Yelp goes to India - World Food Tour XL

I am a big fan of the food from Zouk.  The curries are so creamy and full of flavour, no matter which one you choose, and Zouk was the perfect venue to kick off Yelp's World Food Tour.

Zouk are great hosts and really go that extra mile to make their guests feel welcome.  The service is impeccable and all servers are completely knowledgeable when it comes to the food that they are serving.

When we arrived, all Yelpers gathered on the terrace, welcomed with canapés and cocktails.  The canapés included a very tasty chicken pate tikka bruschetta and falafel with a signature hummus.  the bruschetta was so nice, I had two!  As for the cocktails, I also managed to acquire two different ones for tasting.  The first was primarily gin and cucumber, which was a refreshing taste.  The other cocktail was a standard passion fruit mojito.  The mojito was my favourite as the smoother and fruitier taste was more satisfying.

When seated, we were presented with the usual poppadoms, chutney, etc., to nibble before the starter platter arrived.  The starter platter was incredible!  Such a variety to share and extremely delicious.  It contained veggie samosas, Nepalese chicken, chickpeas, and Sheikh kebabs.  All very tasty and all very filling; it was almost a shock to realise the main courses would be coming after this.

Now for the main, we were given pilau rice, and three beautiful curries.  At first, I thought my favourite would have been the buttercream chicken curry, which was the mildest.  I prefer spicy food, but I am also a fan of the buttercream, but this dish was quite sweet.  Another curry was another chicken curry with a dark creamy sauce; this was certainly spicier!  However, my favourite was the lamb curry.  Lamb meat, off the bone, which must have been cooked in the curry and the lamb just fell away and the sauce itself was very meaty and tasty, much like a stew.  Yummy!

The evening offered the usual fun and laughs amongst the Manchester Yelp Community, and it is always a pleasure getting to know new people participating in these events.  Not to mention the regular Yelp photo competition to win some alcohol.  Congratulations to the winners.  Well-deserved!

Thanks Matt for organising and Zouk for hosting a wonderful evening.

[Find this review and more on http://mcrphil.yelp.co.uk]

Elite Event: Yelp’s ‘One Night In India’ | ZOUK Tea Bar & Grill Review | Manchester, UK

My second #Yelp Elite Event, this time at ZOUK Tea Bar & Grill, has seriously raised the bar for this community. What a FANTASTIC evening of great food and amazing entertainment.

Jonny Q. the Manchester Yelp Community Manager did a tremendous job organising this event, and picked the perfect restaurant to collaborate with. Situated on Chester Street  in the centre of Manchester, just off Oxford Road near the Manchester Metropolitan University, I have only visited this restaurant once before, but pass it almost every day. It has a beautiful terrace area outside, which has recently been refurbished creating a cosier environment. The terrace is also for endulging in flavoured Shisha, which the restaurant has to offer. I'm not one for smoking it, but the fruity smells are irressistable. We were greeted with fruity cocktails and as we gathered on the terrace before going inside to particpate in the evening's events. This was a great opportunity to mingle with a good 80 or so other Yelpers from the Manchester community.

Once inside, we occupied the upstairs area, which was a mezzanine overlooking the ground floor. It was a privelage to have this area for the whole event.

After settling at our tables, and Jonny's run down of the evening's events, we wee able to enulge in some appetisers and watch the first installment of the entertainment put on by Zouk. These were Indian dancing performers and so perfectly fitting for the event. Bravo Zouk! They gave a fantastic introductory performance. The appetisers were: Popadoms & Pickles and Samosa Chaat. Everybody loves popadoms and a good samosa, am I right? These samosas were absolutely delicious, but my favourite were the spicy chick pea chaat, which had the perfect amount of spice to them, and left me wondering why I don't have chick peas more often!  

Being delighted by the appetisers, we didn't have to wait long for the starters, and these were very generous portions. We were given the opportunty to "sample" the following starters: Chooza Chaat; Spicy Prawn Cakes; and Mozarella Balls.

My favourite was the Chooza Chaat, which was bite-size chunks of chicken and roasted peppers marinated in spices. Yummy! The Prawn Cakes were really nice and came with a saffron mayo to dip, and the Mozarella Balls were delicious with a subtle taste of mozarella surounded by Pakoa batter and tangy tomato chutney to dip. Just when we were done with these starters, out came Tava Lamb with mini wraps, chutney and pickles. The lamb was so succulent and crispy; perfect for making mini wraps. The starters were so much, and so nice, I and perfectly complemented each other. It was the best combination of food possible.

Whilst waiting for the mains to arrive (Chicken Khabani; King Prawn and Baby Spinach; Spiced Sea Bream; Lamb Laziz; and Nalie Gosht) we were entertained by another spectacle from the performers. When the mains arrived, we were once again treated to genrous portions, and fortunately for my table, we all had different preferences of he lambwhat we wanted to try. My focus was on the lamb dishes, which were accompanied by rice. I tried the Nalie Gosht, which was "hot rajistan style" lamb cooked and served on the bone and enveloped in a creamy curry. This was phenomenal! The lamb was cooked to perfection and so tender. Very tasty curry! The other lamb curry (Lamb Laziz) was milder and creamier "punjabi style curry", which resembled a Korma due to its taste and texture. But also very tasty. The Chicken Khabani was amazing, although I only had a small sample; it was marinated  in a spicy chili and tomato curry sauce. The prawn dish was accamponied by spinach and stir-fried with ginger and othe spices, and the Sea Bream was excessively cooked with garlic, which was my least favourite dish of the night. So this one would be for garlic lovers and the van Helsings!

 

Overall, the food left me very satisfied, and to be honest, left me full for the rest of the week. I would revisit Zouk in a heartbeat to try the main menu, especially as the food is so delicious, and has a great mix of veggie, meat and fish dishes to cate for everybody.
During the evening, most dishes were accompanied by a specific wine, and we receive a great education into the chosen wines. Such as the New Zealand Moko Black Sauvignon, which came with the starters and went very will with the Prawn Cakes and Chicken Chaat due to the fruity zest to it, and the Mozarella Balls and Tava Lamb came with my personal favourite: Calusari Pinot Noir from Romania. This wine also converted a non wine drinker, it was that good! And the wine did not stop flowing! We were delighted with Turkheim Reserve Riesling to accompany the Chicken and Prawn main, whic comes from northern France/German border, and complemented the spicy foods well. In addition, there was Borsao Rosado from Campo de Borja in Spain paired with the Sea Bream and a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon with the lamb curries. Such a big variety of wines paired with delicious foods, and you can tell that a lot of care and attention had gone into the menu. If any customers leave this restaurant dissatisfied, I would be really surprised, and I look forwad to returning, vey soon!

The performances throughout the evening were great touches and thoroughly enjoyed, which was appreciated by the whole Yelp community, and the management deserve a big round of applause for hosting the evening tremndously.