TURQUOISE CHILL

Last evening I ended up going for dinner to the Eden Pavilion. A slight miscalculation and the original plan of going to the bar "West View" got washed out, but the saving grace was that I liked the coffee shop too. We decided to start with the salads and I think I tried nearly every one of them on the spread. After that some continental meats did me in. Ofcourse all the while I was knocking back pints of Kingfisher. Once done we attacked the dessert section. I gave that a pass, but was really impressed with the huge Chocolate Sculptures. I enquired and was told that they were solid chocolate and even the staff there din't have any idea what would become of them at the end of the night. All the while that we were having dinner, there was a constant flow of people walking up and down the aisle and busy hotel staff moving up and down. Well all this action was due to the famous AC Bayern team that was staying at the hotel and had just got back from their match at Sa...

I finally went cycling on Sunday at about noon. The sky was overcast and with the sun hidden behind the cloud cover, it was a perfect opportunity to head out and explore the neighbourhood on my cycle. Yes the Firefox Tempest that I had bought a while back and hardly used till date. So I came out of my colony gate and turned left to the canal that ran behind the complex. I had to ride up a steep levee which also served as a narrow back lane. It ran parallel to the canal similar to the one on the other side of the canal. There were small bridges that connected both sides, some just wide enough for a motorcycle to pass over. So while I was riding along the canal road, I noticed a large gathering of people and once I reached where they were standing, I noticed that they had all gathered to watch the dredging work that had been on for a while now. There were mounds of clay on either side of the canal and more on our side. So I stopped and got my handy Nokia 6630 out and clicked away at the ...

Yesterday I had to go into work and gallivant about town to get a whole lot of stuff done. Anyway in the midst of that while driving through the middle of the city I came upon the famed HIND Cinema. The building was under renovation or then it’s quite possible that it’s being torn down and we could get another multiplex or shopping mall there. After crossing the Hind Cinema I came upon the famed Wellington Square and had to drive through some wining roads to get back to Park Street. These one way streets are quite painful if you are in a hurry to get from one place to another. On wrong turn and you could go dizzy trying to get back on track to get to your destination? Anyway the end of the day warranted some hardcore partying and so we headed out to Some Place Else. I was quite annoyed that I couldn’t get valet parking for the first time. So I managed to maneuver into a tight parking spot right outside the hotel on the opposite side of the road. Once we strolled in we realised the...

A couple of days ago I was on my way to FORUM and came upon this sight. I wouldn’t really care about such stuff otherwise because every one is entitled to a break, but this cop just made me lower the window and use my phone camera to click a couple of pictures while he enjoyed his smoke. Well it was like peak hour traffic at 5.30 pm in the evening and the busiest intersection of Minto Park with the lights not working. In the midst of the melee was a lone policeman with a walkie-talkie trying to manage the chaos. Our friend was at the side of the road with his helmet planted on the railing and standing stylishly watching the lone cop while puffing away. So while I indulged in the photographs a couple of other motorists were quite amused with what I was doing, knowing fully well that these pictures were bound to get circulated or published somewhere.

I get the feeling that I should become a culinary expert. Better still, maybe a TV host on a dining out show. Anyway that said, the eating out continues. I met a good buddy of mine on Thursday night at The Stadel. Like I said a revisit was on the cards and what better opportunity to go there but on a nice stormy evening. Surprisingly the storm had hit Delhi too as we watched repeat telecasts over beer on the big screen at HEKA because rain had dashed all hopes of The Kolkata Knight Riders getting a berth in the Semi Finals of the DLF IPL T20. More about this little pub tucked away in a small corner of the Salt Lake Stadium. While I waited for my friend to arrive, I decided to order a beer and some pepper chicken to go. I was hungry as hell having skipped lunch due to the pile of work on my head. The Chilled beer arrived in the nick of time as my friend had arrived and taken a seat. Two mugs and the first beer went down in now time, not to mention the chicken which had come with it. We ...

The Recent spate of “Norwesters” has been great. It has sent the mercury plunging every second day. While it’s helped people like me who are still waiting for their Air-conditioning at home to be installed, its not been to keenly welcomes by the Kolkata Knight Riders who lost their Match to the Chennai Super Kings all due to rain playing spoil sport. But I wouldn’t attribute it so much to the weather as I would to these two guys Duckworth and Lewis. I’m not even sure if they are two people or they are people at all. Ok before I get swayed back to the lovely weather that’s kicking up dust every evening even if the rain isn’t coming down too strong. Strong winds have been the precursors to the impending storm ahead. The winds have caused so much damage in the past two weeks that while trees are being uprooted and dust covering everything, the worst affected seem to be the Outdoor Media Owners. Shredded Flexes on huge structures seems to have become a common sight and more recently f...

A couple of days ago I had a not so customary outing and needed to be out on the streets of Kolkata practically the entire day. Fortunately it was in an Air-conditioned car (I think I’ve become a spoilt brat). Anyway all that roaming around needed some fuel and we decided to make a lunch stop at Arsalan at the Park Circus 7 Point Crossing. I wasn’t too keen on Arsalan as I had a preconceived blind block towards their Biryani based on one visit there over a year and a half ago. Well that time it was late in the night after a serious session of drinking. So I didn’t really think their Biryani was that great? Good for me that I was outnumbered in choice and out of time really, so we ended up going to Arsalan. Two Mutton Biryanis, One Chicken Biryani, two Mutton Rizalas and 3 cold drinks were ordered. The food came to us in a jiffy. Wow that was some helping of Biryani. The plate was nearly overflowing at the edges. The chicken in the biryani and the potato were also tasty. The Rizala seal...

A couple of days ago we went for dinner to One Step Up. I particularly like the continental food there. The Pastas are excellent, both in quantity and in taste. Add to that really chilled Kingfisher beer and its always a pleasant experience.

Last week culminated in indulgence of food, food and more food. Did I mention Food? Yes it started some time midweek when I went to City Centre. The first time around early in the week I was a bit disappointed by the long queue outside KFC and had to go back home and have home cooked food. Not that I’m complaining! But when you’re so close to KFC and have the urge, you do want to indulge in some of those sumptuous fried monster pieces of chicken. Not to be disappointed again, I made an unscheduled (read: well planned) stop at city centre on Thursday and voila! No queue. I ordered a Zinger meal with chicken and extra large fries with Coke and a Snacker to go with it. The service and meal quality left much to be desired, but KFC after so long. Yum! Yum! I just get the feeling that the establishment has got a bit complacent owing to the fact that they are always packed that they have forgotten the basics. So here’s hoping that they don’t drive themselves to the point that they shut down d...

After months of waiting and getting their act together, the Malaysian backed Telecom player with a sizable presence in the south and the east of India, consolidates its foothold in the Eastern region by launching its service in the capital of the east, Kolkata. With media support from group owned Red Fm, they make a splash with the forte of telecom operators, Out-of-home media. The city is splashed with hoarding and signage with the Aircel Logo. So here's to the latest entrant who had us all appreciating art for several months with beautiful hoardings with Raghu Rai photographs, Welcome to The City Of Joy, Kolkata.

Last evening we had heard about this place called Orient Express. Well they basically only do take away and outdoor catering. So we ordered food from there. It was thrilling to see the packing. Unlike the normal square boxes we're all used to, these come in trapezoid paper cups (like you see in the Movies, english ones that is). The quantity was decent, but the quality and taste of the foos more than made up for that fact. So if you're ever planning to order food, try out Orient Express. Orient Express Karnani Estate, 209 AJC Bose Road, Kolkata - 700017 Phone 033 3294 4545, 033 3294 2020 Click here to download the menu: MENU

TASHAN…The Ishtyle…The Goodluck….the Pharmoola. Well I am to be committing The Esuicide after watching this phillum. The Ishtyle is overkill…The Goodluck is what it will need to rake in bucks in the box office and The Pharmoola is good that they had the Multiplex fracas. Otherwise this film would’ve bombed even faster. Even Bebo’s new skinny skimpy look doesn’t do anything to say anything good about the film. Ok I think if at all I had to mention a name, Akshay Kumar is good in his portrayal of Bachan Pandey. Anil Kapoor is also ok. But please, please watch this film to know the agony I had to go through. Now I’m wondering why I’m even writing about this experience?

Last evening I really needed to get some grub after a dreadful afternoon spent watching a movie called TASHAN at 89 Cinemas, Swabhumi. The saving grace was that we were out of the heat and in the comfort of the AC hall. But that still doesn’t take away from the fact that I have been scarred for life after watching a film like TASHAN. Anyway after some lukhagiri at City Centre and not wanting to stand in line to get into KFC, we ended up driving past BB’s on our way to Azad Hind Dhaba in Salt Lake. I must thank my stars and good fortune that I decided to duck into this place at Millennium City. It looks like a very basic family eatery and so it is. But only when I went through the menu card that I realised that it had a lot of depth in terms of the kinds of cuisines on offer. It had been a while since I had indulged in Thai food. Infact after coming back from Bangkok & Pattaya a while ago, I didn’t want to look at Thai food. But that had died down and the menu did have what seemed t...

I've said enough about afraa and thus the revisit to the place. this time around I took a friends of mine along who had come down from Delhi. The hawaiian Chicken was just extraordinary and as is visible, I just had to order some of that mashed potato. Also a treat to one's eyes is the bread basket. It looks more like a boat. At the end of the meal, I just loved the paan. About the bill? well I didn't pick up the tab so I wouldn't know. But we were quite happy with many beers down.

Last evening after being engaged for a better part of the evening in some mind blowing work, I needed to go out to unwind. So on my way home I called some people and yippee!! There was a plan. We were meeting up at City Centre. Fact being that it was a Holiday and in all likelihood all the hang out places would be packed. So when I reached City Centre I wasn't surprised first to see it teeming with a mass of humanity and second to get a call to let me know that i was meeting my friends at The Apartment out of sheer want of going to a better place. Well here is where it turned out to be an assumption of misinformed proportions. We all based our judgements on the fact that we had not heard about the place, heard about the place and heard not so good things about the place, but none of us had been here. So let me set it straight for the record. The Apartment, Rocks! When I got there my friends had nearly washed down their first round of Kingfisher Pints. Well I came in on the sec...

This morning while I was heading out to work, as I drove out of my colony gate, there was a small group of people standing on the pavement across the road waving Red Flags while they took turns addressing the gathering from under a tree. As I drove to office, I didn’t need to make any nerve-racking manoeuvres through morning traffic. There was hardly any traffic on the Roads because of May Day. Yes Sir the state of Bengal is in complete shutdown mode to celebrate Labour Day. Since we were working but it was a dull day, decided to go for lunch to a Bengali Cuisine restaurant called Tero Parbon on Purna Das Road. To our delight there was a Buffet on offer and here’s what the menu looked like...So we stuffed ourselves. THE MENU Bhat Pulao Luchi Cholar Dal Fish Fry Enchorer Dalna Parsher Jhal Chingri Malaikari Mutton Korma Salad Chutney Chocolate Sandesh Mishti Doi All you can eat and all this for Rs. 330/- per head. Tero Parbon 49/C Purna Das Road (near Golpark), Kolkata - 700029