329511 Wed Sep 27 21:43:05 -0700 2006 29 44 South Asia 0 1906642 Im planning a trip to the northern half of India in March to meet up with my daughter who will be in Kolkata all year on a Fulbright. It looks like we will be in Delhi, some spots in Rajasthan, Varanasi, MP maybe (a posh joint in Maheshwar and Mandu) and of course Kolkata. Im finding getting good info on everything harder than expected but especially solid info on where to find great food. The regional homestyle stuff, not 5star restaurant chef stuff. Mostly veg, since my daughter doesnt eat meat or fish (but Im going to want it sometimes!) Im starting to believe that the smaller hotels and guesthouses with good local cooks might be the best bets but its hard to get reliable information on this. Any suggestions on how to proceed to find the good stuff? I mean, I know that I want to go to places where there are a lot of people and the food is freshly cooked, but beyond that? Are there areas in towns where decent restaurants are likely to be located? Im not going to have a lot of time to figure this out. Thanks for any help you can give. I will ask more specific questions about destinations as the time for the trip comes closer. Wed Sep 27 21:43:05 -0700 2006 11130 jen kalb 1 1906869 fabulous! one caveat - can you prepone your trip at all? march is ok, beginning to get hot but bearable. jan and feb are best - weathers great and all the non-resdient indians have gone home. really, late dec and early jan is now officially nri season. it IS going to be hard to find the great regional stuff, but it does exist. let me consult with the folks back home for some thoughts. eating veg isn't a problem unless you go to a muslim meat specialist - almost every restaurant i can think of has ample and satisfying vegetarian choices. are you going agra - jaipur - udaipur? don't miss khajuraho, the temples are stunning and there was NOBODY around the last time i was there - thats a hard trick to pull off in desh. you can fly from agra to khajuraho to jaipur. ok, i'll get back. Wed Sep 27 23:06:17 -0700 2006 1906642 11086 howler 1 1906916 Smaller hotels usually have bad food - smaller restos are sometimes ok, sometimes not, esp in Delhi. In Calcutta, most food is good and cheap - but it is not easy to get real Bengali food except at a couple of new, posh places that have opened - Kewpie's on Elgin Road (quite hard to find, so ask someone for precise directions) - another one is Bhoja Hari Mano - has a few branches, one is in Salt Lake, another near Ballygunge. In most parts of India, resto food is different from home cooking, and really, Calcutta is one of the few cities where a posh version of upper-class home cooking is now there for sale. In Delhi, if you are willing to pay a lot, but only by Indian standards,do try the famous restuarants at the 5 star hotels which are usually very good - Dum Pukht etc - have fewer, but still good veggie options. Another good place is the Defence Colony Market and Khan Market areas in South Delhi where lots of eating options and very good ones - for instance you get excellent South Indian food at Sagar and its next place, forget the name, in Def Col as it is known. If travelling by road, definitely stop and eat a rice/dal and subzi meal at the highway dhabas, your driver will know which one is good, they usually have fantastic food, but some are cleaner than others. Sorry, never been to MP. Btw, keep some imodium handy, ORS salts, and use water purifier pills even in mineral water - my partner is American and hence lacks the relative immunity I have, and gets tummy upsets worse than I do (even Indians get them, but milder) - lots of bacteria around everywhere, but given these precautions, you should be ok. Wed Sep 27 23:30:31 -0700 2006 1906642 43311 js288uk 2 1907055 thanks so much for your suggestions. Re Delhi, Do you mean Swagath?? There seems to be plenty of info about regional restaurants, from all over India, in Delhi - for the amount of time I will be there, Im hoping to have the time and capacity to get around to some, since I definitely will only be scratching the surface on India generally. I think Kolkata will be ok - Emma has experience there, and as you say, there seem to be some places like Kewpie actually cooking the Bengali cuisine (and there are some great Bengali enthusiasts posting on the anothersubcontinent website about Kolkata which is really great and whets my appetite). I'm wondering whether there is anyone cooking the Lucknowi meat cuisine in north calcutta though... By "small hotels" I mean some of the less ritzy heritage hotels and better guesthouses, not the backpacker places...who knows whether this is the right strategy? Im not sure that many westerners, who write recommendations of hotels online or in guidebooks, have much of a palate for indian food. Im also hoping to find places where I can actually watch the cooking and learn something, tho I understand that there may be religious issues with this in some places.Id love to hear any experiences about cooking lessons or chances to observe home cooks in India. some of the places I am considering are listed below - if anyone has been there and can comment on the eating, or offer better eating alternatives (with or without lodging) in the locations noted, that would be great - Birder's Inn or the Bagh - Bharatpur Jasvilas - Jaipur Devi Bhavan - Jodhpur Rohetgarh - Rohet RH Haveli Guesthouse or Haveli Braj Bhushanjee - Bundi Shivika Lake Hotel - Ranakpur Varanasi - ??? Ahilya Fort - Maheshwar MP Thu Sep 28 00:15:00 -0700 2006 1906916 11130 jen kalb 3 1913815 Yes, Swagath is the place next to Sagar. The trouble is that Delhi is really spread out. If you do a search in Outlook India (have to register - free) they ran some good pieces on the revolution in Indian eating-out - mentioned some good caterers for Kashmiri food, which might be worth trying if you can get together a few friends, about 8-10 people. Chor Bizaare has a wazwan dinner much touted in the guidebooks, but we did not care for it, and I would not advise going there. In Rajasthan, most of the simple Jain places have very nice veg food - I ate at a lot of them when I was in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, can't remember any names. Locals might also tell you where to go for a good Rajasthani thali with dal bati etc- you can also get a good version of that at Sundar Nagar Market in Delhi. Oh by the way, a nice eating experience in Delhi is Dilli Haat and the regional food stalls there, most are excellent and you can mix and match items from different stalls. Also, in most North Indian towns, you can get a nice meal of lassi, sweets and savouries from sweetshops typically run by Agarwals etc - look out for the kachoris in Rajasthan. Sat Sep 30 23:25:06 -0700 2006 1907055 43311 js288uk 1 1907246 Go to Jaipur in Rajastan, it is beautiful and it has some great local specialities - like lassi. It has lassi bars with 20 different flavors. I had lassi three times a day while I was there. Thu Sep 28 01:29:35 -0700 2006 1906642 43484 dpastor 1 1921545 I strongly second Howler's recommendation of Khajuraho. I was there for 3 days last February. The temples are quite extraordinary -- indeed, beyond catagory as Duke Ellington would say. And to boot, there is some extraordinary food in Khajuraho. At the Taj Chandela hotel, a short walk from town and the temples, they prepare the BEST BBQ grilled chicken I've ever had. I presume it was marinated in tandoori spices, but then grilled, not cooked in a tandoor. So if you are not totally vegetarian, go to Khajuraho for both the soul and the stomach. Wed Oct 04 13:39:59 -0700 2006 1906642 10759 Fred Stare 1 1949980 jen, Since I am from Kolkata, I would recommend Nizam's - a Muslim restaurant known for its famous kati roll, a kind of wrap with bar-b-q lamb or beef. Also next door Bihar very similiar restaurant, it is in central Calcutta, next to city hall called Calcutta Corporation. Also Karco restaurant know for its wrap with chicken also. This is in New Market area. Also you will find plenty of good indian dishes along free school street and park street area. like Gupta restaurant in free school street. Local bengali food is not as tasty as the muslim ones. Just my opinion. There is Halidram's along Chowringhee Road close to Victoria Memorial, it is a food court, you can find different regional foods. any way so much for now any questions, let me know on this board, enjoy your trip. Since Hindus considered beef sacred, most of the muslim restaurants serve mutton (lamb) and no beef. Mon Oct 16 22:22:48 -0700 2006 1906642 13299 ycl1688 2 1950395 thanks much for the Kolkata recommendations - one thing I have wondered is whether there is any remnant of Lucknowi cooking, since the Awadh court moved to North Calcutta area at the end. Do you know whether there is a restaurant cooking those dishes? Im hoping to eat some meat in Kolkata, but since I will be with my vegetarian daughter, will have to go along with her wishes as well. thanks again! Tue Oct 17 00:46:33 -0700 2006 1949980 11130 jen kalb 2 2352856 Bengali food can be quite delicious. Hilsa cooked with a mustard marinade is practically the national dish of Bengal and, cooked right, is meltingly delicious. Bengalis eat a lot of fish - fried, curried, grilled, etc. Luchis, a kind of flour puri, is another bengali speciality. When I was in Calcutta last (about 20 years ago) there were few Bengali restaurants but there must be more now. Calcutta is also famous for Indian Chinese food. Chung Wah (on Dharmatolla Street - I think) was good then. Fatty Mummy's, a hole in the wall shack in North Calcutta's tanning district was the buzz. Ask your daughter for the buzz spots in Chinese food these days. Nizam's is an institution and a must visit. Visit the original Nizam's behind New Market rather than one of the many branches in the city. Mughalai Parantha, a parantha stuffed with ground meat and eggs, is a speciality of Calcutta. Available everywhere but the best places are just off Chowringhee, the name "Anarkali Cabin" comes to mind but it has been a long long time! Mon Mar 05 06:38:20 -0800 2007 1949980 42509 gumnaam 1 1950019 If you're going to Rajasthan PLEASE go to Udaipur. It is the most beautiful town and it has a healthy mix of local culture and tourist comfort. It was the highlight of my very recent trip to India. There a several great restaurants in Udaipur. The restaurant at the Jagat Niwas hotel is wonderful as is Ambrai which is on the other side of the famous lake (featured in the Bond film "Octopussy"). My husband and I took a great cooking class at the Indian Spice Box, a little spice shop there. So now that we're back we can make proper chai and several good, simple, healthy Indian dishes. In Delhi go to Karim's for kebabs. Delicious! It's true that Indian homecooking is very different (and healthier) than what you eat in restaurants both here and in India. But whatever you do, do not avoid food because you're worried about getting sick. There are so many great things to try there and some of the best food we had was street food. Don't censor your eating! My advice, just take an Acidophilus pill every day (or eat a lot of yogurt) in the month leading up to your trip and while you're there. My husband and I spent a month in India eating everything and didn't once get sick. India is crazy, but great and the food is phenomenal! Such an underrated cuisine! Mon Oct 16 22:40:00 -0700 2006 1906642 46458 empecot 2 1950371 thanks to all, and keep it coming! Im getting more and more excited about this trip. Tue Oct 17 00:41:19 -0700 2006 1950019 11130 jen kalb 1 2054074 If you like or love vegetarian cuisine--you are headed to a veggie paradise--enjoy Tue Nov 28 23:55:28 -0800 2006 1906642 55914 marlie202 1 2099351 If you stay in family run mid-priced hotels, ask your hosts if they will cook up an authentic local meal for you. The Rajasthani food I ate in my Jaipur hotel (something niwas, could look it up if you like) was outstanding. Simple, but oh so delicious! Thu Dec 14 16:12:23 -0800 2006 1906642 42509 gumnaam 2 2099401 thanks, thats exactly what Im planning to do - trying to steer toward family owned places, without buffets and bus groups - and appealing to their pride in their regional food! Jaipur is off my list, but Im sure others reading this thread would be interested in your recommendation - if you have other suggestions in other places, that would be great Thu Dec 14 16:23:29 -0800 2006 2099351 11130 jen kalb 3 2103001 Looked it up. Of course, it was nothing niwas! The correct name is "nana ki haveli". I'm sure though that any family run place will cook up an equally spectacular meal. I had another one in Mysore - can't remember that name either - but it was great! Fri Dec 15 18:14:42 -0800 2006 2099401 42509 gumnaam 4 2105167 fyi the name means 'nana's place'. sounds great! Sat Dec 16 15:22:14 -0800 2006 2103001 11086 howler 1 2336711 Jen, If you are interested to taste the remnant of Lucknowi cooking that is still there in Calcutta, definitely there are places to go, but you have to discount the hygene and cleanlyness. The best place is called "Royal" located in Bentinck Street in North Calcutta, near Nakhoda Mosque.....Royal is famous for it's "mutton chanp" or the muttons chops cooked in slow fire. The other places you can try out for "Awadhi" cooking are "Siraz Golden Restaurant" @ Park Circus and "Aminia" and "Rahmania" behind New Market. Hope this will help!! Wed Feb 28 05:18:26 -0800 2007 1906642 78478 diptam 2 2346913 Wow, thanks so much! Id just about given up hope on this request, Do you have any other recommendations for Kolkata? Ive pretty much scanned available resources, and actually have a lot of possible choices there - it seems like quite an intense food culture - for example which of the Bengali restaurants are considered best right now? Fri Mar 02 15:12:16 -0800 2007 2336711 11130 jen kalb 3 2356726 Among the Bengali restaurants in Calcutta, Kewpie's is the oldest one, located in narrow lane in Elgine Road, it's a small place, needs advance booking, also overly priced food. The others are Bhajo-Hari-Manna http://www.bhojohorimanna.org/ They have four branches now, I recommend "Hindusthan Park" branch which is near Gariahat More in south calcutta. Another one is "6 Ballugunge Place", again near Gariahat in south calcutta. Other joints are "Aheli" the restaurant of Hotel Peerless Inn @ Chowringhee "Charnock's" at Charnok City, Saltlake, "Bay of Bengal", "Oh!Calcutta" to name a few. I Suggest "Bhojo-Hori-Manna" @ Hindustan Park.... Tue Mar 06 01:18:21 -0800 2007 2346913 78478 diptam 4 2359555 Ill be staying at the RKMission with my daughter, so South Calcutta is great. Im thinking there is a place (Suruchi?) where a group of women cook cooperatively. Is that one on your radar screen? Highly appreciate your advice. Tue Mar 06 16:20:42 -0800 2007 2356726 11130 jen kalb 5 2599658 How was the trip? Please do share. Thu May 24 15:18:02 -0700 2007 2359555 13495 Love to Eat 1 2346979 I remember when you first posted, and thought I replied. Don't worry: "the regional home style stuff" is easy to find! Your daughter will know a lot more by now as well. Have fun, the opportunites out there are boundless. Fri Mar 02 15:26:24 -0800 2007 1906642 36661 Sam Fujisaka 1 2355402 gumnaam, fatty's mama unfortunately passed away in the 80's in kolkata. Mon Mar 05 15:16:14 -0800 2007 1906642 13299 ycl1688 2 2366726 Sad but not surprising! Calcuttans (or is it Kolkatans now) must miss her. Thu Mar 08 13:42:03 -0800 2007 2355402 42509 gumnaam 1 3013053 I wanted to bring back this thread because I am about to depart on my (short) india trip which unfortunately will not include Kolkata as Id hoped.Ive done a ton of obsessive research, to get info on, what in the end may be relatively few meals that we have control over (at some of our destinations I know where we are eating), but if anyone has new recommendations for great food at the following destinations, that would be helpful: Delhi - we will probably have the opportunity to eat a maximum of 5 restaurant meals in Delhi, and are staying in S. Delhi. Hoping to stop in at Karim's when in the Old City, apart from that what faves would you recommend?? (Bukhara and Dumpunkt are NOT options - Im not going to push veg daughter to go to more than one meat -oriented place) Is Spice Route good, or a waste for me coming from NY with fusion options here, of an opportunity to eat Indian? Agra - any recommendations here? Udaipur or Jodhpur - ditto Ahmedabad - ditto (we ARE going to Agashiye) Modera or Patan (Gujarat) - a lunch stop Finally, is there a special place to try and buy tea in any of the above cities? I will surely report back Sun Oct 07 17:21:02 -0700 2007 1906642 11130 jen kalb 2 3159094 Ooh! We're heading to the same areas in a month. Can you report back on your experiences? Tue Nov 27 13:00:32 -0800 2007 3013053 40498 Raka 1 3170093 hi thr. i wud also like to recommend u the cuisine of orissa. it has all he variety and ingradients that u r looking for. about fusion thing, well if u hav visited Puri, the abode of lord jagannath then there's a restaurant called "wild grass" whr u can actually enter the kitchen and get the feel of the food. the greatest satisfaction that one can ever have is to look at how his/her food is cooked.try it. or u cud try the authentic chinese cuisine at the purely chinese restaurant "chung wha" adjacant to it. Sat Dec 01 00:46:26 -0800 2007 1906642 145175 unirecovery07 1 3688737 Wondering if jen kalb and/or Raka would be willing to provide recommendations from their relatively recent trips to India. Heading there on vacation next week and would appreciate there insight. Thanks. Wed May 14 22:28:45 -0700 2008 1906642 107810 atlas_lion21 2 3691153 where will you be visiting? Thu May 15 13:42:50 -0700 2008 3688737 11130 jen kalb