Tag: blogger

  • Taste the Best of Lahore with FoodPanda “Good Food Tour”

    Taste the Best of Lahore with FoodPanda “Good Food Tour”

    Over that past year, I have been fortunate enough to meet lots of amazing bloggers, which has helped ease my anxiety when attending events. So, when Foodpanda emailed me about her latest event, “Good Food Tour Lahore edition“, I did not hesitate in responding with a giant yes please!

    Foodpanda : Good Food Tour Invitation
    Foodpanda : Good Food Tour Invitation

    As the date came closer I followed the #GoodFoodTour  hastag on Instagram and Twitter to see who was attending and, to my surprise, none of my usual blogger buddies seemed to be on the list; my anxiety grew but I didn’t want to sit in my comfort zone by not going. This was an opportunity to push myself and meet people.

    I joined Foodpanda’s ‘Good Food Tour’ last friday, which was the second event of a series of good food tours in Pakistan focusing on a different theme each time. This tour focused on a culinary journey through the trendiest restaurants in Lahore. A journey that will be a delicious treat for the tastebuds, where a group of bloggers and influencers ate their way around town, trying signature dishes from 4 top-notch restaurants in Lahore.

    Warning: the following post contains an excessive amount of photographs of highly delicious food – reading on an empty stomach is not advised! 🙂

    First Stop: Napoli Restaurant

    The first stop of this tour was Napoli Restaurant located at DHA phase 5, who served us with their delicious new improved menu with all the healthy and nutritional options. Napoli offer delightful variety of nutritionally dense, delicious and fresh food. They are  passionate about helping customers refuel, rebuild and heal through food.

    We had Wasabi Prawns,  Honey mustard wings, Fried calamari, two tomato bruschetta. The fried Calmari and wasabi Prawns, Two Tomato Bruschetta with blast of flavors and  Honey Glazed Mustard Wings was mouth watering and the ambience of the café was very peaceful.

    Two Tomato Bruschetta @ Napoli Restaurant
    Two Tomato Bruschetta @ Napoli Restaurant

    The Two Tomato Bruschetta was also absolutely delicious with slices of grilled ciabatta bread topped with fresh baby plum, cherry tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, baby basil and cheese. I want the recipe for the tomato dressing, it was so good! 😀

    Two Tomato Bruschetta @ Napoli Restaurant
    Two Tomato Bruschetta @ Napoli Restaurant

    These crispy Wasabi Prawns were an excellent choice to pair with fresh salad. Danggit! Don’t you just look forward to this for the first meal of the day? Or anytime of the day actually.

    Wasabi Prawns @ Napoli Restaurant
    Wasabi Prawns @ Napoli Restaurant

    Their Fried calamari is out of this world and the sauces deserve special mention. I mean if you like calamari… you would fall in love with  this tempura style Calamari! Crunchy, fresh, addicting. !!

    Fried Calmari @ Napoli Restaurant
    Fried Calmari @ Napoli Restaurant

    One simply can’t say no to wings.  A simple honey-Mustard glaze gives these wings knockout flavor. A must try!

    Honey Mustard Wings @ Napoli Restaurant
    Honey Mustard Wings @ Napoli Restaurant

    Second Stop: Rivoli

    The second restaurant of this amazing Food Panda tour was “Rivoli”. Our culinary experience at the Rivoli started off with  Street style Chicken Sliders, Fried ring onion, fries and dipping suace.  The Slider was saucy but the one thing I didn’t like was the slider bun which was really hard. It was kind of sweet and tasted like the meetha bun we find at our Pakistani bakeries. My overall experience was just ok.

    Third Stop: Sweet Affairs

    “Sweet Affairs” was our 3rd stop. And I just fell in love with this, From the brick oven Pizza (BBQ & Mexican flavored), to the Fettuccine in bechmal sauce, Pasta Aurora with Grilled Chicken and the Basil Beef from Sweet Affairs are a must-try!

    I really liked the soothing and peaceful ambiance of Sweet affairsl, and the quality of the food was well above average.

    Sweet Affairs
    Sweet Affairs

    I can highly recommend the fettuccine in bechmal sauce,  the sauce was so good, fresh basil, with a good amount of cheese and sauce,  i just want to slurp it with a spoon. 😛

    And their brick oven pizza’s (BBA & Mexican) were amazing !!! Loved the taste, the presentation and the topping. It’s light and fresh and yet at the same time gave me all the festive feels.  Best thing about this was how they brought the authentic taste of Italian cuisine in Lahore.  All the dishes were just perfect. 5/5 for that!

    Fourth Stop: Mocca Coffee

    No meal is complete without the perfect sweet finish and foodpanda‘s Good Food Tour was completed with delectable sweet treats from Mocca Coffee.

    If you can fit in dessert the Mocca Coffee is another winner – Their Brownie melt is amazing, scoop of Ice cream over brownie drizzled with syrup and served with melted chocolate suace and mint. Yum. Their macaroons, mocca and caramel frappucinos, carrot cake, brownie melt and chocolate mousse are to die for!

    Dear Brownie Melt, If you’re going to ask me what I love about you, the answer is everything. Let’s start simply: You’re delicious.  It’s hard to pick out a single favourite from Mocca Coffee, but if I had to recommend just one thing, Brownie Melt is a MUST-TRY!

  • Productive Ramadan: An Exclusive Interview with Abu Productive

    How does Bro Muhammad Faris (abu productive) spend his Ramadan? To find out, I conducted an interview with the energetic, super-productive Bro. Muhammad Faris.

    Abu Productive (Muhammad Faris) is the founder & CEO of ProductiveMuslim, a website dedicated to Islam & Productivity. He is an international speaker, author, and coach dedicated to boosting productivity in the Ummah. More recently, he released his book “The ProductiveMuslim Book – Where Faith Meets  Productivity “.

    productive-muslim-book

    I  hope you enjoy this special interview I had with  brother Muhammad Faris, where he shares some insight from the world of a productivity Ramadan!In this interview I talked about the best ways to nourish ourselves for peak performance throughout the day.

    Ramadan Exclusive Interview with Abu Productive

    interview-with-abu-productive
    Ramadan Exclusive Interview with Abu Productive(Bro. Muhammad Faris)

    Bushrah: Aslam-o-AlakumWarhmatullahWabaraktuhu Dear Bro Mohammed Faris! Hope you are doing well. JazakAllahKhaira for joining us for this interview for my blog RecipesTable.com.


    Bushrah: For our fans, Can you please explain What Productive Ramadan Transformation is and what is involved?

    Muhammad Faris: ProductiveRamadan Transformation is the understanding that Ramadan is an opportunity to transform ourselves to become better and more productive human beings instead of leading unproductive lives.

    It’s about turning the challenges that Ramadan throws at us (the fasting, the long night prayers, the lack of sleep) and turning them into opportunities to test our human capacity and show the world what we can do despite these challenges.


    Bushrah: Why are you so passionate about productivity?

    Muhammad Faris: I believe that productivity is the answer to many of the challenges facing the Ummah. Unfortunately, we’ve become an unproductive Ummah, consuming more than producing, expecting government welfare instead of creating wealth, and we lack the motivation and innovation to lead ourselves forward.

    That’s from a macro perspective – but from a micro/individual perspective; leading a productive life is leading a meaningful life. A philosopher once said: “We are happiest when we are striving after something”


    Bushrah: First of all we would like to know how brother Abu Productive (productivity guru) spends his Ramadan.

    Muhammad Faris: I divide my time in Ramadan in 3 parts:

    • A portion for my Lord; focusing on Salah, Taraweeh, and reciting Quran.
    • A portion for my family; focusing on spending quality time with them at home and not travel so much.
    • A portion for my ProductiveMuslim; doing some writing, thinking, reading on topics that relate to productivity and Ramadan and engaging with the ProductiveRamadan.com online course students.

    Bushrah: What is your fondest childhood memory about Ramadan?

    Muhammad Faris: I grew up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia most of my life, so my fondest childhood memory about Ramadan is simply feeling the spirit of Ramadan in the air in the entire city and attending taraweeh with my dad at different mosques across the city.


    Bushrah: Do you create a meal plan during Ramadan to ensure your body is receiving the correct foods and nutrition? And do you choose lighter food than usual?

    Muhammad Faris: Alhamdulillah – my wife is very conscious of our food and we discuss meal plans in advance so we avoid unhealthy options.

    We stick to low GI food (especially for suhoor) and try to eat lots of fruits and vegetables and vegetarian options at night.

    I’ve cut down on tea and coffee to almost zero intake in the month (except for herbal tea) and alhamdulillah – managed to stay away from sweets most nights.


    Bushrah: : How do you prepare yourself physically for this fasting period? So that you won’t run out of Stream and will keep going the whole working day? For example, do you take vitamins or eat nutritional fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts?

    Muhammad Faris: We eat a hearty healthy low GI oatmeal dish for suhoor which contains:

    1. Organic steel cut oats
    2. Bananas
    3. Berries (blackberries and blueberries)
    4. Raw Nuts
    5. Flaxseed/Chia Seeds
    6. Almond Milk

    If we have time, we have fruits and then we cap the suhoor with 2 glasses of water.

    We’ve been having the same suhoor every day since the beginning of Ramadan and seems to work well with us.

    Combination of eating low GI food + naps in the day and I find myself able to work for at least 8-10 hours in the day.


    Bushrah:  What’s your daily routine in ramadan? And What changes do you make in Ramadan to your technology usage, socail life?

    Muhammad Faris:

    • 4:00am – 4:40am: Suhoor
    • 40am – 5.30am: Fajr at Masijd
    • 30am – 6.30am: Stay until sunrise with Quran Recitation + Athkar
    • 30am – 7.30am: Come home + get ready for the day
    • 7:30am – 12.00pm: Work Work Work
    • 00pm – 1.30pm: Long Nap
    • 30pm – 2.30pm: Dhuhur Prayers @ Masjid
    • 30pm – 6.00pm: Work Work Work
    • 00pm – 7.00pm: Asr prayers @ Masjid
    • 00pm – 8.30pm: Quality time with family
    • 30pm – 9.45pm: Iftar + Maghreb + get ready for Isha
    • 45pm – 11.30pm: Isha + Taraweeh
    • 30pm – 12:00am: Quality time with spouse
    • 00am – 4.00am: Sleep

    Bushrah: : What would be your most important goals for you personally to achieve in this Ramadan?

    Muhammad Faris: I have set 3 goals for myself:

    1. Complete the preparation for the launch of the post-Ramadan course
    2. Complete preparing website + brochures for a new productivity company I’m launching for corporate
    3. Complete designing a Youth Accelerator program for Masajids and Youth groups in North America.

    As you probably notice – the above are not “typical” Ramadan goals. I personally seek the Barakah in Ramadan to get a lot of important work done.


    Bushrah: How we can have a transformational Productive Ramadan? Any Productive tips?

    Muhammad Faris:  Start by setting meaningful goals. Then align your energy management (nutrition, fitness and sleep), your focus management, and your time management to achieving those goals.

    If you have no goals for Ramadan (Spiritually-Physically-Socially), you’ll simply waste Ramadan.

    Think of goals that if you implement them during Ramadan will transform your life after Ramadan.


    Bushrah: There have been a lot of exciting things happening with Productive Muslim Academy lately  MashAllah, can you tell us about some of your latest initiatives? And how our users can benefit from productive muslim academy?

    The ProductiveMuslim Academy is our way to fill the gap of personal development training for the Muslim world that’s based on the Quran and Sunnah and latest personal development science.

    We’ve made the academy practical and useful for the on-the-go professional, busy student, and workin moms because we firmly believe that learning the practical tools to grow and develop can mean the difference between a life well-lived or a failure in this life and the next.

    We’ve made the Academy very affordable; you’ll have access to all ProductiveMuslim courses and classes + private facebook group with the community of learners + exclusive webinars, all the above for just $14.99/month (or $0.50 per day!). We hope that your followers and readers can join us to make the most of the Academy and grow with us inshaAllah.


    Bushrah: Finally, do you have a message for all our Muslims Fans around the World?

    The best advice I can give, is the advice I heard from Sh.Bin Bayyah many years ago, he said “Have sincere intentions and work hard”. That’s the formula for succcess.

    JazakiAllahkhair for having me on your blog

    Bushrah: Jazakillah khaira for taking the time to share your thoughts about training during Ramadan. I’ve certainly learned a lot and I hope folks who read this interview will feel the same. InshaAllah

     


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