Passage to India

We had some bad tasting expensive food last weekend. After that meal I started thinking about the positive food experiences I had in unexpected places/times at hotels(Restaurants) in India. and here are few picks.

For most part of 1980s, on the first of every other month, my brother & I were told to be ready for a eating out extravaganza (luxury for middle-class). Our family will march past the small hotels nearby to catch a bus and eat in similar small hotel 2 KM away. After careful consideration I always choose Chola poori. (I am sure there is a sub-consicious link between me always ordering Grand Cappuccino in SB every time). I don't remember the taste of the food but I think the good memories it brings makes it worth mentioning here.

Fast forward many years, we reach the college life. This is pre-pizza days and cost certainly a key part of eating out equation. With that, Rajam mess Dosa with (what I believed as vegetarian) chalna competes with kay yendhi bhavan tiffins in Erode. Rajam mess takes the first place because of its ambience and experience it provided. :)
Dosas were crisp and home-dosa size for 2 Rs a piece (10Rs will come close to filling your stomach). Mindframes also had an honor to be the customer of Rajam mess and he can add his bit. Beers can be custom ordered and just-in-time purchase process was used by the owners. Another blog is begging to be written about my the evenings after I "drank" beer.

Things turned differently when I landed in Calcutta for a job. Money was not a problem but time was. I end up finding a small (an understatement) hotel. It takes some highly trained architect to fit a kitchen + 3 tables/chairs and a place to wash hands in that 8x8 room. The word hygienic is not in that owner's dictionary. But with that cost and taste nobody complained. It is one of the best rotis, sabji & aachar I had so far. It didn't hurt that there was a girls college right next to that shop

Some other places that come to mind are,
- Steamy hot chawal & dal in Darjeeling after sitting through 23 hours in a bus, stands out for its timing.
- Fast food breakfast in BTM layout Bangalore standout for its taste.
- Dhaba with rope beds and confusable waiter boy worth a special mention too.

I am getting hungry. So long about the food.

P.S: The place we visited was Passage to India in Mountain view.