Adventures at the Moon-lit square

I take one step and stop to look around. To my right (down), is sitting, a paanwala engrossed with filling and wrapping the paan (betel leaf) as per his customer's order. I look up across the street, there is this famous Indian sweets and savouries shop, Haldiram's, which is running to a full house. I walk a few more steps. There is this vendor with his small mobile stand, selling moong dal ke gulgule (fritters of an amazing sort) surrounded by customers shouting orders. I take a few steps more and I reach Ghantewala, the much acclaimed sweet shop of Chandni Chowk. Get a few rasmalais from there. White ones. Yes! White! Gol and chapet. That is round and flat ones. I walk down again. Another few steps. Reach Kanwarji's. Madhouse this. Mister P loves this shop. He says nothing can beat this place. I keep shut here, as I still haven't tasted all that Chandni Chowk has to offer. At Kanwarji's, I got. Hold Your breath. I got Malpudas, Paneer ki Jalebis, Kachoris with HOT aloo ki subji, Aloo ke lacche (I chose medium spicy ones), and Dal bhuji (maximum spice variety) which might be known to some of you as Dal Moth. I am yet to taste the Malpudas and the Aloo ke Lacche. The rest of everything was good. I am bereft of words more than these.

A winner, however, was this list that my eyes rolled upon. It is a list of Mirza Ghalib's favourite food. And I found that unke aur humare zayke kaafi mel khate hain.

Chic and Choko la

Tucked away in one of the lanes in the PVR Priya complex, Choko la houses WICKED desserts, toothsome chocolates and commendable breads. On my last visit, I had Tiramisu in a glass and Passion fruit with Mascarpone. Yes I had both. No heee hawwwing now, ok?

And then I found the perfect companion for myself in this tiny little bottle of fiery pepper sauce known to you as Tabasco. I carry it in my purse all the time for I never know when I may need it to make the blande taste sizzle.

Mixed curries

A 'mix' in culinary terms signifies a blend of flavours, a blend of spices, and essentially a whole new taste. A new taste, that is derived from an amalgamation of some pre-existing ones. If we remove 'mixing' from our culinary diaries, then perhaps, we will have a very sorry culinary world. Blends would go, paving way for the bland.
Picture your pasta sprinkled with salt (oops that again is mixing pasta with the salt) bearing no olive oil or cheese or herbs or vegetables (whatever your regular mix be). Or perhaps pasta bearing only herbs while the other ingredients remain absent.
So, point put forth.
Period.
Now, there is another form of mixing that takes place at À la carte restaurants. Quite different from the kind of mixing mentioned earlier. This one is gross. I, in particular loathe it. The waiters, maybe due to lack of training or sheer frustration, while serving, pour the curries onto your plate in a manner that they get mixed with each other. Thus, you get this horrible mix. No, no, don't get me wrong. It is still nice, delicious etc. BUT the curries lose their original flavour. The two dishes that you ordered are now one, or for that matter none.
.

Anguish over the table

Okay, and since I am cribbing here, I might as well crib some more. Twice in one day, I had to almost beg waiters to come and take my order. Once, at Costa (C.P.), and the other time at The Chinese (again C.P.). Now can't they just make sure that the waiters are 'always there' for the customers? Maybe there can be one waiter stationed (at a good point) just to make sure that no guest at the restaurant aggravates the already bad spondylitic condition by turning round and round and round and.... Huh.

That's the way eet ees

Pea-NUT, Blazing boy and Nearly Headless Nick, all get embarrassed when dining out with Skeeter. The reason being that she takes out either the mobile (with the flash on) or the camera and starts clicking the food before eating, after eating and just about anytime she feels like. Now Skeeter makes an innocent face with a pleading expression (I will die if I don't kinda thingy) and mostly manages to get a "kill you" nod from them to go ahead and shoot. In between, Skeeter also gets "stop-it" stares from them. And does she love it? She does and doesn't. Loves it because she knows that she can have liberties with them around; doesn't love it because the pictures don't come out nice as they keep making her feel so conscious and guilty all the time. Period.
Today, I tell you about the much-awaited visit to Side Wok @ Khan Market. Now what attracted me to this place was the location apart from the so many reviews. The galli in which it is situated, is a sleepy, lazy one. So much so that I can almost hear it yawning. And for some reason I just love to walk down that place for the heck of it. This time, I walked up, up the stairs I mean. Attractive entrance that. The ambience was a welcome change from the regulars.
The food was decent. I absolutely loved my non-alcoholic Pink Mojito. They did a good job on that. The start with the Sushi platter (vegetarian o'course) was a disaster, no matter how lovely it seemed to the eyes. A birdie tells me that Side Wok is not 'the' place to try Sushi for the fist time. Point taken. Next came the Phad Thai noodles and the Stir Fried Chinese Greens with Roasted Garlic. Phad Thai noodles were regular but nice. I can go back for them. The stir fry was quite authentic and delicious.
Main course done, since we were in an indulgent mood, we ordered a dessert each. I ordered Crispy Nutty Rolls with Vanilla ice cream and Pea-NUT ordered a Chocolate Mousse. The Crispy Nutty Rolls with Vanilla ice cream were too greasy and spoilt the flavour. This dessert was not treated subtly and hence the result was bad. The Chocolate Mousse was okay.
The waiters are talented. Very. They are adept at playing hide and seek, hence resulting in customers being anguished over fetching them to take the order. Well, even if that is not done on purpose, the management should assure that a waiter is visible from every damn seat.
I have a second visit lined up to this place, because I couldn't have enough of it the first time. Besides, the menu is dotted with dishes from Burma, Thailand, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore. They could well get the South-East Asian Cafe (the theme which they had in mind while designing the menu and the place) status, if they pay some attention to the quality and authenticity.
Ah yes, you can view the Side-walk from Side Wok.

Top of the city

If I visit a certain restaurant the second time, the first visit ought to have been excellent. So, is the case with most people, I believe. The third visit is what judges the credibility of the eatery in question.

My second visit to Le Cafe (Fashion Designer Ravi Bajaj's rooftop cafe at GK-I N-block) after a superb first one (few month's back) was ummmmm... disappointing.

With the Ogre-sized hole that the bill left in my pocket, I did not expect to be served a cold grilled sandwich in the least!

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Enter, Ravi Bajaj's. Head, for the lift. The smell of the Mandarin oil (burnt in the oil-burner) makes you feel happy and relaxed.

Enter, the lift. Exit, the lift.Enter Le, Cafe. What a place! What a place! Ambience perfect. Just where one would love to unwind on a hot sticky sunny afternoon. Arrive, the Menu. It says: Spring 2007. They claim: to change it by the season. One can choose from: Soups, Light meals, Salads, Sandwiches, Pastas, Omlettes and Scrambles, Le Cafe specials and beverages. I chose: Capres - A grilled sandwich with tomato, mozzarella, olive oil and basil served with your choice of bread. Ordered: Capres with Ciabbata bread and Iced Tea for a drink. Settled, in the oh-so-dreamy ambience. The meal arrives on time. Impressed, not for long. One bite, and I know why it came so quick. They did not care to let the griller be on for long; saving electricity perhaps. They love their mozzarella, not melted and stringy (slurp), but ugly, fat and rubbery! Huh! Did not expect that of a place which Ritu Dalmia had helped set up. Then came walking to me, sitting in a brown jacket, held by a waiter, the bill. The big FAT bill. And along with that, a comment sheet. Ah! Grabbed it and penned down my displeasure. Got up, to exit. The manager or someone stopped me, saying Ma'am I am really sorry. Next time, this happens, you MUST return the meal straightaway. Now, now now! Which hungry person would like to wait another 10 minutes for the meal to be re-heated and stuff of that sort?! Hence, I had eaten. Otherwise also, I do not like to return my meals, howsoever badly they are cooked (only at restaurants or cafes ;) ). Politely turned to the the man with that smug of a smile and said, 'I do not visit restaurants for that. Thank You.' Embarrassed, he said the 'sorry' word again.Now the big question: Will I ever go there again? Perhaps another time, yes. Only for the ambience though, and quite expecting what to get for food.

This day, That year

The culinary journey of Miss Reeta Skeeter (in blogsville that is to say) completes ONE year today.

Happy Birthday blog dear!

Wish I could bake you a cake. I ate and drank on your behalf, instead. Hope you are happy to hear oops... read that. I ate bhel puri and drank lemonade, besides other things. And for the readers here's a treat. I am showcasing my favourite hangout at Janpath today. If I visit Janpath and don't visit this shop, the visit is incomplete. DePaul's is the name. It stands in the Janpath marketplace since 50 years + now. Ain't that cool?! I have enjoyed each and every visit here to the fullest. Their Cold Coffee (which is what they are immensely popular for) is to die for. The range of flavours they have on offer includes Vanilla, Mocha, Cappucino, Hazelnut and what not. My favourites are the Hazlenut and Mocha ones...Here's a quick peep at the counter, that looks the same since I was a kid.
This place is highly recommended.

Thrilled to bites...

...as always, I am.

Food, ummm, rather 'good' food, lifts up Skeeter's spirits like nothing else.
On a gloomy Sunday, completing work early at office, she went to Khan Market to book her copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Sadly, the market was closed, as it is on any other Sunday. Memory weakness is at its best with her. Duh!
The idea of heading back home seemed boring. She headed to her favourite place in town - Market Cafe, instead. Unaccompanied. It did not matter as it would have at other eateries around town (funny stares you know). She chose a 'perfect' corner table as her abode for the next two hours that she was there.

And now, comes the food. The Chef was to prepare 'Baked Goat's cheese on Walnut bread with Za'tar' for Reeta Skeeter. It should have been 'Goat's cheese on baked Walnut bread with Za'tar'; some mistake there while preparing the menu card. Anyway, the waiter was to serve the same with Pepsi.

Goat's cheese, known to commons (hehe) as Feta, is her new fetish, the Feta fetish. Not many people like it; you got to love your cheese to love or even like Feta. And Feta can be sheep's milk cheese too. If purchasing you got to pick yours carefully, else you would end up tasting the other version.
Coming back to the dish that she'd ordered. The portion was enough for her. The price was a wee bit on the higher side, but was definitely worth it. They could've baked it a bit more. Next, she ordered 'Coffee Explosion'. This was a sundae. From the bottom to the top it contained: Crushed brownie, fudge sauce, coffee ice cream, coffee powder sprinkled on top of the ice cream, nuts all over and two biscotti. It tasted heavenly, and made up for all the coffee Skeeter has not had to have in about three years now. But by the time she reached the bottom , she had to STOP eating, else she would've fell sick. It was too heavy on her tummy.
In all, it was an enjoyable afternoon with the self. She looks forward to many more!