CiGusta Bangladesh

CiGusta Bangladesh is another Pizza franchise. They originate in Italy.

Their pizzas are quite different from any other pizza in the city, and what makes them different is the sauce. The sauce has the tartness of the tomatoes and quite garlicy, while there is very little note of herbs used. You can see those herbs, but the sharpness of the tomatoes and overpowering garlic masked their flavour. This is very much an Italian style sauce except that it lacks the felt presence of oregano and basil. What I got to know is that they modified the original recipe here believing they have made it tastier, but I kind of doubt that.

The base was just perfect. It was thin and authentically Italian. It is a little crunchy without becoming a biscuity base like another Italian restaurant here that serves wood oven pizzas. It tastes much like a salted cracker and forms a good balance with the generous topping of the cheese.
However, this pizza which is called the Meat Supreme probably is full of tasty chicken chunks, but very few pepperonis, which are tucked under the cheese here. 



The strawberry gelato was strongly sour and sweet, but in a good way. However, the texture disappoints me. It could also have been because I was served in the last hour of service. So they probably started freezing the gelatos by then to store them for the next day. This gelato in my cup was stiff instead of being smooth. 

If you love chocolate, the dark and milk chocolate gelatos are truly amazing here.

It might seem like a good place to hangout, but the light intensity on the table and the wavelengths make it quite uncomfortable to sit, and the greenish stint does no good. Otherwise, the servers were very humble and gracious.

Puran Dhaka Lalbagh

This is at Royal Restaurant in Lalbagh. There is half grilled chicken kebab, chicken hariyali kebab and the drink everyone talks about here, the PISTA BADAM ER SHERBET.
The hariyali kebab was smoky, and mild in terms of being spicy. It was wonderfully tender and nicely complemented the butter naan. However, this isn't the best chicken hariyali I had in the city, because it is a little dry. Yet the hariyali was very pleasing to the palates and stomach.
The grilled kebab was definitely put on coal for a couple of minutes and you can tell that once you dig into it. The smoky flavour is mild, and to be fair, this was not that great a kebab here. Apart from the smoky taste, there was nothing to tell about it.
The PISTA BADAM ER SHERBET certainly is the hero in this place. The chilled fragrant thick milky drink is very delightful as it courses down. You can detect the aroma of rose, and as you sip through, the milk coats your palates and soothes everything in. This is a drink for the Royals, and if you want to feel royal, this is a drink to surely make you feel that way.
Royal these days has become over-hyped. They are not that great, but not bad in my books either. If I am in Lalbagh Urdu Road, probably this is the place I will keep going to for meals, but not make an effort to travel that far for grilled chicken and hariyali kebab when I know places who serve them better.

Food24x7

I have been looking forward to tasting Chef Tony Khan's food for long and finally it was there for me to taste when he along with the popular actor Riaz Ahamed opened the Food24x7.

I went there with high hopes. All hopes wrecked like the Titanic.
The burger I ordered was just okay and cannot be called 'bad', but did not live up to the Chef's reputation in my opinion, because I was expecting something spectacular.

I ordered Tony's Burger and Orange Cream Caramel, and after fifteen minutes the server comes and says it will take an hour. An HOUR! Seriously!!! Unless you haven't got the patty done, how long does it take to prepare the condiments! It doesn't take even fifteen minutes to get the cheese from the store down there if they had run out of it by any chance.
Thankfully Chef Tony was there, and after exchanging greetings I told him about my disappointment. What do you know! He goes in and prepares my burger himself.
Chef Tony Khan is an International Chef and a reputed one. It was truly an honour to get to see him finally. He is very humble and amicable, and spoke very clear and correct English.

The burger was served with fries instead of potato wedges as promised, with ketchup and coleslaw on lettuce cup.
Coleslaw had no seasoning at all. Fries were crispy and good, but I do not recommend serving small sized fries in that mug. You would use them to serve big chips of potato.
Burger, honestly, tasted nothing great. The bun was nicely toasted, and there was nearly a spoonful of sauce over the cheese topped patty. It was a tomato sauce with gentle hint of oregano and garlic, all blended perfectly. But this sauce is perfect in a pizza or over pasta. It actually made no difference to the overall taste of the burger. That is simply because the patty was just too peppery. Patty was pan fried and completely melt in the mouth type but the excess pepper masked all the flavours that were put in. So all the efforts were rendered useless.

Orange Cream Caramel!!! That never made it to my table. The server told me it was there when I asked for it, and when I was about to finish my burger, he said that was not available.

On entering, I was welcomed with a push from a careless and clumsy server who didn't know the word 'excuse me'! To be exact it was more like a 'squeeze in' as you often find in local restoras, where just literate but mostly uneducated servers host you in. He came apologising later though after I told him about the magical phrase 'excuse me'! Servers here needed to be trained and taught if Mr. Tony Khan wishes for this place to live up to the standards people expect from one run by an International Chef or has his name associated with.
I was then helped to a table for one by another server. The place looked very clumsily set up and looks messy. The single diner table was quite uncomfortable and totally out of place. This place badly needs major help with the interior and design.
I saw syrups and espresso machine, but the menu didn't seem to have any list of drinks and beverages which might need them except for the cappuccino. But a machine that large for a cappuccino only! I believe they have plans for that.

They opened up just a week ago, but the menu I was given was already creased and folded, seemingly years old. That was the worst way to welcome a first time guest to a new place, wishing for him to return. And on the menu cover the photo was of roasted chicken that closely resembled the one you see on Kenny Roger's menus and photos (https://scontent-sin1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/…/10458929_30390194310…). The roasted chicken was not on the menu either. I wonder why you would have a photo of food you don't serve.

The only good part would be coming across the popular Chef Tony Khan. Otherwise, it was just a massive disappointment.

The owner Riaz Ahamed seemed like a nice man though. He was there asking his guests about the food and assured them that they could ask for the food to be changed if they were not happy with it. He was very friendly with everyone there without a shred of pride and gladly accepted any wish for a snap with him.

Dallas Grill

If you are in Baridhara D.O.H.S and plan to dine somewhere in Anannya, I would suggest to stay away from Dallas Grill.
They promise you good food and big portions on the screens and advertisement tools used, but the servers have no idea about the food mentioned. Even their menu does not have what is promised outside and in the photos inside. 
I was really hungry the Friday before yesterday when I was at the mall and wished for either a shawarma or a doner kebab. The moment I saw doner mentioned right under Dallas Grill, I walked in without feeling welcomed inside.

The interior suits a fine dine restaurant and the seats are comfortable. However, the servers are less than warm and welcoming to you. It almost made me feel like I made a mistake being there. 
I looked for doner in the menu, and on failing to find it, asked for a server's assistance. The man gave me the "What on God's Earth is he asking for now!!! What on Earth is that even!! I have never heard of anything like that in my entire life" look when I asked if they had doner kebab as promised outside. 
I was starving and had to eat. I looked into the menu again and was tempted by the photo of fish and chips in it. Well, they probably didn't have space for that in the menu. That is the only explanation I get when I see there is a photo of a dish and a title as seafood, but no seafood on the menu. So I guess it is still on its way to a tiny corner there.
I didn't bother asking about fish and chips after the first reaction I received.
I asked for cream soup and American burger. The photo outside showed a huge burger with grilled patty and cheese. The price mentioned for it on the menu was too less by all standards in a restaurant and I had to try to know why. 

The cream soup came quick and the soup was nothing to tell much about. It was just a ordinary cream soup with chicken in it. The taste was just bland. So I was eagerly waiting for the American burger to satisfy my hunger.
When it arrived, all the excitement left me like a scared feeble rat running to escape. The burger was just slightly bigger than a slider. They served curly fries which resembled home style potato crisps (they were far from being crispy) and separating the fries was a struggle. Yet I was expecting something good from my burger. 

If there was anything good,then it was that garlic aioli inside. Otherwise the burger was just a sorry excuse for one. Chicken and salad were diced as if they were for a Pan Asian noodle dish. Everything would keep falling out of the burger and finishing it proved to be quite challenging. It would be a shame to call it a burger, because what came was a chicken and salad sandwich in a bun that was smothered with garlicy mayo and tomato sauce. The only flavour you would get is that of garlic, which was kind of mellow and pleasant.
I left very disappointed. It may not have cost me much in terms of money, but I went in expecting a lot from a place that looked very promising from the outside, but the service was lousy and the food was nothing interesting.

Butler's Chocolate Cafe, Bangladesh

This is the new talk of the city in Dhaka and why would it not be- the first and only chocolate bar franchise in Bangladesh! (How I have been longing for something like this here!)
Though my very first experience wasn't great because I had tried their Dark Chocolate with caramel filling from the packets and it was hard and chewy, sticking to the tongue, palates and teeth, the idea changed right after my second visit. This place holds a lot of promise to the guests, and is right now the best place for celebrations. And there couldn't have been a better time to open than December, when the cold weather just sinks in, people get in the festive mood, and you can sniff Christmas and the last day of the year from the preparations in the city. People certainly love to dig into chocolates and cakes at this time of the year.

The place is so vibrant right now that there is no way you can miss as you drive across Gulshan 2 towards the High Comission of Pakistan in Dhaka, even though the cafe takes a small place under the popular Sanjeev Kapoor's Khana Khazana. As you enter, you will be taken over by the creative chocolate collections and the designed gift boxes.

Until now I have only taken gifts mostly, and just had one little chance to sit and dine, but only for half an hour. I had the good fate of trying their BBQ chicken pizza and a few chocolates. You can see there a tray of chocolates, but I had the chance to taste two may be. And the rest? YES! Wrapped and presented!
I was helped by a tall pretty lady in a black top there who happily guided me with suggestions and picked the best ones suited to my taste from the trays.

Their pizzas are on a very thin crust. It is literally a tortilla base with very light sauce spread and cheese. The best way to describe this would be BBQ flavoured Pringles on plate. The base was crispy and the sauce had the mellow note of barbecue sauce. There was no overpowering of flavours.

The two chocolates I remember tasting were dark chocolate truffles (Oh! I just love truffles! If you like chocolates, there is no way you can say no to them!), and coconut chocolate.
Now I would never go for coconut chocolate, and I always hated this combination ever since the first time I had the Bounty chocolate and coconut bar. I like coconut, but do not want in my chocolate since then. This was recommended and I had to try.
Must say that I am glad I did. The taste was just sublime. Dessicated coconut in a dark chocolate coat had that perfect balance. The taste of the coconut did not go over the chocolate and you could taste the chocolate through and through. This has become my new favourite after ages of hating the coconut chocolate combo.
The truffle was really good, but I had better truffles. The truffle here has a nice gooey chocolatey filling inside a thin coat.

If there is one thing I would complain about, then it is their service on a busy day. The servers lack the proper etiquette and show themselves too busy to talk to the guests, much less make them feel welcomed and comfortable. The hospitality is a major factor in service industry and you just cannot ignore it.

If you are planning to have a good time on a date here, please make sure you have at least 3 grands in your pocket.

This is a place I like to keep going to for my chocolates.

This is an interesting post from tastebud.
They are asking for your reviews in a review contest on their new menu and it seems like a good promotion to me.
You are welcome to go try their pizzas and give them your first hand reviews, but here is mine.
I tried two of their pizzas this Friday, 6th November 2015; Pizza Di Mari and Pizza TB (I know it can offend people suffering from TB, but blame them for naming it such. I am pretty sure they could have come up with something better to stand for 'tastebud').
Their pizzas have thin crusts with crunchy edges. The best part about their pizzas is the amount of cheese. I don't remember having any pizza in the city with that much cheese on it. It becomes a little tricky when pulling a slice out because of the stretchy cheese and the good mozzarella speaks for itself with the buttery aroma. The pizzas are topped with small tomato cubes and capsicum, and the mellow peppery flavour of the capsicum is surely delightful here. The protein is either beef or chicken. 
One improvement that the pizzas probably need is the amount of sauce. I would want a little more sauce under the cheese. 
However, the pizzas seem to be very slightly overcharged. Tk100 less of each of them would have been perfect and in a restaurant like tastebud, I expect pizzas to be served with sweet corn, black olives, mushrooms and fresh basil.



Photo source: https://www.facebook.com/tastebudbd/photos/a.350199101776213.1073741828.349738805155576/778032855659500/?type=3

Sub sandwich at Tacos Shop

Tacos Shop in Uttara may not be the best sandwich shop out there, but I would often stop for a sub.
The sandwich is made with long bun, filled with chicken and salad vegetable, smothered with loads of mayonnaise and chilli sauce, before grilled, but that is not why this sub would be on my list. They may not have the best culinary skills or amazing gastronomic ideas, but they have picked one ingredient smartly that has worked for them and that is capsicum. You will also find cabbage and carrot in it, but the capsicum there is doing all the work in terms of taste. There is a good peppery flavour that compliments the mayo-chilli sauce and every bite is satisfying. The sandwich itself is filling too.

The presentation is very lousy though, and the interior is a sorry excuse for a restaurant. But when you can get a satisfying sub for Tk140 only, you can also consider takeaways.