With so much happening in my life since early this year it had been impossible to get down to writing my blog on a regular basis. Firstly, there were my son's wedding preparations going in full swing, as the wedding was in March, and I had to practically single-handedly get the house ready for guests who were flying in for the wedding, as well as tie all the countless loose ends from invitations, gifts, giveaways, clothes, jewellery, decor, music to food, photographer, etc, etc. And of course, attend to my full-time job at HUM Network, where action has become our middle name and there is at least one major project taking place every month.
Just prior to the wedding, for instance, I found myself in Lahore where our Network was organising Telenor Fashion Weekend, and I was handling its PR. While there, I developed a pain in my neck -- literally! -- which travelled to my nape and became quite unbearable. However, life goes on, and so the event's PR was done -- pretty well, if I may add -- and not just that. Lotus being Lotus, took full advantage of the journalists that had flown in from Karachi for the fashion show, and invited us for lunch to the Polo Lounge located at Polo Ground Lahore to taste its newly introduced world barbecue and enjoy the ambience. With the weather great, we all -- Faisal of Dawn Images, Irum Noor of You, and myself -- sat outdoors, accompanied graciously by one of the owners, Aasma Ramday, from the start of our lunch, and later by Hina Rabbani Khar, the other partner. We learnt that the two used to play polo together at a time when the grounds just offered a canteen serving samosas, fries and tea. When the premises became available for lease, the two decided to open an eatery as both have a food background (Aasma has been cooking for her father since she was 11!). Hina's sister, Aneela is looking after the cuisine side of the restaurant as she is a trained chef from London.
With samplings from practically every item offered on the menu, it would not be untrue to say that we were literally bursting by the end of the glorious meal. Beginning with a choice of Roasted Tomato soup and Seafood Chowder -- I opted for the latter while others tried the former -- mine was a delicious creamy broth with a rich sprinkling of prawns and fish, while the others in the party approved of their choice as well, we followed it by their Summer Salad which is now served all year round owing to its popularity, and soon realized why the Lounge had developed a loyal clientele. The salad, served in an earthenware pot was an amalgamation of apples, cabbage, walnuts, lettuce, olives, feta cheese and a drizzle of dressing and could easily be consumed as a meal on its own, especially when eaten with the flat bread that came as a starter.
From the barbecue selection that kept trickling in one after the other the Char-grilled Chicken with basil and cherry tomatoes I felt tasted better with a dash of lemon, while the Char-grilled Beef with a Green Peppercorn Cheese Sauce, served with home-grown broccoli was mouth-watering. Although I am not much of a beef eater, and far less of meat served medium-rare, this got full marks from us. The Lebanese platter with an assortment of meat including barbecued lamb and chicken, garlic sauce, muttabel, grilled onions and tomatoes, Lebanese salsa and saffron chicken and saffron rice could simply not be done justice to, given the kind of food we had already consumed, and the mint and guava juice we ordered to wash down our heavy meal didn't help in digestion either, as it was a thick, rich juice which could have done with a dash of soda for added kick.
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Char-grilled Beef with a Green Peppercorn Cheese Sauce
Char-grilled Chicken with basil and cherry tomatoes
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Lebanese platter
Of course, there is always a separate compartment for desserts, so no matter how stuffed we were, we were ready to taste the sweet treats -- and did we pig out on them! We had a hard time deciding which was the best -- the White Chocolate Blondie served with ice cream over sizzling hot caramelized sauce which actually turned out to be a mouth-watering chocolate and walnut brownie; the Chocolate Puddle Cake with French chocolate and vanilla ice cream (popularly known as chocolate molten lava);or the Cheese Cake with Philadelphia cheese. Suffice it to say we did justice to all three, and gross injustice to our bodies! So a thumbs up to the eatery! Loved its crockery as well -- especially the horse-shaped handles on the cups!
So back to my life! I returned the day after to find that I had broken out with an acute rash on my neck and nape. A quick look by a skin specialist the next day confirmed what I had not anticipated in my wildest imagination -- that I had shingles! And this a week before all the wedding festivities were to begin!
More in the next installment!
Just prior to the wedding, for instance, I found myself in Lahore where our Network was organising Telenor Fashion Weekend, and I was handling its PR. While there, I developed a pain in my neck -- literally! -- which travelled to my nape and became quite unbearable. However, life goes on, and so the event's PR was done -- pretty well, if I may add -- and not just that. Lotus being Lotus, took full advantage of the journalists that had flown in from Karachi for the fashion show, and invited us for lunch to the Polo Lounge located at Polo Ground Lahore to taste its newly introduced world barbecue and enjoy the ambience. With the weather great, we all -- Faisal of Dawn Images, Irum Noor of You, and myself -- sat outdoors, accompanied graciously by one of the owners, Aasma Ramday, from the start of our lunch, and later by Hina Rabbani Khar, the other partner. We learnt that the two used to play polo together at a time when the grounds just offered a canteen serving samosas, fries and tea. When the premises became available for lease, the two decided to open an eatery as both have a food background (Aasma has been cooking for her father since she was 11!). Hina's sister, Aneela is looking after the cuisine side of the restaurant as she is a trained chef from London.
With samplings from practically every item offered on the menu, it would not be untrue to say that we were literally bursting by the end of the glorious meal. Beginning with a choice of Roasted Tomato soup and Seafood Chowder -- I opted for the latter while others tried the former -- mine was a delicious creamy broth with a rich sprinkling of prawns and fish, while the others in the party approved of their choice as well, we followed it by their Summer Salad which is now served all year round owing to its popularity, and soon realized why the Lounge had developed a loyal clientele. The salad, served in an earthenware pot was an amalgamation of apples, cabbage, walnuts, lettuce, olives, feta cheese and a drizzle of dressing and could easily be consumed as a meal on its own, especially when eaten with the flat bread that came as a starter.
From the barbecue selection that kept trickling in one after the other the Char-grilled Chicken with basil and cherry tomatoes I felt tasted better with a dash of lemon, while the Char-grilled Beef with a Green Peppercorn Cheese Sauce, served with home-grown broccoli was mouth-watering. Although I am not much of a beef eater, and far less of meat served medium-rare, this got full marks from us. The Lebanese platter with an assortment of meat including barbecued lamb and chicken, garlic sauce, muttabel, grilled onions and tomatoes, Lebanese salsa and saffron chicken and saffron rice could simply not be done justice to, given the kind of food we had already consumed, and the mint and guava juice we ordered to wash down our heavy meal didn't help in digestion either, as it was a thick, rich juice which could have done with a dash of soda for added kick.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Of course, there is always a separate compartment for desserts, so no matter how stuffed we were, we were ready to taste the sweet treats -- and did we pig out on them! We had a hard time deciding which was the best -- the White Chocolate Blondie served with ice cream over sizzling hot caramelized sauce which actually turned out to be a mouth-watering chocolate and walnut brownie; the Chocolate Puddle Cake with French chocolate and vanilla ice cream (popularly known as chocolate molten lava);or the Cheese Cake with Philadelphia cheese. Suffice it to say we did justice to all three, and gross injustice to our bodies! So a thumbs up to the eatery! Loved its crockery as well -- especially the horse-shaped handles on the cups!
So back to my life! I returned the day after to find that I had broken out with an acute rash on my neck and nape. A quick look by a skin specialist the next day confirmed what I had not anticipated in my wildest imagination -- that I had shingles! And this a week before all the wedding festivities were to begin!
More in the next installment!
