Eat Like Ushi

Jaiwana Haveli is one of the highest rated places on booking.com, TA and general reviews for the entire combination of accommodation, food and views. I have to admit the corner rooms are outstanding and spacious and the location is excellent. There is a big premium for these things especially compared to typical India prices, but when the alternative option is the Lake Palace Hotel for $900 per night, this is a better alternative for the common person.

Food is served in the restaurant up on level 5 and rising up the stone stairwells assists the appetite. The wait staff are a great and hospitable couple of guys who smile, greet and bring you food.

Overall the breakfast was outstanding. For someone who can eat a lot, the Rs. 350 (which I paid as part of the room fee on booking.com) made it worth it. For a smaller eater, selecting a few things off the menu might be better but I can't imagine a better breakfast place in Udaipur.

- Matari Poha (traditional specialty of rice flakes cooked with green peas, onions & spiced with turmeric) - outstanding collection of flavours (sweet, sour, tangy, spicy) and textures (soft, crispy, chewy) combined into the perfect snack or meal component;
- Two Farm Fresh Eggs (boiled)
- Stuffed Paratha with Yogurt (unleavened whole wheat bread shallow fried on a griddle served with pickle chutney) - good quality thick paratha which served as a carrier for the excellent chilli pickles which I tried for the first time here;
- Seasonal Fresh Fruit Platter - pineapple, papaya, pomegranate, banana, canteloupe, mandarin all fresh;
- Chai Masala Tea - mildly spiced but good to complete the meal.

With these expectations, the last dinner in Udaipur was conveniently at the same place. Unfortunately the restaurant doesn't open in time for the winter sunset and so taking advantage of the rooftop view for this reason is limiting. You do pay a premium for the privelege which dampens the experience slightly. Every night there is a traditional dance and music show closeby at Bangore ki Haveli 7pm which I didn't get to see, but you can hear it from Jaiwana Haveli each evening and even see glimpses of it from the high vantage point.

- Chicken Tikka - reasonably tender meat mildly spiced but nothing special;
- Arbi Ki Shabzi (taro curry)
- Kashmiri Pulao
- Garlic Naan - given the quality of the breakfast paratha, I had high hopes for the bread. It had nice slices of garlic with some of the shoots embedded under a coating of butter. Not bad at all.

Unfortunately the dinner didn't live up to the expectations set by breakfast. It wasn't bad, just not as good and the high dining prices didn't seem value for money. Nonetheless considering the slight difficulty I had in finding dinner places closeby that appealed to me (other than Ambrai and the elusive Charcoal), a meal here is certainly convenient if staying nearby and adequate enough.

I'd read that Delhi was actually a wonderful city for food. I suppose it is partially because it is within a country known for street food quality (although hygiene may be in question) and has restaurants catering toward the standard class as well as Western prices for rich and tourists. I had already decided to go to Bukhara (or Dum Pukht) for the final meal of the trip and so I thought trying a modern Indian restaurant would be a good way to start the trip. It may have been better to start with the traditional first and modern last but the schedule of hotels and day itineraries meant the other way was most convenient. 

Varq is also reputed to potentially be the best restaurant in Delhi/India and is currently the only Delhi restaurant to remain in the San Pellegrino Top 50 Asia (#32 currently, #30 in 2014) whilst Bukhara and Dum Pukht have fallen out. It is located within the Taj Mahal Hotel in Delhi, one of the luxury Taj brand places where each car is security screened upon arrival and Barack Obama was going to stay the following weekend for Republic Day celebrations.

The restaurant setting is beautiful. Mood lighting, exceptional decoration and an outdoor area that would be perfect in warmer weather. Even with only 2 tables occupied inside, the outside was primed with tables and large charcoal pits to give atmosphere in the emptiness.

- Saffron lassi
- Pink ginger lassi
- (complimentary) amuse bouche - sweet tiny wrap of potato and pomegranate seeds.

The starters (aka entrees in the Western world) were served with wonderful aromas emanating upon approach.

- Varqui Crab (layers of crab meat, tandoori shrimp on crisp filo sheet) – very highly crab meat flavour with soft texture, thin filo, top of shrimp, surrounded by a cumin balsamic sauce with small slices of red chilli;
- Chicken Three Way – ganderi kebab (soft mince kebab, sweet sugarcane, tangy raw mango sauce), bhatti ka murg (cheese sauce and fenugreek & fennel succulent chicken breast), murg methi malai tikka (7 spices including cardamom, cloves, cinnamon etc excellent grilled chicken thigh) served with coriander sauce.

I couldn't resist the sound of a lobster soup. In hindsight it wasn't all that I dreamt of but I couldn't know that at the time. In any case they served a complimentary soup so that my dining partner wasn't excluded from a course. Very considerate.

- Lobster Rassa (Cochin prawns, black pepper & fennel rusk, robust lobster broth) – small shrimp, sliced slightly firm scallop which was quite good, calamari encrusted with couscous/polenta which had odd texture. Perhaps lobster is prawn as the broth had mild prawn and fish flavour but minimal lobster. Weird crouton stick;
- (complimentary) Kale Channe Ki Cappuccino (cappuccino style flavoured black chickpea broth) – an odd soup but unexpectedly nice for kale.

The entrees (aka mains in the Western world) followed. There was great excitement given the quality of the starters. Any hint of fullness that was creeping in soon disappeared.

- (complimentary) Guava, fennel, black pepper sorbet palate cleanser which reminded me of a fresh tomato sorbet flavour;
- Duck 4 Ways – slightly disappointing. Duck egg (fried), tamarind roast (chewy roast with tangy tamarind), duck samosa (delicious green chilli dry heat), chef's special masala confit (thick chewy slices without enough tenderness or nice flavour). Overall not much duck flavour;
- Green Chilly Tulsi & Pinenut Fish (pan seared Chilean sea bass, flavoured with basil & pinenut, mango & coconut curry) – perfectly cooked and textured fish, good tasty crust, outstanding phenomenal raw mango and coconut & cashew curry (how I expect butter chicken should ultimately be);
- Camembert & Truffle Naan - I could smell the truffle but not really taste it (I suppose the cost would limit this). Plain or garlic naan is probably better value although standard.

At this point dessert was not necessary. In fact if it had not been a fancy restaurant or if it was somewhere I would ever likely return again in this lifetime, I wouldn't have ordered it. After reading the menu and looking at the display items I couldn't quite help but get one.

- The Dome (chikki kulfi with Bailey's rabdi) – chocolate shell with kulfi treated by a Cognac flambee then smothered with Bailey's and thickened milk. A thick milky dessert overall with nice chocolate tones;
- (complimentary) House Cheesecake – gulab lined and topped with rose. After dessert and asking for the bill they surprised with more food. After sampling a small slice they offered to pack it which was unnecessary. I hope the staff were allowed to eat it themselves as I suggested;
- (complimentary) Betel leaf – rose, peppermint which had a sharp taste designed to palate cleanse. They gave another 4 to take home for no reason at all.

I had a course in North Canberra that required a very early Saturday morning start of 8am. One of the few perks of the course is my meals will be reimbursed. Whereas I'd ordinarily have a mixed bowl of Carman's and 247 muesli before dashing off, I decided it was as good as reason as any to find a North side early morning breakfast.

Options that were open on a Saturday by 7am came down to Mocan & Green Grout, Autolyse, Lonsdale Street Eatery and Good Brother. Autolyse has by far the most interesting food menu with Mocan & Green Grout second (taking into account LSE doesn't have an online menu) and I recall the two times I've sampled Autolyse sourdough were happy moments.

Whilst waiting for my order I couldn't help but observe the mesmerising baker rolling out pastry in the machine then systemically cutting, rolling, decorating and egging various items to place them in the baking queue. I also couldn't help but notice the queue of people who then starting lining up for meals and coffee which remained 5 deep for all of 730-8am. I wonder why everyone is awake so early on a Saturday.

- Soy Chai Latte ($5 small) - mild sweetness with hints of cinnamon and cloves served in a lovely red pot. Fresh ingredients and no syrupiness. If they ever read this, I'd suggest experimenting with added ginger too;
- White Bean, Tomato, Chorizo Cassoulet with Baked Egg ($16.9) - a nice hot baked egg protecting slices of mild chorizo, large beans and tomato pieces. The prevailing flavour was tomato rather than salt which was great for first thing in the morning. It came with an unexpected large half-loaf of sourdough which had beautiful crispy shell, soft (minimally sour however) inside and complemented the dish perfectly.

The cassoulet is an excellent satisfying and warming meal that would have been perfect if I had given myself more time. It took about 25mins to come out and such I had about 5-10mins to eat. I'll go back on a less rushed morning (probably at a later time) to have that, other options (including an ox heart salad which I was impressed to see) and/or bakery items again.

Bukhara is a restaurant institution such that it has included accolades of best Indian restaurant in the world, best restaurant in India and the Top 50 San Pellegrino Asia restaurants list (peaking at #26 in 2012). I had a tough time deciding between ITC Maurya's two outstanding restaurants (the other being Dum Pukht, which has also been in the SP Top 50 and rivals Bukhara in terms of foodiness) but after the Bollywood Masala challenge, Bukhara won out. The article I found online that included all the top end Delhi restaurants on my list (http://www.traveller.com.au/india-the-battle-for-delhis-bellies-36qux) influenced my decision of what I wanted to order - raan and dal.

Despite having a booking, it seems it's more a matter of waiting for a table after you arrive. During this time, the bar is open to serve and a quick glance at the cocktail menu lead to two delicious combinations - Dilli High 5 and Spice Route. Soon after a table was ready. The menu imprinted on two wooden boards is presented.

Whilst waiting for the food to arrive, I couldn't help but wander around and watch the chefs at work through the transparent screen especially the large kebabs hanging high and the enormous dexterity required to manipulate a large naan.

- Naan Bukhara (Rs. 1525) – the waiter insisted this was only for 6-8 people but I just wanted to have one on the table. It was huge with some crisp edges and some soft breadier parts. Definitely not the best naan I've had but it was fine to eat with the other dishes and create little sandwiches. I ate about half of it myself;
- Sikandari Raan (Rs. 2925)(whole leg of spring lamb, braised in a marinade of malt vinegar, cinnamon, black cumin, red chilli paste & finished in the Tandoor) – a nicely spiced, seasoned salty flavour with soft juicy meat. It could have been more tender but was certainly acceptable;
- Dal Bukhara (Rs. 795)(harmonious blend of black lentil, tomatoes, ginger & garlic, simmered overnight on slow charcoal fire, finished with cream & served with a dollop of unsalted butter) – what an incredible dish! The lentils had been smoothed into a creamy smokey buttery product that was so rich and luxurious. Sensational. A whole different universe to the dal makhani from other places.

Coriander sauce was nice and spicy and tangy and acted like the Indian version of tzatziki in a souvlaki binding the ingredients together.

The meal was extremely memorable considering how long I had been anticipating it, the reputation of the restaurant, the luxury of the hotel and the heavenliness of the Dal Bukhara. 

Next time I would order small breads and thus a variety of them and pick something else instead of the raan (unless I had a group of people to share this and kababs with).

ITC Maurya was the last booked hotel for the 2 week India trip. This was intentionally done as the Malaysia Airlines flight home at 12pm didn't allow for a transfer from Varanasi by plane or train (and considering the trains were all delayed >10 hours there was no reliability on estimated arrival times) and also because I wanted my last meal to be at Bukhara or Dum Pukht.

I had a really great deal at ITC Maurya known as the 'Winter Special' which included a free massage, free breakfast and 20% off a meal. Unfortunately I contracted Varanasi-belly at approximately 5am and spent the next few hours in the luxurious bathroom. It also meant that I wasn't able to enjoy the full extent of the 5-star buffet breakfast on the ground floor at Pavilion.

There are 3 breakfast options to choose from - the full buffet at Pavilion and two smaller selection buffets that compensate you with high-level views.

The Pavilion buffet has a team of chefs in a circle station who cook fresh noodle and egg dishes to order. Surrounding them are a collection of curries and fried items as would be found in typical Indian hotel breakfasts. Western options also made an appearance with baked beans, bacon, breads and pastries, smoked salmon and antipasto. In my debilitated state I stuck to fresh yoghurt, soy milk, muesli, seeds and nuts and fresh & dried fruit.

If I ever return to Delhi, I'll be staying at ITC Maurya and will certainly relish a second attempt at that breakfast.

One of most highly mentioned places in Jaipur is Handi. The clinching factor ended up being Vivek Singh's recommendation (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/india/10664858/Jaipurs-best-restaurants-by-Vivek-Singh.html) of it having the most authentic laal maas around and to eat it with roomali roti. I never ate at Cinnamon whilst in the UK, but it was certainly on my radar so I'd trust his opinion over random reviews.

It was a short Rs. 70 auto-tuktuk from Rawla Rawatsar there. Although it was only about 1km on Google maps, the sheer traffic (animal, human and auto), wet roads and general excrement meant the buzzing exciting scoot through town was necessary. The guesthouse owner and driver knew the place immediately - it's well known and rightly so. Parking out the front the first thing you notice is the wafting aroma of chargrilled meats luring you in.

Inside you'll find the bread man making continuous amounts of naan piled up in a basket. It's a beautiful human-type of machinery at work.

- Banana Lassi – fruit chunks embedded in blended diary and necessary for the impending tongue burning;
- Onion-Garlic Naan – outstanding version with visible garlic and onion pieces embedded and painted with butter. Delicious and the best I've ever had;
- Tandoori Platter – tandoori chicken (tender succulent leg, slight burnt crisp outside), seek kabab (glowing red soft mince), shammi kabab (fried chicken), chicken tikka (slightly chewy), mutton tikka (succulent tear apart with strong meat flavour), galouti kebab (minced mutton in a smooth mix);
- Jaisalmeri Laal Maas – an extremely hot curry with red chilli, green chilli and tabasco. It was flavoursome and reminded me of vindaloo. The waiter warned me it would be hot and my tongue, mouth, face, eyes and ears felt it;
- Roomali Roti - a thin wispy bread for the curry;
- Gulab Jamun - sweet but I honestly can't remember. The chilli burnt the memory out of me.

There are so many good looking dishes here from the grilled to the curries. I don't think I'd order the laal maas again as it was too painful to be truly enjoyable (unless I could get them to spice it down for me). Perhaps the Handi Meat or Handi Mutton Biryani next time.

Sometimes you crave a big pizza all to yourself. The last time for me was back in 2013 when I got a 20" (half bone marrow/spring onion/watercress and half pork belly/chimichurri/smoked onions) all to myself at Homeslice at Seven Dials near Covent Garden or the Georgian khachapuri (cheese, cheese, cheese) in St. Petersburg a few months later. On those occasions despite the more unusual ingredients and my greed, I could only finish half each.

Tonight was another of those pizza moments and Arte seemed a good choice. I'd read about it and the menu seemed conventional and nice, albeit a little expensive. Once I went inside the small home business I saw how large a family pizza is and the prices made sense. The small and medium are significantly smaller so don't really seem good value (unless you can't bear the thought of eating day old pizza - shame on you).

- Calzone Traditionale - a huge calzone filling a family sized box with thin pieces of ham (not smoked or cured), tomato, an occasional basil leaf and a load of molten mozzarella;
- Prawn Pizza #1 - 6 high quality prawns (cut in half to form 12) on a thin pizza base topped with cheese and a nice tomato base. Garlic was a listed ingredient but although I chewed through a few granules I couldn't detect any of the flavour;
- Garlic Pizza - very thin crispy like flatbread rather than pizza base with a few chunks of garlic. Prefer much more garlic, some butter and a little burning. Disappointed overall.

The pizzas were decent quality but I did feel slightly unsatisfied (not dissatisfied) at the end. Given the other local options are Domino's and Crust (which I don't mind actually), this is a clear step up above in quality.

My favourite pizzas of all time (other than the simple fresh passata and buffalo mozzarella in Rome) have had anchovies or capers or speck or proscuitto. So I think I probably just like much heavier seasoning/salt with my pizzas. I still have half a calzone, 3/4 family prawn pizza and half a small garlic pizza left. I'll easily get through it and it should satisfy my pizza needs until I decide to recreate Franco Manca's recipe for the 2nd time.

In the area of Hauz Khas, one dinner option seemed more unusual than the rest. Rosang was the first place I had read about that specialised in North Indian cooking. Specifically the food is from the 8 North East states and the owner from specifically Manipur where India borders China and Burma. As a result the owner looks what I'd call Asian rather than Indian. Similarly she thought I might be from North India. How quaint.

Two types of homemade sauces with experimental recipes were served for dipping. The vibrant colours and flavours contrasted each other well. My favourite was the red sauce made from ghost chilli and tomato. It had a smokey characteristic that I wrongly guessed was from paprika. It imparted a sweetness overall. The dark sauce was an unusual combination of black mustard leaf, gooseberry juice and chilli. It had a sourness overall.

- Sougri-Mahi - a sour red type of tea made from a flower ground into powder with jaggery and green chilli. Unusual;
- Pork Spare Ribs (marinated in house special blended herbs & spices accompanied with raja mircha chutney) - looked red and vibrant. The outer shell was crispy but unfortunately it and the meat lacked seasoning. It was also a very very fatty rib meaning most of it was wasted as bone and fat;
- Iromba Insang (assorted seasonal vegetables curry with fish paste) - Fish paste, potato and seasonal vegetables combined to be similar to a basic fish-based soup. A thumb-sized ghost chilli segment made this the spiciest dish on the menu and wow it had intense painful tongue-burning capacity;
- Ngatok (no oil fish curry with indigenous spices & aromatic herbs from the region) - ghost chilli, fish with a lot of bones, tomato and North-Eastern flowers and spices that don't have English names. I was assured the yellow colour was not from turmeric;
- Chaak Hao (Manipuri red rice)

The food was much closer to Asian as well with hints of basic homestyle Chinese and South East flavours. It was a complete change to the 2 weeks of butter, ghee, cream and curries. Overall the food wasn't as incredible as I hoped for but it was a different experience at least and made me curious to try this cuisine again.

The host was exceptionally nice. She sat for 20-30mins for a chat and explaining how she has been highly recommended and reviewed, selected to cook for festivals and in hotels, is finally going on a holiday now that her children are older, and will hopefully expand one day to USA. I wish her the best of luck.

Varanasi TA #2 is Dosa Cafe. It was a quiet evening and slightly chilly. From the inside seats you can see locals, tourists and cows wander past. It's an unsual restaurant in that it specialises in lots of different types of street foods. Each type of street food has a lot of different options from basic to what I can only describe as attempted fusion.

In any case each serve is small, meaning you can try one of each.

- Masala Vada (savoury fritter prepared with chickpea dal & spices, deep fried) - nice salty and satisfying snack;
- Vegetarian Idli (savoury cake from steamed batter of fermented black lentils & rice) served with coconut sauce & sambar - I think the fried version would have been more my taste as the steamed version was similar to a very bland type of Asian bao;
- Masala Dosa (fermented crepe from rice batter & black lentils) stuffed with mashed potato, ginger, garlic, carrot, green peas, onion, tomato, peanuts & spices - the restaurant namesake is a large, thin crispy triangle of pastry. It was fine but looks more impressive than it was satisfying to me;
- Cheese Spinach Sweet Corn Uttapam (thick pancake cooked in batter) topped with fresh spinach paste, sweet corn, cumin seeds, ginger & mozzarella cheese - this Indian pizza was actually quite nice. A thick, soft, doughy base with nice toppings of your choice.

Next time I would order probably one of each of those again, except the idli would be a fried type and a different dosa just for the textural variety. I wanted to try upma also (thick porridge cooked in ghee) but I think I'd been over-ghee'd and this would tip me over.

The last thali in India needed to be a good one. Since I was in Varanasi of which the restaurant recommendations are relatively limited, I had to resort to Tripadvisor. All the websites that listed Varanasi restaurants recommendations essentially exclusively list high-end luxury hotels all of which are near the train station. The only thali place is Niyati at #5 which is also conveniently near Dashaswamedh Ghat. Actually considering that is the most popular and largest ghat, I'm not surprised all the high TA recommendations are near there. Anyway, I digress...

What was odd was the two shoeless boys that served us. Clearly this was new to them as evidenced by the timid approach and general muteness (they could speak). The owner came out occasionally and told us they were his children aged 14yo and 16yo. Honestly I think they looked more like 10yo and 12yo max. I don't want to promote childhood labour but hopefully my tips got to them.

- Banana Lassi - quite nice with thick chunks of banana which I liked. There were sugar crystals which in hindsight I should've asked them to withhold;
- Masala Chai - simple spiced chai;
- Garlic Naan - I think I had developed a taste for intensely garlic naan. This flavour was much more subtle and coated with butter, and texture was firm and chewy. Not the best but a filler;
- Special Thali (mix veg curry, aloo jira, dal fry, rice, papd, curd, pickle, butter chapati, paneer curry & sweet) - each thali ingredient tasted was good but the standout was the potatoes. I don't know how they cooked them but they were seasoned, buttery and spiced in flavour, and slightly firm and fluffy in texture. One of the best I've ever had.

I'd gladly go back for the thali, especially those great potatoes. There's a very minute possibility I got sick from this food (although to be honest I'm sure it was the Varanasi street food).