I have been writing about food and travel for longer than I care to remember. I have written for magazines and newspapers about my twin passions: food and travel. My ‘best’ meals have been the ones in palatial surroundings cooked by Michelin starred chefs, but also those of bajra rotis and ground chillies under the stars in a village in Banni, Kutch. I hope this site fully captures the sheer sweep of life from 1987 to the present times. All published articles that date before 2000 are in Vintage. All reviews of existing restaurants as well as those that have closed, are in Reviews.
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About Me...
About this site
Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious.
― Ruth Reichl
I first started writing as a profession in 1987. For the last 15 years, I have written exclusively about food. It is a vast subject, and my weekly column in Times of India is just one aspect of food. Ingredients, spices, utensils, regional cuisines, grandma’s secret recipes, five star hotels and their chefs, the chaat-walas in the bylanes of Delhi’s Chandni Chowk and Lucknow’s Hazratganj – all are equal contributors to this impossibly rich medley. I hope this site does justice to all of them.
Kumgang Gonie
Kumgang was the very first Korean restaurant in Delhi. The new version – Kumgang Gonie – still is streets ahead of the competition. There are two reasons for this. The first is that Mi Ran Lee, the owner, has been present at her restaurant during every single hour of operations. The second is that she…
DetailsThe Cachet of Chocolate
When Andreas Roesing, Pastry Chef of the Grand Hyatt Delhi, visited friends in the French town of Tain-l’Hermitage, his chief memory was the all-pervasive aroma of chocolate in the air. “Every time we’d open the door, it would envelope us. I can hardly remember anything else from that trip.” Chef Roesing may have been visiting…
DetailsAl Karam of Old Delhi
There is very little in the way of Mughlai food in Gurgaon. This is the venture of a Gurgaon-based entrepreneur with a taste for the culinary treasures of Old Delhi. Atmospherics: on the ground floor facing the road is this modest sized eatery with a bhatti and a tandoor outside. It looks contemporary enough but…
DetailsChef Manish Mehtrotra (2005)
Tamarai – as the newest restaurant in Rohit Khattar’s stable is called – has one thing in common with its country cousin in Delhi: Chef Manish Mehrotra, for it is he that is the driving force behind both brands. He is thus, in the singularly fortunate position of having worked in two continents, yet within…
DetailsHaakh or Collard Greens
No two more dissimilar cuisines could be found than Portuguese and Kashmiri, yet they have a common link: haakh. Known as collard greens, this member of the vast brassica family has a distinct personality and an even more pronounced taste, with its trademark crinkly blue-green leaves along a central stem. Collard greens, along with its close…
DetailsGive us today our daily tchot
It never fails to amaze me how Kashmiri wazwan has percolated the consciousness of every foodie in the country, yet how few know anything at all about Kashmiri bread. At the most basic level, there are three types of bread that are eaten morning and evening: tchot, lavas and tchachvoru. All are made with wheat…
DetailsSantrampur: Dining with the Royal Family
In a supremely secluded corner of Gujarat, the 9 gun salute state of Santrampur occupies a rather interesting site in the intersection between three different states: Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat. The present ruler and his wife, HH Maharana Paranjayaditya Parmar and Maharani Mandakini Kumari, are the latest in a dynasty that has been in…
DetailsChapli Kebabs
Will the real Pakistani cuisine please stand up? I have been to no fewer than four hotel food festivals featuring the cuisine of our neighbouring country, and every time the food has been so different that it has not formed a pattern. Deluxe hotels – and it is only they who have the means to…
DetailsDining Out in Chennai
If there ever was a model restaurant city in India, it would have to be Chennai. It has always been thought of as uber traditional, but in the last three years, the number of hotels, their grandeur and the sheer wealth of food and beverage concepts puts every other city in India to shame. One…
DetailsMadrid
You see, that was the day that Chef Ferran Adria announced at a press conference that he was going to close El Bulli for two years. I don’t think I’ll forget the flash of lightning that was almost tangible in the auditorium. The uproar that ensued was like a clap of thunder. The very fact…
DetailsHong Kong, the Fragrant Harbour
Its name translates as “The Fragrant Harbour” and depending on whether you love or hate the food in China’s newest state you’ll either agree vehemently or disagree strongly. Speaking for myself, I think that the finest food in China comes from Hong Kong, and there are a couple of reasons for it. During the Cultural…
DetailsSrinagar, An Insider’s Guide
Exploring Srinagar is largely a matter of personal choice: the delight of a shikara is its stately, unhurried pace; a cycle ride around is the perfect answer for seeing what you want. Stop every ten feet to take the perfect shot without disturbing anybody, travel by yourself if you are a loner, or with a…
DetailsTunisia: in the Midst of the Mediterranean
As usual, we were having a party in the hotel room of our journalist colleague, Ye Jun. There were, as always, twelve of us. We met every year in the autumn, in various parts of the olive growing world. As guests of the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC), the twelve of us had, over…
DetailsNaldhera for Gateway
“Pack your golf clubs and get the hell out of this house. Permanently.” Under normal circumstances, this ranting would constitute very sound grounds for divorce. On the other hand, in the Sud household in Shimla, it was the extremely propitious start to a business that has been lucrative and satisfying. You’ve heard the term golf…
DetailsDesi Roots
A playful, unpretentious approach to desi dining Atmospherics: On the ground floor in the mall mile of Saket, just next to the eye-popping Harley Davidson showroom, your car can drive up right to the front door of this brand new restaurant. It is composed of three sections: the lounge that looks like drawing-room, a narrow…
DetailsAmaranta Revisited
Blurb: Fine dining at throw-away prices Cuisine: Peninsular India mostly Atmospherics: This column has reviewed Amaranta before. The menu now encompasses most of the country; not just the coast as it formerly was. The food has more emphasis on tasting menus rather than a la carte ordering (though there’s that too). However, what has brought…
DetailsFoxtrot
Yet another, hitherto unseen, face of desi food Serves: Indian food with an Azure twist Atmospherics: The partners of this remarkable restaurant company, Rahul Khanna and Kabir Suri along with their food director Janti Duggal have been bringing forth one sassy concept after another, from Mamagoto to Sly Granny to Hotel Delmaar and others. The…
DetailsOberoi Patisserie & Delicatessen
Trust the Oberois to do things in style. The much awaited patisserie and delicatessen that has come up on the ashes of the old Kandahar is all set to redefine luxury nibbles. First of all the space spells luxe living and spaciousness, there is seating space for 16, and the displays, merchandise, even the machinery…
DetailsLady Baga
Authentic food, authentic beach experience Mostly Goan Beach Shack food Atmospherics: I think it is safe to say that this resto-bar has the most distinctive interiors in the NCR. It has been done up to resemble a section of a Goan beach with cane chairs placed on real sand, a fantastic play-list that includes Portuguese…
DetailsSearock Cookhouse
Peninsular cuisines have finally come into their own Serves Food of the southern states Atmospherics: Right next door to the gigantic Haldiram’s in the Outer Circle is this modest eatery. Nothing typifies the diverse ways of doing business in the opposite ends of our country than Searock and its neighbour. One has bright, well-lit signages…
DetailsBloggers’ Meat
Lolzzzzz was the cryptic comment in reply to a facebook post I had made on social media. I had just vented my spleen about how social media had taken over our social lives. How every time I opened my facebook account with trepidation, I would encounter several ‘invitations’ to a confusing welter of subsidiary sites…
DetailsManish Mehrotra goes to Tel Aviv
Mustard oil Haakh Jaggery Banarasi aloo papad Sabudana papad Kolhapuri masala Whole aamchur Any guesses what these ingredients could be doing in Chef Manish Mehrotra’s diminutive office at Indian Accent? They’re getting ready to be shipped to Tel Aviv where Mehrotra is getting set to participate in a food festival. As festivals go, this one…
DetailsThe Kashmir Book Shop
The Kashmir Book Shop In the heyday of tourism in Kashmir, books were the last thing that visitors thought of buying. The 1970s and ‘80s were when silk carpets and woollen shawls constituted the main shopping of the tens of thousands of tourists that holidayed in the Valley. So, the two bookshops that stood opposite…
DetailsChef Prakash Pawaskar
Don’t underestimate Chef Prakash Pawaskar of Trident, Nariman Point, Mumbai. In the outwardly unassuming Executive Sous Chef lurks a connoisseur of the cuisine of Maharashtra in all its Spartan glory. Pawaskar’s links with the food of his home state go back to the time of Shivaji as a matter of fact: his father-in-law, from the…
DetailsLeela’s Latin Fiesta
When the organizers of India Fiesta Latina got in touch with Leela Ambience Gurgaon for a venue for their salsa performances and workshops, Chef Ramon Alvarez of the hotel pricked up his ears. Alvarez is from Spain (Barcelona, in fact, and he’s done a stint at El Bulli but that’s another story) and his wife…
DetailsDeepak Ohri
Deepak Ohri was on one of his famous flying visits to the capital when Upper Crust caught up with him. So, was he here to look out for a property? Was he here to recruit staff for Lebua, Bangkok? Or was it some other mission entirely? Ohri has a mysterious smile, and he used it…
DetailsZaffran Biryani
I’m quite fond of the eclectic mix of restaurants that form the Kasbah complex in New Delhi’s Greater Kailash, but it is usually Café de Paris that I head for. This time, however, I was warned by fellow foodies not to miss the biryani festival taking place at Zaffran, their North Indian restaurant. Presided over…
DetailsSunday Brunch
Few things are as pleasant as sitting out under the sun on a Sunday afternoon in winter, sipping champagne and going through the one meal of the week that doesn’t have to be hurried. It’s what residents of other metros like best about Delhi – winter, and our determination to enjoy it to the fullest.…
DetailsPizzas
When Chef Dharamvir of Taj Palace went to Istanbul on a study course, the last thing he expected to find there were pizzas. Yet, scarcely any street corner was free of a pizza joint. Called lahmacun locally, totally unlike the Italian version, Turkish pizzas are much thicker and the fillings were much more India-friendly. The…
DetailsBombay Brasserie
Hits the jackpot on every count Serves: Regional Indian Atmospherics: This part of the Outer Circle has no hassle parking, especially at dinner time. A lift takes you to the first floor. The best part about the décor is that the bones of the original structure has been retained: flooring has been kept simple, there…
DetailsUrban Cafe
If there was a beauty pageant for the best looking restaurant in Khan Market, the prize would probably go to Urban Café. The lower floor has a stylish-meets-decadence look with a few overstuffed armchairs and black and white flooring, while the upper floor has a totally different appearance and caters to a different segment altogether.…
DetailsKebabs: Meaty Morsels
Growing up in Hyderabad in the ’seventies, Begum Kulsum would always look forward to weddings. That was when the making of the mo’alla kebab took place. “It was around five feet in diametre and took several kebabchis to prepare. Filled with biryani, the trick was to work dexterously with the sheer quantity of ingredients, specially…
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