More Indian than you think

Last year on Dussehra, my wife invited her ex-colleague, working in a Global News Corporation, for lunch. The middle aged business editor lived in Bandra west, while we lived two stations down, at Santacruz. As decided he was too come around 1 pm for lunch, so i called him to given directions but instead he replied he will be there on time, using Google maps. I was pleasantly surprised, as my present residence is in a crowded area and often my relatives need detailed directions, to reach. However, around half an hour, after the call ended, our guest landed at our door step.
Lunch was not something special, but what we Indians eat on Dussehra day, lentils, mashed potato, roti, rice and Shrikhand for desserts. Our guest, eat all with curiosity and did not mind eating somethings directly from the bowl, as we do many times at our homes. The London manners of new cutlery for every food item were not seen in our guest, he quite adjusted to our living. As for the taste he liked the food a lot and especially the home made shrikhand.
After tea our guest announced that he wanted to go and see the burning of Ravan, near Khar masjid and he and my wife again following Google maps, reached the place where the effigy was to burn. Later i was told that he enjoyed the sounds of Nashik dhol, people playing with gulal and the crowds spirit gathering at the burning area. Overall it was a very different kind of an experience, completely unexpected from an born and brought up in Londoner.  

Pizza Express hits the right taste buds

This post is written by my wife Prachi 

More than a decade ago, for me, a splendid evening meant couple of vodkas and the most awesome garlic bread followed by a pizza at the Pizza Express (no, not Jazz by the bay or Pizzeria, they are different) near Marine Drive, at Churchgate Mumbai. It wasn’t just a pizza place. It was simple yet elegant, with a single dahlia flower placed on each table, nice chequered tablecloths and very less crowd.  A fine dining, for pizza. Awesome. 

Then it disappeared and I rediscovered it in the UK, where it started in the first place in 1965. http://www.pizzaexpress.com/about-us/ an interesting story there. Anyway, so even as I continued to miss the freshly made thin crust pizzas(though many others have started offering that in the meanwhile), to go with good wine, whisky or vodka (you know poisons too can change…) , I spotted one at BKC while on a bike ride with my hubby, the author of this blog.

Pizza 

Soon, I made plans with my foodie friend for a generous dose of heavenly carbs and girltalks! We started with the dough balls with garlic butter (what’s not to like there), followed it up with rosemary pizza bread (rosemary, garlic, extra virgin oil, chilli flakes) and a glass of wine and a tall glass of diet coke.
Our server was very interested in suggesting delicacies and main course orders (or was he enjoying our animated gossip?) and he got us a combo pizza Padana and Giardiniera – one with goats cheese, caramelized onions, spinach, mozzarella and the other with mushrooms, artichokes, olives, cherry tomatoes and what not. 

Wine Glass

Although we didn’t seem to have any trouble stuffing it down, there is no denying that our tummies were full but taste buds craved for more. I resisted the temptation of another wine and dessert. The bill was a little over Rs 2000 and fairly reasonable given the quality and quality.
BKC now houses some of the best fine dining places and amidst all the options this may well stand out for its good food and decent pricing. The only glitch we had was with a huge family seated behind us constantly monitoring a young couple seated in front of us ( we are guessing they were trying to fix an arranged marriage)… fun for the first few minutes then slightly annoying with children running around from one table to the other. 

rosemary pizza bread

And I missed those single dahlia sticks neatly adding to the pleasantness of earlier pizza express. But I am so happy to have a nice outlet close to my house. And I have a complimentary coupon for dough balls and chocolate something… So another trip can’t be too far away. See you there.