pqWbkBjrO/
Critics of the awards questioned how restaurants who were nominated for awards and won them could be gold partners for the event
Ali Safina hosted the award event and the jury consisted of Chef Saadat, Dr. Sadia Safdar, Chef Abdul Hadi and Sumera Hussain.
The guilt that follows everytime you eat a dessert can be really stressful. But lucky for us some studies are suggesting that having dessert every once in a while — the real, indulgent kind — may actually be a useful tool for eating more healthfully when used strategically.
According to a report in Time, a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied picking dessert first — instead of after a meal — is linked to eating less and chosing of healthier meals. They didn’t even have to eat the treat first; just knowing they had selected it was enough to trigger a change.
Co-author of the study Martin Reimann explaining this concept said, “If we choose something healthy first, then this gives us a license to choose something bigger later. If you turn it around and choose something heavier early on, then this license is already expired.”
Reimann and his team studied 134 university faculty, staff and graduate students who were eating lunch in the school’s cafeteria. On four different days, they offered four different dessert options in the food line: a healthy choice (fresh fruit) placed before the main and side dish options, an indulgent choice (lemon cheesecake) before the savory dishes, fruit placed after the main meal or cheesecake after the main meal.
Almost 70% of people who took the cheesecake first went on to choose a healthier main and side dish (chicken fajitas and a side salad, instead of fried fish and French fries), but only about a third of people who took fruit did so. All told, people who picked cheesecake first went on to eat about 250 fewer calories throughout the course of the meal, compared to people who selected fruit as dessert first. People who took cheesecake after choosing the rest of their meal ended up eating about 150 more calories than who picked it first.
The same concept held true when 160 adults were asked to put together a hypothetical dinner order online, and estimate how much of it they would finish.
People who picked an indulgent dessert (chocolate cake) before ordering the rest of their food said they expected to eat about half as many calories as people who chose a healthy dessert (fruit salad) first, but the difference was much less pronounced when they decided on dessert at the end of the order. Nearly 56% of those who started with chocolate cake went on to choose the lighter main dish (grilled lemon chicken over chicken cordon bleu), versus about 44% of the fruit-orderers.
The study isn’t the first to suggest that the timing of your dessert matters, both physiologically and psychologically. Some experts recommend having dessert after a workout, since the body needs sugars to recover from intense activity and can thus put treats to better use. Foods that combine simple sugars and protein, like peanut butter cups, aid in recovery.
A strategically consumed sweet can even change your overall eating habits, research suggests. One 2012 paper found that people with obesity who followed a diet plan that included desserts like chocolate, cookies or donuts with breakfast later experienced fewer junk food cravings than people who ate a low-calorie, low-carbohydrate morning meal. The study authors suggest that this type of well-timed dessert may help with weight loss and management over time.
Moderate indulging may also help people avoid sugar binges. Research has shown that deprivation can spark cravings, potentially causing people to eventually eat more of the foods they were trying to avoid. So if you’re trying to reduce your sugar intake, a small helping of dessert may actually help you stick to that goal — at least at first.
Over time, if you reduce your consumption little by little, it is possible to retrain your brain and tastebuds to crave sugary foods less. And when you do want to indulge, do so strategically so you can satisfy your sweet tooth without feeling the guilt.
Cool pinks, misty greys and pastel mint, swings, flowers and all is the newest cafe in town – Swing.
Though the interior appears to be inspired by the Elan Cafe in London, this place is quite synonymous with its name, it has cute swings for seating, in addition to the regular chairs. Pink, mint and gold crockery and cutlery, good service and the brother/sister duo (owners) in attendance was just the cherry on top.
Apart from the regular salads and appetizers, the food thankfully had some delicious twists.
While their hot sellers, Vietnamese Paper Rolls, Salmon roll-ups and Prawn trio are great in presentation and taste, the mains, however, are the ones you’ll be going back for.
My favourites were the Beetroot Risotto with Snapper in Saffron Sauce, Halloumi Beef Bowl, Marrakesh Chicken, Asian Beef Bowl and Indiana Snapper. Cooked to perfection and full of flavour, each dish was a foodie’s delight.
After a pleasant meal, we decided to indulge our sweet tooth with the Lotus Cheesecake, Nutella Brownie with Ice-cream and Flourless Brownie. While the Nutella Brownie was decadently sinful, the Flourless Brownie was light and airy.
What was truly commendable about the place was the attention to detail and presentation – you could tell that the owners wanted to give their clients an experience, not just food. The menu also has pizzas, mocktails and coffees. Priced reasonably, Swing is here to stay.
Located behind Khaadi on MM Alam Road, Moocs is the latest addition to the Lahore food scene but not exactly a promising one, given that there was only one other party along with me, that too on a Saturday night.
Rewind a few weeks and Moocs was all over our Instagram after it had a grand opening with Lahore’s socialites in attendance. A couple of weeks later, the hype seemed to have completely died down.
Nonetheless given how much I like to try out new places, I decided to check out Moocs. After all, the name was kinda catchy.
Moocs has a standard menu: pizza, burgers, Chicken Parmesan, Polo Chicken, Stuffed Chicken, etc – you know pretty much the same things you’ve tried a million times before.
We decided to start our dinner with Pizza Fries from their ‘Starters Menu.’ The fries came in a skillet topped with cheese, sauce and jalapenos. The overall taste of the dish was pretty decent while the fries themselves were nice and crispy. But to be very honest, I’ve had better. Like for example, have you tried the Alfredo Fries at Urban Kitchen? Now those are divine.
From the main course, we tried their Chef’s Special Stuffed Chicken and Muslo De Pavo Burger. Both the items were very typical. The Chef’s Special Stuffed Chicken was not all that special – the flavour wasn’t strong enough and fettuccini pasta was on the bland side. The sauce, meanwhile, was tasty but given the extravagant price, I’m not sure if it was worth it.
Meanwhile, the Muslo De Pavo Burger tasted just like Jalal Son’s Crispy Chicken Burger but at double the price. Plus the bun wasn’t good because it was so crumbly. The thigh fillet had a thick layer of batter which though made it very crunchy, made it impossible to taste the chicken within.
The dessert was probably the best thing we ate that night. We ordered their Cookie Pudding on our waiter’s recommendation and it was differently delicious. Loved the mix of pudding, cookie dough and ice-cream.
While the food was somewhat passable, and ambiance on the cosy side (great for winters) the bill certainly wasn’t. For one starter, two main dishes and one dessert, our total bill amounted to a little more than Rs 5000/- which is definitely a hefty amount to pay, especially in such trying financial times.
As the dollar rises and prices soar, all of us are beginning to feel the crunch. Can’t afford the cheeses you bought all so frequently? Or that cooking chocolate you loved? Here are some local alternatives that are tried and tested.
Adams Burger Cheese
Even though we have some local artisanal cheeses available, their prices are also really high. We tried Adams Buffalo Mozzarella and Burger Cheddar Cheese on homemade pizzas and grilled cheeses and are pleased to report that they are excellent. Will never go imported for these commonly loved cheeses
Baker’s Choice Cooking Chocolate
As home-based and small bakery owners cry about the rising prices of cooking chocolate, we tried Baker’s Choice Dark Chocolate for baking fudge brownies and damn, they’re just as good as the Malaysian counterpart.
Opa! Frozen Fries
Those bags of imported fries aren’t worth the price (and the import if you ask us). Opa! Fries are local, thin and crispy and perfect for you and your kids. Crunch!
Quinoa
No need to spend thousands on imported Quinoa. There are excellent local options, like The Soul Food Company and Green Horizon. We’ve tried the Soul Food’s quinoa and it’s super.
Dipitt Sauces
We aren’t missing Heinz as much anymore. Dipitt Sauces are great, a local, no preservatives and no MSG and their whole range is pretty darn good if you ask us.
Nuts
Hit shops selling dry fruits from Hunza and Gilgit Baltistan, especially if you’re in Islamabad. They’re just as good, if not better than their foreign competition.
DISCLAIMER: This article is not sponsored and is unpaid.
You know you’re saying hello to winter when it’s time for food festivals. Just days after the smog somewhat settled and thandi hawa began to blow across Lahore, the first food event of the season, Lahore Eat, started with a bang at Jilani Park.
We visited the event on the first day and here are the only places you should visit at Lahore Eat:
DISCLAIMER: The Current’s food reviews are not sponsored and are unpaid.
Burger Maestru
Pizza Paratha was divine. Crispy on the outside and cheesy inside – it was a pizza lover’s dream.
Price – Rs 300/-
Pizza Paratha
A Piece of Cake
Oh man, the Salted Caramel Brownie (Rs 180/-) and Gooey Fudge Brownie (Rs 170/-) was gooey, fudgey and so New York. They have the perfect ratio of chocolate and sweet and it’s a must have dessert with a cup of chai and perfect weather.
Gooey Fudge Brownie
Salted Caramel Brownie
Didn’t try this cheesecake but it sure looks lovely.
Awesamosas
This fusion eatery never fails to disappoint – from their samosas to their chaats, we’re a fan. This year Awesamosas introduced a new ‘Botilicous Menu’ – Peri Patakha, Malai Tarragon and Satay Tikka – we absolutely loved. The strong flavour and spice level were perfect.
Price – Peri Patakha, Malai Tarragon Rs 150 per stick, Satay Tikka Rs 200 per stick
Aladdin Foods
The bun in the bun kabab from Aladdin Foods was the real winner. It was crispy yet soft and took the entire snack to a whole new level. A must-try for anyone who enjoys street food and misses a good Karachi bun kabab.
Price – Rs 80/-
Apart from these, the Lahore Eat also had a variety of local eateries – there was Urban Kitchen, Burns Road, Novu, Savour Foods, Bombay Chowpatty, Delish, Upper Crust etc, restaurants you can visit everyday, which didn’t have anything new to offer. Karachi beats Lahore quite often when it comes to the food festival wars but this year, Lahore Eat did not disappoint.
Send us your reviews and pictures and remember to take your masks along. You never know when the smog will strike.
The Biryani vs Pulao debate has long dominated social media. But now we have an official winner.
According to a survey carried out by Gallup & Gilani Pakistan, 47% Pakistanis claim that biryani is their favourite Pakistani dish.
A nationally representative sample of men and women from across the four provinces was asked, “Please tell us what your favorite Pakistani dish is?”
In response, 47% said biryani as their favorite dish, 14% said pulao, 9% said karahi, 11% said paaye, 6% said haleem, 3% said nihari and while 8% said something other than these options, 2% did not know/did not wish to respond.
So basically biryani has officially beaten pulao in food wars. The Current totally endorses this survey! Munch munch…
