The Well-Fed Bong

After Koshy’s retro cool breakfast, I found myself in Koramangla at lunch. Of all the food choices available in Bangalore, the one thing you cannot get in Mumbai is Andhra, so I figured that would be a good bet. Someone told me there was a Nagarjuna in Koramangla, but that proved a fruitless exercise. Burrp came to the rescue, identifying a Naati Manae for me. Karnataka rather than Andhra, but promising enough, and so we set off in search. Koramangla with its warren of isn’t the easiest of places to navigate, but google maps , two loops and a few u-turns later, we turned into one smallish lane. A deliberately rustic thatch-house with blue walls and warli paintings greeted us ( warli is firmly Maharashtrian, not clear about the connection here). I’m told Naati Manae means country house, and that’s clearly the look these guys were clearly going after. The rural theme continued inside, with wooden panels and terracotta tiles everywhere. It was a small place place inside, maybe 20 cover...

Early in the morning today, I stepped out of the swank Bangalore Airport. Rubbing wakedness into my bleary eyes and speculating on breakfast choices, I narrowed down to a Bangalore institution - Koshy's . Everyone (including many who have never been there) will confirm that Koshy's is an institution - it has been in existence for long enough and been popular for long enough. Koshy's is the place that Bangalore insiders take Bangalore outsiders to introduce them to the "real" Bangalore – before, that is, those money-grubbing software yuppies started insisting on cappucinos and malls. Koshy’s is, in other words, an institution (or did I already say that). It should be mentioned here that Koshy's comes in three flavours within the same premises - an ice-cream parlour cum bakery , a restautant and a cafe - of which only the cafe (technically Koshy's Parade Cafe) is worth all this fuss. Luckily for those of us not interested in insides and outsides, Koshy...

Work brings me back to Kolkata and there isn’t enough time for a full-fledged food wandering but a man  still has to eat. Luckily, the streets of Kolkata are not without options. The first stop was jhalmuri , and I must say things have become much fancier than I am used to. Every vendor had a choice of different kinds of muri , including a ‘healthy’ brown rice variety that we finally chose. Not spectacular, but distinctly Kolkata enough to erase memories of years of bhel. I wanted to show off my knowledge of Kolkata, took my team to the Ganguram at Everest House, and was sorely disappointed. A similar fate befell us at KC Das. Lets not even get into the details. Wandering among the ancient Chinese shoe stores near KC Das (some date back to the 1790s) I decided to pay a visit to the food stalls in the bylanes of Tipu Sultan’s Mosque . Years ago, this place was one of the few in Kolkata serving beef (most places prefer mutton) and had delectable seekhs. It turns out I was too l...

Matunga is home to the Tamilians, but for Kerala one must head to Fort. A clutch of Kerala restaurants between Fort House and Citibank have lurked in my consciousness for years. If you were up really early and yearned for  odd tubular mallu idlies called puttu , Fountain Plaza was your best bet (usually the follow-up to nightout drinking, it even inspired one of my friends to contemplate a mallu wife). Rahamaniya next door was a haven of soundly non-veg Moplah food. Recently, however, I was led further afield to a tiny lane near the Bombay Store that hid away two Kerala Thali joints - Latha and the more crowded, more colourful Hotel Deluxe that was our recommended destination.   We first headed into the first available entrance, colourfully festooned with Hotel Deluxe multicoloured signs. However, we were told that the downstairs is just biriyani-paratha - Thali is upstairs. This meant getting out of the restaurant, going next door and climbing up a baby doll pink fligh...

Last Sunday’s ride was a series of mishaps. Two punctures caused me to walk as much as I cycled, and a stolen tail light left me more than a little miffed. On the plus side, however, I explored a new place – The Table – freshly opened for lunch right next to a Moshe and Indigo Deli. It promised the freshest ingredients and a community-style menu that encouraged sharing (which was going to be tough for me, eating alone). The Table is a handsome, handsome space. The two-level arrangement is not uncommon, but the large windows add to a comfortable, stay-for-a-while kind of vibe that the best bistros do so effortlessly. I would have sat at the communal table (what better for the solitary gustator) but having come at the very last five minutes of lunch service I was faced with a mostly empty restaurant and was thus led to a smaller table upstairs. The menu is modern nouvelle cuisine, the kind where smart grocery shopping meets delectable French sauces, usually at uncomfortably hig...

Anjali, down from London for a day, had a simple (practically one word) request – galauti . Since we were already at Phoenix, there seemed no excuse to avoid the temptations of Punjab Grill . As Indian food of any kind goes, this is my top choice in Mumbai. Indian Harvest held my favour for a while, but they closed their doors a few months ago so Punjab Grill is back on top. To Anjali’s worries – of course it does a mean galauti, except that they call it kham khatai (an interesting choice of name, because kham khatai is usually veg – and often called veg galauti). A short wait was rewarded with the requisite mini paratha holding up an ultrasoft mutton patty, a sprig of mint and a single onion ring; the whole thing a perfect bite awaiting only a squirt of lemon. My favourite on the menu full of great kababs is, however, a vegetarian one – the tandoori bharwan gucchi. In Mumbai, as far as I know, only the Punjab Grill offers gucchi – the very exotic morel – rather than c...

Sometimes, its just enough to come across a nice lunch. Work lunches tend to canteen food (dull) or quiet fancy restaurants (usually the same ones over and over) or mall food (more fast than food) so its nice when a working lunch turns out to be just nice. This one was an old favourite that I had not gone back to in a long while. I used to find the Versova version excellent (if a little hard to get a seat in) but have not gone for a while. Sitting at Mulund’s Urban Takda over a droolworthy kalimiri paneer and a delectable tandoori gobi, I ruminate on the niceties of Punjabi food and the potential of vegetables in tandoor. Urban Tadka is still as kitschy as I remember it, and the food is every bit as nice. Regulation Punjabi, but distinctly better than the usual butter chicken crap dished out by every second person who can spell dhaba. Crisp flavours and efficient execution makes for a nice experience. Rich, of course, especially if you top the meal off with a rabdi.

Busaba has been open in Lower Parel for a while now, which is rather convenient for me as a lunch I can walk to. Worthy of note, in particular, is their set lunch menu -a starter, a salad, a main course and a dessert of the day to be chosen from a small menu at a mere four fifty; it's cheaper than a standard meal at Jai Hind round the corner. The options keep rotating, but there's always a couple of good choices (even if you insist on veggies). The food, as in the other Busaba, is South East Asian, except for desserts (those are unwaveringly European). Thai steamed chicken and Vietnamese pho soup has been ordered...