I have been in Amritsar for last few days on an invite from Punjab Tourism. We had a tour of the city, had most of the famous food and attended the launch of the book “Amritsar” by Chef Vikas Khanna. Got to see the city with him and heard him explain the food before it went into our mouths. Almost all the places we visited were personally recommended and the raids were conducted by him. Kanha Sweets, on Lawrence Road, was the first stop on…Continue Reading “Kanha Sweets , Amritsar”
Café Torque is a biker cafe, one of the few cafes in Delhi that actually claim the tag. So what is a biker café? Why should a non-biker even go there? Like many other food concepts, biker cafes are imported from the west. In the UK, these were open all day and night, the young ones hung around coffee and music and tinkered with their bikes. Thus the concept of café racer emerged. On the other side of the Atlantic, biker cafes were not just…Continue Reading “Cafe Torque – Vasant Vihar”
It was the first night of rain in Delhi. The weather gods were doing everything to make up for the preceding dry months. I was invited to place which had rave reviews and quite impressive interiors. Their Zomato listing had got me interested and I expected a rainy night will result in an empty restaurant which is awesome for photography. We reached at Diggin in the middle of the downpour. They are spread over two floors that can seat around a hundred. Right at the…Continue Reading “Diggin Café, Anand Lok”
When I recollect my time in the Delhi University a decade back, there wasn’t much in terms of food. Days on which dal in the hostel was a little too runny, we would pile up on a rickshaw and head out to Majnu Ka Tila (Tee Dee or Wongdhen House), Vijay Nagar (Zee’s Chicken) or Kamla Nagar (Momo’s Point). Hudson Lines didn’t have much in terms of food then, just parathas. These days, both the north and south campuses are choc a bloc with fun…Continue Reading “Woodbox Café, Satyaniketan”
I did the first part of Office ke neeche kya hai a few months back. I tried to document food that I get around my office and wanted people to contribute. It’s been sometime now and office ke neeche ka scene has changed a little. So, it is time to take the story forward. The star this time is a couple. The husband wears formal trousers with the shirt tucked in, the wife silently rolls away puris and kachoris. The husband is all smiles and…Continue Reading “Office ke neeche kya hai – Part 2”
To fall in love with a restaurant, good food is a must. But there are quite a few other attributes that define an experience – a strong character, attention to detail and risk taking ability etc. I have seen so many good places close down that I no longer believe food business is good business. So, I can’t really blame anyone for the mushrooming pizza pasta places. Matchbox Pub and Grub was a welcome change. I had looked up the menu online and it did…Continue Reading “Matchbox Pub & Grub, Hauz Khas Village”
It was the day temperature in Delhi touched 47.8 degrees. It shattered a 62 year old record and quite a few other unmentionable things. But Mango Fiesta was on at Lodi Garden Restaurant and I had agreed to a tasting. Now, there is a lesson for all those who think being a foodie is all fun and games. But once you reach the restaurant, you forget the heat. There are humidifiers all along the path and for a small second, even the outdoor seating seemed…Continue Reading “Mango Fiesta, Lodi Garden Restaurant”
Friends came over. We decided not to drive and try some local place. If you live in Lajpat long enough, all your friends fall in love with Beliram Degchiwala delivery some time or the other. This time, we decided to walk to our food. A new restaurant by the name of Super Chef had opened close to the central market and we wanted to go there for the fourth time. It had closed already. After the four storey South Indian restaurant that I wrote poems…Continue Reading “Rural Punjab, Lajpat Nagar 1”
Friends can be good things. Not all the time. They get boring with time, cost a lot to maintain and can behave irrationally, a cheer group at times and as assasins at others. Anyway, I am determined to talk of only in the most glowing terms. After all, who else takes you to a fantastic new place in town, does not charge a finder’s fee and takes for a long drive thereafter? The place I am talking about is Rigo Restaurant. They have a branch…Continue Reading “Rigo Restaurant, Kamla Nagar”
I am the destroyer of South Indian food. Have written about quite a few of them: Jantar Mantar guy, Naivyedyam, Sarvana Bhavan, Tamilnadu house canteen, Kausstubh and may be a few more. I have been reading about the Carnatic Cafe for a long time but we end up in Naivedyam every time. This Sunday afternoon, we decided to go ahead and try the place out. The reviewers were promising the moon, so it’s not as if we were taking a risk. As always, we went with…Continue Reading “Carnatic Cafe, New Friends colony”
There are two obvious destinations for regional food in the national capital – the state bhawans and the Dilli Haat. I dont understand why both have to be such unapologetic disasters. How can states spend money on TV advertising and ignore food as an effective media? Not all bhavans are horrible. The Andhra Bhawan is quite a favorite among all. Despite bad reviews, Tamilnadu Bhawan turned out to be quite good. So, when we read good reviews of Gujarat Bhawan, we had to make the…Continue Reading “Gujarat Bhawan Restaurant, Chanakyapuri”
I love buffets, even the bad ones. ‘Eat all you want, child. No one will stop you’should be the message from gods, resturanteurs. But who minds. If there is a choice between a la carte and buffet, we always go for the latter. And, Asia 7 is another reason why we will continue to do so. So many have told me that malls in Gurgaon are better than the ones in Delhi. But I go to malls only when I have to buy something that…Continue Reading “Asia 7 Restaurant, Ambience Mall. Gurgaon”
Gurgaon is another planet. A very remote and rough planet. It used to be inhabited by a species called jats before its discovery. I don’t venture there. I avoid friends who live there. I block recruiters who call from there. I even refused to pick up my parents from the airport as it is halfway down on the road to Gurgaon. But I happily drove down for food. I read reviews, I did my homework and was supremely excited. Finally, the planet has something good…Continue Reading “Roots – Cafe in The Park, Sector 29, Gurgaon”
B.S: The apology and the blame for the quality of photos is at the end of the post. What general elections are to the politicos, authentic food is to the foodies. You have to face your toughest test and earn your credibility all over again. I wrote about our experiments with Afghani food at Afghan Darbar Restaurant in Lajpat Nagar. There are many other Middle Eastern restaurants around, Iraqi, Lebanese and now, an authentic Arab restaurant. We were there the day after the restaurant opened….Continue Reading “Bayt al Arab, Lajpat Nagar – Another run in with authentic food”
Rajouri Garden has been coming closer to Delhi for last few years. From being a distant satellite spot to a plausible evening destination, it has become the coolest hangout place in Western Delhi. In fact, if the food is good, I may give South Delhi an occasional miss. One such occasion came in the form of California Boulevard recently. One of the few themed restaurants in Delhi, California Boulevard is replete with insignia from the city that it is named after. The entrance is a…Continue Reading “The California Boulevard, Rajouri Garden”
I was bored. I was alone. I had enough time for myself, just enough. Sadly, there wasn’t much to do in the city. The parks, the recreational areas and any historical site were at least 3-4 hours away. The people are nice but you can’t eat them. So, inbetween non-stop meetings, I tried looking for food. Unlike many other cities, it’s not food food everywhere. I came across quite a few large markets that had no restaurants or food outlets. Street food vendors don’t flout…Continue Reading “What I ate in Nagpur in 36 hours – Day 1”
One does not say no to food. And, a foodie never says no to a celebrity chef. Moreover, the meet was organized at a fancypants Italian café in Hauz Khas Village – Zo. We all turned up, expecting something special and we were not disappointed. Chef Saransh Goila does not fit the mould of a celebrity chef. Saransh is in his mid-twenties; his hair is natural black and does not a sport a paunch. To be honest, he seemed just like another hyperactive ambitious boy…Continue Reading “Chef Saransh Goila – Fun with foodies at Zo cafe”
It had only been an hour since we discovered that our house had been burgled. A good friend had come over to help us. It was a Monday in Lajpat Nagar, the off day. We wandered around, looking to buy locks to replace the ones that the thieves had cut through. The market was closed but the restaurants were open. A row of Iraqi and Afghan restaurants had opened to cater to the growing middle eastern population in the area. We didn’t find any locks,…Continue Reading “Afghan Darbar Restaurant, Lajpat Nagar 2”
Being a foodie is a tough job. The endless research, the constant eating outs, the patient photography before the food… it does not get easier with time. Thankfully, there is home delivery. For last few months, I have been hooked to restaurant review sites. Reading reviews, writing photos and looking at menu of new restaurants…but they missed a critical component. After the drooling one has to pick up the phone and go through the pain of calling. I have been looking at options that close…Continue Reading “Foodpanda Review: Made my home delivery easy”