Another winter morning. Another walk with our dear Sohail Hashmi with his mix of professor and grandfather tales. We are addicted for sure. This walk, especially, held a lot of promise. The stories that we had heard in Old Delhi about it and William Darlymple’s book had built too much expectations and we just could not wait to meet the famed djinns that inhabited the ruins. Everyone woke up to these ruins quite lately. They were not the mighty Qutub Minar or everyone’s favourite Humayun…Continue Reading “Feroz Shah Kotla Fort – Letters to the djinns and other tales”
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”
I am currently working with a market research firm in the United States to do an assessment of the ecommerce market in India. They’ve asked me to administer a survey in which respondents outline their experiences on ecommerce sites like Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon in India. If you haven’t shopped on any of these sites, please don’t fill the survey out. The survey will take about 10-15 minutes to complete and I ask that you fill it out in honest detail. At the end of…Continue Reading “An Indian Ecommerce Survey”
The summers are here. The best time to leftover photos of last year’s monsoons. Expecially, when they were such good times. I had taken a few months off from work and my wife was working on a project at JNU. So, I doubled up as the chauffeur. I would park the car, walk around the whole campus, chase the slimy peacocks and fail to take photos, play cricket with the students, take a hundred close up photos of different flowers, eat sattu paratha, have overboiled…Continue Reading “Monsoons in Jawaharlal Nehru University”
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”
I was at the airport to receive someone. The flight was slightly delayed. I had sometime at hand and didn’t know what to do. So, I decided to take photos of all the restaurants, so you can plan your meal in advance. Previously, I had written about Delhi airport food but this one is for the people waiting outside. And, this time, I didn’t eat anything 🙁
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”
I was in town to meet the Chief Minister. Despite my personal feelings for the political class of the state, the morning air felt good. I had around four hours to kill in the early part of the morning. I had gone to the Ambedkar Memorial Park, found it closed, walked around and be done with it in less than two hours. Bada Imambara is on the other part of the city but all other cities look smaller to dilliwallahs. If you can go from…Continue Reading “Bara Imambara and Bhool Bhulaiya, Lucknow”
I can eat anywhere. Not anything. But anywhere is ok. So long as the food on the plate is good, I don’t care where I am standing. So, when I came across this thelawala with a small mob around it, I could not stop myself. It’s a simple thela, no names, no branding. You need to know who he is and that confidence generally comes with good food. Now, the thela serves a very different chole. It’s watery, sweet, sour and spicy at the same…Continue Reading “Awesome Nameless Cholewala, Johri Bazar, Jaipur”
There are many monuments in Delhi. This one is one of a kind too. There was a time when lots of single screen theaters did good business in Delhi. Many reason that the multiplexes edged the single screens out. But that is highly illogical and just does not happen. At worst, both may end up catering to different spectrum of the audience and still do good business. It’s seriously expensive to watch a movie in the multiplexes. I refuse to believethat the single screen’s audience…Continue Reading “Cinema Excelsior, Old Delhi”
Chanakyapuri is one part of the city that I have not really explored. I have been to the bhawans, written about the Tamilnadu House Canteen but one really needs to know where to go in Chanakyapuri. Not everyone loves to go to the Bhawans, there are no food courts, outlets at Yashwant Singh Place are as expensive as sit down restaurants in other areas and the restaurants here can bankrupt you. Recently, my wife took me to this lovely café close to her office. The…Continue Reading “It’s 9, Yashwant Place, Chanakyapuri”
My house was burgled yesterday. Writing a blog post about it seems like an absurd reaction. But, compared to other reactions floating around in my head, this one is the most sane. It was like any other day. My wife called me just before reaching home. She was on the phone as she climbed the stairs. A daily affair. Then she shrieked. The door was wide open, the broken lock had fallen on the stairs. She walked across the terrace and found the main house…Continue Reading “My house was burgled yesterday, I decided to write about it”
Pedigree is a good thing. Combined with good branding, it’s recipe for success in the food business. So, when a moderately priced chain was opened by the promoters of Mamagoto, my ears were perked. Especially, when it has a name that seems to have been advised by an expensive ad agency – Speedy Chow. I am little circumspect about trying new places. For health, financial and all other possible practical considerations, I, somehow, have come to believe that I have a finite number of dining…Continue Reading “Speedy Chow, Vasant Vihar”
Old Delhi is filled with innumerable little gems. Probably why, no matter how much you want, as a food writer you can’t escape this part of the city. Now, Durga Sweets Corner is such outlet. It has all the qualities one looks for in a classic food outlet: age, quality and character. The outlet is actually two. Two stores on opposite sides of the road in Suiwallan, in Old Delhi. Literally, Suiwallan means the needle maker. The market, today, is choc-a-bloc with clothes stores and…Continue Reading “Durga Sweets Corner, Daryaganj, Old Delhi”
Much has been written about Kabootarbazi. And, that is an utterly idiotic thing to do. Kabootarbazi of Chandni Chowk should be seen, standing from the top of a five storeyed building, against the background of Jama Masjid. Anything else is a shamless counterfeit. But, given that you were not there, here is an improvisation. The following video was made on 26th January. The D day for Kabootarbazi, same as 15th August is the day for patangbazi. Getting to see it live is not an easy…Continue Reading “Kabootarbazi seen up close in Jama Masjid area, Old Delhi”
I was invited for a dinner. So, let me get a few things out of the way at the very beginning? Did I pay for the food: No Is this a paid review: No Was there any hidden understanding: No I have previously written about how bloggers do operate under food for work programme, but that does not extend to paid reviews. I am also known to overwhelmingly indulge in south Indian food, (Neivedyam, Tamilnadu House Canteen) So, that’s a known Achilles’ Heel. So, it…Continue Reading “Kausstubh Restaurant, Saket – Fearlessly authentic South Indian food”
What do you eat when you are in office? I have always been interested in office lunches. In fact, a couple of months back I planned on doing a series on food around office areas. Shankar road in Connaught Place, Nehru Place (I did one on rajma chawal there), a few sectors in Noida,Okhla (that horrible place), Saket court area etc. Gurgaon does not have the street vendor culture or I know nothing about it. Anyway, after having put it on ice for a long…Continue Reading “Office ke neeche kya hai”
Lansdowne is a small place. There isn’t too much to see and not many places to go to. It’s just one hill and that’s why we loved it. Also, a reason why we wanted to stay at a more than reasonable place. We had learnt that from our time at Club Mahindra Resort, Corbett. I have nothing against backpackers, but resort tourism isn’t that bad either! You can stay at a cheap hotel in Shimla considering that you will spend a lot of time outdoors…Continue Reading “Kasang Regency Hill Resort & the trip to Lansdowne”
After I wrote about the Purana Qila walk with Sohail Hashmi sahab, we have done three more. I have been planning to write about them but the walks are long, filled with interesting tidbits and writing is painstaking. Anyway, this needs to be done and here is a brief narration of the awesome fun that we had and the stories we heard on the walk of Mehrauli Archaeological park. At quarter past eight on a cold January morning, we gathered around the entrance of Qutub…Continue Reading “Adham Khan Tomb & Gandhak Ki Baoli with Sohail Hashmi”