Pan-Asian bistro restaurant Honk brings new menu

Toast & Tonic is cranking up the taste dial, with a completely new menu that is as bold as its cocktails and as lively as its customers. A gourmet symphony that is funky, fresh, and full of unexpected twists, this is not your typical menu update.

The new menu was launched on 19 November. Those who want innovation in their plates and glasses have long turned to Toast & Tonic, which is tucked away in the center of BKC, Mumbai. Now that their new redesigned menu has been unveiled, they aim to demonstrate the eating experience.

In the menu, bold flavours meet global inspirations with their Tangy twist to Caremalised Apple and Beetroot salad, for the sweet touch they have unique range of gelatos. In Beverages segment, the major highlight is Caramel Popcorn with gin and much more.

“Our vision with this new menu was to surprise our guests and give them a reason to fall in love with dining out all over again. We’ve mixed comfort with a little chaos, and the result is a menu that’s fun, delicious, and unapologetically original, said Chirag Makwana, Head Chef, Olive Bar & Kitchen Bandra, Toast and Tonic. “

Hard Rock Cafe India is bringing its new limited time menu with a mélange of flavours from around the globe. Available between May 1, 2019, to June 30, 2019, the exclusive menu includes sliders and burgers.

The menu is offering new dishes like Tango Salsa Sliders; The Quesadilla Burger; Cheese Fries; All-American Sliders; Whiskey Bacon Jam Sliders; Buffalo-Style Sliders; Southern BBQ Sliders; Katsu Chicken Sliders; and Tex-Mex ‘Taco’ Burger.

Chef Cyrus Irani, Culinary Director, Hard Rock Cafe India, said, “Hard Rock Café has always been known to reinvent and experiment with their offerings to appease to evolving consumers. The idea of this menu is to transport your taste buds to different geographies without having you to physically globetrot. And all of this prepared by the ‘local’ culinary craftsmen who understand your preferences like no other.”

“This menu boasts of some interesting additions like the southern flavours of USA with Southern BBQ Sliders and a twist to the typical tacos and burger with the Tex-Mex ‘Taco’ Burger. For vegetarians, we have introduced options like The Quesedilla Burger to let them explore the essence of Mexican food right here in India. We also understand that the joy of food is best attained when shared and so, sliders and burgers dominate our new limited-time menu,” he further stated.

DineOut is testing differential menu pricing and in-restaurant food ordering. The company’s move is aimed towards expanding its product offering beyond deal discovery, table reservations, and in-restaurant payments. 

Sahil Jain, Co-Founder of DineOut, said, “The biggest problem the restaurant industry faces is that they still don’t recognize any customer walking into the restaurant and hence, there is no opportunity to personalize the experience.”

DineOut, which competes with Zomato and LimeTray in certain business offerings, is also planning to expand to Indonesia and the Philippines. The company has already started operating across the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and East Africa. In India, it is eyeing to expand to smaller towns and cities like Lucknow, Indore and Surat. 

The company processes an annual gross transaction value of $1 billion, which is about 1% of the overall organized restaurant industry. It is aiming to scale up by 10 times in the next 18 months.

Ankit Mehrotra, CEO and Co-Founder, stated, “The company, which has grown to seat 12 million diners annually and 15,000 restaurants on its platform, has seen ten-fold growth over the last two years. We are on track to seat 40 million diners through our platform. Across our B2C and B2B platforms (inResto and Torqus), we process about 10 million diners on a monthly basis.”

Mumbai based restaurant in cloud service Holachef has raised Rs 20 crore Series A funding from Kalaari Capital.

Anand Lunia’s of India Quotient will also be participating in this investment.

“The investments will help us in fueling our infrastructural expansions that will enable better preparation and delivery of the food. This will help us penetrate deeper into Mumbai as well as other cities in India,” said Saurabh Saxena, Co-Founder, Holachef.

Currently, Holachef is serving over 1000 orders per day across locations in Central and Western suburbs of Mumbai.

It receives over 65 per cent of orders through the mobile app on Android, iOS and rest from the desktop website. Holachef offers select signature dishes from professional and amateur, based on a dynamic daily menu. It ensures delivery of the meals at a pre-selected time slot by the customer.

Speaking about the investment, Vani Kola, MD, Kalaari Capital, said, “We are excited to be investing in Holachef. The team has a deep passion to offer great food and commitment to customer service. These are the ingredients to create a great company. We are pleased to be working with dedicated founders like Saurabh Saxena and Anil Gelra. We believe food tech will be a large opportunity in India.” The service was founded in September 2014 and had raised a seed fund of Rs 2 crore by India Quotient in February 2015. The investment was in the form of convertible notes, a short term debt that converts to equity when a startup raises Series A funding.

Anand Lunia, who is investing in the venture for the second time, said, “The fundamental idea behind Holachef is the fact that food for home delivery doesn't need to be cooked inside restaurants only. Holachef is creating an alternate food supply the same way Airbnb created a whole new inventory of high quality rooms. We see this much bigger than mere aggregation of restaurant menus for delivery.” On any given day, Holachef lists upto 50  options for lunch and dinner respectively along with some snacks. It offers starters, meals, desserts and soft drinks; catering to vegetarian and non-vegetarian customers. Regional Indian food to world cuisine, Holachef serves a good mix of dishes on a daily basis and delivers the food in a one-person meal format for nil or minimal wastage.

Taj Krishna located at Banjara Hills, Hyderabad is organising Telangana food fest from 2nd June till 8th June.

The customers can savour traditional delights from Telangana, a land seeped in rich cultural history.

As a tribute to its rich legacy the chefs have crafted a Grand Telangana Thali at Firdaus the fine dining specialty restaurant at Taj Krishna.

Firdaus offers a delectable array of traditional dishes accompanied with soothing renditions of classical music creating an unmatched experience where guests are served exotic fare rooted in tradition & nostalgia.

For us Indians, no festival is complete without savouring the mouth-watering delicacies, and Navratri is no different from the rest. But eating out during Navratri becomes quiet difficult for many who prefer pure vegetarian food during the puja.

The Ancient Barbeque is hosting a nine-day Navratri festival.  The restaurant is offering a special menu for these nine day long Navratri.

“We do not have out of the box special dishes but we assure that by indulging in our mouth-watering options available in starters, main course and desserts, one can definitely enjoy the festival in its true sense,” said Dharmendra Singh, Executive Chef and Owner of TAB.

The restaurant has designed a unique menu of cuisines without onion and garlic for all those people follows a strict regimen during Navratri.

The festive delicacies at TAB includes Paneer Malai Tikka, Tawa Fruit Chat, Kache kele ke pakore, Dahi ke Kebab and Aloo and Shakarkandi ki chaat(For Dinner) as starters.  To soothe one's taste buds, there is a wide variety of Main Course- from lip smacking Tamatri Lauki, Aloo Jeera to finger licking Paneer Makhana aur Kaju ka Sangam offered with Samak ke chawal and Kuttu aur singare ki poori. Adding a cherry on the cake, TAB has some special offers like Sabudane ki kheer, Fresh Fruit, ice cream and Cholai ke ladoo for those with a sweet tooth.  Sabudana papad, Aloo Papad, Pudine ki Chutney and Dahi ki chutney are few additional attractions to the fasting platter.

These delights are up for grabs with Lunch at Rs 349++ and Dinner at Rs 399++.

KFC has announced the launch of Rockin’ Burgers, a new addition to its existing menu.

The new launch is an addition to the range of mid-priced burgers. The Veg Rockin is priced at Rs 69, whereas the Chicken Rockin priced at Rs 75 onwards, stated a press release issued by the company.

Commenting on the launch, Dhruv Kaul, Director, Marketing KFC India, said, “The Rockin’ Burger has been specifically designed for the Indian market with spicy tangy sauce combined with the signature taste of KFC.”