Wahaca

Founder of the Mexican food chain is chef Thomasina Miers who is the winner of the Masterchef show. I visited this restaurant on the recommendation of a friend and was I glad he recommended it to me or what!?!

This restaurant is the place to visit for the Mexican street food and its cocktails though I need to confess that I fell head over heels in love with another dish altogether! For those of you who haven’t visited Wahaca, the way the ordering works around there is either you go for 2-3 small street food dishes or for one main. I think the sustainable element to it is very in-fashion as well – helps connect with the socially aware green folks. One of the negatives though for me is their site, it is just overly messy. Not sure if people find it cool but it is too crass for me.

The first time I visited Wahaca I tried a couple of their small eats – tacos, quesadillas and cocktails because that is what they are supposed to be known for. I found it quite okay but wasn’t blown away. Though the starters din’t knock my socks off, the sour cream was amazingly fresh and definitely deserves a mention!

The next time I decided to try the stuff I hadn’t up until now like their non alcoholic drinks, their main course, sides, deserts – what a decision that turned out to be. I ordered a non-alcoholic hibiscus drink, the freshness of that was just surprising, you could be sitting in London but one sip of that takes you right to a tropical destination right away. If someone said I was in Hawaii, I would very well believe it after that drink!

It was in this trip that I discovered the yummy succulent grilled chicken and instantly fell in love with it! It is perfectly seasoned, marinated for a good number of hours, cooked to perfection! Everything about that dish is just heavenly. It is served with coriander rice, hot pickled onions and some salad. I had asked for some extra pickled onions thats why there is a mountain of it in the pic below – I love the heat in them! Along with this I also ordered a fiery sweet potato side, gobbled it the instant it came so you can’t really see a picture of it here.

After all three of these, I was stuffed but decided to give dessert a shot and ordered a Mango sorbet. I don’t know if it was just me (don’t have much of a sweet tooth) or if I was too full to enjoy the desert, I thought the sorbet was a let down.

Overall Rating: 4/5
Price per person: £15 -£40

If Looks Could Kill – Beverly Barton

A face to die for! MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL, WHO IS THE DEADLIEST OF THEM ALL? The victims are found face-down in the murky waters of Cherokee Pointe, Tennessee. The murders all share the same characteristics: the victims are found naked except for a black, satin ribbon tied around they’re necks — and they’re all redheads. Meanwhile, Reve Sorrell has come to Cherokee Pointe seeking answers about her connection to bad girl Jazzy Talbot. With their stunning looks, the two redheads are mirror images of each other — but raised in very different worlds. As the serial killer leaves another chilling calling card, Reve turns to Sheriff Jacob Butler to help her unravel the deadly secrets of her past. But one person will do anything to stop her — and they are closer than she could ever imagine!

This was my first Beverly Barton book and I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The book is a must read for any one who enjoys crime and romance. It gives you a good dip in both of these. It was an absolute page-turner and towards the end I found it hard to put this one down. Right from the beginning Barton narrows down the list of suspects but it still keeps you guessing about who the real killer is. Towards the end, I badly wanted to know if my guess about who the killer was, was right. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I was wrong, that made the end more exciting for me – who doesn’t like surprises?!

Lets now peekaboo into the plot.  Reve and Jazz (Jasmine) discover that they are twin sisters and have lived their entire life not knowing that they had a twin sister. Reve was discovered in the dumpster and after that adopted by a wealthy family – the Sorrells. Jazz on the other hand was brought up by her aunt Sally Talbot who was an eccentric old woman and wasn’t very well off but loved Jazz dearly. Both the twins due to their contrasting upbringing found it hard to accept the idea of sisterhood. Slowly as they get to know each other, they start liking each other almost instantly. Jazz is dating a guy called Caleb who has recently discovered he is heir to the wealthy Upton family in Cherokee point.

Slowly the twins become curious about their mysterious past and set out to discover the truth about their biological parents. And soon realize someone wants to keep them away from discovering the clandestine past. Meanwhile there is a serial killer on the loose who kills pretty red-heads and to their disadvantage Jazz and Reve are both red-heads and are next on the hit list. Slowly these seemingly different dangers intertwine together and makes matters extremely complicated and dangerous for the red-head siblings.

Reve meets Sheriff Butler in her first visit to Cherokee point and in their first encounter they despise each other. It is interesting to see how their relationship changes with time. With time the despise begins to fade and how they become romantically involved. This relationship adds the romance to all the conspiracy and murders. Overall an enjoyable read. I look forward to reading other Barton books.

Overall Verdict: 4/5

“Gunjan- Isn’t that a guys name?”

My my! The questions that have been stalking me all twenty one years of my life are “Whats your name again?”,” Isn’t that a guys name?”…. This post just displays an individual frustrated with the same questions over and over again! I am hoping this tells people that GUNJAN IS A GIRLS NAME!

The whole wide world is okay when both girls and guys have names like Krishna, Surya or Kiran. But when they hear GUNJAN sabke paet mein dard kyon hoti hai?!?!  Aaaaarrrrrgggghhh! This is the something that has been annoying me all my life! Even as a kid I got fed up of people calling me weird variations of my name Kunjan, Kunchan, JUNJAN (that was the worst! ). It is totally annoying when people ask your name 10 times and then say ‘isn’t it a guys name?’. My first instinct is “BUZZ OFF!!!”. These people who say all this talk like they are masters in the language and know which word is feminine and which is masculine.

So for the information of all those people who are still not convinced… Gunjan is a feminine word!

Just for evidence sake I am citing this Hindi song “Bhawaron KI Gunjan” starring Randhir Kapoor and his wife Babita. Please pay attention it is ‘Bhawron KI Gunjan’ not ‘Bhwaron Ka Gunjan’…

As a kid I was frustrated that my family had to give me a name which came along with soo much explanation and confusion.As is a known fact that you tend to enjoy hard earned things more than what you take for granted! So fighting for my name actually got me more attached to it. And today I totally absolutely LOVE my name! (No I am not acting like the Kareena Kapoor of Jab we met but I LOVE it!!!! )…

I found another similar article and it is for a name Shrinidhi and here is the link to it…

I am hoping that the readers will think twice before asking questions anyone like “Isnt that a guys name again?”….