Go Goa Gone

This time I would like to mention an interesting find in Goa, a place which managed to not just blow me away with the quality of food but also with its atmosphere.

I came to know about it from a colleague who had visited the place and I made sure to have lunch there the last time I was in Goa, in October of 2012. We were 6 of us, 3 grass-eaters (also called vegetarians) and 3 meat-eaters(also called smart people) and both groups were unanimous in their opinion that the food was awesome. There was some debate over whether the greens or the reds were better but since only the smart people could eat both variety, we steam-rolled the opposition.  

The next time I visited was in June this year when my wife and I went with another couple to Goa. Yeah, it was raining. I actually made everyone travel more than 80kms to-fro with the promise that it would be worth it. Thank my lucky stars that it was, for all of us. This visit is the inspiration for the post.

For me, eating at a restaurant is a near-miss activity mostly. Some places look good but the food rivals Amrita Rao at being plain, at others they just put together some tables and call it a restaurant but the kitchen dishes out some beauties that could rival Zeenat Aman in her heydays. I prefer the latter but both times there is a sense of incompleteness to the meal. It’s like a Hindi movie where the songs were good but the story sucked or vice-versa. It isn’t Paisa vasool. And then there comes a movie like Rockstar (those who have a problem with RKs strumming in the movie can Kiss my donkey) which reaffirms your faith, reignites your hope and energises you to watch more movies. This is my Rockstar of restaurants.

So which was this place? What was so great about this restaurant in Goa, where at least a hundred if not thousand shacks/restaurants/hotels serve “authentic” goan/coastal cuisine? What was the so-called “atmosphere” like?

To start with, The name of the restaurant is Chef Fernando’s Nostalgia (http://fernandosnostalgia.wordpress.com/) . It’s located in Raia, close to the home of Mario Miranda, another genius from Goa.

Fernando's

The menu is predominantly Goan with quite a lavish spread. They include the Xacuti, Goan curry, Vindaloo. For the “smart people” (refer first paragraph) there are too many options ranging from Prawns to Beef to Oyster to Pomfret to King fish and of course Chicken(for the pseudo “smart people”). There are some exotic dishes made from Ox Tail, Cow tongue which I was forbidden from sampling both times by my fellow food munchers. For the grass-eaters, the options are good enough too. 

Yummy!!

What blew me away was that each dish that we ordered was lip-smacking (both times). Solid portions  AND BIG ON FLAVOUR. It’s just the place to be for a smart (refer first paragraph) foodie. I won’t go into too much detail of each dish since I loved everything that I had and adding the details would treble the size of this post, at least. Moreover that is boring and I’d rather some critic type did it so that I can avoid reading it.   

Oh yeah, for anyone who likes their cocktails, this is the place to be too. Once you have it here, there will always be something missing in it whenever you have it elsewhere. 

Before & After you had a few drinks :-)

My recommendation: Long island iced tea – It comes in a 500 ml glass and is quite refreshing on a hot day. But it’s made in such a manner that each of the white spirit that is added makes its presence felt quite clearly, both to your tongue and your brain. Isn’t that how a cocktail should be!

(Warning: stick to one or maybe two. Any more and you are inviting trouble as I discovered in the back seat of my car).

To add to this is the atmosphere; The restaurant itself is an extension to the house and is fringed by a nice garden with trees all around giving you a very natural setting.

The huge bar has grillions of ginormous spirit bottles and  frillions of normal sized spirit bottles (check pic above). 

There is a mural by Mario Miranda which takes up a whole wall, small knick-knacks, terracotta figures, old world table-chairs; all of which add to the charm.  It seems like a perfect setting to have a long lunch with your buddies

Knicks and knacks

I came away quite impressed with the restaurant the first time I visited it but the second one  confirmed my first impression about the restaurant which was that the food and drinks were quite impressive. 

Just writing this post has made me nostalgic…

From God's own country

The world, it is said, is all about duality and equilibrium. Each philosophy has it’s own version. Yin-Yang, good and evil. I believe that was the reason for us having to go to Kerala for a cousin’s wedding only a month after our trip to Delhi. If you read my earlier posts ( you haven’t!!! please go read right now, they are quite interesting) you would know that I was in Delhi with me wife for Xmas. We went to Kerala after 28 months and this time too it was for attending a wedding, like the last time.

A trip to Kerala is never about visiting the tourist locations since we have so many relatives to visit which means there aren’t really any restaurants to visit. No “outside” food but then I love mallu food and I am blessed with aunts who are magicians when it comes to cooking.

na-real!

So this trip was about gorging on Kappa (tapioca, the raw material for sabudaana) both steamed as well as boiled with chopped chilli-onion-vinegar dip/fish curry/chicken curry/beef curry as accompaniment, beef “ulathiya” (a version of stir-fry), “more”(not the same as opposite of less) which is buttermilk based curry, freshly plucked raw mangoes in salt/chilli/oil paste, lime-as-big-as-my-head(dunno the correct name & yes I have heard about google goggles), banana chips cooked in coconut oil(the way it should be) without insane amount of salt on it, halwa-the dark-as-sin, not-too-sweet kind, fried fish- caught by yours truly with a fishing rod [nylon thread with a bamboo pole at one end and a fish hook  at the other), oyster meat “ulathiya”, avial(three varities at three homes), milk cake (courtesy me cousin), “mutta” (egg) puffs [these ones aren’t like the sorry ones you get here]

This trip wasn’t about finding new places to eat, it wasn’t about finding the best jalebi or best seekh kabab. This trip was about food nostalgia (yeah it was about the place too).

I caught two of them :)

It was about re-experiencing all those tastes from years ago, from my childhood holidays, my teen holidays, my youth holidays, about all the memories connected to the food: It was about 8 cousins chomping on raw mangoes in salt-chiili-oil paste. It was about going to my grand-mothers and having beef, about the breakfast and lunch that she cooked years ago. It was about swimming(more like trying to hang on to the rubber tube for dear life) in the river, waking up before dawn to find out if any fish had managed to swim into our trap, having a finger bit by a fish because your uncle asked you to hold it by it’s tail.  

kappa!!

It was about many such small-but-not-insignificant memories and it felt good to be able to revive them. The break from the ‘concrete jungle’ (clichéd but explains it best) to the vast expanses of paddy fields was perfect albeit a bit shorter than what I would have liked.

So, from eating out everyday when in Delhi to eating at home everyday in Kerala. I guess it’s all about equilibrium.

The first post from Pune. Touche

Every city has a link to the old world through its restaurants, places that seems to have been untouched by time. Tables and chairs that look as if a century earlier someone like you might have enjoyed a meal there. The atmosphere replete with the charming memorabilia, old architecture or very simply a no-nonsense attitude to service.

Places that take you back in time from the glitzy, neon-lit, cram-as-many-as-you-can arrangement, fake smiles and serve you delicious food without you having to worry that the bill will cause you to give up any thoughts of buying that useless-unnecessary-piece of junk that you have an eye on (don’t we all have something like this, currently mine is DRLs).

Thankfully Pune hasn’t lost all of its set of such wonderful places. There is still the Burger King (more on that some other time), the George, the Blue Nile and of course Touche Sizzlers. The correct name is “The Place, Touche the sizzlers” but let me stick to Touche.

This place has been around for ever and has been as famous all the time. Since I know of Pune from only up to 14 years back, I can vouch for that period. As the name suggests, this place is well-known for its sizzlers, ones ranging from paneer to mix-veg (sigh!) to chicken, pork, beef and fish with preparations from different regions to include chinese, goan influences too.

I have been visiting this place for around 12 years now and I have to say the sizzlers today are as good as the ones that I ate the first time.

Don’t be fooled though into just looking at the sizzlers, they serve some really good starters like the malai kabab and for people like my wife who think of potatoes as God’s gift to humanity; they have a very good example of mashed potatoes. Yummy! Both of them and completely worth a try, the mashed potatoes go well with any sizzler as a side. 

Our favourite sizzler is the Chicken Cordon Bleu which is chicken stuffed with ham and cheese, topped with a rich meat sauce and comes with crumb fried mushroom, mashed potatoes (now you know why the biwi likes it J ) and steamed vegetables on the side. It’s yummy and big enough for the both of us. On the plate it looks as if a UFO (the one from comics) just landed on the plate in between colourful (but bland) veggies on one side and the pale looking (but very tasty) mashed potatoes, bringing the mushrooms along.

Yummy!

The different elements in the plate go well together (although I don’t know why there are cabbages ) and work together to make a complete meal. The UFO is crusty and hard(ish)  but break into it and you have the cheesy, soft, fleshy chicken and salty ham. The mushrooms are crunchy because of the crumbs and the sauce is just perfect. Paet full, Dil houseful :D .

This time around we went on the first day of the new year and they were still serving Xmas pudding. It’s not available on the menu (duh!) but was put up on the specials board. We decided to try it and once I had it I was sure that my new year had started off brilliantly. It’s looks deceivingly simple, a brownie with a cherry on top and a sauce around it, that’s it. But bite into a spoon-full and it makes you look at the dish again wondering if it’s the same thing that went into your mouth. Don't let looks alone decide which woman you fall in love with, someone smart mentioned once. The same applies to food.

Xmas pudding

It’s soft and gooey and has the perfect mix of raisins and brandy. You don't chew it, it just melts into an explosion of taste in your mouth making you want to check how much you can prolong the experience with each bite. But mind you it’s heavy and after having cleaned up the UFO landing site we were glad that we ordered just one of it between us.  I am waiting for next Xmas now.

I have had many such memorable gastronomical experiences at this place and like Morpheus said in the Matrix, “some things never change…”.  Let’s hope it stays the same for many more years and if you ever feel like having some sizzlers in Pune, do remember “The Place”. Touche

Alvida Dilli, I will be back

It’s been a week of eating, furlough-ing, and meeting people, apart from Xmas. Today I go back home, leaving with memories of a week spent well. Of lip-smacking food, cold days, freezing nights, foggy roads, warm people and a loving extended family.

I spent a few days as a tourist visiting some not so famous monuments( I did the more famous ones last year) and was once again awed by their grandiose. Its amazing how rich the Mughal emperors were and how much thought they gave to posterity.

I also spent time with friends, meeting people and  attending Xmas celebrations, apart from a trip to the famous Karol bagh to shop for auto parts and Nehru place for electronics,

What I enjoyed the most was the food. From aloo-tikki to seekh kabab, gaajar-ka-halwa to daal makhni, beef curry to jalebis, gol-gappe to cakes, this has been a trip that my tummy will not forget for a long time.

I loved every moment of it and never missed a chance to try something. Eating kachori in Nehru place when visiting the electronic market or driving to the nearest place from home for a fix of gol-gappe, with my wife; The whole trip was focused on food, in one way or another.

So what all did I eat in the last ten days

• ·      Gol-gappe/aaloo tikki: From 4 different places
• ·      Seekh kabab/chicken tikka/shammi kabab: from 4 different places
• ·      Jalebis/ Gaajar-ka-halwa/gulab jamun: from a couple of places, but the one from Chandni chowk was un-forgettable
• ·      Kachodi/Dahi bhalla
• ·      Sweet-potato chaat: Not a big fan
• ·      Dal makhni : I stopped having daal makhni in Mumbai/Pune, it doesn’t make any sense why they can’t make daal makhni like the ones in Delhi.
• ·      Shawarma: Really good ones from a shop called spice junction near IIT
• ·      Cakes: with real rum-soaked dry-fruits, about 5 different types. It’s Christmas you see J
• ·      Beef/chicken/fish curry (the spicy,blood-red one) with tapioca, appam and stew ( for Xmas breakfast) : a-la-MumInLaw

So I wasn’t exaggerating when I said at the start of this trip that the main focus would be food, It has been that way. And like I have said many times before, I have absolutely loved it.

My holiday ends today, it’s back to work now. I am glad for it, too much of a good thing is bad too. J

I have also enjoyed posting on the blog, it’s been rare for me to have time to do it when I am working. 

I am looking forward to enjoying food from other parts of our country and to be able to write about them. Let’s hope I get a chance soon enough.

Dilli 6: iske aage bhi dil hai iske peeche bhi dil hai

After having gone through all the food in the past days, I thought that I should slow down but that lasted for exactly 5 minutes till my wife reminded me of Al-Jawahar.

To recap (this is a very important) Al-Jawahar is where I discovered true mughai food last year. Food that confirmed once and for all that there isn’t any competition to Delhi when it comes to north Indian/Mughlai food. So you can imagine why my thoughts of slowing down vanished at the mention of the name.

We started off with a visit to Safdarjang’s tomb, one of the many tombs that are scattered all over the capital. This isn’t a great example though, so it’s worth a miss unless you have a week and have visited all the other famous ones. Enough, this isn’t a travel blog

Safdarjang's tomb

We also visited the Sisganj-saheb gurudwaara in Chandni chowk, my first in Delhi. You get halwa as prasad here, it’s tasty but seems as if it’s made for diabetics and people suffering from high BP.

Ok, enough background, lets get to the food.

We left the gurudwara to walk to Al-Jawahar which is about a km away. On the way we came across a shop which sells only jalebi and samosa.

He missed the "heavenly"

We bought a plate of their jalebis and to put it in one sentence. “It’s the best jalebi that I have ever eaten”. It was just too good to be true, it was so tasty that I wanted to kiss the cook. I could fall at his feet and marry his daughter if he taught me how to cook it, but sadly I am married already so decided to make sure to let everyone know about it and also to make more trips to Delhi. Yeah, it’s that awesome.

Drool maal!

I tried to find words to explain what it is that makes it so tasty but I can’t find any that is good enough. You bite into it and there is the slight crunch (just perfect) followed by the sweet and then comes the taste overdose, that mellow taste which takes you to sweet heaven. And then realization dawns, this is the best jalebi ever. Sigh! I miss it already.

As per my guide (also called wife) this store has been around for more than a hundred years, Thank you God!

Going back to our earlier destination, Al-Jawahar, which was interrupted by the tasty jalebis. We reached there, all the way discussing the jalebi that we had just consumed. Man! That was tasty. I will stop now, raving about the jalebi.

Jawahar is situated in a by-lane of Chandni chowk, right opposite gate no 1 of Jama masjid. Trip advisory: Club the visit to both

Al-Jawahar is the red board, amidst the hustle-bustle of Chandni Chowk

Anyways, it’s a simple clean restaurant which doesn’t have anything special to show off, except of course what matters, THE FOOD.

We ordered the shammi kabab, mutton/chicken seekh kabab and chicken burra.

Like I said earlier, I love the food at this place and that’s the reason I went again. I was proven right once again.

Shammi kabab

The shammi kabab were like two pillows each containing meat as soft as candy-floss. Can you imagine a shammi kabab as a pillow…no more problem of a midnight snack J . When it came to taste, they need to be given an award for spicing it perfectly, everything as needed but nothing overwhelmes you.  The meat is the hero. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the light crust. So when you bite into it, you are welcomed by that slight crunch before the soft-pillowy-perfectly spice-meat takes over. Perfect! is the word.

Seekh kabab

Coming to the seekh kabab, I had visited another restaurant a day before and had seekh kababs. I had decided then that it would be difficult to beat that but the next day I had this at Jawahar and it beat it hands-down. It was better spiced, more soft and melted-in-the-mouth better.

Chicken burra

I also had chicken burra which is a version of tandoori chicken: A really good one. If it had been ordered on a day when  the kababs were not, I would be going ga-ga over it but once you have the kababs on the plate this pales in comparison, much like Dravid whose 10000 runs in cricket would make him a hero except he played along-with Sachin Tendulkar (who I considered an avatar of God sent to the world to destroy everything that is wrong in cricket).

It’s with a heavy heart that I left the restaurant, promising myself to make this my personal pilgrimage, one to be done at least once a year.

On the way back we had two more plates of the yummy jalebis and I went into a sweet-induced coma. It can happen to anyone who has more than 300 gms of that sinful dessert. I know it’s not really healthy but I am on a gastric adventure anyways J

P.S. : 

The Jalebi-waala is on the road from the gurudwaara to red-fort, on the right-hand side.

Al-Jawahar is in the lane opposite Gate 1 of Jama masjid.