TURQUOISE CHILL

Go Lebanese just off Sarat Bose Road in a lane is a small hole in the wall kind of Eatery that does just takeaway, but does brisk business. There's always a crowd there and whenever you go, it's like you're the 10th customer in queue. But that said, it's got great Lebanese cuisine and is one of the only places in Kolkata serving this kind of middle eastern food.

When my wife called me and said she wanted to have tea this evening, it seemed like the strangest request, especially when she's not really a tea drinker. Anyway, I played along and wondered how this sudden desire to drink tea. And then she went on to specify where exactly she wanted to have tea. She mentioned the place and I said I'd meet her after work and so in the evening I made my way down Lansdowne Road. A bit of a problem finding the place, but then I guess I wasn't following directions as specified. The Lane between Jai Hind Dhaba and Samilton Hotel. Do that I you can't miss the Bright Green Sign-age of this cute little place. I had a to wait a bit before my wife arrived, so I scoped out the place a bit. Lovely soothing yet happy green shade on the walls. The white Cane chairs inside and I think 3-4 coupé tables outside. those will be nice in winter. Everything about the place seemed well thought of and hand picked. The tea menu card was nicely done. ...

OK, so I like food, but do I know enough about food, is really the question. Yeah I follow Masterchef Australia religiously, but does that qualify me as an expert on food. I realised that when I visited Ammini.  Most of us believe that South Indian Cuisine is "Dosa, Idli, Vada, Cocunut Chutni & Sambhar". Well that might be true for Tamil Nadu, but the south also includes Kerela, Karnatak & Andhra Pradesh and each of these states have their own distinct cuisines. Ammini is a restaurant dishing out South Indian food  from Kerela. Yessir! Non-Vegetarian fare with appams: Mutton, Chicken & Fish to go with those flat dosa looking things. The Restaurant is tiny but accommodates about 30 pax. The food, I think is decent and what's best is that the menu is short, sweet and simple. I hate it when you go into a restaurant and they hand you a menu that reads like an encyclopaedia and invariable you point out to a dish on the menu which y...

We had heard so much about this new place and wanted to check it out and we finally did today. It's a tiny place, so sometimes you just have to wait before you get a table. Well in our case, a table for two wasn't that hard and we were seated after a fairly short wait. The Menu has some of the normal fare, but what you want is the specialties that this place draws it's name from, so try the 'Bohemian" stuff. The Meal: Beverages: Sex on the Beach Rs. 79 Magic Potion Rs. 84 Packaged Drinking Water Rs. 15 Appetisers: Bacon Wrapped Prawns Rs. 399 Chilli Pickle n Cheese baked Crab with Kolmi Greens Rs. 249 Main Fish & Shellfish: Bhetki Gondhoraj Rs. 319 Chicken & Pork Spicy Pork Curry (Anglo-Indian spices) Served with wilted greens and steamed rice Rs. 349 Dessert: Gondhoraj Souffle Rs. 149 Roasted Pineapple Souffle Rs. 139 Total: Rs. 1782 (inclusive of taxes) Bohemian 32/4, Old Ballygunge 1st Lane, Ba...

My colleague and I were heading back home after a long hard day. I was driving southwards on the E. M. Bypass. The Road is a nightmare during the day with traffic piling up on both sides. By night, the road poses a whole different set of problems. One, because it is such a wide road and quite a straight long stretch, motorists tend to step on the gas; two, having stepped on the gas and reaching breakneck speeds, dodging potholes that can swallow entire cars becomes a sort of game; three, the road becomes a paradise for truckers, speeding down either carriageway to transport goods before the city shuts its doors again to heavy vehicles in the morning; and lastly, absolute disregard for traffic laws is the rule on this so called Expressway. That said, I made the stupidest mistake and that too and the last Crossing before my house. I stopped for a Red Light at the Ajoy Nagar intersection on the E. M. Bypass. My colleague egged me on to jump the signal, citing reason no four and ...