If you haven't read or heard about it yet - then you should know that in Taiwan eating out is not a question of culture or choice, but a necessity which holds importance especially for the fact that in Taipei; the astronomical real estate rates demand that every home skips the kitchen. Pan a One square kilometer radius anywhere in Taipei and it  has at least fifty restaurants, of all sizes and dimensions. Tiny garage-size eateries that serve just one item in several variations are one kind and unlike its so-called brother China, Taiwan is not about flaming woks, instead it is mostly about one dish- noodle soup/congee/porridge, but i'm not going to talk about Taipei in this post. I’m going to talk about the food in Taiwan's own little  Hawaii- Penghu, an archipelago in the Pacific.

So what makes Penghu Islands so special with regards to Taiwanese cuisine? And how much of a departure is it from the mainland?

I would say that the cuisine here is drastically different from the mainland in terms what ingredients are considered daily staples. Here it is one element of one definitive kind- seafood, seafood of all kinds, shapes and endemic - fish, crustaceans, sea cucumbers, etc. And while we’re at it, you should also know that Penghu is a quaint little island and literal and figurative follower of ‘early to bed and early to rise’, so the lunch and dinner timings are down to the T.  Between eleven to one for lunch and five to eight for dinner, make your last order at half past seven others too little too late, for the doors close at eight.

Adong Seafood on Xindian Street in Penghu County is considered the holy grail of seafood, from boiling hotpots of claypot fish-head to stir-fried sea mushroom, cuttlefish ink sausages and freshly fried shrimp rolls that boast of tender texture inside along with stir-fried bean thread with seaweed. This multi-storey complex is actually one restaurant, yes, one family owned restaurant that spans over three to four floors and every floor brimming with patrons, most tables occupied by large families, which also tells you that people are close knit and family oriented here.

Now if you’re wondering about breakfast, there are quite a few different options - if you are running to work and need a bite on the move, then get a cup of fresh brewed coffee and sandwich from the nearest Seven-11 or like most peeps, head on over to any local favourite for some noodle soup OR Dan Bing- Taiwanese egg crepe OR Shao Bing - unleavened layered flatbread and wash it down with a bowl of soyabean milk OR the one I consider most interesting and rare - Fan Tuan. Fan Tuan or Rice Balls are oblong, hand-rolled hot sticky rice, stuffed with a wide variety of things in it. Perhaps, one of the most common and interesting fillings being the red bean, pickled mustard greens, salted radish and either vegetable or pork floss. This one here in the picture is made up of a mix of plain and purple rice both and also owns a tiny bit of brown sugar in its center. Fan Tuan is difficult to get a hold of in Family Marts and 7/11s of Taiwan, but is sold in select specialty shops and places like Liu Mama Fan Tuan - a wildly popular breakfast stand in the Da'an District of Taipei. Fan Tuan over the years has also grown out of its lotus leaf casing to a plastic clear wrap one and comes in half a dozen options like a sweet one with white rice, pulverized cruller, brown sugar or a loaded savoury one that wrapped in seaweed encasing pork floss, braised egg, minced pork, pickled mustard greens and burdock root.

Penghu’s two endemic confections are the Brown Sugar Cake and highly photogenic Cactus Ice-cream. Cactus Ice-cream sounds baffling and almost daunting until you see a bright pink, cheerful looking sorbet that tastes strangely familiar yet inexplicable. Brown sugar cake - a true Penghu speciality can now be found in a handful of Taipei bakeries and other Taiwanese cities and airports. Since using ovens is a rarity in Taiwan, the making of this cake involves steaming rather  than baking using a mix of all-purpose and rice flour, baking soda, baking powder, sesame seeds, eggs, milk and oil; a sugar syrup made of brown sugar and honey is mixed with the batter giving the cake a typically brown sugar like colour. The blubber from the rice flour is what gives this cake the chewy texture that is synonymous with all of Taiwanese cooking, referred to as the 'Q'’, Taiwanese quest for a springy, chewy texture in food - hot or cold, sweet and savoury. 'Q' is derived from Taiwanese Hokkien word 'k'iu' and is a cornerstone of their cuisine, a signature chewiness that’s addictively soft and rubbery in a pleasing way. It translates to Tapoica in Bubble Tea or the springy fish cakes and meatballs on a stick -  the most popular example being the Taiwanese Mochi. One can go on a month long expedition just to find, experience and enjoy the spoils of 'Q' in different food items and the more you discover 'Q' in its different forms, the closer you get to the realization that it's a nation-wide obsession with a mouthfeel that finds its way in every meal here.

If you like your meals authentic and prefer to eat inside an old Taiwanese home, then Cauliflower Old Memory Restaurant on Xindian Road is closest you will get to it. COM is a place full of endearing little details right from the exposed brick outside, the seashell and chinese ceramic facade to its interiors that looks and feels like a museum showcase full of local artefacts and old film posters. The strong points of this place have to be the food - locally sourced, quintessentially Taiwanese with no western influences whatsoever. The meal begins in typical Taiwanese fashion - tumblers of iced black tea with the first plate to arrive being a seaweed omelette; simple, flavourful and something that is appreciated across the palate spectrum. This is followed by pure delight in the form of - Braised Chinese Cabbage, Taiwanese style Cauliflower, Tofu with Oysters, stir fried Oysters, stir fried Squid and lastly the speciality Mackerel cooked in light soy that certainly brings out all the umame possible from the island. I noticed in most places, the penultimate dish to hit the table with is always the mixed seafood soup that is adored and savoured by all locals every single day. Slices of juicy sweet Yellow Watermelon serve as palate cleansers and as the closing dish of the meal.

One can talk about South East Asian cuisine and never forget to emphasise on the use of Chopsticks. So what kind of chopsticks is Taiwan into? Before I explain which and why, let’s understand the neighbouring countries’ chops - Chinese on one hand believe in sharing plates on a long or round table and thus require you to reach into the center to pick the food, hence Chinese Chopsticks are usually long and not pointy (they indulge in a lot of hot-pots and long chopsticks keep the hands at a distance from the boiling pot), Japanese cuisine on the other hand does not profess the sharing of food, food is placed in close proximity to the body so everyone has their own pair of chopsticks. So chopsticks are short, but also pointed since Japanese cuisine is a lot about fish where the pointed chopstick facilitate a good grip.

Now coming to Taiwan,  most of their food influences come from China and Japan, but the culture here is always about dining in groups or families, so chopsticks are not pointed, always long and made of melamine. That said, using chopsticks is not a compulsion in this part of South Asia. Forks and spoons are always available upon request, but the simple fact that eating with chopsticks lets you feel every ingredient, its texture, slowing down the interval between each bite, uniting you with the food itself is a good reason that why you should give chopsticks a try.

Now, looking for some baked goods in Penghu?

You'll be surprised that there are a handful of small bakeries that bake loaves, rolls and buns, popularly finished with scallion on top and some bakers even put their afternoon produce on a pick-up truck and head straight to the harbour where boat after boat ushers in fresh catch and there's always a crowd of restaurant owners and individuals waiting for this arrival. Hunger followed by a sight of truck fulls of freshly baked goodies is obviously irresistible. The incredibly tender rolls filled with shredded salmon, cheese and tomato or twisted pull-apart buns stuffed with shredded pork, cheese and lettuce - everything is incredibly affordable (from 20NT - 40NT) and sells out in a matter of thirty minutes while two or three different vessels dock on the harbour and empty their catch.

Penghu, an archipelago boasts a generous diversity in the food across its various islands.

Like Qimei (pronounced chi-mei) thats located south of Penghu is a tiny island that is well-known for its diving and snorkelling sites. Cactus ice-cream can be found here as well and so can be ‘Abalone’, which is a rather large sea snail that has a distinctly shiny coat on the inside of its shell. Abalone are considered expensive in any market, but are affordable here. Another common item on the table here is the Sea Urchin, which peculiarly is minced and stir fried along with rice, eggs, scallion and minute fish.

So what makes Penghu's cuisine special? Is it the abundance of seafood? That’s a no brainer and yes, absolutely! This is a place where almost every meal is about eating fresh sea-food along with the dynamic duo of any South-East Asian country - Noodles and Rice. While most of your food encounters here will be one-dimensional -(boiled and minimal use of spice and salt), if you’re lucky with a kitchen in your AirBnb, Hostel or Apartment you should and you must attempt to whip up the mainland's most talked about preparation - that bowl of stinging Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup.

A heartfelt thank you to the Taiwan Tourism Bureau in India and Think Strawberries that let me experience this culture, sights and of course all the delicious food across Taiwan. Penghu Island is part of Bay Tourism 2018, in which 10 offshore islands from 6 countries are selected as demonstration points, which the 3 islands of Qimei, Yuwong and Jibei of the Penghu archipelago are a part of.

Given that Penghu will host the 14th annual conference of the Most Beautiful Bay in the World (MBBW) in 2018, Penghu County Government has led its team to participate in the 20th anniversary and the annual conference of MBBW held at Vannes, Bretagne, France to promote the bay tourism of Penghu.

To read more about Penghu, follow the link: https://www.penghu-nsa.gov.tw/english/ActivitiesDetailE001210.aspx?Cond=76c30ace-09f0-47a2-a011-eb70d645b14f

You travel to places not because they’re listed as a must visit or because they have heritage sites or an extraordinary regional cuisine that you shouldn't miss  (may be for some). You travel to unlearn preconceived notions from life as you know it, to grow a new layer, experience a change, adapt to it, turn a new leaf, make a note to inculcate it in your daily life at home and may be take it back or at least remember it when you come across similar experiences later in life. It may or may not drastically change you as a person, but what it will do is broaden your mind to note its existence. 

Lesser heard cities and humble towns that take nights of opinion pieces and underground blog scouring to find on the internet, are fine examples of explorations that - due to the lack of guides, trails or ‘curated’ experiences - make you carve a fresh passage instead. Vietnam is home to many such destinations like Kon Tum, Buon Ho, Dalat, Sa Pa, Hue and many more. While Da Nang in Vietnam is definitely heard of, known and explored, most of its uniqueness is often overlooked by travelers as only being the closest airport to Central Vietnam's popular destination- Hoi An which is about an hour's drive. 

Da Nang is about 700+ kilometers away from the capital city of Hanoi. Its location along the coast is what makes it an important port in the country, which is also marked in history books as where the Americans first landed some fifty plus years ago in order to protect their air base which was in the locale. Da Nang has come a long way post the Vietnam War and is now a proper coastal city and is looking now for an enterprising boom. The town can be primarily divided into two regions, connected by four unique bridges, bifurcated by the Han River flowing underneath. The part away from coast is the actual heart of the city, where all the markets are, life is and where rain soaked streets smell of nothing but a mixture of a delicious fermented soup and some black coffee by corner shops. In general, it is this part of the city where the residences, shops and major roadways lie. The other side of each of the four bridges is what Da Nang aspires to be in the next decade - populated by tall corporate high-rises, swanky hotels and palatial real estate for the ones who have the goods to afford them. Although, currently it is just a light tint of what will be in its future.

There are many places that you can stay over in throughout main town; Bach Dang, Le Loi and Hai Phong being the top areas for backpackers' hostels and hotels in general. Bach Dang Street is one of the popular streets in Da Nang due to its corniche like view overlooking the Dragon Bridge and Quay Bridge. Not only that, but Bach Dang is home to most of the well-known cafes and bars in town which are not only filled with locals on weekends, but also on weekdays. In addition to this, Bach Dang is also home to Da Nang's biggest market - Cho Han or Han Market that caters to most souvenir needs of tourists on one end and is also daily fish, fruit and vegetable market needs on the other end.

Most of Vietnam is known for its bowls of clear noodle soups- Pho (pronounced 'Pha'), but Central Vietnam especially the Quang Province that shares this country's border with neighbor 'Laos' has made an identity for itself by popularizing food from this province. 'Mi Quang' or Quang style noodles are basically thick rice noodles served with a rich simmering meat broth and garnished with julienned cucumbers, shallots, toasted peanuts, a boiled egg and a topping of sesame rice crackers known as Banh Trang Me. The basic requirement of a stellar Mi Quang is a well simmered broth made using country-side chicken or other meat, strong flavour of soy and sugar marination all of which is cut stunning by the use of local tiny wild onion called 'Cu nen'. A basic version of this noodle soup (Tom Thit - Shrimp with Meat) should cost 25,000 dong while the supreme version 'Dac Biet' (meaning 'special' in Vietnamese) with Drumstick, Shrimp, Egg and Crackers should cost 40,000 dong. These noodle bowls are filling and spicy, so you may want to also call for some refreshing Longan juice which is a pale yellow cousin of the Lychee. Mi Quang is a staple across Da Nang and is available at every local restaurant and most of these restaurants literally have named their space after the dish itself, like Mi Quang A1 at Hai Phong Street in the heart of the city. 

While noodle soups of all sorts may be what Vietnam is known for, let's not forget that this country is also known globally for its coffee plantations - Robusta, Catimor and Chari variety to be precise. Robusta and Catimor coffee carry a distinct burnt taste due to their concentrated caffeine content, while Chari is a caffeine-free variety of bean. Coffee chain brands like Cong Cafe and Trung Nyugen are scattered all over the country, but there are few standalone family run places where people sit on low plastic stools breaking sunflowers seeds with one hand and sip slowly dripped coffee with the other. Da Nang has its own such local favorite coffee-shop in the form of 'Long Coffee' located at the junction of Le Loi and Quang Trung road. Longs' is the oldest and most popular establishment that attracts people of all ages, right from inquisitive tourists to locals reading through newspaper to even someone getting work done on a laptop. 

Noodle soup, coffee and banh mi aside Da Nang has many culinary tricks up its sleeve - wanting to be recognized as a beach town holiday destination, one with the best of both worlds, glitzy hotels bayside with an old school working class neighbourhood on the other side. From Monkey Mountain to Marble Mountains to the Lady Buddha monument, Da Nang has its architectural roots spread deep. While these have been tourist attractions since the past many years, the city is now focusing on its unique looking bridges to deliver the appetite for weekend attractions. Cau Rong or The Dragon Bridge is one such weekend spectacle where crowd gathers from all over town at 9 p.m to witness a firework show followed by a carnival of sorts underneath the bridge with jam sessions, people strolling by the riverside or teenagers bringing their tech-toys out for a spin. 

In a nutshell, Da Nang aspires to be like its metropolitan cousins, mimicking its glamorous nightlife and modernisation while keeping its heritage and food culture alive like Hanoi. Da Nang in many ways is innocent, not bastardised and untouched from mainstream debauchery; a strange place where people watch Indian soap operas dubbed in Vietnamese over dinner slurping noodle soup and clinking pints all at the same time.

Watch 'I Was Here - Vietnam' Da Nang-Hoi An

In this second installment of our travel through Vietnam, we take a closer look at the coastal city of Da Nang, understand Central Vietnamese cuisine, their specialty noodles - 'Mi Quang' and finally travel to the neighboring ancient Japanese town of Hoi An.

- Plato, Republic

Let's rewind to the days when Vietnam underwent war, an interminable war with the Americans, French, their own extremists and North of Vietnam fighting with the South. This transpired between 1954 and 1975. That's twenty one years of conflict! In times such as those, food was always rationed, be it for the armed forces or the local folks' share.

The advent of 'Egg Coffee' was brought about by Mr. Nyugen Van Giang who was a bartender at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel, Hanoi in 1946. The supply of milk was sporadic and the need for a strong substitute was dire. In rolls the Egg Yolk - but as Nyugen Van Dao (son of Van Giang) recalls, it wasn't as unruffled (pun intended) as it seems today. Eliminating the whiff of raw egg was no picnic. Van Deo explains how there was a bit of something else that needed to be added to the butter + cheese + condensed milk & coffee powder concoction - which is a house secret. The local name of Egg Coffee is ca phe trung, which in Vietnamese means iced coffee (ca phe) and egg (trung)

Traditional Vietnamese Coffee is served either iced or hot and mostly black. For local coffee shops, the addition of milk means providing a thin layer of condensed milk at the bottom that slowly congregates with the coffee above supplying the perfect merger of subtle sweetness; simultaneously diluting the strong character of black coffee by a few notches. In an Egg Coffee the idea is to serve creamy meringue-like dense froth perched over a strong shot of Robusta. It is recommended that you stir your coffee so as to indulge in the perfect mix of egg and coffee, but note that one cannot resist dousing a spoon into that foam with the coffee where it reminds you of Tiramisu.

Giangs' offer at least ten different variations of its Egg Coffee along with some other traditional Vietnamese recipes:

• ca cao trung (egg coffee with chocolate)
• matcha trung (egg coffee with matcha)
• dau xanh trung (egg coffee with green beans)
• rum trung ca cao / rum trung ca phe (egg coffee with rum and chocolate / rum and coffee)
• sua da chanh (milk with lemon and ice)
• sua chua ca cao / ca phe (yogurt with chocolate / coffee)

Another detail that needs underlining is the coffee bean being used in Vietnamese Coffee - the Robusta. Robusta is locally grown all across the Central Highlands, especially in the regions of Dak Lak, Lam Dong, Dak Nong and Gia Lai. In the quality index of global coffee, Robusta comes second only to Arabica. Thus the local chains like Trung Nyugen, Phuc Long, Highlands and some new players such as Passio, Thuc, Cong Cafe all offer blend of Robusta, Arabica and the lesser known, but competent Chari variety.

Giangs' has now become an icon of the Hanoi Old Quarter with Hoan Kiem lake in picturesque proximity. Many a food tour group make the mandatory stop on their route and Nyugen Van Dao claims not a single one of their customers ever has not NOT liked the Egg Coffee. The inconspicuous entrance, a tunnel like entry leading to an easy lounging space where couches and tables overlook an open kitchen, here the egg yolks are whipped continuously in a blender while members of the staff revolve up and down for service like clockwork. The upper stretch is bright, laden with low lying wooden table and stools, buzzing with locals and tourists at any and all times of the day.

Egg Coffee stands as a specialty proudly belonging to Hanoi as establishments start to replicate it. Dinh Cafe at Hoan Kiem lake is owned and run by Mr. Van Dao's sister, is another place known to extend some ca phe trung.

Cafe Giang : 39 Nyugen Huu Huan, Ly Thai To, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi.

To know more about Cafe Giang and their Egg Coffee watch our latest episode of 'I Was Here - Vietnam'

Day seven, no Chai, but #EggCoffee is keeping me alive. Tried at least over a dozen, but the one at Ca Phe Giang is the dopest, creamiest and the original one with a bona fide back-story. P.s : this shot is from neighbouring Ca Phe Trung since Giang doesn't use transparent cups. #IWasHere #MediumandRare #CafeGiang #vietnam #Hanoi #coffee #food #foodphotography

A post shared by Assad Dadan (@assadajd) on Mar 25, 2017 at 2:34am PDT

Bangkok is captivating and massive yet well connected.  It can be task to compartmentalise your trip to this city in order to cover the best of what it has to offer, be it the food or the shopping or even a ride in the neon light tuk-tuk through the buzzing streets. 

In our latest episode of #IWasHere we started our journey from Bangkok and went from the north across to the south of Vietnam. With the Bangkok episode now out on the tube, here is our guide to the 10 things you should experience here:

There are many more spots to drop by, things to do and foods to dig into. Watch the 'I Was Here - Bangkok’ episode for a visual delight you will want to bookmark before you go: 

Stay tuned for our next update from Hanoi. Below is a little promo from what we got up to there:

Prior to the actual shoot, food photographers work closely with food stylists in deciding a color palette that matches the brand, overall.   A royal blue background or a gold rimmed plate sitting on a glossy black table just does not fit for a quick-bite take-away joint since the colors and crockery do not appeal to the younger target audience of the client whose business revolves around serving rice and noodle stir-fried in a wok with funky Asian sauces.

It’s safe then, to conclude that most of the aesthetics related conception or ‘pre-production’ in technical jargon should be done a few days prior to the shoot and approved by the client, which also means a good chunk; say twenty percent of the task is finished where the production/shoot day will be streamlined. It is equally important is to discuss each dish with the head Chef so as to take care of surprises such as a bowl of soba noodles where all the noodles are submerged under a thick luscious dark soy sauce,  making it impossible to convey/translate through a photograph that there’s a swirl of tasty soba noodles mixed with a chicken thigh contrived with red peppers, garlic and ginger hiding underneath all that sauce and garnish.

Production or the actual shoot now remains as more of an exercise where everyone follows a schedule, reaches before call-time, the kitchen team preps the necessary elements while the photographer can test  lighting using mock-ups, mark positions of the tripod, plates and lights. If the entire shoot is to be executed in one constant angle with the same background and lighting, then the task is more of managing the rendering of dishes one after another; placing, shooting and replacing one with the next, which is also generally not the case unless the shots are catalogue-like - needing to be uploaded on a food delivery website or smartphone app thus maintaining uniformity across the page and making the selection process easier for the end user. 

The general approach to most  photo-shoots done today (where images will be either used on social media or printed for banners) is a step-by-step process with serious co-ordination between the photographer, stylist and chef. The requirement of such projects are wide selections of images shot in different set-ups - solid smooth backgrounds, actual restaurant tables or staged sets with wooden planks, linens, props and more. Staged sets are where the work of stylists can really shine with their ideas of layouts, choice of textures and selection of colors. The work of the stylist is not just related to the above, but also continues sometimes to re-plating an entire dish from scratch using best of the cooked elements, placing them carefully in order to directly draw the viewer to the prime element and their precisely picked and placed pieces of garnish on top.

There are a handful of minutes allotted to each shot before the elements start to lose their moisture and appear dry. At times, the food is revived by brushing oil or spraying a mixture of glycerin and water to make salad or fruit appear fresh and covered with dewy droplets. Styling also extends to utilising mashed potato for making perfect- looking scoops of ice-cream that literally never melt or change texture under the harshest of lighting . Cotton-tipped swabs, chopsticks and tweezers are must haves in a toolkit that enables cleaning surfaces without getting your hands close to the food or picking a twig of parsley and turning it around to an angle just enough for that perfect contour. 

Food photo-shoots are as stressful as any other shoots since these are generally carried out in a certain area of the restaurant itself, thus sacrificing a few tables and all this takes place during the kitchen staff’s working hours. There’s no scope of a retake on the following day. Every hour, every minute, every attempt at every dish is valuable. The culmination is always rewarding when the food goes from looking pretty in a plate to “Wow, I want to have THAT for dinner tonight! Let’s book a table, shall we?” 

A frequently updated collection of contemporary food imagery directed by Assad Dadan.

Edited by Sara Mahdi

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Sassy Spoon Bandra.

Now, Sassy Spoon needs no introduction to the Bombay audience (the well aware ones), their first branch at Nariman Point has been know for consistently great food helmed by Chef Irfan Pabaney and Chef Rachel Goenka, but also has been regarded as a pricier affair with dishes coming off the skillet at 895 and 995 at the peak for mains like Srilankan baby lamb shanks, pan seared grouper, baked fish and lot more.

The story is a lot different with the Bandra outlet, more accessible in terms of the pricing and more casual (may get noisy especially at the tables inside the bar area), though it does attract the right kind of audience, suburban and willing to spend a decent amount for a meal out at an upper class restaurant. The team has certainly replicated all the essential vibes and spot-on cooking just like at the SoBo branch and almost at a per plate cost that is around approximately 15-20% lesser than the former.

Starting off with one of the best plates from the afternoon, Tenderloin Burger that arrived open-faced with pulled meat, purple lettuce, black olive, chopped peppers all roughly stacked under a sunny side. The burger plate can easily pass off as a plate of main course considering that there is a slightly dignified way of eating this layered beauty inside a deep plate inch by inch, fries after fries. While the 'Cajun spiced Butter Garlic Prawns' does come across as a very Jamie Oliver styled checkered towel wrapped dish in a rustic pan, the melted butter infused with garlic and the Cajun spice mix don't quite compliment each other well or fuse the flavours when you dunk the baguette generously and follow through with a bite of a prawn. What rather comes unpredictably appreciable is the plate of Seafood Couscous Salad. A mellow mix of couscous, prawns and squid, coupled with coriander and a little heat from sliced red chili, all enveloped in a slightly lemony taste. The 'Rava crusted Bombil' was a close to satisfactory attempt at serving a local, yet less appreciated fish with a mild change of including coriander paste as an under-coat before the final semolina dunk.

The place is incomplete without the occasionally loud chatter at the bar, and it would be unfair to not give equal credit to the guys behind the bar for coming up with some well-balanced concoctions like the Mulberry and Orange infused version of Kala Khatta or the Kokum, Chili, Cilantro and Soda stirred 'Soul Cooler' or a simple one with Ginger, Lemon and Basil (Herby) that works a great taste-buds cleanser.

A perfectly timed gap later, the table was greeted with a few more plates- French Onion Melt, Spiced Chicken Wings and Coconut Prawns with Appam; all three succeeding the prior in areas of taste and execution. The Coconut Prawns dish was sequentially the last to reach the table, but the first to get wiped clean. That good! What makes it stupendously overindulgent is the combination of familiar coastal ingredients of prawns cooked in spiced coconut milk along with water chestnut, garnished with crushed peanut and tempered curry leaves all sitting inside a beautiful lacy Appam (always advisable to call for an extra Appam beforehand). The French Onion Melt is something that can never go wrong; warm melting Gruyere intertwined with caramelized onion and sandwiched between buttered bread. The same can be said for classics like Chicken Wings which were more peppery-pungent than spicy-hot and came doused with a spoonful of marmalade glaze on top, which cuts through what may have been a lopsided affair of just chicken and pepper.

With nine plates of food, three mocktails and a beer, this meal proved to be an absolute bang for bucks affair; To be precise, five thousand and forty rupees (inclusive of all the layered taxes) between five is a great price to pay per head. Easily one of the more memorable meal from the recent past, with the Couscous Seafood Salad, Coconut Prawn Appams and Tenderloin Burger being the conquerors of palates, and a deal that was only sweetened by a closing plate of Dark Chocolate Basil Fondant with an oozing liquid center and a basil pine nut ice-cream. 

*This meal was followed by two more outings in the next week, a quick high tea with day's chicken sandwich plus tea and a slightly healthy dinner of day's special pumpkin soup plus basil grilled chicken, broccoli, green apple and soft eggs salad, both consistently good with a relatively calmer atmosphere of a weekday (as compared to the weekend brunch), and yet again, not too heavy on the wallet.

*This visit was conducted anonymously and Medium&Rare paid for the meal.

Just like any other human being, my breakfast was incomplete without a bowl of cereal and milk, while lunch was incomplete without a bowl of curd. Unfortunately, my body didn’t quite agree with my love for dairy. My digestion started acting up, I started breaking out into acne and I was always low on energy... Of course being a nutritionist I had to do something to fix myself before I could even guide anyone else. Though, according to me I was eating a healthy well balanced diet I somehow still wasn’t feeling my best.

That’s when I introspected my diet on closely studying the foods I was eating and with some research, I came across a lot of facts which actually explained how damaging dairy is for the body. So, I stopped consuming milk and milk products in my daily diet and saw a tremendous change in the way I felt. My skin looked better and my digestion became smoother. If you’re tempted to jump on to the Vegan bandwagon, but are unsure, I have listed the main reasons why milk is not beneficial for humans:

• Not the best source of nutrition

We are the only species who drink another species’ milk after weaning. Our common practise of heating milk excessively to kill the bacteria, also kills the good bacteria and enzymes present, this changes the chemistry of the milk and destroys all the heat sensitive vitamins, leaving you with a dead and heavy to digest white liquid.

 

• The nutritional balance is off

Human milk is ideal for the growth of the baby. It has the perfect blend of nutrients in the right proportion to help a baby grow. Animal milk, on the other hand has 3 times more protein than human milk. The amount of growth hormones present in animal milk is excessive for human growth, but it’s perfect for the growth of its own baby.

 

• We cannot digest it

By the age of 3-4 humans start losing enzymes which help digest the protein and lactose in the milk, no wonder why so many kids dislike or throw up when they drink milk but we don’t get the point and force it down their throat. With the lack of enzymes, the undigested milk stays in the stomach surrounding the other food we eat, hampering the digestion process. This leads to gas formation, bloating and heaviness, becoming toxic for the body. So, the milk which we were supposedly having for energy gives us none and drains us because the body has to work harder to break it down. That explains the lethargy and constant fatigue we experience.

 

• Milk is acidic and causes bone loss

Milk is alkaline but on digestion becomes acidic. So, to keep our blood at 7.3 pH, our body uses calcium from our bones to neutralize this acid. Also, the calcium in Cow’s milk is not easily absorbed, so dispel any notions of milk being the best source of calcium.
 

• Mucous overload

Milk is a mucous causing food which leads to respiratory issues, cold, cough, asthma, etc.

• Pure milk is a modern day myth

Gone are the days when our ancestors had fresh, raw, milk directly from the udder of the animal. Today the milk we consume is not even 1 % close to what milk use to be like back then. Animals are given oxytocin hormones to produce excess milk, they are subjected to mechanical lactation process which actually bruises their udder and sometimes causes the blood and pus to even enter the milk. Cows are also given antibiotics to sustain all this and ultimately the absolutely impure milk is further adulterated with unclean water.

These hormones and chemicals ultimately make way into your body causing acne, skin issues, allergies and hormonal imbalances. No wonder why we see girls attaining puberty as early as the age of 6 now a days and why some women menopause way before their age.

I know it might be a task initially to remove milk, it’s a childhood habit which makes it difficult for you to wean yourself off it. But, there are a host of other options like almond milk, cashew milk and coconut milk that are not only nutritious, but delicious too!

Don’t follow the crowd, listen to what your body is saying and see the difference for yourself.

Content by - Neha Chandna

Edited by - Farozan Dossani

About Neha

A nutritionist, counselor, writer, motivator and wellness expert. As a nutritionist slash wellness coach, Neha creates customized diet plan and guides in tweaking your lifestyle based on your fitness goals. Spanning over 8 years of experience in diet & nutrition, Neha has worked with reputed gyms, fitness trainers, doctors and physiotherapists, delivered health talks for corporate, written articles for magazines and health portals and haven been associated with well-known brands as their nutrition consultant.

❤ http://www.nehachandna.com ❤ Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/nehadietician ❤ Blog: http://nehachandnadietician.blogspot.in/ ❤ Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamnehachandna ❤ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neha_chandna/ ❤ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4Vx4Xdg29D-obxei8Iw5gA

Thus, this updated version of #WhereToEatInBandra is broken down into three new categories Drinks, Quick Grub and Desserts.

It's officially accepted that all of Mumbai drives down to Bandra every Saturday evening. And perhaps, these following places are a testament to the mad rush that each one of them cater to until late night.

Doolally

If beer is you call, errr if craft beer is your call, then Doolally is your place to meet all the hipster social media nerds, marketing geniuses or the creative man-buns. Although you can, on any day, begin with their kickass breakfast of champions with a pint of beer, it's the weekend when the scene here is absolute (as hipsters say) 'lit'. If on a budget, call for full pint and a portion of house fries with dips (level : epic). The chicken skewers are equally neat as well. If sharing in a group, go for a plate full of Cajun Scotch Eggs, Chicken Crostini, Hot Wings and Goan Calzones. Also, their Vindaloo Bunny Chow is impeccably good.

Half Pint : 150 bucks, Full : 250 bucks, Large house fries : 250 bucks, Sharing plates : 750 bucks.

Beer guide:

Giggly light : Go for either of the cider.

Light & Crisp, Something German : Hefeweizen

Dark and roasted : Oatmeal Stout. They occasionally do have Porter as well; ask the server.

Monkey Bar

Monkey Bar has been around for a year and more now, runs packed on evening and weekend, serves cocktails like 'Saat Raasta' which is a potent mix of Jaegermeister, Absinthe, Vodka, Gin, Rum, Tequila, Beer, Triple Sec, Ginger Juice and a dash of coriander. Sounds quite a mouthful and probably is your ticket to getting over the abysmal life you had at work on the weekdays. If you like to go a little subtle, then go for their 'Hipster Smash' which has a base of Absolut, Cucumber-Elderflower spritz, watermelon and mint. 

Mobar also has pretty interesting plates of food on their permanent menu and also experiment with one-offs like their recent Coastal Menu which was made of Buff Appams, Coastal Thali, Mandali Fry and much more. From the permanent menu, we could easily pick the Baked Brie, Galouti Killer, MoBar Ribs, Prawn Gassi and the Mobar Burger that comes in a Black Bun.

200 Bucks for pint, Starters 250 bucks onwards, Mains like Prawn Gassi and Mobar Bork are priced upwards of 450 bucks and Burgers average at 400 bucks.

Masala Bar

There's a lot to be spoken about Masala Bar. Right from the mirror-candles seventies ambience, presentation of its drinks in an almost laboratory like avatar to the plates of food that are so intentionally complex and yet will be a blink-n-miss in the relatively dark atmosphere. The drinks on a technical level are a thing of artistry as you find out that the Black Label in your cocktail is colourless or there is a burst of Curry Leaves without the actual leaves in your glass; which all happens in the small apparatus and centrifuge equipment at the end of the bar. The naming definitely won't help you decide your drink. They go from 'An Evening at Chowpatty' to 'Mumbai Matinee' to 'The Great Hornby’s Cloud' except one, the vodka based basil smoke infused legitimate version of a Bhaang - 'Bollywood Bhaang'. 'Sunset at Carter' which is a Whiskey based cocktail paired with orange, rosemary and topped with almond foam comes across as well-layered drink similar to their 'Malabar Point'-a vodka and chamomile concoction layered with thyme foam.

Food-wise, our pick remains the buttery Bheja Tawa Fry on a crostini; seared Scallops, Calamari rings with ponzu-chilli dip, their gothic version of Pav-bhaji - Carbon Bhaji prepared in charcoal dust and Pan Tossed Shrooms served on a Khari. 

Pricing is quite steep, ceiling quite low, table booking is recommended.

Kaitlyn's Beer Garden

Probably the youngest one on Bandra's drinking scene, but definitely climbed up the ladder quick due to, of course a variety of beers on the tap, match screening, live music, dance floor and yes, cheaper than the rest. Happy hours run from 12 p.m to 7 p.m, Monday to Friday.

Serving right from Belgian-wit to Kolsch, IPA to Stout and home-brew pitchers to Corona, you get them all. Ambience takes a rather serious approach on the garden aspect of the name. Don't be surprised to find a couple of trees grown indoor. As far as food goes, Although they do although every cuisine imaginable, stick to knick-knacks like fritters, potatoes, simple pizzas or beer-battered fish.

Beer on-tap goes for 225 plus taxes, Local Indian Pint at 200 plus taxes and Corona at 450 plus taxes.

Eddie's Bistro

Somehow Eddie's was not on our list last time around, and it definitely should have been. Nevertheless, this has to be the least pretentious, quintessential, compact, drinking place with neat grub. The place when you want to be socializing in Bandra, socialize subtly and not bumping into other long lost acquaintances; and over quality bourbon cocktails, sangria or negroni with crumbed chicken, grilled tenderloin strips or just a reliable burger.

A glass of Chivas 12 years old goes for 550 bucks plus taxes, Old Monk for 150, Domestic Beers for 150 onwards and Cocktails for 300 and 400 upwards. Burgers are priced at 300 plus bucks and Mains at 400 onwards. 

A mention also goes out to 'The Daily', the newly opened 10,000 sq ft! Royalty replacement 'The Drop', and Kelvin Cheung's 'One Street Over'.

We all love our food packed in a pretty box, slid inside a funky paper bag, perfect for on the move and with a whole lot of tissue papers. These quick fix places although great on the pocket, have one large issue - They pop up every month and shutter down even faster before the end of each season, thus not all make the cut and hence the list is concise.

Pack-A-Pav

From a proper pop-up operating at events and festivals across the city to finally having a permanent address in the heart of Bandra, Pack-A-Pav has seen it all. Simple plan; take a pav, place a kebab or two, toss a little garnish and spread some dip and serve in a paper plate along with fryums. Rohan Mangalorkar's Mum's recipes are a hit already with the crowd and are sold-out almost every night. 

There are in all just eight varieties of this pav and kebab slash patty combination with their respective garnishes and spreads. Our pick has to be the absolute melt in mouth Mutton Shammi, rustic Irani Chicken with basil spread, Tandoori Chicken Sriracha with red cabbage and the Four Cheese Pav. 

Mutton Shammi are priced at 130 bucks, Irani Chicken at 110 and Four Cheese at 75.

NBC, Nothing but Chicken

A wild-card of the highest order, this shop on Pali Mala road as the name says is home to everything to do with, that's right C-H-I-C-K-E-N!. While you can pick up different cuts of chicken, with bone, boneless, wings and more from the first two counters as you enter the shop, the grab & go counters are the ones towards the other end of the shop. Staring from Bistro Salad, Chicken Vada Pav, Brown Rice Pilaf, Wraps, Sandwiches and goes right up to a herb roasted full Chicken.

Also, while you can shop for raw meat or pack up some grab-n-go, they also do some really neat pre-marinated fillets in a few different options that just need a tender love from your grill pan or regular skillet.

Our Pick definitely has to the chimichurri and pommery mustard pre-marinated fillets, triple protein salad and the simple Chicken Vada Pav.

Fillets are priced at 180 bucks per 250gms, Chicken Vada Pav at 60 bucks and Herb Roasted Chicken at 180 bucks for 250gms portion.

The J

The quintessential pocket friendly joint from Churchgate has been a part of Bandra's Carter Road since a year and more now. Fries in a pouch and with everything imaginable, from Jalapeño-cheese to beans, sour cream, deep-fried fish to chicken sausage and nuggets, served with an options of Salsa, BBQ, Mayo, Pizza Sauce and many more. 

While they do wraps and burgers as well, we believe that for your best experience stick to their renowed Chilly Cheese Fries, Bollywood Fries, Chicken Nacho Fries, BBQ Chicken Fries and also a few Jain versions as well.

Fries with vegetarian add-ons start at 100 while their non-veg counterparts are prices at 150 and 160 bucks.

Daniel Pâtissier

The last year definitely belonged to Daniel's as they grew out of their tiny hole in the wall sub-outlet inside Jimme's Kitchen at Bazaar Road and opened another outlet bang in the heart of the Pali Naka junction. Daniel's was always known for two things, first the texture-perfect array of Macarons and second their rendering of the Japanese Cheesecake called Kyoto. While this city has many Macaron options these days, it's still only Yauatcha, Le 15 and Daniel who are perfecting the art day after day. Daniel initially introduced to us Macarons flavours like Bounty, Belgian Dark Chocolate, Key Lime Pie and Bubblegums among few others and has now gone ahead to introduce flavour like Olive, Morello Cherry and Elderflower; Quite an evolution of flavours!

Recommendations wise, you must pack Macarons based on your choice (75 bucks each), but certainly do not miss out on the oval shaped, delicately flavoured Japanese Cheesecake 'Kyoto' (490 bucks), their Brooklyn 'Cake Pops' (60 apiece) and Almond Rochers (390 bucks).

Poetry by Love&Cheesecake

Love&Cheesecake's latest offering 'Poetry' on Bandra's 16th & 33rd Junction is a solid step by entrepreneur Ruchyeta Bhatia and Chef Amit Sharma in reinforcing the L&C brand into a new direction of savoury treats. While Poetry does great a Kale & Anchovy Salad, an Avocado version of BLT called BLAT, Croque Madame and a crazy good Poached Eggs & Avocado on a Croissant, they also have some neat tricks from the dessert department as well like a White Chocolate Mousse with hint of dark chocolate and orange or the 'La Ramblas' which elegantly combines Olive sponge with Apricot confit on Spanish shortcrust. Gone are the days of quarter plate slices of cakes and in with the new delicately crafted, intricately detailed, complex pieces of desserts. While these pieces of artistry takes center stage at the new outlet, you can still rely on their classic celebration cakes like Godiva Cheesecake, Oreo Baked, Milk Chocolate Ganache, Strawberry Bavarian and Lemon Cold Cheesecake.

Top reco: Belgian chocolate marquise 'Devil's Desire', Lemon Almond Sponge and Strawberry Confit 'Strawberry Mojito', Chocolate Sponge and Raspberry Confit 'Sincity' and their trademark NY style Philadelphia Cream-Cheese Cheesecake.

Price-wise, all the small desserts go for 150 bucks a portion, half kilo cakes start at 750 and one kilo at 1250 onward.

La Folie Lab

The suburban cousin of the SoBo Patisserie has a more cafe-esque approach with small plates of food on the menu along with handful yet exquisite and matured sweet tooth material. While you can indulge in a posh plate of Ratatouille or Cured Salmon Tartine, you can also cut through a Pain au chocolate or mini crepes with grilled fruit and chantilly cream. 

What actually sets it apart from the crowd are offerings like Valrhona's 70% dark Guanaja Chocolate Souffle with a Salted Caramel core sitting on a chocolate tart crust and the Matcha Green Tea Pancake served with a choice of melting chocolate and truffle drizzle or berry compote, creme fraiche and chocolate chips. Grab these sweet and savoury beauties and a side of perfect Italian Affogato and it appeases your soul for quality food and leaves not much of a hefty mark on the wallet.

Tartines are offered at 440 plus taxes, Ratatouille at 460 and Desserts at around 260 - 280 bucks.

A mention also goes out to Chef Anise's Star Anise Patisserie with a wide selection of pocket friendly treats, the legendary Sweetish House Mafia for their Waffle Cooke Sundae and Cookie Pizza, Sassy Spoon for that fantastic Dark Chocolate Basil Fondant, Belgian Waffle and Bombay Waffle Co. both for their consistently kickass waffles and Country of Origin for massive Dessert Jars and Hot Chocolate Spoons

Do let us know if you found anymore awesomeness in and around Bandra and we will definitely check it out.

email : curator@mediumandrare.in

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Speaking of other modes of travel, Delhi Metro is one of the finest, extensive and exhaustive rail project and also probably the best way to move around from one corner of financial district in the north like Connaught Place to the more suburb residential areas like Palam Colony and Dwarka located in the south-west. Also probably the only city in this country to have an actual metro station within the premises of its airport terminal. Fares are cheap, rapid shuttle frequencies, clean, lit in hues of warm lighting and mostly taking place at a subterranean level and rarely with a view of the open world. 

The city is absolutely filled with monuments, right from the inconspicuous ones at Hauz Khas to the more well knowns like Qutub Minar, Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Siri Fort Ruins, all the current presidential addresses and Akshardham, which is more of a ego satisfying gargantuan structure built by the right wing. While most of these structures are old and of heritage, there's one that stands out a little not only due to its architecture, but also due to its purpose, IHC or India Habitat Centre apart from being old is also a redefining artistic structure that houses arts, conferences, theatre, food, luxury suites, spas and more under one roof; sometimes even a blank space to relax, gaze at its complex roof structure and contemplate about life and universe. The only thing if the city is said to be devoid of would be tall skyscrapers, the wish of the rich and richer to own a sprawling square feet luxury pad at the thirtieth floor overlooking smog and sunrise. The NCR or National Capital Region serves as India's largest urban agglomeration that spreads over 58,332 sq-kms which includes the industrial areas of Noida and Greater Noida and the more tech-IT driven areas of Gurgaon like 'Cyberhub'. DLF Cyberhub and Cybercity spreads over 2,017,904 sq-feet in areas and houses some of the big names like Lufthansa, KPMG, Ericsson, Hero Motocorp, Royal Bank of Scotland and many such innumerable corporations inclusive under modern tech, banking and transportation labels. Encompassed in the centre of these horizontal and vertically grown towers is everything food and drinks, right from Wendy's Burger to Johnny Rockets, Hard Rock to Nando's and country favourites like Riyaz Amlani's Social that dons a look of Bombay's railway chawl to polished spaces like Farzi Cafe, Raasta, Olive Bistro, Delifrance and many more.

If Gurgaon and Noida is decorated with gigantic malls and everything expensive and immeasurable, then the heart of Delhi, Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is every compact, cramped and strictly measured. Places are let, sublet, cables running from the street side and each area reminiscing strongly of a particular trade, craft or ethnicity. Chaos, hard-work and hustle go hand in hand here. Manually pedalled cycle rickshaws fitting through the most narrowest of lanes of Chawri Bazaar and Chandni Chowk, right though an active footwear market, a wedding card market and a fabric market. Within every few meters, you can see small boards of 'Beware of pick-pockters' since the area is notorious and known for flicking of phones and wallets in the middle of the crowded lanes, but come here early, like just-past-sunrise early and you can witness a more calmer ambience. Take a walk on a street known as 'Nai Sadak' in Chawri Bazaar and ask around for  'Lotan Chole Kulchewala', a 35 year old street stall serving Delhi's breakfast and serving it by the dozens. Known for its unique flavour of the traditional Chole and topped with deep fried Aloo one can opt from a range of spiciness and is to be had with tender Kulcha. Also a stone-throw away is located another local favourite known as 'Shyam Sweets' serving Delhi's take on Puri Bhaji / Sabzi. And if the local momos are on your knock-off list, then 'Dilli Haat' seems to be the best area for trying variations of this North East migrant steamy delicacy. 

Old Delhi lanes are like a meander, every twist, every turn, every new lane is something quirky, dramatic yet noteworthy. Something similar can be experienced on the streets behind the famous Jama Masjid, particularly the Urdu Bazaar Road and Matia Mahal Road after the Magrib (evening) Namaaz where everything meaty, mostly deep fried, sometimes grilled on a stick or something deliciously thick in a bowl is waiting for you. From the Dilli wali Nihari to Butter Chicken to Kashmiri Kahwa to Mawa Jalebi, everything is ready to be served piping hot and with a side of delicious calories. Right at the start of the Matia Mahal Road is perhaps Delhi's oldest and probably India's most beloved Mughlai establishment - Dastarkhwan-e-karim or simply Karim's. Karim's opened shop in 1913 and currently is run by its fifth generation and which is known for its Nihari, Mutton Burra, Bheja, Paya, Dum Biryani, Shaami Kebabs, etc. Although Karim's is the most well-known, but if you're looking for that perfect bowl of Nihari with some succulent pink pieces of meat, then head to Al-Jawahar (there used to be a single Al-Jawahar restaurant, but now split, one is renovated and the other one still old school) for their version of Nihari. The gravy is bright, flavourful and the meat ever so tender that it breaks apart upon touch. Bite after bite and you can taste the layers of masala and the complexity of its cooking, all combined with the aroma of some fresh off the tandoor, khamiri roti. Just like Karim's, Al-Jawahar too tempts you to indulge into their Biryani, Paya and Karahi Mutton and Chicken. A few metres ahead is another prominent stop, doing something illegal with the classic dish Butter Chicken. 'Aslam Butter Chicken' is known for its twist on the celebrated boneless chicken gravy. The dish starts with pieces of tandoor cooked chicken legs and breast, which are chopped into three to four pieces; a quick spoonful of yogurt and blend of spices is thrown on top, gently massaged and keep aside while in a burning hot pan a chunk of butter is rapidly melted and brought to a bubbling consistency and immediately poured on the chunks of chicken. The dish is served with again with khamiri roti. The lane is absolutely packed with novelties after novelties like Sweet Sheermaal, piping hot Mawa Jalebis and a large percentage of the stalls and shops selling Tikkas and a whole Tandoori Chicken. Also if you keep some ten'ers handy, you can pick from a plate of quickly sliced pineapple, kiwi or mango, whichever fruit is in season. Perfect for cleaning the palate while hitching a ride on the rickshaw and back to the metro station.

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It is almost impossible to not realise that Delhi has many pockets in the city that have settlements from North East and many markets and villages that have been built after the independence and separation to accommodate immigrants and provide them with a living. Khan Market is one such real estate space and one of the costliest retail space in India. Made up of an array of shops in a U formation, from everything local to reputed clothing brands, artefacts shops and everything food & drink. Probably one of the best place for an all in one socialising avenue and somewhat of a miniature replica of the mammoth sector 29 of Gurgaon. Perhaps, where you should make a few stops are: Khan Chacha for tantalizing kebabs, Big Chill for it's The Big Chill, Harry's for drinks and open verandah vibe, Perch for wines, La Bodega for quality Mexican fare, La Vie for their Pizzas, Barcelos for African fare and L'Opera for some top notch cakes and baked goods. It's this community like arrangement, similar to the one at Hauz Khas that makes places like these such an indulgent affair. One place and over a fifty options! 

Delhi is just like what a metropolis is supposed to be, massive, posh at the right places, impoverished at every few kilometres, polluted and full of gridlocks. Its soul lies in its heritage, history, capital status and of course the cuisine that trickled from kitchen of the royalties, their painstakingly long recipes and inventing dishes which were rich, like rich with fats, gloss and texture.

It is impossible to experience all of Delhi in one trip, one long stay, one deep breathe; it is largely royal, sometimes humble, and where people are unmistakably vocal about their attitude. As they say, if you have it, flaunt it!

Our location in Kochi was at Thoppumpudy, a tiny town on the last island where also lies Fort Kochi a town once ruled by almost all major European nations, but largely used by the Portuguese as a colony and also one of the main trade ports. To understand the different areas of Kochi, consider them as many islands connected together by bridges and waterways, like the adjacent Willingdon Island which serves as a Naval base with an airstrip or another one like Vypin, which is to the north of Fort Kochi, another town with long and lonely pristine beaches or the mainland metropolis Ernakulum, which is also the home for the ship-building 'Cochin Shipyard' and where this nation's prominent warships come for dry repairs. 

Thoppumpudy is unique, diversely filled with all the craziness that a small town can probably offer, from dozens of traditional cafes that treat you to appams, parotha-curry, puttu, fried fritters, biryani, fried chicken, tapioca preparations or just plain good old milkshakes. Coming from a city like Bombay, I found the prices of fruits to be much cheaper and hence makes sense to have cafes highlighting milkshakes and fresh juices on their menu, though what is a little hard to find is a cup of thick creamy chai that we are used to, and what we were treated to in the city of Nizams. Chai here is a concoction between the actual tea, coffee and something where milk and tea have exchanged roles. If there's one thing that Kochi needs to learn, is to have a few places that can make Chai like a caffeine kicking, soul-stirring and carrying a hint of lemongrass in its taste. Thoppumpudy also serves as the main market for everything shopping and as a hub for public transport; Also just to put things into perspective the cab ride cost us 1100 bucks from Cochin Airport to Thoppumpudy, while a ride in an air conditioned bus that arrives every half an hour will cost you a mere 80 bucks per person and a round trip from Thoppumpudy to city centre Ernakulum costs 34 bucks in a regular bus. So if you plan to explore this place on your own, public transport is the way to go.

Since we were to lug around with camera equip and make constant trips to different corners of all the islands, it only made sense to utilize a car we had access to, making things a lot easier. First day trip was to the waterfront town of Fort Kochi. The place wears a definitive Portuguese look with its cathedrals, general architecture of residences and also the naming of the streets, while a major chunk of the town also is known for its long Jewish affair, an old and active synagogue and also a handful of Jews who are said to be still living here in Mattancherry. We caught up with Tanya Abraham, a Fort Kochi resident and who also runs Kashi Art Cafe on Burgher Street. Tanya being born and brought up in Fort Kochi has a special association with the town, its people and lot with contemporary arts. Kashi is more than cafe, its entrance is a hall dedicated to paintings and installation of homegrown talents and which also hosts exhibitions of a regular basis to give artists a push in the right direction. Tanya's grandfather had an important role to play in planning of the town post freedom, her house being a centre for meetings. Her mother came from the Syrian Catholic community and brought with her a different style of cooking, a way to smoke appams, simpler variation of Kerala's staple -Karimeen Pollichathu and a lot more. It is from her that Tanya derived a penchant to learn recipes, document them, source more recipes from around the town and preserve the food history and the uniqueness of Fort Kochi is the form of an upcoming book waiting to be published. Prior to this, Tanya has published a book called 'Untold Stories from Fort Kochi' which speaks about the trade history, rise of Kochi and everything important to this tiny town.

Mattancherry as mentioned above is the place where one can find Jewish influences, but it also is a melting pot of many religions like kacchi memons, saraswat brahmins, jains, gujaratis, syrian catholics and malyalis. It is this mix of culture that also sees an influence on the food with a variety of restaurants catering to each one of these sects and it also happens to be one of India's biggest spice trade market. A trip to Mattancherry will be incomplete if you didn't try the Biryani at Kayees Rahmathulla Cafe. Although Kayees does everything that any other restaurant does in its vicinity, but its fame has been build by its biryani; quite peppery, simpler in taste, comes with bit of pineapple in its masala and served with papad, tamarind chutney and spicy tomato chutney. 

On days when there's nothing to be done, it's best to catch the ferry from the tip of Fort Kochi to Vypin and come to Matsyafed Brackish Fish Farm close to Njarackal Beach. You can choose between relaxing in a hammock by periphery of the aqua farm with a view of water and coconut tress or as I did, get a fishing stick, some feed, take a tiny boat, paddle across into the center of the farm, dab a little feed on the hook and drop it into the water hoping you will catch at least one grown up fish in the remaining time. What I indeed end up catching was a baby fish towards the edge of farm. A futile attempt at fishing, but counted for a good experience. A rough pathway from Matsyafed leads you to the beach which almost resembles a private land with white sand and without a single soul as far as our eyes can go.

The landscape of Kochi is ever-changing and can quickly switch from a beach with huge Chinese fishing nets to shipyard to a naval base to a sea of houseboats. Although houseboats are more found in towards Alappuzha, you can start to see a few of these right as you leave Edakochi. Once in Alappuzha, certain areas like Mullakkal serve has hubs for renting these massive, decorated some two to three floored boats packed with all modern comforts, a bedroom, kitchen and a living space. The overnight stay cost us around three thousand where the boat stays docked through the night and starts on a tour of the backwaters at sunrise, which is followed by breakfast and finally a drop back at the base. The other option is the one that starts at around five grand, and from morning, passing through the backwaters, fishing and cooking the catch for lunch, relaxing in the afternoon and returning just around sunset.

The south of Kochi is famous for such houseboats and also a plenty of Toddy Shops. We experienced one such well-known shop 'Mulapanthal Toddy Shop' at Udayamperoor, which is located on the outskirts of Ernakulum. A hut like structure, dark, grungy interiors, plastic tables and every table with a pot, jug or bottle of Toddy in the center. Toddy for those who are not familiar is fermented alcoholic coconut drink, also called known as 'Coconut Beer'. Places like these are known for two things and two things only; One – serving the common man backwater coconut beverage a.k.a Toddy and Two – making some mean and spicy Kerala dishes like these : Banana leaf wrapped Pearl Fish preparation-Karimeen Pollichathu, a slow cooked 'Meen Thala Curry' which essentially is a tangy gravy dish made from Seer fish head and the popular Kerala Kappa Masala made from Tapioca. And while you're at it, don't be surprised to find fried frog legs, rabbit and some more uncommon meat. All this and more served with zero decor, maximum flavours and gloriously washed down with some funky smelling toddy.

Staying in Kochi is completely different from any other part of Kerala due to its constantly varying scenery, ethnicity and cuisine. Life is technically slow here, just like it is in most of none-metro places as mentioned by 'Umar Farook' of Solar Cafe. Just like him, many tourist oriented businesses run from August to April and the remaining four to five months is for, as he puts it "for relaxation"; and also primarily due to the off-season months. And just like, many others Farook hopes that the government takes the right step to preserve the history of this quaint little town, the old lanes, cobblestone pavements, revive the baking of Dutch Bruder and look beyond Houseboats and Chinese fishing nets as the attraction for the rest of the world.

Link to 'I Was Here - Kochi Episode 07'

Keep these like aces in your sleeves:

1. Value your work. 2. Don't undersell yourself.

3. At times, Learn to let go of work (Most Important)

Yes, sometimes letting projects go away and it being executed by someone else can reap its own benefits. If you value your work enough, at times you may just put down your feet and say 'No, sorry I won't be able to work under that budget'. And if you really are good at your work, skilled as hell that no one else is able to reproduce the exact same quality of work, then you will see the exact same client come to you after a few months and ask you to work on their next project since they chose someone based on lower budget and that didn't work out well for the brand at the end of the day.

I photograph food for a living, I live, eat, spend umpteen of hours meeting people, chefs, managers, marketing top-notches to understand the brand, the food and the experience. I also eat at these places, make a good rapport with the service staff, make sure to ask a few questions to the chefs or sometimes may be just talk to them and ask them how their day was. Indirectly or consequentially I learn about their belief in the food (or if not), learn about commitment to the work and also get to know them as a person, all of which helps you on the day of your work. The better you know them, the better you know who's good at plating, who's good at styling, who's in sync with you when you show them references of how you want the plate to look like. All this helps smoothen the work on that crucial day and you end up with some fantastic pictures of drool-worthy frozen yogurt in a waffle, dim-sums in a basket with steam rising just as you opened the lid or a simple yet elegantly stacked juicy tenderloin burger where the sauce is just about to drip and the cheese ever so perfectly melted.

Training: 

Yes, that's what this post is more centred at. Nine out of ten times, you will be shown an unachievable reference of the end product desired by them, the task of which will carry a budget that can barely come close to producing something that looks or works half the reference. Now, I know the faces we all make and the things we say. "Sure, This is achievable", "Sure, This is achievable, but the budget is just not right enough" or "Sure, only for this one time I can do it in this budget, next time I won't be able to". Well, in all the three scenarios you may have the project in your pocket, but either you are making nothing, something or a little more than something. It's great, if you actually made something from it, but did you in turn ever give back anything to make your further work more smoother? Never did you ask questions, help them understand your work, efforts going into doing that work or for them to understand how long did it take you to acquire those skills that you are able to illustrate a logo in under an hour and which would have taken anyone else over six hours, leave apart the precision and the finesse of your work; Thus creating a one-time relation that barely any client or people of the organisation that worked with you on that project will value or remember you for, and maybe just when one of that influential person joins a new firm, chances are that one person who loved your approach actually remembered you and your work and went on to recommend your name to this task at the new firm. That's what I believe in - build long term relations with people, some may benefit you in your professional life while some may evolve out to be your drinking buddies or just very close friends.

Thus in my experience of working in these professional photo-shoots, I have made some great acquaintances who take care of me at work, feed me well, understand my subject (do not interfere on technical topics and leave it to my discretion), provide as much support on-location and lastly, make sure my invoices are processed at priorities, and some have even been such helpful beings that they have gone ahead to deposit cheques into my account, sent me screenshot of the deposit slip and done all this with a smile and zero nagging. 

The crux is that treat people well, help them understand your work, value your creative slash technical side; and once you've secured the task, just make sure to kick-ass.

Walking past Charminar, we stopped at Nimrah Cafe (which has some quality cup of creamy Irani chai), glanced at Pista House (known for its Haleem during Ramzan), before finally arriving at the much talked about Shah Ghouse Cafe for one thing and one thing only - Dum Biryani. We hadn't had a proper meal since getting off the bus, anticipating that the ride and then the walk to Shah Ghouse would be worth that plate of rice and meat. And mostly it was, every morsel of that Biryani, every bite of the Chicken with that minimal marination was tasteful and the plate along with bowls of Mirchi ka salan and Kachumbar (Raita) were wiped clean in less than ten minutes. I am sure it was tasty, or it could just have been the hunger? First plate of Biryani in Hyderabad had turned out to be a big thumbs up. Perhaps, a sign of tasty things to come in the next 10 days.

That evening was spent wandering around, absorbing the place, the people, the way of things and more importantly understanding the cultural difference between this part and the part of city that we were staying and more used to. Although the visuals provide a clear demarcation of the class of people, the unity across religion is very obvious and perhaps a great sign. The language is Dakhini, and it is indeed the flavour of the place. They are known by their haus and nakos and extensive use of baigan as a profanity, adjective, noun, pronoun and anything in between.

The agenda for the next day or two was to ride around the length and breadth of the city to get an understanding of the location of prominent places that we had setup interviews at and also to move around catching some local scenes from not just Charminar. We actually started from Hitech City, travelled to Begumpet on the east side and then drove down to Barkas in the south, more closer to the airport, and back home again sipping Chai, munching on Pattice and of course looking for more of Nihari, Kheema, Khatti Dal or another plate of Biryani. We had our meeting scheduled with Elahe Hiptoola (prominent Hyderabadi actress and now also a movie producer) at Hyderabad's well-known open cultural space 'Lamakaan' located in Banjara Hills. Lamakaan belonged to Ashhar Farhan's (now one of the four pillars of Lamakaan) uncle 'Moyed Hasan'. A short conversation with Elahe over Chai, Samosa and everything Hyderabadi we went back to Jubilee only to find ourselves with exactly that much energy left as needed to make it to Charcoal in Madhapur for some local burgers. And, oh boy, was that a treat of some kind. A corner house-patio converted into a grill house flipping Chicken, Mutton, Fish fillets and sliding them into buns with minimal dressing and slices of cucumber, tomato and some lettuce. Everything here was pocket friendly and makes for a perfect location for the hostel hungry neighbourhood. Their Indian Salmon Burger has to be our pick from all that we had. At around 140 to 180 bucks a piece, these burgers were absolute bang for bucks.

On Day Four, the plan was to meet Murthy a.k.a Murthovic (well-known Electronica artist) at his studio in Begumpet. Murthy, who grew up in the city, performed local gigs that initially fuelled his passion, worked different professions until he could start on what he was always addicted to, Electronica from the West. As he confesses, making a name in the genre of an unidentified type of music was never going to be easy; especially, having a talk with the family who has served in the Indian Army since two generations, but once set on his journey he hasn't stopped and is now regarded as one of India's top electronic music producer. We shot an hour long interview with Murthy at his terrace, a part of which he dedicates to developing his very own micro garden. Turns out that this Music Producer can cook, and cook some complex dishes like Rogan Josh, Biryani and the household favourite 'Khatti Dal'.

Wrapping up from Murthy's studio, we were on the quest for a plain, not another plate of extravagant Biryani, but something light or perhaps, off the beaten path. And it turned out to be just that way at 'Kabul Darbar' in Lakdikapul. The aroma of Chicken Sajji enveloped the entire corner of the street, followed by the sights and sounds of Afghani Paratha being pulled out of the flaming hot tandoor and a pit of red earth where couple a dozen chicken were cooked slowly over open flame. We spoke to the owner Azam Khan just out of curiosity and found that most of his food is exactly what the Khanabadoshi people from the mountain side in Afghan have been cooking, while they hiked from one end to the other, carrying with them livestock which they would sacrifice in a religious way and prepare the flesh near camping fire and used a handful of spices in its preparation. We would have loved to indulge in their Kabuli Pulao, but the goal was set: Anything, but rice! So Chicken Sajji, Chopan Kebab and a large Paratha was devoured at peace on a velvety dastarkhwan. 

So far Hyderabad had been very satisfying, visually with its archaeological greatness and also by means of food-very superior and where people have an understanding and acceptance for only use of quality ingredients and not just any mish-mash that you would grab-n-go in any other fast-paced metropolis, but not here. Neither is the pace fast, nor do the people believe in anyone who opts in its favour. Let's just say they are inert in a different way, mildly hard-working, but more importantly they believe in enjoying family and friend's company more than a digital association with their smartphone or any social network. People here like to catch up for Chai at any given time and occasion. I love such people who can serve me a mind-boggling cup of tea late at two o'clock in the morning and that too with a calculative ratio of Tea&Milk and finish with a couple of spoonfuls of evaporated milk. Slurp!

Rest of the days were reserved for shooting at Barkas, few events at Lamakaan, Thali from Kakatiya Deluxe Mess in Kukatpally, trekking the Golconda Fort and gathering a bank of time-lapses. Barkas already sounded tough, not physically, but visually to capture it's entirety in a few hours, get local information and lastly to feast on a massive extra-extra large plate of Yemeni Laham Mandi; Rice, Goat's Meat, few chops served with chutney, kachumbar and something that's only an art to finish within two people. The landscape of Barkas in general is very barren, made up of short exposed-brick buildings usually painted with advertisement of local brands, many mosques, beef shops, and whole lot of dust storm in hues of brown and beige. Once past the gorgeous Falaknuma Palace at Enginebowli, the start of Barkas's territory is easily distinguishable. When mentioned to a few people that we made a trip to Barkas for some exotic Mandi, the reactions were 'Yes, they've heard of it, but never been there'. A sense of achievement was unlocked on every such occasions that we took it as a task, travelled and now have a tale to tell.

Considering we had a week and half on hand to capture all of the Hyderabad and it's near-far sections, we managed to nail almost all talked-about areas and ate at most of them too. Luqmi, Khatti Dal, Qeema Khichdi, Patthar ka gosht, Paya Shorba, Haleem, Warangal style full-fledged vegetarian meal and some 10 different plates of Biryani and Mandi had been consumed, most of these washed down with a cup of chai.

If I have a long weekend on hand, my bike agreeing to participate in another chapter of long rides, then a twelve hour ride to Hyderabad is surely on the cards. 

See you soon Hyderabad! You've been an incomprehensible dose of awesomeness.

Here's the list of our recommedations for eating out in Hyderabad:

1. Nimrah Cafe, Charminar - Chai & Biscuit.
2. Shah Ghouse, Charminar - Biryani (Any).
3. Dinehill, Masab Tank - Kabsa Mandi.
4. Sarvi, Banjara Hills - Patthar ka gosh.
5. Cafe Bahar, Basheerbagh - Chicken Biryani (Highly Recomended).
6. Lamakaan, Banjara Hills - Qeema Khichdi, Chai Samosa.
7. Charcoal, Madhapur - Indian Salmon Burger, Mutton Terminator, Juicy Lucy.
8. Hotel Savera, Malakpet - Kalyani Biryani.
9. Diamond Hotel Tea Point, Banjara - Irani Chai (open until 2 a.m).
10. Grand Hotel, Abids - Biryani, Rogan Josh.
11. Kabul Darbar, Lakdikapul - Chopan, Sajji, Chapli Kebabs, Afghani Paratha, Kabuli Pulao.
12. Matam Al Arabi, Chandrayangutta - Laham Mandi, Fish Mandi, Batair Mandi.
13. Kakatiya Deluxe Mess, Ameerpet - Thalli.
14. Rayalaseema Ruchulu - Anything from Rayalaseema cuisine.
15. Pista House, Charminar - Haleem

Watch the 'I Was Here - Hyderabad' full episodes here:

Nuvofoodies extended an invite to us to try out a lunch meal from them and we were delivered the following two packages at our doorsteps:

1. Amritsari Paneer Salan with Chapati and Rice.

2. Chicken Tenders with tropical guava reduction, cous-cous and roasted vegetables. Side portion of mixed vegetable salad.

Both of these meal packages came with a Banana each.

Specifications out of the way and let's get down to what's inside these boxes. 

The 'Chicken Tenders' box looked promising and packed to the brim. At 200 odd bucks (if gone ahead with the 20 meals-4 weeks plan) this one turned out to be an absolute value for money, light on the gut and packed with the right mix of proteins and carbs. The Chicken seemed to have gone a tad overcooked and dry, but flavours mentioned on the label come right through. All three elements Chicken, Cous-Cous and roasted vegetables were in just the right proportion to each other. The meal came with an additional bowl of veggies similar to the ones in the main dish, added thinly sliced Paneer and with a finish of sesame-garlic vinaigrette on top.

Amritsari Paneer Salan with Chapati & Rice was the second package. The thick curry was tasteful and contained enough cubes of Paneer as well, though the quantity seemed a little meagre for dunking two chapatis and a portion of moist rice. Again, at 200 bucks this package seems not very justified. Preferably a larger portion of the gravy itself and a few more slices of cucumber and carrot wouldn't do harm to the costing at the makers end.

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The ever-changing menu acts as a factor that can certainly draw it's returning clients and has a lot more of Sandwiches, Pasta and Salad on board with a fewer Indian meals. Ideally if you're looking a wholesome Indian meal day after day, then this would be a disappointment. Their strong side is their Continental menu that offers some unusual dishes like Honey Mustard glazed Chicken, Grilled Chimichurri Sandwich, Jamaican jerk rub Cottage Cheese et al and seems like a more redeeming affair than the Indian one. If one has to choose between going ahead with a half monthly (1700/-) or monthly plan (3200/-), then we strictly suggest to getting used to the minimum commitment package (1 week-900/-), gauge if their style of meals suit your palate or not. It goes without saying that the vegetarian meals should be like their continental ones, bang for buck, packed to the brim with solid portions of proteins and veggies.

This being our first try from 3SqrMeals does not let us draw any verdict on their food or service. We plan to try a few more A la carte meals from them and reserve our judgement for later.

Currently they do not deliver all over Mumbai, which can disappoint many a clients from Andheri, Chembur, Powai and Juhu. 

You can order can your 3SqrMeals from https://3sqrmeals.com/

Two Thousand Sixteen has seen restaurants move to minimal bright décor and recycling old material to create a grunge ambiance inside chic white-wash painted walls or industrial style exposed brickwork. Not everyone has conformed to this trend, clearly not Massive Restaurants who have moved to a more modern red and white pixelated décor at Papaya and now their newest Bandra baby 'MasalaBar' that believes in reviving the eighties Feroz Khan's Qurbani disco vibe with stained mirrors and mix-matching it with Dumbledore's room of candles and sorcery, sorcery of potent spirits served with grandiose. Masala Bar is every bit in your face, right from the presentation of its drinks in an almost laboratory like avatar to the plates of food that are so intentionally complex and yet will be a blink-n-miss in the relatively dark atmosphere.

There is an outright import of its all-Delhi team and their attempt to explain a regular Mumbaikar about Bandstand, Chowpatty, Sasoon Dock or Malabar Hill and how the drinks associate to each of these landmarks comes across as too much of a cliché. However the drinks on a technical level are a thing of artistry as you find out that the Black Label in your cocktail is colourless or there is a burst of Curry Leaves without the actual leaves in your glass; which all happens in the small apparatus and centrifuge equipment at the end of the bar. The naming definitely won't help you decide your drink. They go from 'An Evening at Chowpatty' to 'Mumbai Matinee' to 'The Great Hornby’s Cloud' except one, the vodka based basil smoke infused legitimate version of a Bhaang - 'Bollywood Bhaang' served in a skull shaped crystalware with a leafy knot to it's forehead. 'Sunset at Carter' which is a Whiskey based cocktail paired with orange, rosemary and topped with almond foam comes across as well-layered drink similar to their 'Malabar Point'-a vodka and chamomile concoction layered with thyme foam. There is a lot on offer here, many infusions, some work some don't; like the 'Filter Kaafi-Uska' that relies a lot on theatrical of a portable mini-garden and burnt cinnamon exhalation.

Being a bar-place from the house of Massive and having a prefix of Masala in its name means there are equally high expectation of a rekindled romance of Indian-fusion types. Well, they had to have that and Yes! they do have that; yet again fancy and playful food, which seems to get lost in the candlelight ambiance of the place. You can start yourself off with a stereotypical 'Chakna' which is now tempura batter fried chana and garlic or a plate of a more upmarket 'Truffle Fries'. What stuck out like a fine appetiser from the entire array that was served to us were three plates: First, the buttery Bheja Tawa Fry on a crostini; Second, the Pan Tossed Shrooms that were served on Khari and third, the squid-ink prepared gothic version of Pav-bhaji (also prepared in charcoal dust for vegetarians) and labelled as 'Carbon Bhaji'. Some mention also has to go to the Ponzu-chilli dip that came along the Calamari Rings and the crispy Prawns that sat inside the sliders. Seared Scallops, Chicken 65 lollipops and Masala Paneer Bhurji were the other plates that did come to the table,  but nothing remarkable with them. That Bheja on a crostini was a hit, surely would be the first order on a second visit along with a side of those crunchy fries. 

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Ultimately your pre-conceived notion may just be right, it's a place to watch the Bandra sunset by sea or take a table in the dark, order your favourite cocktail, see them arrive like a Gisele Bundchen on a runway, Instagram that moment, order suitable grub and have a good time with your pals. Don't forget that fluffy wallet of yours, it's 'Bandra' after all and it's 'Massive' after all.

This visit was made possible by the PR agency at Massive Restaurants and Ms. Renu Ubale slash @eaternityandbeyond 

Location : MasalaBar, Level 1, Gagangiri Apartments, Carter Road, Bandra West

Post Eid celebrations, this place and these meals will only will be highlighted in the next calendar year. So what is it like to visit one of these places during the month of March or any other month when it's not Ramzan?

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Although there are many pockets spread all across Bombay that have a dense Muslim population like JJ, Byculla, Dockyard, Colaba, Masjid Bunder, Kurla West, Bandra, Versova, Jogeshwari and a few more, but the most recognizable and sort-after destination during Ramzan is and always has been is the two kilometre section under JJ Flyover, namely Bhendi Bazaar, Bohari Mohalla, M.S Ali Road and also nearby areas like Mandanpura, Dongri and Pydhonie. Although it may seem like the food made famous during Ramzan is only available during that month, but the fact remains that almost 90% of the places serve the exact same fare throughout the year. The fragrant 'Nalli Nihari' from Noor Mohammedi is one such staple. Nahr / Nahar in Arabic means 'Early Morning' and if looked back into history, Nihari was indeed a breakfast dish made to be consumed after the early morning 'fajr' prayers. Later this dish trickled down from the Nawabs to the working class and still remains as an affordable power grub for the middle class at any time of the day in Muslim populated pockets across all of India. What is unique to their Nihari is the fact that as the time of the day passes by, the taste gradually becomes milder while texture become denser. The morning batch is very robust in flavour, huge hints of Black Pepper than that in the afternoon or late evening batch, which is more mellowed down and a lot richer in texture. Also make sure to order their golden brown Shaami's along with your bowl of Nihari, break some Tandoori Roti and wipe clean that bowl.

Take a walk down towards the Hotel Almas junction and proceed to M.S Ali Road for a more overwhelming experience. This lane features everything and everyone, from Kebabs-Baida Roti at Delhi Zaika to Mawa Jalebi at J.J Jalebi and piping hot Bade ke Kebabs at Nawab Seekh Corner to Galouti's at Lucknowi Tunde. These well-known tiny restaurants co-exist along with twenty-twenty five odd more such restaurants servings Dal-cha, Kabsa Pulao, Kheema Roti etc. If you're looking for some place less chaotic, then walk into one of the lanes on your left that lead you to Bohari Mohalla, a slightly more organized by-lane that houses some of the more iconic names like Surti Bara Handi, Taj Ice-cream, Haji Tikka Corner, Tawwakal Sweets and other smaller joints. Surti is one place that remains closed during lunch hours while operates at early morning after Fajr namaaz and evening. If you can make it during the operational hours, make sure to try the 'Bhel', a mixture of bone marrow, pichota (posterior leaner chunk of meat), sukha and haris, essentially a mix of meat and gravy from their nine different simmering pots. They also serve Nalli Nihari, though the flavour and body of the stew itself is more soupy and less aromatic just like the Niharis made in the Deccan side of our country especially in Hyderabad. 

A block away from Surti Bara Handi is Saifee Jubilee Street, where you will be greeted by one of the oldest pickles shop 'Heritage Pickles' followed by three restaurants that serve the exact three pots of rice-Chicken Pulao, Mutton Pulao and Zarda (sweet rice). The last one in this array-Salman Restaurant seems to be always more popular and have been our choice as well since the past four years. Salman serves what they call as the Dilli-style of Biryani which has more resemblance to Yakhni Pulao, not layered, subtly spiced and cooked in meat's own broth. At 35-40 bucks a plate, a mixture of flavourful long grain rice and few pieces of meat is an absolute value for money affair for the working class crowd.

There are a lot many similar places and hidden gems that operate throughout the year and not just during the month of Ramazan. Walk around the by-lanes, explore and you'll find unique places like the Mughlai Roti shop in Bohari Mohalla that continuously belts out kamachi, single and special roti and parathas that caters to the locals as well as the nearby restaurants. To pull the curtains on your meal order yourself a cup of creamy chai at Cafe Nizari at the Shalimar junction that tastes world apart from the regular cutting chai, but if you're the one who likes their chai without milk and with a dash of salt and lemon, then look for this unique tea shop in that half kilometre radius. There is no fun if everything is available on a silver spoon, walk around, ask a few questions, someone will eventually lead you to it.

Hint : It's flanked by a prominent masjid with mosaic work on it's facade.  

Conversation with siblings - Amit & Bhavna Dhanani from B.A.D Cafe, off Perry Cross Road.

B.A.D, a tapas bar which is now two months old is the best thing to have happened to this city in many years; Great artisanal coffee, tapas like food and Yoga all bundled into one place split into three levels - Soul, Body and Mind. 

Medium&Rare : "How did this entire idea come about?"

Amit: "Well the idea is something very personal. The concept of 'Bringing A Difference' came with the reason; we been through a lot in life and it just happened that we both had a downfall in life and decided to join hands and do something that would make a difference here, that's what we've been trying to do with our passion - Music & Yoga. Since I was ten-eleven I started cooking watching my mother in the kitchen. It was just rustic homely food that I enjoyed and always wanted to make in my kitchen. She (Bhavna) was the push needed for the project, said "Start cooking for the world, you've been cooking enough at home all these years". So I started with this whole culinary bliss, everyday I would start from scratch and put a dish on, write a blog post and eventually few months down we both felt that we can do something about this since people were responding in a positive manner saying why dont you open your own thing."

Medium&Rare : "How would you decode B.A.D?"

Amit : "Our requirement was hidden bungalow. The idea, the concept was to build something about the human body. It was something where it was all about inhale-exhale. The theory behind what we had in mind was the blacks and the whites, which is her, and the color that cuts it which is grey. that's me.  I am the grey that fills her Black & white. 

The architect who has also been my sister's mentor for many years, understood the concept and he build on it, the flow that has happened in the facade is basically his idea of flowing hair strands made of 25,992 pvc pipes. The idea was of soul, body and mind. Soul was what we wanted to offer the people with food, body was what we wanted to offer with the movement-Yoga, and the terrace was where you cultivate you the mind with a traveller's library. 

So with B.A.D, the bringing a difference, to bring something in Mumbai which means to us what we are, where we are brought up, a mix of culture of India and Spain."

Medium&Rare : The design, was this how you guys visualized this space from the begining?

Bhavna : I was very particular about the color, It had to be black and white. In terms of the exterior facade, we had another rendered option at the architect's office which was a Bamboo & Green plantation structure, but this theme of pvc pipes protuding out of the wall running in a flowing manner was immediately more indentifiable and relatable with the both of us. The interior too, It had to contain a lot of white and what other color to compliment white other than black. It's raw, it's soul of the place and speaks a lot about minimalism. I think we set-out a theme initially about yoga and human body, senses and emotion, and the architect did connect with the brief so well and this beautiful design came into existence. 

Medium&Rare : Tapas food is how you would describe B.A.D's cuisine?

Amit : More than tapas it was a traveller's menu that we had in mind. Wherever I have travelled, I wanted to bring those flavours to India. It's mainly Spanish and we wanted to basically start with the typical rustic tapas-small plates. All the crockery comes from Spain and Morocco while the cutlery is made in Muradabad. I've spent over six months to detail every single aspect of the kitchen, until I didn't have that I didn't want to even open the place. 

We wanted to bring the exact same Spanish culture here in terms of food portions and authenticity of the cuisine. A lot of people come, some of them crib that the portions are really small. What's really happened here is that there's a misconception here, with a few Spanish tapas place here that serves huge portions or some people mix South-American cusine with Spanish where the portion sizes are huge because it's a different land and culture altogether. When you come to a typical tapas the plate will have a maximum diameter of 12-13 cm and the culture is such that people usually come to tapas and order 10-12 different plates and share between themselves.

Also the people here are used to just big bites and hot food, while in the tapas culture especially in the south of Spain where we come from, there are a lot of cold dishes that are a part of the regular menu like these 'Patatas Alioli' which are boiled potatoes in Alioli sauce with pickled olives, there's a lot of flavour in that cold dish. I do 'Sardinas Vinagreta' which are 'Sardines', people here call them 'Tarli'; So it's a fish which you marinate for more than 24 hours and it cooks by itself in the vinaigrette and it tastes beautiful, even better than sautéed or fried fish. So I have slowly introduced a few cold dishes here at B.A.D as well. It's this goal of bringing an experience of subtle delicate flavours, that is what I am about. 

What we initially had in the first month was phase one, now what you see is phase two. In the next six months when the final menu rolls out, you will see a menu that educates people about what type of food suits different body types, the cold wave and the heat wave that we have inside of the body. There's a whole progressive idea to this kitchen, we'll all grow together, we are not gonna rush into anything. I believe slow and steady we'll reach there.

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Medium&Rare : So where does coffee fit into this whole idea?

Bhavna : We wanted to people to question what is this place! What is B.A.D? In one word it's an experience. There's a whole coffee culture that we also wanted to bring into the city. Our first theme in-fact was coffee. More than the food we wanted the people to get addicted to our coffee, it's artisanal unlike any of the mainstream brands .

Amit :There's a lot of depth, a story behind coffee. Soon we'll be teaching about coffee through workshops and small courses. I want to change Mumbai's perseption about what coffee is, educate people about it because I believe coffee is the future especially artisanal coffee and lot of people will jump into it in the next few years. Around the world the culture of coffee has expanded, people are doing their own roasting, making their own blend, sourcing beans, they are curating it themselves. That's what we are doing too, we are sourcing coffee from different parts of South India and we have our own roasting process to create a unqiue taste that we like, also to get the right balance in flavour. Currently we are doing a medium roast, later we want to go ahead with the medium dark roast that has a stronger body and perfect for people drinking espresso. So in six months time or a year's time our place should become a speciality place for coffee that no one else is doing.

Medium&Rare : "BAD Yoga, how's it placed in this triangle of tapas and artisanal coffee?"

Bhavna : "Actually Yoga was our initial priority, but it was not at all feasible to have all three floor just for one purpose. So the top is a travellers or readers section while the ground is for food and coffee, the upper floor is largely dedicated to yoga, currently the morning hours. 

Yin is a form of yoga that people are still little skeptical about, as opposed to the more traditional form it's an oriental form that's performed at an even slower pace- two to three minutes. It's not about losing weight which it anyways shouldn't be. I run these sessions Tuesday to Friday, 9 to 10 in the morning at the upper floor. The tables go away and the space transform into multiactivity studio. We also want people to use that space for hosting workshop, showcasing independent movies, basically do a lot of creative work."

Bhavna is a Yin Yoga instructor, one of the first in India and trained by Sarah Powers, pioneer of the same form. She has over 200 hours of Hatha Yoga from London and Morocco under her belt, also similar hours of Asthanga Vinayasa in Goa and 100 hours of Yin Yoga in Thailand. (courtesy-The Sindhian)

Medium&Rare : "As a project that you had in mind, where do you see B.A.D after a couple of years?"

Bhavna : "He(Amit) has a five year plan. I used to be planner, but now I just go with the flow. It's the other way round now; he used to be going with the flow and I used to be planner. We do not want to expand in this country; if it's India, it's Mumbai, if it's Mumbai, it's Bandra, if it's Bandra, then it's this place."

Amit : "I have four-five cities which are my favourite ones, so in the next five years after two years I plan to have two more branches. Firstly one between Dubai or Barcelona and the next one between Vietnam or Norway. These are places where I have travelled and strongly connected and I have my closest people there."

It's difficult to put B.A.D in a nutshell, it has it's own distinct style slash vibe that draws you to it. The quaint neighborhood, inviting front facade, and coffee that can turn any non-coffee person to love it's Bon-Bon style espresso or the warm mint foam induced Yang-over-Yin. They are different in their own ways and definitely here to stay.  

Connect with B.A.D : 

Twitter : @thebadcafe, Insta : @thebadcafe, FB : /thebadcafe

Ten years later, things have changed, changed immensely. After a decade in the CG industry and a thousands of 3D elements later, I switched and now run my own food photography & artwork design consultancy services and Goa right now is at variance, in it's mid-life crisis looking to figure out it's identity among Sunburn-goers and shacks proudly serving atrocious Butter Chicken and flaming red Schezwan Rice. At present, wealthy tourists especially from up north of this country arrive here in their loudest avatar donning fedoras, reflective aviators, flourescent kicks and drive around in a leased four by four bursting Honey Singh at high decibels. Sigh! what a shame. Though this behaviour and trend is largely seen only in a few places of North Goa especially Calangute, Baga, Candolim and to some extent in Anjuna & Vagator. These tourists would never venture down south since it's purely unglamourized, devoid of any hipster habits and it's not what you wanna post on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram. You want to be called the cool cat of the lot, the one who goes to a shack posing with a pint of Kings Beer, you want to be the one who garners the precious likes and favourites by tagging a few unfortunate nine to fiver. Sigh! what douchebags.

If you see only what you want to see, you'll never see the other parts of Goa, the world of locals from Panaji, calmness of Nachinola, spice plantation in Ponda, port side activity at Vasco et al. Imagine a single day in Calangute, Baga or Anjuna minus its tourists, it would be a ghost town with a few stray animals. 

Doing fifteen some trips in ten years has build a slight concern for its unprecedented glamourization, imagine the state of the locals who witness this day in and day out. Keeping that as the basis of the episode, we the crew of two set out to meet people, the real people of Goa who have lived there many a years.

A fourteen hours gruesome drive, two tea stops and one Kolhapur thali meal later, we arrived at Porvorim. Since we arrived almost close to dinner time, it was best to dump our gear and luggage and dive straight into Panaji for some Surmai Curry, Lemon Rice, Prawns fry and Solkadi at Ritz. The queue here at anytime is unforgiving and extends beyond it's floor limit. Come here for it's dainty Fish thali-Rice, Fish Curry, Rava fry Surmai, Crab Masala, Sukkat, portion of daily vegetable and Sol Kadhi to sink it all down, all this for 175 bucks. Just arrive before the obvious lunch hours to save yourself some frustration of the long queue.

Day one breakfast table was set at Bodega, Altinho. It's been recent year's discovery and been one of the best and a reliable one too. Cafeteria like food with a few choices in full scale lunch dish, the place charms you with some great vibes of sunshine, falling leaves and working Wi-Fi. The last one, Yes, it means a lot. Plan for the rest of the day was just to do a quick recce of all our shooting spots and make a plan of action for each day for the rest of the week. Packing a few Beef & Seafood cutlet inside Poi, a few Ginger Ale, Heineken and some packets of Capri Sun (Yes, I love those silver packets of processed so-called juices) we actually managed to make a plan in the next few hours before we stepped out again for the next mandatory meal. It was this very night we encountered the spooky looking middle of nowhere 'Mafia Cocktail Bar' in Pilerne area. Shady as a bar can get, this place is an actual house where it's rear side patio is converted into a few table and chair arrangement lit by a three watts green bulb and a whole lotta doped the shit out kinda wall graffitis and paintings. Just to make your visit more exciting, I will not describe it anymore. I should let you know though, the prices are from the past. 

Day Two kicked off with breakfast in the wilderness of Baba Au Rhum in Anjuna. What should be a hippie's spot is actually frequented by couples and families. This would be my third visit to B.A.R and each time the breakfast has been upto the mark. Omelette, Salads, Croissant, Baguettes, Juices, everything is spot-on though the service tends to be bit partial to the lighter skinned tourists. Afternoon was scheduled for a shoot with 'Vasco Silveira' at his three and a half decade old Portuguese restaurant 'Horse Shoe' at Panaji Causeway. The shoot started with his traditional recipes of the famed Goan Feijoada and then the Vegetable Caldin. The freshly grinded masala, aroma of the beans and meat stew perfumed the kitchen soon enough and shortly a quick interview over lunch was shot. Just around sunset we were back to base, dumping footage onto hard drive, formatting, refreshing ourselves for the dinner at the next door hutment called 'Sanil'. Arogant owner apart, the food is way too homely and addictive. This trip was all about Fish Thalis and this was no exception. Fried surmai, gobi bhaji, homestyle clams, chonak curry & rice with a cup of sol kadhi, one cannot ask for a better meal than this at night. Exploring the unknown roads past dinner is somewhat of a habit and this one turned out to be a thrilling one with our car's front left tyre going flat in the middle of Moira area, close to midnight. The jack in the trunk broke in the process of replacing the deflated tyre and then a good samaritan got us help by arranging another jack. Few push, pull and kicks to the spanner later, we were back on my way back to Povorim. A silent prayer, a chinese spare tyre and cruising speed of 15 kmph were all making the return trip to Porvorim, one to remember. The night didnt't go well either, a weird stare into the ceiling up until 5  a.m was followed by a few hours of sleep on the couch.

It would be a shame not to make a trip up north to Arambol, sit by one of the few shacks, munch on fried prawns, calamari and lemon rice with fish curry. The third day intiated with a quick trip to Anjuna to shoot some usual touristy things in the market and by the beach. Unknownly a huge chunk of the time and energy was spent here walking around and getting the required shots. At this point reaching Arambol was looking like a mammoth task, though we did make it to Pernem to our favouite little unpretentious snack-shop that makes one of the best tasting Milkshakes. At 35-40 bucks a glass, the milkshakes are quality thick concoctions. You will get Banana shake through the year, though what must not be missed is the Avacado shake during winters and the Mango shake in summers. Trust me, you gotta try them. As expected, two glasses of shakes later, both of us were on the verge of a deep slumber. Thus Arambol this time around remained only as a plan on the paper.

The next two days were going to be packed with lined up interviews and so it was. Day four was spent at Bodega with the owner Vandana, talks of Bodega, in general the food of Goa and the current situation of tourism. Few hours later the shoot was done, as much as possible social feed through free Wi-Fi was consumed and thus-Happy Faces. The evening shoot was scheduled with 'Antonio Nazareth'  at this heritage home like restaurant called 'Andron' located in Nachinola village. This one was special since 'Antonio', the owner of Andron was the samaritan who helped us out like an angel when our tyre went flat. Andron comes across as a typical Goan house and indeed serves some forgotten dishes like Roasted Ox Tongue, Ard-Mas, Pork Assad along with the unforgettable Chicken Cafreal, Beef Steak, Vindaloo and lots more. Their food comes across as one of the most finger licking one due to one single fact, the different masalas used across the menu are all freshly hand ground. Some great conversion with Antonio over a beautiful spread in a somewhat far off location was a great end to our day. 

South Goa so far was untouched. Thus early in the day we scheduled the shoot with G.E.A.R.S, a biking community of youngsters from across the state who share one thing in common-Passion to ride bikes, ride responsibly and without any discrimination of the bike class. It's always refreshing to get a new angle on the story of Goa. One thing was right up clear, there's a strong brotherhood among all it's members and very evident among the few members with whom we interacted and shot. Each one a proud Goan, backing the other, looking after, and vexed with the tourism situation and the growing commercialization through festivals of various nature. The conversational shoot went on for an hour and half thus bringing us almost to the end of this shoot. Almost.

There was one last ritual left, we had to run back to grab our lunch, freshen up, pack some Beef Cutlet in a Poi and reach Candolim ground to secure the best view of a third division football match- Holiday Sports Club Arpora vs Anjuna Gymkhana. This is where you see what they all love and are passionate about, Football and any of any class, local, third division, first division or even the newest brand 'F.C. Goa' from ISL. Ninety minutes later and almost at the edge of sunset, whistle blows, Holiday S.C. Arpora wins by 3 goals to 2 by Anjuna.

 All this is just the beginning of how the episode comes together. A massive 160 gigabyte of high definition footage from all seven days of shoot and almost two months later, we put together the below video. Hope you guys will appreciate the hard work, understand the point of view that we wanted to put across and spread the word. Deu borem korum!

Mind you, this meal is what any average person will label as expensive. At 600 odd rupees for a small plate and 900 to 1000 bucks for mains, this is something you don't do regularly, but when you do, you make sure you've got good company who appreciates what's coming their way and also its exclusivity in this current world of metropolitan cooking that believes in serving anything and everything with a touch of dry ice. 

One glance at the menu and you can, if you've been to Ellipsis, find many a typographical similarities in the print and also in the mind of the chef. Although the former turned out to be a one dimensional affair few months back during the last few working days of Kelvin C. Ellipsis, mind you, was good; but in the grand scheme of media hype of chef's retirement from the outlet and the weekend brunch menu in particular was mostly jaded and had a gang of eight lost in its mass of printed textual porn and one redeeming dish-Dulche French Toast (read here)

A brief look at Table's Lunch menu and it looks imaginative, scary and varied. Varied is good, simply because you can jump right from a Crab & Watermelon Salad to Provençal Lamb Ragoût to a Shrimp Dumpling, like our order of small plate-Boneless Chicken Wings and a portion of a Tuna Tataki. The Wings here are boneless, cuboid and float on some strangely compelling Ginger Glaze and come with a much needed side of Brioche. The meat itself is simply seasoned, but hold the cube on your left, Brioche on your right and bring them both together inside your mouth and let your taste-buds appraise it. It's made for everyone, not one palette left. The slightly seared Tuna on the other hand may not be kindergarten level, comes with a ginger-soy-lime vinaigrette, garnished with stunningly beautiful cross-sections of hard to find Watermelon Radish, all of which sits on some flawless Avacado. It's a dish that draws a respectable caricature of the original Japanese plate, some well deserved brownie points to the Chef for this one. Next to arrive was a rather simple looking bowl of Zucchini Spaghetti. If Spaghetti were to sue someone, it would be something called the 'Spiralizer'. Of course, the Zucchini has to look glamorous and inviting when it has to compete with some beautiful strands of Spaghetti. Nevertheless, both come slightly sealed in olive oil and visibly contrasting nuts. Parmesan though mentioned on paper had disappeared by the time the plate reached us. A generous grate of that cheese is absolutely missing, to add some textural quality, and also for some visual play. 

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A fine-dine meal doesn't necessarily have to be muted by the silence of knives and forks. Some plates call for getting into the action, holding a Shrimp Taco, squeezing lime, adding a dash of fresh salsa, roasted jalapeno dip, closing the ends and heading it into the holy place. This particular one tends to make you a little untidy, reaching for the napkin and wanting another one. The combination of components work just fine by themselves, a touch of the sides though elevates it a notch up and into a moment when you look across your table waiting to get similar reaction, and you do get that. Straight away you know everyone is going for a spoonful of that roasted dip again. 

The last two plates to arrive were a Tagliatelle of Seafood in Red Curry and a Roasted Red Snapper. The former was perhaps a torrid love affair of east meets west and where flat ribbon like pasta romances the robust flavours of Kaffir lime. On paper it may come across a bit melancholic, but that first forkful makes even a Hungarian Goulash seem less comforting on such a wintry day. It's deep, layered, filled with goodness of shrimp, fish, clams and calamari. Get the bowl closer, make sure you're in the best seat in the house, and keep your eyes clear on any femme fetale floating around; this dish demands your attention. The Snapper plate in contrast is delicate, a mild coating of Ginger-Miso and served on a bed of warm spinach. The dish feels singular in taste unless you have all three components on your spoon-Fish, the complex piece of cabbage garnish and lesser spinach. 

In a nutshell, the meal was largely consistent and quantifiable when it comes to the final amount. At 7245 bucks for ten items including taxes and service charge, it may come across a tad expensive and that should be perfectly okay with any wallet that dines in an upmarket eatery in SoBo and one where taste is respected a little more over the visuals. Particularly glad that menu was well-tailored for the multi-religious city crowd and there's something for everyone. 'The Table' can easily hold it's head up high for being in the list of elitist eatery across Bombay, gotta bookmark this one.

Menu details : http://thetable.in/food_menu/Lunch.pdf

Location :   Ground floor, Kalapesi Trust Building, Opp. Dhanraj Mahal, Below Hotel Suba Palace, Apollo Bunder Marg, Colaba

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Being Indian means naturally we don't resonate from the lungs or have emotions attached to our words, but more so a very meh tone while we mean and feel the same as a buoyant voice would sound. Yes, there will be changes or improvements to my presentation on camera and more of me talking than having my alter ego doing a voice-over while the video plays, but again, the voice-over serves some purpose and it narrates the story well than just me talking in front of the camera.

Let's start from the end. That Burmese Khao Suey was officially our last meal on the last day of our shoot at The Asian Box in Koregaon Park. The objective to shoot with restaurant owners taking us through their journey was exactly what i wanted this series to be. The start, however, was wobbly as hell with no plan of action in place until we reached our service apartment and were shitting bricks on day two of the shoot while enjoying an open terrace-view of this city. We had already shot Camp Area in general, some people walking in high-speed, the cool stuff that adds value to the playback. Also we had met Dr. Irani (excuse his 'this and that') who runs the ageing 'Husseny Bakery' on Taboot Street, still remember the massive bruns and crispy chicken puffs at the counter. We had not only covered Camp Area, but also drove around concentric circles in Budhwarpeth to locate the famous 'Gujjar Mastani'. Fortunately after much assistance from the robotic voice of Google Maps, we parked the car, picked up our gear and marched onto the street. Not any street, street filled with women dressed to occasion and intoxicated men on the other side letching at them with strong sexual desire. Someone immediately warned us not to shoot here and cause problem for ourselves. A brisk walk later, at the end of the street was this cold drink house that we were on the lookout for. Mediocre would be the right word for this place and the milky concoction they served, typically old school milkshake laden with scoops of cheap ice-cream and colored syrups. 

Day three is when the actual work started to roll. Immediately after a fantastic and quick 'Missal Pao' breakfast at around the corner of Lane 5 in Koregaon Park, we completed the intro shot, got dressed up, drove to outskirts of Aundh area, discovered Vietnamese food in the most obscure location, got bowled over, ate two extra cups of their Caramel Flan and straight went to the other corner of the city-NIBM. Staying in KP helped in a big deal since largely everything was equidistant in all directions. So our 'Insider Jehan' recommended this Iranian quick fix eatery to us right at the start of the trip, Iranian Shawarma and Afghani Burger, that's it, I was already sold. Anything that has any sort of resemblance or origination from the Middle East, I personally dig that. At first glance, you wouldn't even relate this place to an eatery due to it's bare minimum plastic seating and no sign of food or ingredients or food pictures in the near visibility. Get past the plastic ruins and you will generally find 'Amir Reza Sadeghian' at the back of the counter. Amir has designed these unreal wraps and burger that looks like a tandoori roti wrap and for some budget purpose he replaces the chunks of fries for crunchy potato sticks in all of these sandwiches a.k.a wraps. You can blindly order the Arabian Shawarma and the very unique-Afghani Burger. 

The next couple of days were again spent planning, eating, speaking to people, shooting and more eating. The whole idea of shortlisting a place and featuring on such a large platform is that, at least myself with a responsible taste bud and some knowledge of good and mediocre food should be tasting at least 5 places (of course pay for the meals) and then come down to that one place that has great food and comes with an equally kickass story. In the meanwhile we did encounter some fantastic joints like one particular-Beetroot Bistro. This tiny place has a big heart, hearty food and food that has zero percent pretentiousness and a hundred percent flavour. Due to the odd timings of the management, we never could sit down for a brief chat and shoot, though this one comes absolutely recommended to anyone finding the nearby European eateries a bit too heavy on pocket.

Chopsticks Malabar- the Keralite place that opens our third episode actually was shot on the second day itself just before we returned to Camp for our brief stint. It's quite well-known among the crowd, though I really felt the appearance of the food could be polished a bit. Their Malbari Parotha though, that's dreamy. The recommendation for this Keralite place came from Meeta Makhecha, the owner of 'The Flour Works in Kalyani Nagar. Meeta has quirky personality, a bit of a nasal voice (or maybe she was having bit of a cold) and the Edward Scissorhands like hand gestures. We had the best Fish in Caper Sauce, Grilled Chicken S/W and that sensual thick cup of Mexican Hot Chocolate. That cup of melted Chocolate is like an indulgent dream, where pouring Hershey's or spreading Nutella is just isn't enough. Must do that cup, come-what-may.

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Now, there are some things we friends do as a ritual whenever we meet up in Pune, go drinking beer, sorry 'Craft Beer' at our den-Flambos Brewpub. We feel at home here, waiters smile and acknowledge, captain is always taking good care and the owners know us to a certain extent that we decided to get them in this series. If you drink and adore your craft beer, you should also know how it's made. Akshay gave us access to shoot the pipe dream like equipment and explained the entire process. In the end, it was safe to say that a lot of words from his explanation rang my bells of chemistry class at college. The shoot at Flambos was entirely unplanned. It just happened after we drove back to Pune from a quick one day trip to Wai at a friend's place. It was supposed to be an unwinding session, but instead we worked, felt good about ourselves and return  to our terrace-view apartment, put on some UK Top40 music, backed-up the data and gazed at the starry sky.

It's safe to say that Pune has evolved and not changed. Change would be what Calangute-Baga is right now, loud wealthy tourists looking for a vegas-time. Pune has managed to stay that early to bed and early to rise kinda lad who knows it's good to progress with time while preserving it's traditions. Only if this city had a good way of public transportation, everyone in it's stratosphere would be able to take a ride deep into it's polished hub like Koregaon Park, fine dine a bit, shake their hips at a nearby club and enjoy their weekends like they would in Mumbai. Well, you can take a taxi or Uber from Wakad to KP, but it's definitely not a middle class act. I heard the Metro is arriving in a few years, that's when I am gonna be back.

Haha, just kidding! I just need an excuse to grab my jacket and helmet, jump on my little crotchrocket and zoom away.

Here's the link to the three episodes that were produced in collaboration with 'Novus Pictures'. If like our work, then do give them a shout at their Facebook page here.