On Spot @ Chaaye Khana (Again)

Chaaye Khana is probably my most favorite place in Islamabad. I love the ambiance. Plus the lighting really helps with photography. So, yeah, the place is pretty cool.

I've always only gone to Chaaye Khana for the tea and/or desserts. But this time I thought to give lunch a try. I wasn't completely satisfied. The food tasted pretty good. I ordered the Chicken & Mushroom Fettuccine & my friend ordered the Spicy Grilled Chicken. The grilled chicken was really good, a little different from what you normally find under that heading. But the fettuccine was way more oily than it was creamy. It tasted good, but the amount of oil on my plate after I'd finished was enough to fuel a trip to Peshawar.

The tea, as always, was amazing. I tried the Coco & Spice Roobois this time. But I was a little disappointed to find that my all-time favorite, the Caramel Pear Gold, was nowhere on the menu.

Checking Out Centaurus

There aren't many things that I would say make me absolutely-happy-beyond-belief. But a few days back, when I was walking through the not-so-crowded corridors of Centaurus (it was afternoon on a weekday), there was a moment in which I thought all my prayers have been answered - The moment I saw a Mini Melts kiosk! <3

For those of you who don't know what Mini Melts is, it's an ice cream parlor which is unique in how it serves the ice cream. For more information, check out the picture below:

They're like these little bits and pieces of ice cream that just melt in your mouth and for the little while that the cup lasts, you're in Heaven! I would personally recommend a cup of their mix-of-all-flavors. It is divine!

Apart from this, Centaurus' food court has all the makings of it's counter-parts in the malls I've been to in Saudi; fast food chains, some cultural outlets and the likes. The only one I'm now desperately waiting for is TGI Friday's!

On Spot @ Des Perdes (Saddar)

It is very rare that I go to the uglier (read broken streets, too much traffic, too much pollution) of the Twin Cities for anything except a movie. But when the majority of guests had to come from Rawalpindi, we decided it was best for us to drive there instead of all of them to have to drive out to Islamabad. Plus it was a treat from another family - so free food anywhere is good. lol

Des Pardes is probably the only place in Islamabad where I would go willingly to eat desi food. And it never disappoints. The naans were fresh, the kebabs were juicy and the atmosphere was very comfortable. The only thing Des Pardes needs to lose is their blue plates. Blue crockery dissipates hunger because the color doesn't go well with a lot of the natural food colors out there, especially when it comes to desi foods with their haldi yellow and all. Restaurants should always go for white plates and red table clothes or a vibrant red somewhere in the setting as it triggers hunger and the customers are bound to eat more.

Apart from the blue plates, Des Pardes is a must for those desi-mood nights!

On Spot @ Chinatown

I've lived in Islamabad for about 6 years now. & yesterday was the first time I went to Chinatown. I'd heard a lot about it but never had the chance to actually dine there - until a "fate-changing" call yesterday told me to  get there "as soon as possible".

As soon as I entered the doors, I was impressed. The ambiance of that place is amazing - they have cherry blossoms painted on the walls in every booth!! (Well, yeah, I guess it doesn't really take a lot to impress me when it comes to interior design!)

The food, unfortunately, wasn't really as impressive. The 'chicken chow mien' was probably the only thing that we ordered which was just the way I would want it. The 'sweet & sour chicken' was more sweet than sour and the 'Szechuan chicken' was more of a vegetable dish with very little "Szechuan" in it!

If you're in Islamabad & in the mood for a good Chow Mein in a very ethnic environment, then Chinatown is the place to be!

But if you're interested in a better "Szechuan Chicken", I'd suggest Cafe Incantare or for a better Chinese experience, I would suggest Heng Chang, although it lacks the ethnic ambiance that Chinatown provides.

On Spot @ Chaaye Khana

In my experience, chocolate cake is the most simplest of delicacies. Yes, very few people tend to get it right. Especially if it's Chocolate Lava Cake.

But the people at Chaaye Khana know exactly when to turn up the heat and when to turn it down. Because their Chocolate Lava Cake was diviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!

I've always loved Chaaye Khana, for its variety of teas on the menu and also for the ambiance. Sipping good tea sitting among a shelf upon shelf of books, there's never a dull moment. And talking about tea, whoever is planning on a visit to Islamabad or whoever lives here and still hasn't been to Chaaye Khana, I urge you to drop in and try their Caramal Pear Gold Rooibos or their Strawberry White tea - both are amazing!

Plus, for the early birds, they have a wonderful breakfast menu to choose from - which I'm itching to try.

The prices are reasonable, the ambiance is great & the menu is worth more than a few visits.

Happy dining! 

On Spot @ Coffee Planet

As soon as I got back to Islamabad, me and my friends decided to drop in on the new cool-people haunt and check out what the hype was all about. And we soon found out.

The new coffee house had a lot to offer on the menu but not everything was as easy on the taste-buds as it sounded. But some things were above expectations. So if you haven't still dropped by Coffee Planet, please do, if only for the sake of their Caramel Latte and their Twix Delight.

On Spot @ Roaster's

[On Spot will be a series of reviews of all the different restaurants that eat at & I'm hoping there's many of those. Happy eating! :-)]

Birthday's are a grand affair, especially when you're a university student and birthday's are just another excuse to party.

On a recent birthday of a friend, we decided to take the party to Roaster's, a cafe, bar & grill in Islamabad - which we later realized wasn't one of our best choices. Firstly, we couldn't figure out whether we were at the right place or not because there was no electricity and there was some issue with their back-up generator because of which most of the place was in the dark and their sign board wasn't lit up either. When the light finally came back on and the food was finally delivered, everything tasted the same even though it looked pretty. (Yes, I tried everyone's food!)

Steak # 1

Steak # 2

The steak I ordered was the Monterey Jack, which individually gets 4 stars out of 5 because it tasted good enough. But all the other steaks were just OK, nothing special.

What saved the day was the cake that we got from MJ's Bakery, a chocolate bundt cake...

...with a chocolate cupcake placed in the middle!

"Make a wish, deary!"

So, if you're planning on going to Roaster's, I'm sure the coffee is better than the steaks.

Ambiance: 4/5
Presentation: 3.5/5

Serving Size: 4/5

Taste: 2.5/5

Overall: 2.8/5

The one thing I loved about Roaster's though was that the lighting was perfect and with a new DSLR in hand, a friend took some of the most amazing shots of the whole gang and also the food. Check out his page on Facebook! (I would like to apologize to him because I picked probably the worst pictures of the food, probably because I didn't enjoy it a lot. lol)