Dhanmondi Kitchens

After hanging out in Shimanto Square a little, one may feel the need to get some lunch or an evening snack. Helvetia is always there, but doesn't offer much variety. There are little stalls on the ground floor and directly outside the mall where you can get a variety of snacks, juices and ice-creams.

I brought home a Special Beef Cheeseburger from Ramly's Burger. They cook it right in front of you, grilling the patty and bun fresh. The burger contained the beef patty wrapped up in egg and cheese, and had a slice of cucumber, some ketchup and onions too. It was a delicious, cheesy burger with lots of stuffing and a very mild taste, unlike the spicy burgers you would otherwise get locally. The amount of salt is perfect too. However, it can be a bit messy to eat because there's so much mayo and cheese.

Because it's basically high-quality "street food" and there's no cost of having sitting arrangements, creating a cozy atmosphere or keeping waiters for serving the food, you get the burger at the price of a burger and don't have to pay a whole lot just for the "privileges" that come with enjoying it, say, in a cafe.

At just 160 taka, you get this delicious, creamy, yummy burger you can enjoy without torturing your wallet!

(Sorry I don't have a picture, I just brought it home and gobbled it up because I was hungry! :P)

Price: Taka 160/-

Rating: 4.5

The butterscotch frappe is one of the yummiest frappes available in Dhanmondi. It has an interesting coffee and caramel flavor which is to-die-for!

Coffee and butterscotch ice-cream are blended together to make this amazingly icy drink. It's thick, luscious and has the perfect mild coffee hint to the overall butterscotch flavor. There are no inconsistencies, and the entire drink has its flavor evenly distributed throughout the drink. Overall it is just amazing. A perfect cooler for summer days!

Price: 350 (excluding VAT)

Rating: 5

French Vanilla Frappe from Coffee World is one of their non-coffee drinks. They also have other variants like Cookie Crush, but I wanted something simple so I tried this one.

This frappe is totally white - like milk white - in color. It has bubbles in it, so you'll understand at first glance it's very light and refreshing. It has a delicious vanilla flavor with no rubbish flavors (like cinnamon - eek!) present. The sweetness is neither too much or too less. It does not taste like they just blended up some vanilla ice-cream and vanilla syrup together. The drink is smooth and tastes like some actual work was involved in making it instead of just blending up with ice. It actually has less crushed ice so you can drink this calmly without getting brainfreeze. It's basically the perfect Vanilla Frappe.

I totally recommend this and will continue to enjoy this drink myself!

Price: Tk 285/- (excluding VAT)

Rating: 5

I love trying new salads, and decided to try out the pasta mint salad from Pizza Hut because, um, the picture on the menu looked nice. But when served up, it was a total nightmare!

I was expecting those little C-shaped macaronis served up with tomatoes, black olives, capsicum and pineapple bits. But what I got were long pasta-like God-knows-what as you can see in the picture. Definitely not fit for a salad!

The salad had a glazed dressing, which made everything look very delicious and tropical, but once I dug in, it was a total disappointment. The "macaroni" was hard and I had to chew a lot because they weren't boiled well. They tasted bland as well. The accents didn't help much, so I kind of ate some with olives and pineapple bits, and decided I was done.

Overall, a total and complete disaster of a salad! I only give this a point for the good presentation. Skip this and try the Hawaiian Salad if you must have a salad. It's much better!

Price: Tk 300/-

Rating: 1

Burger 'n Boost boasts some delicious shakes and chocolate drinks. Being a cold coffee drink freak, I decided to try one out, and what better choice than a mocha to judge the quality and taste of the available drinks?

Burger joints in Dhaka seem to only have milkshakes, and that too boring flavors like the basic strawberry/vanilla/chocolate. There are no slightly fancier options usually. Burger 'n Boost, however, tries to keep the American standard "burger, fries and a shake" meal as this is most preferred.

I ordered burgers and fries for myself and my little brother to take home, and ordered this drink to keep me busy while I waited for those to be made and packed up. The Cold Mocha was made on the counter, and I watched as it was being made. They don't keep anything "secret" - meaning you get a clear idea of what you are putting into your body. The person who prepared it put some ice, cocoa powder and Nescafe along with water into a blender, blended for about 5 minutes, and served it topped with cocoa powder. The drink was served in a paper cup (which is good because then I could carry it out with me) covered with plastic. The plastic wasn't flimsy like the lids on Krushers, so it was easy to carry around and not spill the drink.

When I took the first sip, I detected an Ovaltine-like taste. Eventually it started tasting more cocoa-ish. The chocolate flavor was so overwhelming, I could not taste much of the coffee, which should not be the case because it is a mocha after all. This was no standard chocolate drink though - it was thicker, richer and yummier than usual milkshakes and chocolate drinks. Also, the taste was the same till the last drop, which means it was well-blended.

Apart from the absence of much coffee flavor, I really liked this drink and will go back for more when I just don't feel like splurging in Coffee World. For the price, the quality and taste really can't be beat!

Price: Tk 200/-

Rating: 4.5

I always consider Coffee World a breakfast place rather than a teatime favorite, and love their waffles if I want to grab a bite after morning classes.

The waffles are served hot and fresh out of the waffle maker. They are sandwiched together, with cream cheese in between. The sandwiched waffles are topped with blueberry marmalade. I like to open up the sandwich to get a better sense of the flavors. The waffles are mildly sweet, and the blueberry marmalade is the perfect companion for it. A dollop of whipped cream is also served on the side, but I find it unnecessary because I am not a fan of whipped cream on or with anything. The only shortcoming I find is there is not enough cream cheese in the middle, and it kind of gets more on one waffle than the other. A more generous filling would be nice!

Overall, I think they make a great sweet breakfast if you're up for something other than toast and eggs. They also have other breakfast options like a full English breakfast, but I do suggest trying out this particular delicacy!

Price: unknown

Rating: 4.5

I had been wanting to try this particular appetizer from Nando's for quite some time because I'd never tried hummus. Nando's version is apparently "a peri peri spin on a classic!" so I decided eh, why not?

The hummus comes in a bowl along with four quarters of toasted pita bread. The pita was not dry even though I expected them to be. They were soft and light. Hummus is a strange dip made with mashed chickpeas, and the Nando's version of it had a bit of peri peri sauce on it (just a little bit though) and olive oil too. You're supposed to pick up some of the hummus with your pita bread and bite it off. Once I dug in, I noticed a delicious sour flavor which totally made me gobble the whole thing up in a short span of time! This was a little more "Indian" than Portuguese or even Arabian (as hummus originally is). It took absolutely no time to finish up the whole thing! It's not too filling, so foodies can order a main meal after sharing this!

The only thing I didn't like about the appetizer was the serving amount. There was a lot of hummus and not enough pita bread to finish it up with. I had to finish them up with fries. They tasted good with the fries too! I do wish they would provide two more quarters of pita bread!

Overall, a great sour appetizer if you're in the mood for something tangy!

Price: Tk 99/- (excluding VAT)

Rating: 4.5

Pizza Hut is always a great option whenever one feels the need to put some cheese into their system. Apart from pizzas, one of the dishes Pizza Hut does well is pastas. The creamy Chicken Mushroom pasta is one of my favorites, and never fails to satisfy my hunger or taste buds!