Authentic is not always what you expect it to be. I spent three days in Khao Lak, searching for chillies and coconut milk; screaming in frustration at finding only ginger, soya and rice wine. Looking for locals feeding themselves got me to a strange mixture of hotpot and hot plate; I was quite excited by... Continue Reading →
When IMA invited me to Phuket on what really important people call a junket, I was quite excited. Visions of pork-lined streets and wonderful curries glazing my eyes, I braved roaming charges to land at Phuket airport and discovered a slightly different destination – Khao Lak, rather than Phuket. Not so bad, I told myself,... Continue Reading →
Foodwise, China was not at all what I expected. I'm going to get right into generalising the food of a billion people into a post shorter than a short story, all on the basis of seven days of experience. As is my wont, I ate on the streets and avoided restaurants for the most part.... Continue Reading →
A quick trip to our great capital left me without enough time to go to Chandi Chowk, so we headed to Bengali Market – a place I last visited a decade ago, and still remembered fondly - for our golgappa fix. The two giants – Nathu Sweets and Bengali Sweet House - still dominate Bengali... Continue Reading →
Today I went in search of misal. Misal is as soundly maharashtrian as the pandu, the vada pao, the dabbawallah or the endearing habit of naming everything after Shivaji. No self-respecting station or streetcorner in Mumbai can afford to maintain its status in society without one. I suspect that while pao bhaji is sold to... Continue Reading →
It took me a while to start my first day at Chiang Mai. Its a slow city; even the morning newspaper arrives only at 11am. By the time I was out of the door the sun was already showing off a little, and the day's bustle past its morning peak. Beyond the tuk tuk stand... Continue Reading →
Day Two, I went jogging. It sounds horribly exotic to go jogging in Hua Hin specially when I duck it so frequently at home, but I did lace up and start running bright and early. Only to find food within minutes. A hundred yards out of the hotel gates a most odd barbecue cart pulled... Continue Reading →
Is the panipuri getting better in Mumbai, or have I just lived here too long? This Sunday’s random cycling took me to to the sylvan surroundings of Khar Station West where, right across the road from the station, a largish cart piled high with sev and other sundries caught my attention. Hungry and hot, I... Continue Reading →
My obsession with these ultra-soft kababs that have martian craters named after them have been documented repeatedly in this blog, but luckily more places continue to appear at regular intervals to add my my supply of stories. The droolworthy picture above is from Sanjiv Khamgaonkar’s article in CNNGO about Mumbai’s best Kabab. Guess who won?... Continue Reading →
Walking the streets of Hong Kong often brought me face to face with a funny snack; it looked to me like giant brown bubble-wrap and people seemed to regularly queue up for it. Meat did not seem to be involved, so I stayed clear of the queues till, eventually, google warned me I was missing... Continue Reading →
The Well Fed Bong 