Christmas Brunch At Tiqri, Taj Santacruz Mumbai

December 25, 2017December 13, 20181 Comment

Rubina A Khan reviews the Christmas Brunch at Tiqri, Mumbai: “the delectable turkey, carved beautifully, turned a sunny Christmas Day brunch into an exceptionally merry and indulgent one.”

Roast Butterball Turkey

What’s Christmas without roast turkey, plum cake, mulled wine, gingerbread houses and Santa Claus bumbling around with merry ho-ho-hos? Tiqri, the all-day dining restaurant at the Taj Santacruz Hotel in Mumbai had all that and more. Watching the turkey being carved onto your plate in the sun-dappled restaurant, with its glass ceiling rising 60-foot upwards into the airport skies, alongside an inlayed mural of the Tree of Life was delightful, with the anticipation of it all adding to the excitement. The bird was succulent, with just the right amount of crackling and glaze with accompaniments ranging from the classic Brussels sprouts and carrots to panko-crust fried haricot beans and snow peas. The cranberry sauce and turkey gravy was exquisite in taste and texture, enhancing the intrinsic flavours of the roasted butterball turkey, a definite star of Christmas Day Brunch. Joy to the world!

Only in India can a Christmas menu comprise of Indian favourites like Mutton Biryani, Keema Kaleji, Appam and Vegetable Stew, Dahi Kebabs and Multi-grain Chillas, alongside Oysters, Cold Cuts, Caviar and Beetroot Ravioli and holiday essentials. But everyone seemed to have a favourite from the expansive menu. The fluffiest and most delicious appams, like clouds on a plate, made by Chef Subodh Katre, distracted me from the turkey so much so that I made a little Christmas Turkey Appam Wrap of my own. It was so good!

The dessert station, which was literally a mile long, was sinfully sweet. The Stollen, inspired by the traditional German holiday bread, was wonderful with a marzipan centre akin to Niederegger Lübeck, a favourite of mine. The Christmas Plum Cake was extremely addictive, and you just couldn’t stop at a single slice. That would be a travesty in itself to the hard work and innumerable hours put in to making it, along with the rest of decadent sweet heaven by Pastry Chef, Pankaj Chauhan.

Tiqri’s band of chefs did justice to a bird that most often than not, goes cold turkey in India, turning it into a memorable part of the decadent feast. With all that food and hotel staff warmer than the Mumbai sunshine, it was the happiest place to be on a Monday afternoon celebrating a joyous holiday with food, laughter and a fit and cheerful (albeit carb-starved) Santa.

Tiqri is open 24 hours, except Monday when it is closed from 11.30PM – 6AM
Taj Santacruz Mumbai
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (Domestic Terminal)
Off Western Express Highway, Santacruz (East) Mumbai 400099 India
+91 22 62115211 Tiqri

@Rubina A Khan 2017

RUBINA’S RADAR | JUSTIN BIEBER’S FIRST BREAKFAST IN MUMBAI AND HOW HE SPENT HIS DAY BEFORE THE SHOW

May 10, 2017June 1, 20172 Comments

RUBINA’S RADAR

Justin Bieber’s been in Mumbai for roughly 20 hours now, but he has packed in a lot in his itinerary since he touched down into the city earlier this morning at 1AM IST. Given he’s not in the city for more than 30 hours as of now, this is how the Grammy award winning musician spent his day before he enthralled his Indian fans at the Purpose Tour show at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai:

Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber exiting the Mumbai airport at 1.20AM

Gateway of India

Haji Ali Dargah

Gateway of India at night

He checked out the landmark sights of Mumbai late at night after he landed in the city and saw the Gateway of India, the Haji Ali Dargah and even took a ride in a Victoria, a quaint, but glittering horse-drawn carriage from Victorian times.
Justin started his day with breakfast at around 11.30AM at the St Regis Mumbai’s Seven Kitchens restaurant. He ate three eggs over easy with bacon and hash browns wearing the same pink hoodie and shorts that he was wearing when he landed. You’d think he’d order room service, but no, he didn’t.
He then changed into a mustard yellow teeshirt and blue shorts and headed out of the St Regis hotel where he is in residence in the Presidential Suite. He skipped the helicopter ride from the Mahalaxmi Helipad in mid-town Mumbai and chose to ride around the city in his Indian security head’s personal SUV, a navy blue BMW, waving to shrieking fans across the streets with his window rolled down.
He went to an underprivileged children’s home at Shivaji Nagar, Reay Road and hung out with the kids, and laughed and chatted with them and played football with them. It was endearing to say the least. He looked very happy hanging out with the kids and they looked happier just seeing someone being friendly and nice to them. It is highly doubtful that these slum kids knew who he was but they interacted with him like he was just another friend of theirs.
Bieber stood in a queue at the Inorbit Mall Vashi’s Starbucks and grabbed an iced black coffee amidst absolutely hysterical fans at the coffee shop and shoppers in the mall. Cellphones grabbed images and videos of him that have since gone viral on Instagram. It was an impromptu visit so everyone was caught unawares and went bananas on sighting the pop star.

UPDATE: Justin Bieber started the show at 8PM with Where Are You Now and closed it with Sorry to a thunderous applause. The show ended at 10PM after which he left straight for the airport at 10:45PM to fly off to Johannesburg, South Africa in his private jet. He is scheduled to perform at the FNB Stadium there on May 14. His trip to Mumbai barely lasted 20 hours in all.

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RUBINA’S RADAR | JUSTIN BIEBER LANDS IN MUMBAI FOR ONLY 30 HOURS #PURPOSETOUR #INDIA

May 10, 2017May 10, 20171 Comment

RUBINA’S RADAR

After three days of what seemed like an eternity waiting for Justin Bieber to fly into Mumbai, the pop star finally landed in his private jet at the Mumbai international airport at 1AM with the rest of his security detail in tow. There was a blitzkrieg of flashbulbs as he exited the VIP Gate No 8 of the Mumbai airport at 1.20AM wearing a pink hoodie and board shorts. The waiting photographers that had staked out the airport all day in anticipation of his arrival in the scorching sun with no respite from the heat, got the “money shot” of the star past midnight, much to their relief.

Justin Bieber exiting Mumbai International Airport at 1.20am May 10th 2017

Bieber left the airport in a white Mercedes SUV AMG G63 2017 followed by his security, all in Mercedes’, but varying models. The Grammy award winning singer went straight to the St Regis Mumbai where he entered the hotel around 2am, and will be in residence in the Presidential Suite for the next 30 hours, after which he is flying off to South Africa leg of his Purpose World Tour to perform at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.

Bieber will be flying to the venue, DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, where he is performing at 8PM tonight, in a helicopter. When you’re the biggest pop star in the world, you really don’t want to waste time stuck in Mumbai’s snarling traffic jams.

Photo: Rubina A Khan | Getty Images

As far as the parties go, it is highly unlikely that either Salman Khan, who is filming for Tiger Zinda Hai in Abu Dhabi till May 22nd or Shah Rukh Khan, who is shooting for Dubai Tourism till May 12th will host the Canadian musician in Mumbai. After the show, Bieber intends to party backstage at the stadium with a pop-up bar, replete with skateboards and his favourite tour things, a dossier of which was unethically leaked to the press prior to his arrival in Mumbai. But not before he takes a dip in the jacuzzi specially hauled out for him at the stadium and a massage by a special masseuse flown in from Kerala.

UPDATE: Bieber went out in the wee hours of the morning to see the Gateway of India and Haji Ali and even took a ride in a Victoria, which is a horse-drawn carriage from the Victorian times. He is now on his way to the Helipad in Mahalaxmi to take a chopper to the stadium in Navi Mumbai for his show later on tonight.

For more details on Bieber at the show and after the show, check in here later!

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