Food Files I ..

Sorry i've been away for a while .. but before you jump to conclusions about me being lost in books let me set the record straight I was out and about looking for good food.. eating at the dinning hall here at the ISB can get very monotonous, with its exotic dishes like 'yam pudusu' , 'snake bean poriyal' and 'something papu' your mind starts to play games with you. It forces you to ring up a taxi, rush out of class and just head out in search of something that will satisfy the foodie in you.
Lucky for me I have discovered that Hyderabad is a place for foodies like myself.. being a city of so many cultures the variety of food available here is certainly refreshing... So here it goes some of my food adventures so far ..

Stop1: Punjabi Rasoi .. a small family run restaurant on the cross roads near ISB. Anyone who has ever passed out of this school has eaten here. It can also be renamed to TGPR 'thank god its punjabi Rasoi' . It has become the life line for many here on campus, when we want to eat something that will chear us up after a hard night full of group assignments ... in fact to celebrate the submission of a long group assignment me and my group drive down to have some good old tucker at punjabi Rasoi..Great feel good food.
Must Have: Mutton Rara Punjabi- succulant pieces of mutton stir fried in dry spices and served dry.
Mita's Rating: Concept : hmm..survival Food: 3.5/5 Ambiance: 1/5

Stop 2 : BBQ Nation .. a ISB favourite , at any given time you will find atleast 2 tables occupied by your fellow Isbian...
Concept: Taking on from the original Korean table BBQ where in the middle of the table there is a coal BBQ set up on top of which meat is placed and gets cooked fresh in front of you. This restaurant is the Indian Tandoori take on it.. there is a small tandoor in the middle of every table and delicious marinated meats and veggies are brought out 3/4 cooked and placed on the hot tandoor..
What I ate: Well since this is an all you can eat restaurant (and i come under the profitable clientele category) i tasted just about everything that they brought to the table, first there was chicken tikka, thai fish, tandoori prawns, lamb kebabs, marinated mushrooms, paneer tikka.. if your mouth isn't watering yet please go and see the doctor.
Must Have Gilaffi Naan, a soft semi sweet bread straight from the tandoor with pistachio nuts and almonds. Fish on a skewer , tender marinated fish that melts in your mouth. Make sure you ask for these when you head there.
Mita's Rating: Concept : 5/5 Food: 4/5 Ambiance: 3/5

Bon Appetite...

Namaskaaram... from the city of Nizams

Namaskaaram (aka 'Hello' in Telegu) from the city of Nizams. Sorry guys its been a while .. was finding my feet (and a good internet connection) in hyderabad. Landed safely and soundly at the new hyderabad airport. Pretty nice airport although it looked a bit unused and unoiled at the moment.. as the luggage starting coming out my two pieces of luggage were the first to roll out i wasn't even ready with the trolley yet.. but i take it as a good omen as i have never been that lucky at the luggage carousels:) .. so far it has been an enjoyable stay ..here are some highlights.

• My cousin had a house party the first night i arrived.. cooked some good food and had lots of chit chat, so my first night in hyderabad was a party night, , what more can I say :)


• Hyderabad is much greener and cleaner than i had imagined. Love the trees that they have grown everywhere. Even the road dividers have huge trees and lush green grass.


• The weather (something that i was dreading) has been unusually cool here. It has rained the two days and there has been a cool breeze blowing. I have even seen lightening. Couldn't have asked for anything more :)


• Celebrated telegu new year 'Ugadi' on Monday. It certainly is going to be a 'new' year.


• Already got my hands on some authentic Andra food. Went to place called 'Chutneys' which is supposed to be quite famous. This is the thali that i ate there ;) .. hope to write a restaurant review soon. (I looked like such a silly tourist when i was taking photos of the food at this restaurant ;)



• I visited the ISB and SV2. The guards at the gate were very polite and let me go in to check it out. The place was deserted so had a bit of an eary feel to it. Think there was a bit of maintenance work going on .. getting ready for the class of 2009.
• Visited a supermarket here called 'Q' mart in Bangara hills. It had everything i get back home so i was really happy. Found all my favourite food including my favourite chocolates.. everytime i get home sick 'Q' mart it is..
• Drank fresh coconut water everyday ..

I'm sure this is just the begining of many adventures here in this city...

meals i'm going to miss

Well, before i write about all the other things that i am going to miss about home I have to at least talk about all the good Sydney food that I'm going to miss terribly. Being a incurable foodie i have been spoilt growing up in Sydney. Without being biast i have to say the variety of food and fresh produce that is available in the city is amongst the best i have come across. This is mostly thanks to the many migrants from around the world that have made this place home. I remember in my kindergarten class I had kids from 25 different countries, so each lunch box had something quite exotic in it.

There are various areas in Sydney that serve authentic food from particular nations, the upside of ethnic ghetto living. So if i want to have authentic Turkish i head to the Turkish quarter, or yummy Vietnamese i head to a suburb where you feel like you are in Vietnam (well as far as the food is concerned). Here are some of my favorites...

• Malaysian : Laksa at 'Laksa King' - Laksa is a favourite noodle soup for sydney siders and is available at every food court. It is a spicy coconut milk based noodle soup with fragrant spices, can be quite hot.
  
• Turkish: 'Sofra' at Auburn. Makes the nicest Adana Kebabs - lamb kebabs marinated in spices, slow cooked over charcoal, served with turkish bread (close to the Indian Naan), onion and tomato salad with sumac(a middle eastern spice). Drink Ayran (Yogurt drink like lassi )with it.
• Vietnamese: Pho or Chicken noodle soup at Flemington or Cabramatta. A healthy option , and makes you feel better with warm clear chicken soup with noodles, mint, basil, fresh chillis and sprouts.
  
• Lebansese: Doner Kebab or Shewarma at every corner. Perfect for a late night meal, slow roasted chicken wrapped in lebanese bread with Toubouli salad (my favourite) and homous.
  
• Thai :Curries (red/green/yellow). Thai food has become pub food in Sydney. Being the most popular food here. Great option for vegetarians as they do veggie food well.
  
• Greek : Dolamades - marinated rice wraped in wine leaves, kalmatta olives, slow cooked lamb souvlaki.
• Italian : Wood fired pizzas and lasagna and Cappocino anywhere in Leichhardt or Five Dock..
• Chinese : Sydney's Chinatown .. some things i'm still too afraid to try but the sizzling plates are nice.
• Other : Crepes, meat pies, baked potatoes, nachos ..

Hmm.. all this food talk has made me quite hungry.

Although i'm going to miss all this food i am quite excited about exploring Hyderabad and its food secrets. Have got myself the Times Food Guide to Hyderabad and will surely be checking out some places .. will post my thoughts on these.

Last few days here will be spent eating up all the stuff I'm going to miss ;)