Doha Diaries Review: Neenu's Cakery

Sugar and spice and all things nice, that’s what we want our cupcakes to be made of. If a girl tells you that she loves you more than her red velvet cupcakes, you are a lucky man! The Doha Diaries team loves their cupcakes and we've tasted many around the world. We even have a resident professional baker in our team! Recently, we decided to try out the cupcakes from Neenu’s Cakery. We were intrigued by the photos on their facebook page that we decided to find out more about the people (and the cakes!) behind this delicious delivery service. We had the opportunity to meet the dessert duo and asked them a couple of questions. Here is what they had to say:

Q: When did you start baking? Where did you learn to bake?

Neenu's Cakery (NC): I’ve always been into baking, but took it up more seriously only very recently. To be very precise, in January, 2013. Due to some personal reasons, I decided to stay home with my two-year-old son. I was looking for options of ‘do-it-from-home’ businesses. My husband knew my love for baking and casually suggested that I should take it up a little more seriously. That’s how it all began.Before we knew it, we were sitting down and working out the costs of starting a home business. Surprisingly, we found we could afford it. From there, it was a whirlwind of activity – researching on cupcake recipes, purchasing a new cooking range and cake-making accessories, trying out new flavours and the like. Three months have passed and I couldn’t have been happier.

Q:  When and why did you decide to start the cakery?

NC: There arose a situation when I had to stay at home with my son for the foreseeable future. That was what solidified the idea of a home-based business. We had several options, but we zeroed in on cupcake business. Making the first decision was the tough part. Once that happened, everything else neatly fell into place. With all the initial expenses, we went through a mini financial crunch, but it was all well worth it.

3. What are the difficulties you face in running the cakery?

NC: We’re a very small business and face the same problems every start-up businesses face. Prohibitive initial investment is what kills most start-ups.

So we decided to focus on our strengths and expand gradually. We decided to start out by making cupcakes and then branch out to cakes. The reason was that we couldn’t get cake boxes printed at less than 500 numbers. It was beyond our means, so we did the wise thing, keep it for later.

Another area of concern was effective advertising using our limited resources. Thankfully, social media came to our rescue. Facebook alone has provided most of our customers. We recently started a Twitter account and will be starting an Instagram handle soon. These mediums are a boon for prospective small-time businesses.

4. What would you like your customers to know about you? What is your Unique Selling Proposition?

NC: Our USP is that we’re a small husband-wife team, and there aren’t many of them around. :-) I’m the research and development specialist while my husband is the ‘glorified delivery boy’ (in his own words).

Our cupcakes are very nominally priced and we’ve a lot of varieties on offer. We charge QR50 for a dozen cakes, which works out to be much cheaper than anything else on offer anywhere else. Also, we deliver free of charge!

5. What do you visualize for Neenu's Cakery?

The first dream is to break even, but that’s still a little time away. And from there, we’ll take it step by step. We are dreamers alright, with a tinge of realism added to it. At the same time, we’re also very aware of the strengths that come with being small. We succeeded in turning customers into friends and that has done us a world of good. Our new friends are our biggest assets. Good word of mouth has helped a lot.

To sign off, we quote our favourite line from history. “The history of the world is the history of a few who had faith in themselves. Strong you think, strong you’ll be. Weak you think, weak you’ll be. Strength is life, weakness is death.”

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Doha Diaries loves how they have turned this cupcake size idea into a sustainable business. Also, extra props for their enticing Facebook page. For all you guys who have a seed of a business idea, or plan on doing something but never really got on to it, we think this interview should motivate you enough, just like how it pumped us up!

Tasting Session

Keep Calm and eat a Cupcake

Doha Diaries reviewed the cupcakes at Neenu's Cakery and we tasted the recommended carrot walnut, chocolate and red velvet cupcakes. The cupcakes are well priced. All the cupcakes were perfectly decorated, looked delicious and well packed. 

Carrot Walnut cupcake – Beautifully made, the cake itself was moist and well balanced. It was not too sweet which we loved and was covered with a butter cream frosting.  This cupcake filled with joy was definitely our favorite. A new flavor and a huge hit with us, and we are definitely ordering it again.

Chocolate cupcake – The chocolate cake was nicely done with a hard chocolate topping. We were however secretly hoping for a moist chocolate frosting which would impart the moistness to the cake as well. The chocolate in the cake was definitely yummilicous. Decorated with little pink hearts, we can visualize these pretty little things perfectly sitting on a girl's dessert table.

Red Velvet cupcake – The resident baker at Doha Diaries sorely missed the cream cheese frosting that usually adorns a classic red velvet. We did, however, marvel at the beautiful redness of this cupcake that was set off by the butter cream frosting on it, similar to the one on the carrot walnut cake. 

Cupcakes are charged at QR 50 per dozen. You can place orders on their facebook page.

While we make plans to order another batch of carrot walnut cupcakes, we leave you with this contemplative cupcake thought:

Ain't that right?

Doha Diaries reviews are not sponsored
Picture courtesy: Neenu's Cakery facebook page

Football mania!

The football craze in this city is undeniable. If it's match day, football fans are on their A game. Everyone is discussing players, strategies and outcomes. Football fans are a plenty here, and with Qatar hosting the 2022 FIFA games, the excitement is palpable. Doha Diaries was curious to know which cafe or restaurant football fans frequent to watch their games, and what their wish for the football watching culture in this city is. We posed these questions to three very seasoned football fans in Qatar, and this is what they had to say:

Ahmad Alia is a professional management consultant who is new to the country. He is always looking for places where he can watch football with friends. For him "Watching football with a huge crowd comprising Egyptian fans is a whole different experience. It is both exciting and energetic.” Ahmad usually frequents Cairo Nights which is located at Souq Waqif where he highly recommends ordering the grape mint shisha. For him, the people you watch football with makes all the difference, regardless of the place. “I need to be surrounded by hardcore football fans. The atmosphere is intense and I always have a little laugh when I see someone cry over a football game” he chuckles. The Real Madrid fan also likes to watch matches in the comfort of his home. His only wish for the football watching scene in Doha? ‘Bigger screens and more grape flavored shisha’

Sweta VB, a long time resident of Doha watches her football games mostly at home, especially because of the odd hours of the matches. Comfort is priority for her as she says "I’d like to know I can sit there comfortably through the entire game, get something cold to drink and not have to deal with a crazy, unruly crowd." For someone who loves to try new places, Sweta is always looking for options where she can watch football, especially to watch Barcelona and Spain play.  With 'Beer and wings' as her go to match food, she gives extra points to a place that serves orange mint shisha. Her match haunts? Grand Joud Cafe, Irish Pub, Radisson Blu and Champions. 

Mihir Manjeshwar, an auditor with a big four company in Qatar likes catching his games at Lobby Villa (Holiday Villa), Champions (Courtyard Marriot) and Sherazad (Radisson Blu). He says “Champions and Shehrazad are genuine sport bars, so it provides you with the ideal atmosphere to enjoy a good football game. Patrons of the bar are generally out showing their support for respective teams and it adds to the overall experience. Lobby Lounge in Holiday Villa is a little more quiet and relaxed compared to the previous two.” When asked what he looks for in a café or restaurant before going to watch a game, he replies “First and foremost would have to be the general crowd present to watch these games. The idea is to sit together with friends, other fans, and have a good time, and not get caught up in unruly altercations with rival fans, which thankfully I haven’t experienced in Doha yet. You also have other factors such as seating arrangements, size of TV screens which play a role in where you go, especially for the big games”. This Barcelona fan believes that ‘nothing goes perfectly with a good game like a beer’ ‘The beer tower at Shehrazad is quite the incentive of watching a game there. Usually, we also order some light snacks like wings or fries to keep the anxiety in check during a tight game.’, he adds. What are his options in the city? To that, he says “Other options would include dropping by at one of the many shisha lounges around Doha. The only disadvantage is that they usually fill up quickly, but it’s still lighter on the wallet. There’s also the option that never fails, watching the game at home.” Mihir would ideally like to see sports bars in Doha have game night specials which include promotions on food and beverages.  He is also pleasantly surprised by the football atmosphere in the country and hopes it just gets better.
 

We hope so too!

What about you? Where do you catch your game in this city and what do you hope to see in Qatar, as a football fan, in the near future?

Weekend Diaries

Picture courtesy

- Rev up them engines, bikes are going to be all around the CommercialBank Moto GrandPrix at the Losail International Circuit! The sound of racing bikes coupled with good food sounds appealing to you? Then, the biker boy / girl in you will love it there this weekend.

Dates - April 4th to 7th
Ticket Prices
Grandstand Ticket (4 days) - QAR 200
VIP Village tickets range from QAR 2550 to QAR 2500

For more information, you can visit www.motogp.com or www.circuitlosail.com

- The only thing better than beer, is beer on the beach. Intercontinental is hosting a 'Corona on the beach' event on Friday from 2pm until 9pm and their facebook page promises 'there is as much Corona as you can drink' (direct quote!). They will be sports such as volleyball and human foosball, but really, as long as there's an unlimited supply of corona, we wouldn't bother even if aliens were playing foosball!
Entry: 50 QAR for men and free entry for women. (21+ only)

- Four Seasons Hotel in Doha is hosting a Beach Grill event tonight. Lots of good food cooked on a charcoal grill. For QAR 320 per person, Beach grill will have a meat station and a seafood station set up by the beach. Tomorrow night, they host a Beach bar which starts at 7 pm. If you do plan to go, there will be Alcohol, Arabic food and All your moves on the dance floor!

- Doha Film Institute is hosting an interesting screening dedicated to the 'cinematic voices from the Gulf region.' Titled 'Hekayat Khaleejiya', it will present films and will also include a Q&A session with the filmmakers.
Ticket information here:


- A musical weekend is good, and when it's jazz, it's better! Every evening from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm, they will be playing at St Regis' 'Jazz at the Lincoln Center'. They will be accompanied by Charenee Wade, an accomplished vocalist from New York. 


- We haven’t forgotten you foodies and that’s why we suggest you try the Swiss Gastronomic week that is happening at Grand Hyatt Doha. We were sold at the Toblerone Mousse. Traditional Swiss cuisine will be served with a variety of dishes prepared by a guest chef who has been flown in specifically for this event. Get nostalgic about your Swiss trip as you think of the Alps, the St.Bernard puppies and the lovely chocolates, while you munch on authentic Swiss food. Not enough? They even have a traditional band that will bell out Swiss melodies! 
The week ends on the 6^th of April and happens every evening from 18:00 to 23:00 hours.

For more information, call 44481234

Have a great weekend..Hakuna Matata style!

Restaurant Review: PAUL

Good breakfast places in Qatar are a rare find. On Saturday, we decided to head to PAUL for breakfast. This pretty looking Parisian café is situated at the Villagio Mall right across the River Island store. It looks enticing from outside and we couldn’t wait to see what this place had to offer. Their menu has a variety of breakfast options but we decided to settle for an Omelette Marseillaise (with bell peppers, tomatoes, onions and mushrooms) and a Corbeille de viennoiseries (1 croissant + 1 pain au chocolat + 1 pain aux raisins).

If you don't understand French, the menu could be a little difficult to comprehend. The starter breads (six cereal and brown) that came with some classic PAUL butter were a bummer. They were cold and did not taste too fresh. If they were a little warmer, it might have tasted a lot better.

The omelette looked delicious and was packed with the vegetables promised on the menu. However, the sides were not what we were expecting. The accompanying salad felt out of place on the breakfast plate and the hash browns were undercooked. The omelette was prepared without any salt. Despite adding salt to the eggs, it ended up tasting a little too bland.

Our favorite item on the menu was the freshly prepared croissant. The French café definitely gets its croissants right. This beautiful crunchy piece of bread melted in our mouth as soon as we took a bite.  The chocolate bread and the raisin bread were well prepared without being too sweet but we still wanted more of the croissants.

Their fresh orange juice is refreshing and just what we needed to kickstart our day. We had ordered for the mango juice thinking it was fresh as well and when we double checked, they told us that the Mango Juice was the only one out of the menu that was not fresh, and was made of juice concentrate. So people hoping for fresh mango juice, take note! Special mention to the staff who were courteous and ensured that service was good.

Would we haul to PAUL again?

Maybe. But the next time we do, we are sticking to croissants and coffee!  

Rating

PAUL is located at Villagio and Landmark