Being born in Jamshedpur makes one a near Bengali and so one ‘sweet’ positive of moving back to India was the easy access to the best that Indian ‘mithaiwalas’ have to offer.
Having said that I’ve had to up the gym attendance so as to keep fitting into my wardrobe.
But the occasional Rashogullla binge is just too wonderful to give up!! At times like that the Swiss can keep their chocolates, the Americans can keep their cheesecakes and the Aussies can keep their pavlovas. There is nothing quite as satisfying as the sensory (and sugary) overload of a ‘Mouchak’, not available in any non-bengali sweet shops, exploding in your mouth with the power to bestow at least 32 cavities!
An ‘immarti’, ‘jalebi’ or ‘halwa’ has its own joy, and I am really enjoying introducing these treats to my firangi kids.
Ganne ka ras evokes memories of innocent and idyllic days growing up in a much simpler time.
Aloo tikki chaat, Paani poori, Papri chaat, Rajkachori, Bhel poori………..the list goes on and on. All with extra green chilli chutney and extra imli / khatta! The hotter and more sour the better!! Haldiram and Bikanerwala both offer hygienic options for the recently returned prodigals. But watch out for the Dahi wada with sweet Dahi!! In fact watch out all the chaat with dahi in it coz it comes with sweet dahi.
It’s not just the sweets or snacks that we’re loving. The whole family is addicted to that fantastic South Indian cuisine comprising of idlis and dosas! Not a week goes past without at least 1 meal at the local Coco Palm or Saagar restaurant.
We have also found a couple of great restaurants in the Galaxy Hotel at 32nd Milestone, Axis is a multi-cuisine venue which is actually the coffee-shop for this boutique – style hotel. The staff are very attentive and we haven’t had a bad meal yet. The Monk is an Asian restaurant with Japanese, Chinese and some Thai and Vietnamese influences. They do great fresh dim sum. For Indian food we tend to go to Chor Bizzare which is located in the MGF Metropolitan Mall. It has more of a milder selection which suits our palates. Less pepper and garam masala. These ingredients are used in lethal doses in most North Indian restaurants. I can take 3-4 green chillies in my Thai curries or omelettes or any other meal, but the kebabs, curries, and non-veg fare at restaurants like Punjabi By Nature and Coriander Leaf totally defeat our palates and it takes the tastebuds days to recover from the fiery assault.
Of course, in Delhi there are quite a few good restaurants but so far we have only eaten at 360 degrees at the Oberoi, very nice, and Spice Trail at The Imperial, also very nice. A meal for 2 at these restaurants will set you back about Rs. 7000, for 3 courses and a bottle of wine, but you can very easily spend more. 'Oh Calcutta' in Nehru Place offers bengali food and they do a really nice lunch buffet, not over-priced or overboard in the dishes.
A really fun experience of a different kind is going for lunch to the canteen at Andhra Pradesh Bhavan which is in the government area. For a really reasonable price you can choose an all you can eat Veg option or a Non-veg option with all you can eat veg accompaniments, of quite nice Andhra food. It is run with chaotic precision! The trick is to get there before 1pm so that you don’t end up in the queue of patrons waiting for a table snaking around the building.
Since this post is about food and eating out I will not digress to other issues but suffice to say that we have now got membership at the local Golf & Country Club which will take up a lot of my free time! Dust off the golf clubs and the swing! Try and get a club membership at one of the social or golf clubs if you can, as the restaurants are subsidised and offer an option to eating in or going to retail restaurants. These are also places where you might meet other like-minded (and displaced) people.
Hope these ramblings are entertaining if not informative. :)
P.S. I haven’t had a chance to visit Noida yet so I have no frame of reference to compare it to Gurgaon. Gurgaon definitely has a Haryana feel.
Hey, while you are on the discovery trail, i would reco a few more spots to hit. A 'must visit' on the list should be Jama Masjid area (old dilli). Go there on a friday for the full monty. Start with Karim's which is good, but overrated, rather over hyped. They have the best 'burras'and decent korma and sheermal. But would urge one to get more adventurous and venture into the street and sample street fare- haleem, kababs, and awewsome mitha- shahi-tukda and phirni (oh, missed telling you that the phirni at karim's is gorgeous too). The next stop (on your next visit) should be Chandni Chowk- great chaats, bedmi-puris and kayasth veggie cuisine. Avoid parathewali galli- its way too overrated- while they have a good variety, they are all deep fried, which in my books is a bit of a put-off.
A word of caution- dont try to drive there. (i always have!) I am told the better thing to do is to drive to CP and take the metro upto jama masjid)
Next time i will tell you about CP fare- there are some interesting places there.
Posted by: Pinaki | June 20, 2007 at 12:38 PM