Home - Marryam H Reshii

About Me...

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.
More

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.

Recent Articles

360 degrees
December 29, 2020

State of the Art in Kashmir
December 22, 2020

Canton Capers
December 21, 2020

A Century of Ahdoos
December 17, 2020

Lavana

Lucknavi with fairly grand, all-mirror interiors. Atmospherics: Hyatt Regency Gurgaon is brand new. It is situated almost at the toll plaza that enters Gurgaon from Manesar, so that, while it is dauntingly far from Delhi, it is still a good proposition for residents of Gurgaon. The hotel is situated close to the industrial area of…

Details

The Olive Tree in the Mediterranean Basin

It was my first day in Tunisia and I had been whisked off by my hosts to visit a museum. Not any old museum, mind, but one that had mosaics as its theme. Bardo had mosaics on the walls, on plaques, on the floors, even on the ceiling. Most of them were old and faded.…

Details

Santrampur: 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…

Details

Olive at the Qutub

When Olive first opened its doors six years ago, it was known as the quintessential party place and was routinely slammed for its food. Now in its second innings, it is taking its food much more seriously. Does that mean that the old image of a party place will fade away? Even its name has…

Details

Jamies Italian

Serves Trattorio-style Italian Blurb: Tuscany via London Atmospherics: In a mall that has had its share of ups and downs, Jamie’s Italian is so large that when it was initially set up, everyone wondered whether optimism had won the day over caution. Two years later, the crowds still gather here for an evening of fun…

Details

A Weekend in Old Delhi

Forget Shah Jehan and the Mughals, I told myself firmly as I threaded my way through the meat market, in the shadow of the Jama Masjid. The Mughal emperor with the most developed aesthetic sense for architecture and jewellery may have been the raison d’etre for much of Old Delhi, certainly for the giant quadrangle…

Details

Bangal versus Ghoti

“When I tasted my best friend’s mother’s fish curry, it had tamarind in it. I was so horrified by a fish preparation that was sour that I had to wrestle with my better self not to spit it out”. That was my neighbour Sweta talking about her class-mate. The surprising thing is that both Sweta…

Details

Smell the Coffee

What does the land of Reggae have to do with a fine cup of coffee? For that matter, how does a weasel-like mammal improve the flavour of coffee? Or is it the musty winds of the south-western monsoon that I’m thinking of? The coffee bean grows in many countries – in fact, ever since a…

Details

American Cafe ~ From the Archives

Ever wondered about the planning that goes into a restaurant? “It’s not unlike having a baby” chorus husband and wife team of Janis Fraser and Sumer Arora. When Janis and Sumer decided to go into the food business, they called in food consultants Under One Roof to thrash out a concept, plan a menu, design…

Details

Matamaal

“My granny cooks the best” Kashmiri Atmospherics: The modest-sized restaurant that has a full-sized shikara inside (it doubles up as a table!) is run by a delightfully hospitable Kashmiri couple. Surinder and Nalini Sadhu are the eponymous ‘grand-parents’ (Matamaal means naani’s house) and it is they who greet first-timers and regular guests with the famous…

Details

What’s Cooking in Kashmir

Think about Kashmiri food and the first thing that comes to mind is the justly famous wazwan. However, try eating it for two consecutive meals and you’ll be laid up in bed for a week thereafter, so heavy is it. Indeed, most visitors to Kashmir have no difficulty finding the ristas and gushtabas of a…

Details

Grinding and Pounding: Mortars and Pestles

Where there is spice, there are kitchen implements to grind them. And because Asia grows and uses quite a large proportion of the world’s spices, most of the spice grinders have an Asian sensibility. Depending on their job: pounding, dry and wet grinding all have different shapes of implements, they are variously made of limestone,…

Details

Narendra Bhawan

To put it in a nutshell, the city of Bikaner was a destination waiting to happen. Quite apart from its position on the Jaipur-Jodhpur-Bikaner circuit, it has superb infrastructure for hotels, all the best ones being heritage homes, where real palaces have been converted. The oldest one is Lallgarh, followed by Laxmi Niwas and then…

Details

A Palace with a Soul

Marryam H Reshii travels to Bikaner, Rajasthan, and discovers the luxurious Narendra Bhawan, the former residence of a very individualistic and kind-hearted Maharaja, and an old town where time seems to have stopped still. Rajasthan is that magical land that springs a new surprise when you least expect it. So, after you have been to…

Details

Dining in Dubai

Travel around Manila in the Philippines and you’ll be struck by how many branches of Jollibee Burgers there are. It’s a brand you are unlikely to encounter elsewhere in the world, because the rather sweet sauce that is Jollibee’s trademark, is a Philippine brand. If you visit Mumbai, you are like to be surprised by…

Details

Santrampur: Dining with the Royal Family

Details

My Browsing History

Everywhere I travel, I like to see the fruit and vegetable markets, the motor spare parts shops, the back streets where printers have their presses and the second-hand clothes and books bazars. For, much more than the manicured centre of town, it is these areas, with their hair let down, that you will get the…

Details

A Weekend in Old Delhi

Details

Biryani Blues

Slow-cooked food, served fast ATMOSPHERICS Visit any of their outlets at mealtimes and you’ll probably have to wait for a table. The reason is the superb quality of the food, the authenticity of many of the dishes (except a few where they have chosen to tweak the recipe a bit) and the prices. Three people…

Details

Zaffiro by Zaza

Most restaurants are just that: commercial establishments, where a manager escorts you to your seat and a disinterested waiter takes you through the menu. Real estate in the NCR being what it is, no individual with a flair for cooking can ever hope to open a restaurant. There are very few exceptions to this rule:…

Details

Zanotta

Serves: Italian Cuisine The most glamorous Italian restaurant in Gurugram Atmospherics: Zanotta is open only for dinner, except on the weekends when there is a famous buffet-at-the-table on Sunday lunch (Saturday has a truncated version). If you are planning to visit on Sunday afternoon, a booking is necessary: the cost to benefit ratio makes it…

Details

Vinita’s Kitchen Of Plenty

My children, like most children everywhere, get tired of the same food with dismaying frequency. One of the few exceptions — that is, besides the eternal Maggi noodles — are the kebabs made by a lady who operates from her kitchen at home. We first heard of Vinita’s Kitchen at a dinner party where bite-sized…

Details

Nando’s

Chicken Peri Peri meets Kukkad, Tandoor da in a burst of genius The long lines and thronging crowds at this outlet are a reality, but at the end of it, there’s some seriously good, spicy, succulent chicken with a tang. Even tandoori chicken is not this good! Atmospherics: Forget about the rather insipid interiors done…

Details

Golconda Bowl

I heartily approve of restaurateurs who spend money where it is needed and save where it is warranted. Golconda Bowl in Hauz Khas Village is a no-frills place with minimal fuss decor. However, the airconditioning is effective on a humid afternoon and best of all, there’s a Hyderabadi chef in the kitchen, complete with the…

Details

Militancy’s Child

Fear and other emotions are alien to a generation of Kashmiri youth who grew up under the shadow of militancy.. In 1991, when militancy was at its peak, Omar Jan was three years old. It was the year I got married and travelled to Kashmir as a bride. Before that, my visits to Kashmir had…

Details

Tikka Shatrujit Singh goes on holiday

I caught up with Tikka Shatrujit Singh of Kapurthala just as he was about to set off for yet another trip to his favourite destination, Paris. In his choice of destination, Singh is merely following in the footsteps of his illustrious grandfather, Maharaja Jagatjit Singh (1877-1949), a well-known Francophile, whose palace in Kapurthala is modeled…

Details

Chef Julia Carmen deSa

Take the names of any three women chefs in Delhi, and Julia deSa will be among them. The wonder of it all is that she has just started living in Delhi for the last dozen years, but such has been the force of her personality and her cooking skills that she has the who’s who…

Details

A Tale Of Two Cups

In which we juggle multiple cups of tea and coffee, just in time for the monsoon showers! Tea and coffee bars are a dime a dozen in this city of ours and most of us visit them because we want to set down our shopping bags or to cool off in the frosty air-conditioning. In…

Details

Begum Kulsum – One for the Road

Once upon a time there lived a king and his prime minister. Each had a slew of palaces in the city where they lived, one more fairytale than the other. Cars, retinues of helpers, suitcases of fabulous gems – they had them all. Even when the privy purses were abolished, they lived happily ever after.…

Details

Muzaffar and Meera Ali

In the heyday of Lucknow, say a hundred and fifty years ago, nobles delighted in presenting their guests culinary quizzes. There would be a table-spread of dishes that appeared to resemble lamb qorma and biryani but would in actual fact turn out to be made of spun sugar. In days of yore, says Muzaffar Ali,…

Details

Ahaar 2008

Kings in the medieval period had a fool-proof method of checking out public opinion against them: they would go in disguise to the markets and strike up conversations with the man on the street. ITPO would do well to take a leaf out of the royal book, because every time FHRAI magazine went to a…

Details

Tasty Tangles

Reasonably priced, quality Southeast Asian fare in an informal setting The crying need of the hour is for an informal restaurant — whether in a mall or outside it — with filling, tasty food at prices that don’t break the bank. I’m grateful that I was dragged by a foodie friend to Tasty Tangles. The…

Details

Chef Angela Hartnett

I’ve noticed that lady chefs always bring another dimension to their food than their male counterparts. Perhaps it has been entirely incidental, but when you hear Chef Angela Hartnett talking about shopping for food, you could forget that she has won two Michelin stars at The Connaught in London, where she manages a restaurant for…

Details

Uzuri

Delhi’s first restaurant with African flavours Intro: An exciting, unique blend of familiar flavours and completely unusual tastes in this carnivore’s paradise. Atmospherics: A lift from the ground floor leads you to the second and third floors where Uzuri is situated. The animal theme is all around you: on the walls as leopard prints, more…

Details

Drift

Drift at Gurgaon’s Epicenter is several notches up from Habitat Centre. Both are run by the same person, yet Drift has an evolved modern European menu featuring duck, sea bass and salmon, all of which are notable by their absence at IHC’s outlets. What remains the same is the cultured, arty crowd; before long, Drift…

Details

Cibo

From being a place with great interiors and not so great food, Cibo has suddenly become a place with great food. They’ve just hired fresh blood in the kitchen, and the youthful chef, an Indian with international experience, is clearly set to break boundaries. In the last couple of weeks, Cibo has metamorphosed from an…

Details

About Me...

About this site

Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious. ― Ruth Reichl

Recent Articles

Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious.
― Ruth Reichl