Places to eat

This one is not about fine dining - its about fantastic dining, about places that offer fabulous food in an all value no frills package, dug out from the memories of singleton days.

Crystal - Chowpatty
Topping the list is Crystal - an irani style vegetarian only punjabi restaurant on Chowpatty, on the corner after Wilson College, if you are driving towards Nariman Point. A typical blink-and-you-miss joint, the easiest way to find the place is to simply look for the hordes of office goers and college kids waiting their turn outside the door at lunchtime. Its not uncommon to find investment bankers rub shoulders with college students on adjacent tables. This place is for food and food alone - if you are looking for ambience, even traces of it, this place is not for you. The interiors of the place are dimly lit and a makeshift mezzanine floor gives the restaurant a claustrophobic feel. The chairs are tacky plastic and you will find a bottle of Kissan ketchup and mixed fruit jam in a cupboard above the cashier's desk. The waiters here are courteous and will help you with choosing the dishes if you are a newcomer.
Their aam ras - available during the mango season - is to die for. So is the kheer, which should be had chilled. For the main course, choose from the spread of rotis - they are all fabulous, but if you are particular, go for the aloo paratha and butter roti. Black dal and aloo gobi make for excellent accompaniments. Topping the list is rajma, which is a work of art. A courteous request and the waiter will fetch you a nariyal pani from the vendor next door. A sumptuous meal for two for about Rs 200 - it can't get better than that!

Stadium Restaurant

This is another true irani type restaurant near Churchgate, across the road from Gaylord, in the WIAA building, next to the Vodafone outlet. High ceilinged with irani style wooden chairs and tables, the place also boasts of an internet browsing centre, located above the kitchen! A dour faced cashier oversees several waiters scurrying around, taking orders and serving dishes. The place has some of the best biriyanis available - I will vouch for the vegetarian biriyani and the egg biriyani and my non-veg friends from as far away as Bangalore make it a point to visit this place for the mutton biriyani. The curries are finger lickin' good too - have the egg curry or mutton curry with chapatis. The chapatis are large and five should be good for someone with a voracious appetite. Top off the meal with chai - brewed in true Irani style. Be sure to ask for the regular chai, which is served in cracked porcelain cups and not the special chai, which is served in fancy glass cups, but not as good. A meal for two costs about Rs 150.  If you are in the mood, try their 'special dessert' - a serving of custard as well!

Deluxe
This for a change, is not an irani restaurant!  It is a malayali restaurant, tucked in a bylane off DN Road, behind the Citibank building.  A narrow staircase leads to the restaurant on the first floor, with an exclusive 'family' section with A/C as well!  Once you squeeze in behind the tables, the waiters, most of them malayali of course, will toss the menu on the table.  If you do not know what to order, you'd better head there for lunch and ask for the thali.  The thali is veg, but the restaurant serves delectable mallu non-veg dishes too.  The thali, our all time favourite, starts with the pineapple chutney, followed by kachumber, paruppu, vegetables in the south indian style, aviyal, poriyal, red rice (they serve white rice on request, but who'd miss a helping of red rice!), curries, sambhar, rasam, curd, chillies pickled in curd and fried, payasam etc.,  For a truly authentic mallu lunch experience, don't miss this.  And a word of advice - skip breakfast if you want to do justice to the lunch!

Valley of the Gods

Rightfully has Himachal been described as the Valley of the Gods. The clean air, the clear waters, the breathtaking views of snow capped peaks... Truly, this is paradise on earth. After spending a day in Chandigarh, we proceeded to our destination, Manali. Armed with bagfuls of warm clothing (compared with the 40 plus of Mumbai, anything southwards of 30 degrees warrants a sweater), we undertook the overnight trip to the place of Manu.

Manali in the morning was cold (10 degrees I suppose) though our driver complained that it hadn't snowed in town this year and the resort, which is a few kilometers away from town did not receive the usual three feet of snowfall! Three feet? Gosh! For someone who hasn't ever seen snow, even one inch will make my day! Set away from the bustle of Manali town (thankfully!), our resort, Sarthak Resorts, is perched IN the Beas valley. Though basic, the lodgings were cosy and comfortable. The best part was the view from the balcony... the private balcony opened up into the vally, with a commanding view of apple orchards (foreground, not yet in bloom), the Beas river and the Pir Panjal range. I could sit here watching the mountains all day!

Treated to hot and tasty aloo parathas, pooris and aloo bhaji by the very hospitable Narender, we headed to explore the countryside on foot. There is not really much in Manali for the sightseeing tourist: there is Jagatsukh - an ancient temple of Lord Shiva believed to be worshipped by the Pandavas, Arjun Gufa - where Arjun meditated upon Lord Shiva and obtained the Pashupatastra, though the place is now buried deep under a landslide, Nehru Kund - a natural spring from which Nehru drank water, though this place was destroyed by a landslide a few years ago. Then there is Vashisht Kund (not buried under any landslide) and Manu Temple (it is believed that at the end of Pralay, Manu first disembarked at this place, hence the name Manali). There is also the Manali market where traders will pester you with deals for Chingu and Chamanga. More about Chingu and Chamanga is a different post. The market is quaint, selling dry fruits, warm clothing, souvenirs, trinkets and other touristy stuff.

There is also the Hadimba Mandir, the place where Hadimba, Bhim's wife dwelled. The gargantuan deodhars led us to believe that giants did live here in the hazy past. At well nearly 150 feet, these conifers lorded over everything else. For the local outing, we tried all modes of transport: walking, local bus (that was swell, with one old gent remembering his son after looking at me!), hired motorcycle (believe me, all my biking skills were put to test), paddle boat, and even a yak!

We spent one day in the snow (though we had to drive for over an hour to reach the spot that had enough snow to frolic in), guided by the affable Pinkah and concerned Rudra. We spent so many hours in the snow that Pinkah, our driver, thought we had fallen off into a chasm and came looking for us! The sheer excitement of the place (and some well intentioned thermals) numbed us to the sub-zero temperatures. Our local guide Rudra turned out to be a brilliant photographer in his own right. A few masterpieces he clicked: M pasting me with a snowball and me ducking another...
We had a swell time, skiing (falling all over more than skiing), sliding in the snow, throwing snowballs at each other. In the process, we managed to get snow inside the gumboots and gloves and by mid afternoon, we were freezing. An enterprising local (god bless his soul), was selling hot Maggi noodles and tea. Though overpriced (Rs 40 for a pack), they were a life saver. It had started snowing and with snow in our boots, we were freezing. The temperature was cold enough to freeze water in a bowl and we had to drink tea straight off the kettle (no kidding!) to get the life back in our limbs!

That was one fun day! We also had days cooped up in the room, due to pouring rain and a day spent in the company of Parbati - M and I fell in love with her... More about that later!

You are only Bala, no?

Some phone conversations are memorable. Several years ago, I was part of one such conversation on my mobile. The time: sometime between late night and early morning. The location: a friend’s place, partying. The person on the other side of the line: a young lady with a shrill voice and a strong kannada/tamil accent. Here goes…
My phone rings.
Ding! Ding!
Me: Hello?
Lady: Hello?
Me: Hello? Yes?
Lady: Hello? Bala speaking?
Me: Sorry ma’am, you got the wrong number.
Lady: Hello? I want to speak to Bala?
Me: Sorry ma’am, I am not Bala.
Lady: You are not Bala?
Me: No ma’am.
Lady (every word drawn and stretched, the way only women can): Heyyyy, you aaar only Bala. I know you are Bala.
Me: No ma’am, I am not Bala.
Lady (petulantly): I know you are Bala. You always fool me like this only.
Me: No ma’am, I am telling you I am not Bala.
Lady: Ai, you are only Bala, no?
Me: Well ma’am, I am not Bala, but if you still insist, I have no problem speaking to you.
Click!
Some phone call that!