Hello ladies and gentlemen.

Blogging frequency has been at an all time low owing to some busy schedules off-late. In between, I was in Gurgaon, braving the cold wave that hit me every moment I stepped out of my office.

The thing I loved about my trip there was one of the dinners. If you are in Gurgaon you should definitely drop into a restaurant called Machaan. The word, I was informed, means a place covered by a roof and open on all four sides. (I know, my Tamil readers might want to inform me about the slang that is used in common parlance)

Contrary to the definition, the restaurant had no roof. In other words, an open-air restaurant. Now, an open-air restaurant is commonplace and there is nothing unique about it.
However, Machaan is definitely a place to dine at when the temperatures are hovering at 4 to 5 degrees. The restaurant places burning wood embers right next to your seat so that frequent rubbing of palms near it can provide some relief from the freezing winds.

Then comes the best part – the food. The kababs are the best I have ever had across the country (and to top that statement, I haven’t travelled much around the country). After the starters were devoured with swift and furtive moves of the hand (mostly due to the chill in the air), came the piece de resistance, if that’s what you call something that is quite good to be written about in a grand way.

The aloo parathas were served hot, hotter than the burning embers and were the best aloo parathas I have ever had outside my home (and to top that statement, I have been around at home for quite long). The parathas were so good that we found ourselves refusing to order anything else and continued eating a steady stream of them.

Finally when done, the cold wind started getting nippier and we had to make our way to our cars.
But, yes, it was a wonderful dinner – partly due to the great food and mostly due to the freezing cold winds. A passing thought – I was, of course, alcohol deprived. (And no, that is not for the record so that Mrs. Dhi Only One reads it)

Owing to the photo bug that I have been afflicted with, there will be photos on this blog today as well:

Yesterday was Onam and we all decided to have dinner at Coconut Grove, a restaurant on Church Street serving authentic Kerala food. Things to order in this place: Appams, Kerala Parathas, Veg. Stew, Ulli Theeyal and the coconut water mixed with honey.
If you can’t keep alcohol away from you while dining, try the Cocoknock – Vodka with coconut water served in freshly cut coconut!

Enough said, time to bring the photos on:

Enjoy and have a great day, ladies and gentlemen

The day started on a very pleasant note with breakfast at the India Coffee House on M. G. Road. The place is a remnant of a glorious colonial past of Bangalore.

The waiters still don a Mysorean-looking attire, seemingly caught between the ideology of serving imperialism and finding a place in a modern autonomous life.

The food is average and can be easily challenged by the numerous new eateries all around Bangalore. However, what no restaurant can match is the rustic combination of Indian tradition with a tinge of British refinement. The bread omelette is the most sought after dish, followed by the dosa. Note that everything, including a dosa, is served with a knife and a fork.

What should not be missed is the coffee of course, considering that the place is run by the Coffee Growers’ Cooperative Society. One of the true works of art on this side of the Vindhyas is the way coffee is prepared. And the India Coffee House does full justice to this art. Hotel Airlines comes a close second, solely because they put a lump of sugar in the coffee (and I don’t like that).

The biggest surprise at the India Coffee House is the rate card. Everything is priced at a rate which makes you think you are still in the 80s. A breakfast for two with coffee hardly makes it to Rs. 50.

One thing I observed that of the three people reading newspapers in that place, no one was reading a ToI. It was either the Hindu or the New Indian Express. Just a passing observation.

The day has started, ladies and gentlemen. More later.