A couple of months ago, I was cycling from eatery to eatery in Singapore.Now Singapore is full of fancy imported restaurants, but there nevertheless really is something called original traditional Singaporean food - cuisine that originated here and continues to be eaten here. This is where the Chinese clashed (sometimes literally) with Malays, Tamilians, Indonesians... Continue Reading →
Chennai again drew me to a forgettably convenient meal at Saravana Bhavan. I find the food utterly pedestrian, but somehow the sheer convenience of this Wal-Mart of Udipis sneaks me in. Yes, they have every kind of food on earth - I noticed Lebanese and fusion this time (vegetarian is probably the only reason sushi... Continue Reading →
The end of summer is traditionally Hilsa feasting time in Bengal, but things are much more muddled in Mumbai. In any case, O Calcutta announced the Hilsa Festival in August, and we promptly started salivating. There’s nothing like a bit of independence to inspire the Bengali bhadralok to a feast, so we headed into Tardeo’s... Continue Reading →
A few days ago, I had a very expensive lunch. Beer, two courses and no dessert the bill came to a staggering Rs 6,000 for two. No, I wasn’t on Wall Street chewing gold-plated hamburgers (that would have cost more). We were in Mumbai, on a normal weekday lunch, with a friend who had just... Continue Reading →
Kolkata, I discovered on my last trip, is full of Bengali food. No, I'm not an idiot. Till not so long ago, Bengali wasn't on the menu if you wanted to eat out in Kolkata. Chinese they did, Continental they kind of did, Italian, Punjabi, South Indian all check but Bengali; there you had to... Continue Reading →
The nooks of Mumbai hide corners that only cyclists can find. And one of those corners is a cafe that offers free coffee to cyclists. Its also got free wireless and lots of free friendliness. Its in the second lane behind Rhythm house, right across from Trishna. Kala Ghoda Cafe opened only about a week... Continue Reading →
Tucked away inside the InOrbit Shoppers Stop is a gourmet Hypercity outlet, with lots of canned and fresh food for sale but also a deli. Its a wonderful ambience. Here you are, sitting on barstools at a counter, surrounded by food, and being served freshly prepared meals from the top-of-the-line ingredients on sale there. You... Continue Reading →
Lucknow's famous kabab's are not easy to get in Mumbai. I've already talked about some restaurants in Lucknow in Mumbai, Lucknow and Smoke and Lucknow Again but a new entrant has now made the list. Of all places, a roadside eatery outside my office catering mainly to Mindspace's call-centre hordes has started selling Kakori kababs... Continue Reading →
Walking to the Madh Island ferry one evening, I came upon this brightly lit sweetshop selling red, round pakoras that did not look like anything I'd seen before. The ever-friendly shopkeeper told me they were cabbage pakoras (not the usual cauliflower), and shelling out five rupees made me proud owner of five of those balls.... Continue Reading →
I've been trying to eat healthy, as usual, so I go looking for steamed dishes on restaurant menus wherever I can find them. This entry is less about healthy or lightly cooked food as particularly about 'steamed' food. The king of steamed in India is undoubtedly the idli. Mumbai is chock-a-block with udipis chrning out... Continue Reading →
The Well Fed Bong 