Going Nuts

Peanut a super snack. My superfood for my mostly vegetarian diet, great source of protein, convenience and deliciousness. I ate it roasted and salted (my favorite), in 'Shenga Holige'  (Shenga = peanut in North Karnataka Kannada parlance) 'Shenga Laddu', 'Shenga Chutney / Pudi', Chivda, Chikkis (original Snickers), Snickers (duplicate Chikkis), Reeses etc and Pad Thai! I seriously dont remember long stretches when I didnt eat any peanuts.

A persistent gastric condition and focused diagnosis later, the Doctor pronounced me allergic to something. Something was my beloved peanuts after a selective exclusion exercise and eureka moment.

The amazing realization set in me and my Family was that I have been allergic (and also was my Father) to peanuts since my teens. I suffered mild stomach upsets, aggressive and consistent skin breakouts and sluggishness. The transformation was semi miraculous when I stopped immediately.

Mild jokes here and there thrown about being a 'Firang' and having a fashionable 'American' condition. Worse when someone serves something traditional which cannot do without peanuts (Chivda, Poha for example) and you gotta eat around it leaving nuts at the end like a bad mannered kid.

I wish I could show them the scene from Hitch.

Hungry in Bangalore: Quaint little Kammanahalli Part1

"Where for lunch man". "I don't know, how about Andhra? or Mexican or Darshini (Dosa, Idli South Indian Fare etc) or Subway or North Indian (separate list) or Mac or KFC or Chinese or Empire (mostly non veg fare and Malabari cuisine) or Momos or Arabian or Continental or Pizza....". All this within a Kilometre. Typical eating out conversation within us room mates, its a glorious problem of plenty close to our Humble abode.

I moved into this area about 6 months ago and have been loving this quaint, well now recently popular place. About a Kilometre around the Kamannahalli main road lands you smack in the middle of youthful energy and foodie delights. I am gonna write about this place in parts, cause there is so much to go around. There is a huge foreign student population here, mostly from Middle East and North Africa and a upper middle class population which creates an interesting food situation.

I will start with Breakfast. So recently I was in Delhi, the options - Paratha, Idli, Uttapa. Repeat. In Pune - Poha, Idli, Vada. In Mumbai - Poha, Idli, Dosa. Typical Indian restaurant in the US also served  Idli, Vada and Dosa for breakfast. Get the drift. So after an entire week of eating Idli Vada in office I cant wait to have the superb combo of Idli Vada and Coffee at A2B (whose Vadas are wonderfully fluffy and spiced) or at Adigas whose Dosas are superb or at Filter Coffee (another Darshini style restaurant) for its unique Tamil fare. Any trip outside Bangalore, I cant wait to come back and have the proper breakfast. I am more inclined to Adigas cause they always seem to have a newspaper lying around to read.

My Favorite

Best Coffees to be had

Now not everyone is a fan of South Indian food (or developed such a strong taste for it like me) so there are other great options. If you say Cafe, this place has a lot of them.

Au Bon Pain is one such, the proper Bagel Cream cheese is really good and the Cappuccino was surprisingly wonderful.

Au Bon Pain

The Middle Eastern and (lemme qualify)  North African Students particularly enjoy their coffee so you will find a lot of them enjoying cafes in the relaxed way they are used to, none of the hustle of Darshinis. 

And yes Donuts!

So pretty much every franchise owner wants to open a shop in this area. Not much from the 'local' aspect or street varieties like other areas. As expected the prices are on the higher side. But its pretty good that things are sanitary (yep nothing wrong..so far) and standardized and a lot of options to be had. 

Come a long way from having a solitary Darshini ( small South Indian joint with very limited options and some times sketchy hygiene) to international stuff available at a stones throw away.

Its lunch time, thats another blog...

Viva la Vile Parle Again! Gajalee

Four years and six months ago I had written of this place, it was the same dinner with Brother while on a vacation from Bangalore. No difference this time around - which is a good thing. Meaning the food was as again really awesome.

This place cant go wrong with anything that thrives underwater. Don't know much about the ones living above. Gajalee does crustaceans really well. They get a whole plate of live ones you can choose for your meal and after just a few minutes it arrives steaming and delicious on your plate.
Plus a brief cameo by the actress Raveena Tandon, who is stunningly tall and still pretty(not included as part of the package).

Always a joy to be back home for Diwali. With such separate lives, its great to connect over some great food.

Whew! Blog after a good 10 months. Great to be past this writers block. Plus I hope it helps put down doubts that I am vegetarian. 

Hungry in Hyderabad: Rayalaseema Ruchulu Jubilee Hills

Rayalaseema Ruchulu (RR from now) is a chain of Local Cuisine focused restaurant serving food from the Rayalaseema region in Andhra Pradesh. A good break from the usual fare of tried and tested. Generally restaurants cater to a 'generic' taste. Their food is designed to appeal to palates with strict attributes of sweet, spice and so on. It comes a good relief to find a place which takes you to the edge, some may find it good like we did, or utterly bad. The fun is in trying it out.

RR specializes in the super spicy domain. The cuisine is extremely spicy (I mean pungent in a good way) with some dynamite chilies to make your nose run rivers. The other accompanying spices are also on the very higher side. Still its damn tasty.

Since unluckily they didnt serve their famous Thali on Sundays we ordered ala carte. We had the Jolle Roti (millet roti), Bhindi kaya curry (Okra curry), Palak Pappu ( palak daal), the RR Kodi and to save our stomach linings a glass of Majage (buttermilk). The waiter thankfully asks how much heat would we like in the meal. We mentioned medium since we wanted to go authentic. The dishes were hot as in temperature and very hot on the scoville scale. But the taste was amazingly unique and the combination of heat and spices were enjoyable.

Definitely not for a daily fare, but for a change from the usual, this place is a must visit. There is a Dadu's downstairs in case desert is due which is unmissable after a meal at RR. Another reason to come back.

Hungry in Chandigarh: Pal Dhaba

My short and hectic stay in Chandigarh Mohali started with a wonderful lunch at Pal Dhaba. This iconic eatery is famous for its Punjabi Dhaba cuisine. Its a favorite of locals and tourists who make it a point to visit this place every time they come to Chandigarh. Me and my pals were famished after a long flight. A friend, familiar with the terrain, suggested we hit this joint. What followed was a discovery of the amount we could actually eat when the food is so good and an array of superb Punjabi surprising food.

Surprising because I never had punjabi food this way. This was the authentic dhaba version. Take for instance Tandoori chicken. I have had literally a hundred variations of this stuff. But almost nobody made it so tender, not-overtly spiced and flavorful. Its the same stuff yet different.

The butter chicken we ordered next is huge. The photo dosen't do justice, but the serving is massive! Same thing, never had butter chicken made this way. This wasn't sweet at all and really yup. We also had the mutton and chicken curries. Mind you thats 4 non veg dishes and we were totally digging into all this stuff and almost finished.
Obviously we had the lassi and that sealed the fate for a dreaded 2 hour siesta.

I can't wait to go back to this place after things chill a little bit.

Edit: I ate here 5 times in 3 days. I had butter chicken 3 times. I have loosened my belt a notch. It gets boring after a while cause there isn't much in terms of variety of offerings and you surely wouldn't wanna have this as regular fare. Its definitely a must visit in Chandigarh, but the dhaba fascination wears off quickly. I wouldn't repeat a visit, rather spend the time looking for some more rustic offerings. For example I heard of some Dhabas on the highways who serve really good everyday Punjabi food. There are some sweet shops and upper scale restaurants in Chandigarh you should check out rather than repeat eating at a place 5 times. Now I am really hungry for some succulent tandoori from Pal Dhaba....

Hungry in Hyderabad: Little Italy at Hitech City (finally!)

Can't escape the buffet

There are some places which are ubiquitous, everyones been there done that a million times. Eating at Barbecue Nation for one is as usual routine for techies as getting a haircut. But there is of course chance of  one odd which gets left out.

Same it seems is for Little Italy, I seriously don't know why I missed it. The countless eating excursions as part of the IT industry to the same old tired and tasted venues, its so bad I never got to try Little Italy in Bangalore.

Its a vegetarian Italian restaurant with very good and wide options. Ordering a la carte doesn't make sense here when compared to the buffet. So if its lunch time, it has to be the buffet. A wide spread of soups, salads, breads, starters, dips the list goes on. Plus you get to order a starter, pizza course and pasta course at your table.

The desert array is pretty good. The Mousses and Panna Cotta are great! We were warned to make room for desserts and its to be taken very seriously.

OK thats done, next stop long pending visit to Hard Rock cafe.

Hungry in Hyderabad: Dialogue in the Dark at inOrbit

Yes that's how it looks

This is my best shot of a restaurant ever, actually its just black color image. But that's exactly what is Dialogue in the Dark all about. Its a dining experience in absolute darkness, and a unique experience it is. You absolutely cannot see anything. All you have to guide you are your other senses touch, sound, smell and would you believe - taste.

Unlike a usual restaurant you pre-pay for your meal from the combos on offer, check in your phones (I like this a lot, I hate phones during meals), your watches and basically any light emitting device. You also get frisked by a guard for good measure. Past thick curtains you meet your server, a very capable and warm blind person who leads you to your table and looks after you for the meal.

You constantly remain amazed at the lack of sight in the new, almost alien environment where even discovering there is a plate and fork, spoon placed in front of you and how you and your friends sound. Those senses are highly amplified. I couldnt wait for my meal.

The server serves your meal deftly, and its a complete surrender to the food. Despite my unwashed hand, I had to dig in to feel what I am eating and taste it and know it minutely. As I said - amplified. I could really taste how good the various items on my plate were. Very nice experience to have.

Outside,  some of the staff leaving for the day in the background

And I really liked the fact that this idea benefits the blind, gives some of them a role in such an experience and some of the funds go for their welfare.

Its also a very good corporate team building activity I came to know, so I might get my future colleagues to a similar place later.

Whats for lunch?

'So how did it go?' I asked a A friend of mine who had just got back from an interview. 'Aaah pretty OK, lets see, I am not too excited' he replied nonchalantly. 'But isn't it your target company and best fit job?' I asked. 'Yeah well it was until this afternoon'. 'So what changed?' I asked again now irritating this guy who was focusing on his Chhole Samosa. 'Arre yaar, unka cafeteria main khaana achha nahi thha, thhoda enthu kam ho gaya' (The food wasn't good in their cafeteria, I lost some enthusiasm for it ) he replied between breaths.

So after a few more minutes of pointless banter over jobs and the relation of food with it, we decided we should send a mail to career services to include the cafeteria menu of the recruiting company along with the job description. Though at the serious thought of pissing off the career services, I chickened out.

But food in a company or organization does come up in conversations. Company feedback from seniors end conversations with 'things are good...but the food sucks'. Hey but, I am going to work there and build a career, not check into a restaurant and comment on their idly vada sambar.

An army marches on its bulging stomach. Food comes as a break from stress and rigour. Taste is one of the senses which we can pamper and something which we can control and affect. and it needs to be pampered. Health of course is of course a big outcome of what we eat, and if we don't have healthy tasty choice, we are in a soup quite literally.

And blessed are the ones who get a delicious dabba (lunch box), once in a while. Prepared by a spouse who is in the exact stage of lateness to office or a dabba delivery service which drowns their veggies in copious unrefined oil.

Beggers cant be choosers most of the times, but when the opportune moment comes and I get asked 'so do you have any questions for us?' I shall probably reply 'khaan main kya hai?' (whats for lunch?)

Hungry in Hyderabad: Flavors of China at Madhapur

An empty restaurant on a Sunday afternoon is an ominous sign. Or an awesome opportunity. On a very strong recommendation from my well traveled pal, we moved our lunch plan to this place. After a scrumptious trip to Pondicherry, my tastebuds expected something really nice to get a blog post out of the experience.

This restaurant looks pretty well appointed with plenty of space and comfy seating. My pal, who literally lives across the street, had had food here several times so directed the course of the meal.

The jade chicken soup - a unique green soup was a very tasty way to start the meal. The starter was a taipei chicken which is OK, not that exciting. But the star was the Pan fried noodles, we had it with the black bean sauce though I strongly recommend the dragon sauce.

The reason why this place is worth a mention is cause the food is really good, the servings are generous, very reasonable (3 dishes + drink 650 bucks) and only incidentally and not to be taken into account, this is the first time I had the entire staff at my service. Plus complimentary ice cream for desert for my pal who is a loyal customer, can totally understand why she is loyal.

There are certain places which become good finds, cheap, less crowded , great for a meal, you might go there occasionally and recommend your friends to go and . I hope this turns out to be a good find.

Viva la Pondichery, seconde partie

'Sunburnt and pot bellied', apt description as I stepped back into campus for the remaining 5 terms of MBA from a wonderful break to Pondicherry (now officially called Puducherry). Still stuck with a ridiculous patch of un-tanned skin around my eyes due to sunglasses, currently making me like a comic book super hero, I aimed to write this article down before I lost the tan and the memories.

My second sojourn to Pondicherry, this time with a much more boisterous group bent on vacationing with a vengeance. We did a lot which cannot be accommodated (or should be mentioned) in one blog

So heres a quick write down:

Where we stayed:
L'ESCALE Pondicherry - a quaint and surprisingly affordable boutique hotel on the street parallel to the promenade. Superbly located in the french town (white town), very close to the best attractions in the town and well connected. That is, if you are looking for a Pondicherry experience and not a resort experience for which there are plenty of resorts along the coast. But thats no fun since you cant swim in the waters due to the dangerous currents and narrow beaches. L'escale  is definitely a worth stay and a worth revisit.

Where we ate and what did we eat:
As planned, all we did was eat, relax and ride bikes around town. So chronologically:

Baker Street: Ironic, its a french bakery named after a fictional english scene. Nicolas the hotel landlord recommended  as with all of his  accurate and helpful suggestions, for a quick lunch. It seems to be 

a popular boulangerie with a wide selection of baked goodies and snacks. In total, we visited this place 3 times.

Le Vietnam: A vietnamese joint, my pals tried while I napped - pretty decent for a bit of the variety. The 'Chaiyo' - fried vietnamese snacks got good reviews here.

Rendezvous Cafe Restaurant: This was one of the highlights of our food journey. Very good and wide selection of food. A bit on the expensive side though really good food, service. Unfortunately, as with several things in Pondi, this place closes early so make sure you reach early.

Satsanga Restaurant: Its a big open air restaurant with ultra slow service, bad food and loads of mosquitoes for company. Though it seemed to attract a lot of foreign crowd, I guess the place appealed to a different crowd from us perhaps, though this place I feel was a mistake.

Le Cafe

Le Cafe: The Historic cafe located on the promenade, I made up for missing this must do in my last visit. Its a cafe situated at a wonderful location built a rustic way. The place was run tardily though which was a shame. We had the usual breakfast and though breakfast over looking the sea in a french cafe was pretty unique.

La Terrase: This was the best food I had in Pondicherry and the last meal of the visit, which was lunch. Diagonal to our hotel, right next to the iconic Le Club - which we skipped, something for another visit perhaps.Tasty, quick food and great service from this place. I wished we had heard of this place before. What was especially good was the offerings for the vegetarians, the freshness of the food, the juice and the taste again worth mentioning. Though there is a difference of opinion with a few of my friends, the desserts for example didnt match up to the other courses that we had.

While not eating:
Apart from earning the tan on our two wheelers, the compulsory visit to auroville was accomplished. Auroville is an impressive achievement for the followers and I feel a visit inside the Matrimandir (the meditation dome) might be worth experiencing.

Surfing - was sorely missed. I wanted a go at round 2 after my initiation to surfing in Manipal. The Surf school was closed due to a surfing competition which was quite a spectacle. It was held near the pier close to the rocks off the promenade which made for a thrilling photo opp.

The french style architecture of houses with wide doors set against bright and long pastel colored walls with framed windows, the prevalence of artsy nooks, almost cobbled streets and stylish cafes  makes for a great photo essay. The above picture captured by Pranay, one of many good ones.

There are probably other activities to be done, all aimed at leisure and variety. Though expecting a lot of action and excitement in this town might be a bad idea. So with the right expectation, time and right amount of Sun screen lotion , this is a great place for a weekend.