HOPPITIMES AT HOPIPOLA - MY REVIEW

Alert ~ A picture-heavy post ahead!!

It was on 7th Oct, I made my way to an exclusive BLOGGER'S MEET for some new cocktail tasting at Hoppipola ( a restro-bar ), along with few other bloggers. The place was a little difficult to locate at first, but managed somehow. Its at a walking distance from the station ( towards left and main road side, although, its not exactly on the main road ).

The Venue...

Hoppipola, Khar - W
A warm, friendly and very spacious place, it looked just the perfect place to hang around with friends. It has two sections, with sitting area in both. The hosts and staff are quite friendly.

The Insides, Bar and the Crowd...

The crowd kept coming and going, the entire time; so, it seems a popular place with young adults. It has nice music playing all the time, and the whole place can be great to watch live-matches on their large screen. On the outside section, it has nice place for birds to fly about.

Introduction to the New Cocktails...Hoppi Specials & Jinni Martinis


Making of the First shot of the day...We were there for some purpose; so, soon after everyone reached, without wasting any time, we were immediately introduced to the art of cocktail-making. Some blogger volunteers made the first drink, as per the expert's instructions; and we all got to taste it, first hand! Wow!



Arrived in a Bird Cage no less!
The Sampling of different Cocktails...( correct me if I got the names mixed up )


1. Smoke Infused Desi Martini.



2. IQ



3. The third drink.



Bloggers in action in the midst of it all :-)



4. This one had an interesting salt-ring on the glass's edges, that gave a unique taste.



5. Porn Star Martini. Yeah, you heard it right :-D



6. Hoppi Bath Tub or was it the Drown in a Bucket? Nevermind, cos' sluurpy it was.



7. Da VinciTini, where we got to use the paint-brush
My verdict, after all these drinks? Well, after drinking one shot after the other in rapid succession, you tend to forget which drink tasted what :o And I must've surely missed or mixed up the names too. However, the drink with a salt ring ( 4 ) around it, and the one with chocolate ( 7 ) brushed in, certainly stayed in my mind for long. I noted, almost all the cocktail-drinks ( that included vodka -absolut/expresso, rum -white/lemon flavoured, tequila, orange liqueur, gin -gordon's, wine etc ), had some kinda fruit flavours in them ( that included watermelon, cranberry, peach, orange, kiwi, pomegranate, beetroot, pineapple, raspberry etc ), along with different herbs/spice/nuts ( like burn rosemary, basil, black pepper, coriander, hazelnut etc ) that made them so yum!!! Of course, each drink had their own unique combination. And did I get high after all that? Neah...I wanted some more \:D/ Kyunki Yeh Dil Mange More...

The Making of the Last Shot...


Again a bunch of blogger volunteers got making...shaking...and pronto, it was ready!
and guess what, it came in a...

Last shot of the day..inside a karela no less.Gr8 substitute for a glass .. @atHoppipola @FoodBloggerAI #hoppitimes pic.twitter.com/HafGaT02pY

— ☆ ♪ NandiniDéka ♫ ♡ (@NandiniDeka) October 11, 2015

A Karela ( bitter-gourd ) for a shot-glass.
The staff explained that, although, everyone thinks the karela might give out a bitter taste, it is not so. They do discard it, after a while especially when they see a particular stain-sign on the mouth of it. So, a disposable shot-glass it is, eh? Interesting ;-)

The Yummy Bites...

In all these, we had some delicious bites, that accompanied the cocktails, keeping us company ( see the pics above ). It was a fun afternoon and I enjoyed the outing, and of course the various cocktails I got to taste too. Head over to Hoppipola to have similar hoppitimes like I had :-)

My Ratings :
Ambiance - 4Stars
Staff - 3Stars
Food/Drinks - 3Stars
Price - 3Stars
Will recommend!

( Images - ©Mine. All Rights Reserved )
Address: Hoppipola, Lane.No.5, Ram Krishna Nagar, Khar W
For Restaurant/Hotel/Resort reviews use 'Contact Us' page above to drop an email with details.

---

OUT OF THE BLUE RESTAURANT, LE SUTRA - KHAR

This post will be more of pictures and less of talk/text, because, trust me when you have such yummyilicious food that I had there, its really better to let the pictures do the talking. However, I must add, some pictures are not that clear --- you can imagine how lost I was in the food, that I forgot to focus properly :| Anyhow, here there are. Enjoy :D

The Venue...

The location is where it's natural to get the place crowded in no time. Prime location - 10-15 minutes away from Khar W station ( by auto ). I was there for a meet.



Exteriors & Interiors
As mentioned, the location makes it an ideal place to hang around. So, the crowd is obvious. And when there is a crowd, you feel the place is conjested. But, I think it had ample space and several cozy corners as well as separate rooms to accommodate enough people. There's a sitting arrangement outside in the Patio/side-courtyard area as well. The restaurant has live Jazz music playing on particular days to entertain the customers. The staff are cordial and attentive.

The Mocktails...



There were plenty of those, but I could click only these few. Sangrias, Mocktails, Iced Tea, as well as regular Coke - you name it, they had it. I loved the blue one the most ( forgot the name )

The Starters...


Yes...so now we are really speaking. Right from Grilled Paneer with spinach, Potato wedges, Fried Baby Corn and Zuchini in yummy crispy batter, Fish and Chicken Tikkas - oh...my mouth never stopped watering at the sight of them.

The Main Course...


The main course served in hot sizzler plates were simply delicious. I opted for Piri Piri Chicken with rice and had the entire thing to myself, while the others chose vegetarian versions. Some chose Pastas too - all were mouthwatering especially the creamy+buttery mashed potatoes in every dish that had us drooling for more. But one thing I must add here, though I emptied out my entire plate, the others left most of the food wasted. It hurts me to see food getting wasted :-(

The Desserts...


If the other courses wasn't enough already to fill our insatiated tummies, the desserts were to die for. Be it the unique combination of banana, kiwi fruit and cherry combo or brownies dunked in chocolate sauce, the superb culinary show ended with a Brownie Sizzler itself. Yes, you heard it right - what happens when icecream+brownie meets the hot sizzler plate? Well, visit 'Out of The Blue' to find out asap ;-)

Ambience - 3 Stars
Food - 4 Stars
Staff - 3 Stars
Price - Didn't get to see that :o

( Images - ©Mine )
Address : Out of The Blue, Le Sutra - the Indian Art Hotel, 14 Union Park, Khar (West), Mumbai, Maharashtra-52
For Restaurant/Hotel/Resort reviews use 'Contact Us' page above to drop an email with details.
Our Rating Scale is : 1 to 5 = ◕◕◕◕ I really liked it.

---