Flurry's: Kolkata's Legendary Tearoom

The last week of November was spent in Kolkata. A trip which I would like to call a "foodie delight". In the next few days I shall try and share some of the notes of the lovely food which I enjoyed in Kolkata. 

Let's begin with one of Kolkata's landmark eatery - The Flurry's. I am told this place originally was an English style tea & pastry outlet for most gentlemen and ladies who would spend the mornings or early evenings here chatting & discussing the then situation of a rapidly changing India. If you see the place you will find an old world charm in the decor, the massive chandelier a symbol of the times then. Later it went on to become a place where marriage brokers got people to see some of the potential son-in-law prospects, since this place was most often visited by the boys from the neighbouring St. Xaviers College. 

It was lovely to know a little bit history of this place over a nice Sunday brunch with our family in Kolkata. Since we were a large group some of the much recommended things on the menu were ordered right away. Eggs / Mushroom / Corn on toast are some of the popular and tasty dished. The cheese quiche seemed very popular, they had only 2 pieces left by 1pm that afternoon. 

Eggs on Toast

Mushroom on Toast 

You must splash some of the mustard sauce on to your dish and take a bite. The sauce has this lovely strong aroma of freshness and the little tangy effect it plays on your tongue. 

Flurry's is also best known for their bread and pastry collection. The chocolate short bread and blackforest were a delight. 

I ended the meal with a cold glass of cold coffee. Just the way I like it. Thick & creamy even without the ice-cream. Not the watered down versions you get in the coffee shops around these days. 

The good news is you don't really have to make a trip to Kolkata to enjoy this delightful place. They are soon coming to Mumbai.  

Kullad waali chai

If you haven't already tried this. Next time you get a chance DO it.

Best place - Nathdwara in the state of Rajasthan. 

Next best option - Tea Centre at Churchgate, Mumbai. But caution - I am told they are washed and reused rather than being recycled after every use. Not very hygienic if you ask me.  

Bachelor's Kitchen Management Tips

It's been 2 months in Nairobi for me. Away from home without the mother or wife to manage the kitchen here. Although I am a foodie and once in a while I did like to experiment I don't think I can call myself even an amateur cook. And running and managing a kitchen on regular basis is an altogether different challenge which I experienced during this trip. 

What I am going to share is a little learning for the many challenges of running a bachelor's kitchen. 

Learn

I think one of the most important things to do is learn as much as you can. Ask family, friends and other people who live alone on what's easy to cook, meal ideas and helpful tips. I must thank some of my ex-colleagues at Mudra who gave me tips and meal ideas to get going. 

Dig

Yes, dig into your memory to remember all those simple meal ideas which you ate when the mother or wife were too tired/bored to cook. You'll be amazed how some simple recipes can produce good, tasty and quick meals to add variety to your daily eating. 

Plan

Don't go to the super-market without having planned your ingredients and other essentials shopping list. You'll end up home with at least 1 key element missing. So the way I did it was - Think Meal. For eg. 1 meal you want to do Thai Curry & Rice. So write - rice, coconut milk, Thai curry paste and veggies to go with it. This way you'll end up having all that is necessary for cooking that meal. 

Shopping List

Goes without saying plan, check and make a list. You'll have some basics which you need to buy every time - bread, milk, eggs, chicken and veggies etc. But every trip you'll want to also pick up some items which add variety to your daily menu, so go back to my "Think Meal" approach. 

Control 

The first few trips to the supermarket you'll go crazy. You want to pick-up pasta sauce, fresh chicken and lots of fresh veggies. And then you only realise that some of it got thrown because you never managed to cook it all in good time. For eg. I bought either chicken or then paneer otherwise you end up consuming one and other rots. 

Experiment

If you're in a new country and see a whole new set of brands and products, I think you should go ahead and experiment. So your first round of shopping should be a mixed bag. For eg. I love flavoured yoghurt. So I bought a small pack of 2 different companies to try. I liked 1 and and now that's a regular in my shopping list. 

So that's it. Hope it helps you manage your kitchen better. Would love to know if you've got a kitchen tip to share with my readers. Leave your thoughts in the comments area below. 

In my next post, I am going to try and share some simple meal ideas which have become my favourites. 

Anokhi Cafe, Jaipur

A must do on our list when we visited Jaipur. Thanks to our local cousin there, we of course weren't going to miss this one. It's actually a little cafe attached to a store popular for it's block printed fabrics. A major attraction for the French and English who love to dig into the organic offerings at this quiet little place.

Dishes are limited and offerings are not many. You've got to be there in time because most days they are all cleaned out for the day by 4PM.

Penne Arbiatta - organic as it can get, nice fresh basil leaves to bite into. tossed in olive oil. but could have been a little more spicier.

Three bean salad - crunchy and a dieter's delight.

Mascarpone Cheese Cake - yum, just dig into it. And ideally order/pick your dessert choice as soon as you get there or else by the end of the meal you might just have an empty shelf to stare.

Falafel - a little dry, but the dip is delicious with it.

Also must have the Aubergine Pine-nuts Feta cheese pizza and try the Ginger Soda. For exact location see the website - Ankohi Cafe.

Bites of Mahabaleshwar

A holiday is not complete if you are not eating more & something different than what you eat back home. A recent trip to Mahabaleshwar with friends was all about that - eat, eat some more and just eat.

Strawberry Den (in the market)
Ideally strawberry preparations are served good in any of the places in Mahabaleshwar, but we seemed to like this place in particular. He seemed to make his mixes with total focus and the right amount of ingredients. The milk-shake and strawberry+cream are a must haves. While at this place you must also try the french fries.

Hirkani Gardens
After strawberry if there is something you should not miss there it is the corn dishes. Have the corn pattice, corn roll and a meal will give you corn sabji and roti also. We tasted the corn dishes on previous evening at Hill View near the lakeside but seem to prefer this place for it's taste and quantity servings.
The place also offers you a chance to walk through their plantation and pick your own strawberries. But we missed it because we reached there after sunset.

When in Rome do as the Romans. So when if you are surrounded in a Maharashtrian hill station what better way to start your morning then to bite into some local breakfast dishes. We had the kande poha, upma, vada pav, misal pav and some tea to wash it down all. The lal watery chutney served with the misal is an atom bomb so eat at your own risk.

Hotel Panorama
Order whatever sabji you want to, but don't miss the parathas - huge, buttery & fluffy, they will leave you with a stomach full & satisfied having such a rich preparation.

Olive Garden at The Brightland Resort
A rip-off, a freakingly expensive place this lunch outing kept us wondering what we paid so much money for. At an approximate cost of Rs.900 per head (no alcohol included) we thought this place was not just worth the price tag. Thankfully the food was nice and that was the only comforting factor. Maybe it was just our experience, but would love to know what other's think about dining in here.

Can't wait to travel again and enjoy some more food delights.

Foodie delights from my recent holiday

I am back from a holiday and I thought I would tempt you guys with some updates here.

Singapore
My cousin is in Singapore and he invited us to Holland Village which is supposed to be a local hangout and as such does not feature in most of the tourist guide. This is a rather interesting ONLY pedestrian street full of watering holes and multi-cuisine restaurants.

We shared a bottle of Spy Village Chardonnay 2006 white wine at Tangos. After which we moved to Cha Cha Cha, a mexican outlet right opposite. I ordered the Longansito [Spicy King Prawns with Mexican rice]. It was a hearty meal and we were stuffed, but my brother told me you can't NOT have the chocolate mousse at this place. And boy was it delicious - it was yum!

On our last day in Singapore we were shopping at Vivo City Mall and had lunch at cedele cafe. I ate a Rosemary Chicken Sandwich which was sweet and I don't think I will have one ever again. But it was good to taste the other things one the table - cold pasta salad, carrot soup (I didn't like this) and the wild mushroom soup which was nice.

Phuket
Lunch in Phuket was probably one of the best meals we had on the trip. terrazzo at Holiday Inn is a fabulous beach-facing restaurant serving a wide variety of cuisines. We feasted on the pasta & pizza, thai green curry with a chilled glass of watermelon juice and a decorated coconut.

Written on the drinks menu at terrazzo:
One drinks for two purposes. Either to cure a thirst or to ensure that one is not thirsty.
Prevention is better than cure.

While the family shopped at Phuket's Central Festival mall, I made myself comfortable at au bon pain with a Ice Blended Mocha Blast.

Bintan Island
We were staying at the Bintan Lagoon Resort which has quite a few eating options. The breakfast at Kopi-o had a wide spread of breads. Chocolate croissants, white & brown breads. The live egg station served up some yummy mushroom & tomato omelettes.

After a lovely morning spent at the beach and pool we had a late lunch at the hotel's Terrace Restaurant & bar. The margarita pizza was loaded with cheese. Although the heat was a bit too much to handle I think it was a beautiful setting for the afternoon.

 

For dinner we went to Pasar Oleh Oleh - a little tourist attraction with lots of souvenir shopping and some interesting eateries. At the Bintan Idol Cafe N' Restaurant I ordered for Claypot Chicken which tasted really fresh and nice. The chicken pieces were delicious. The Mongolian Prawns which were fried crispy and although tasty I think fried prawns get a bit difficult to sort out. The onion rings were nice too.

Wow, that was a wholesome holiday indeed - lots of good food and nice fun. Can't wait for my next holiday.

Tastes of Delhi

A few weeks back we were in Delhi to attend a Punjabi wedding. Besides all the exotic wedding food we had the opportunity to step out and experience some of Delhi's eateries.

Chocolate Crunchie at The Pavilion, Maurya Sheraton
Delicious and sinfully chocolate loaded, this was a great treat at 1AM in one of Delhi's very upmarket and popular coffee shop. Powered with chocolate, cookies and vanilla & butterscotch ice-cream.

Power of Pranthas at Chandni Chowk
It was a Sunday morning adventure for all of us to visit this all so popular Chandni Chowk area of Delhi. Being a Sunday we were relieved of all the traffic hassles. After a few phone calls to local relatives and cousins and we decided to eat at The Power of Pranthas - Pt. Gaya Prasad Shiv Charan, a rather crowded outlet in the paranthewali galli. You could see the local rush feasting on the hot paranthas with achar, aloo ki sabji and a large glass of chaas or lassi.

We decided to ask for suggestions to start with, but were put off when he recommended the rabri paratha and decided to go safe by starting with tomato paratha, aloo and paneer and even tried the papad ka paratha.

Maybe it was all the crazy fun but I really didn't think the food was anything lip-smacking but surely something worth experiencing when you are in Delhi. The approach isn't very pleasant and might a be a bit difficult if you don't have somebody to guide you around; so get some instructions before you step off.

Nirula's at Connaught Place
Nirula's is a name which is close to every Delhiites heart. A place popular for it's pizzas I think this should be some competition to the Pizza Hut's and McDonald's around there. Impressively designed interiors with lots of red color this was a good place to have our first outing in Delhi.

It was past 12noon and so we decided to fill up our stomachs before we headed off for the farm-house Mehendi party. I treated myself to a Chicken burger which turned out to be interestingly filled with a gherkin. The popular pizza was nice too and we had a hearty meal.

 

While you are at it, don't forget to try the cold coffee, milk-shakes and ice-creams.

Lonavala Food Bites

I was in Lonavala for the weekend with friends. On the way we dined at Chenab Restaurant in Vashi. Although I had heard greatly about the food, I was a bit disappointed. The dal makahani was bit too salty. I liked the paneer dishes. The masala papad had some masala which really disturbed the taste. I couldn't eat non-veg but I could smell some very nice aroma from the neighbouring table. Should be worth a try.

When in Lonavala you must drink coffee at Pragati (it's a little before Coopers Chocolate Fudge store). They serve some of the best cold coffee.



At Tiger Hills there is just one stall which will serve you hot spicy bajiya which is a great treat around monsoon time. They serve onion, potato and corn baji. Of course the staple wada pav is also available. Rahul who serves you these bajiya is a great talker and will jump across those slippery rocks as if its a monkey on the trees.

Back from Singapore & Bangkok trip

just returned from a lovely trip of Singapore & Bangkok. Will be sharing my khana peena experiences soon ... but here is a quick look at some of the interesting things we ate around there. (Click on the photos to see a small description).

Katiawadi food in Baroda

I spent the weekend in Baroda for some research work. After a hard day of work, we decided to skip the very typical Punjabi dishes listed on the menu and choose to order from the Gujarati menu - the local specialties. Although I had heard the name before during our trips to Nathdwara, I was not sure how would it be ordering the same without mom around. The menu was printed in Gujarati, so with a little help from the waiter we managed to order a decent meal.

• Sev tumattar (Sev and Tomato) This was a bit spicy but I think that's how they make it.
  
• Baingan nu bharto (brinjal) - oily but yummy
  
• Bajre nu rotlo - very soft and delicious
  
• Khichdi ane kadi - Thankfully it was not topped with ghee!!
  

Gujarati food is a nice cuisine but when you are eating out you tend to over-eat and so it tends to get heavy. So eat in limit unless you are on holiday and enjoy a good siesta post-meal.