“Self Love is the best love” With the sudden boom in the health and wellness industry, people have finally started to get that much needed exposure to lead a healthy and proactive lifestyle. Lifestyle coaches and nutritionists are mushrooming overnight, Companies that promote healthier alternatives like Raw and nourish Organics are getting large fundings and alternate grains are finally getting their due. Gone are the days when we ate mindlessly and calories were an alien con Read more
If you’ve been reading my work, you must have figured out that I’m really not an out-till-6am at a club kind of a girl ( No judgement on those who do, I don’t know where you get those abundant energy reserves form) Weekends for me very very rarely involve a glass of wine that knocks me right to sleep. A trip to Prague appeared on the cards in May & I was excited since this would be after a gap of 8 long years. Prague I’m sure would’ve changed a lot too in this time period, as have I! Read more
Bali is a vast island, every part of this Island is unique. After staying in popular parts like the buzzingKuta Seminyak and the serene Ubud Nusa Dua, I decided to experience Canggu on this trip. Imanaged to get a lovely all-glass Villa on the riverside with an ocean view but I was more excited to seethis part of the island had to offer. Read more
I hate clubbing. There I said it! Unlike millennials around me who wait for the weekend to stand in snaking queues for hours around the globe to get into the hottest club of their city for a few hours of getting jostled by strangers in dark places and wafting BO.I don’t understand the point of putting so much makeup on your face when one can’t see it in the dim lighting and let alone hear you over the decibel damaging levels of music. Okay, enough about my two cents on clubbing.I clearly am Read more
Lo & Behold! Gaggan, Asia’s best restaurant now proudly stands at number 5 on the World’s 50 best list. When the hype was just beginning to grow, I reserved a table at Gaggan on my bachelorette back in 2016. I reserved a table 45 days in advance. They never sent a confirmation. After hounding them for another week, I finally got an email confirmation. Our original destination was Bali while Bangkok was the layover. I specially extended our trip by a day in Bangkok so as to try Gaggan. It Read more
With exactly 17 dishes on the menu that cover Entrees, Mains & Desserts, Paju Villa is definitely the IT restaurant in Tallinn at the moment. Another brainchild of the geniuses behind Noa, this restaurant is literally a Pinterest board. When I say Pinterest board, I really mean one. Chevrons, pastels like powder pink & mint, loft French windows, accents of rose gold and white marble countertops to set it off, this restaurant is pretty as a picture & the food is top-notch. Read more
It’s quite a struggle to find the perfect pizza in India even though it’s one of the most common non-Indian dishes around. I’m not talking about a bready-biscuity base most 5 star restaurants insist on serving. I’m clearly not talking about the abomination that is Domino’s or Pizza Hut. I’m talking about a doughy yet thin crust wood fired pizza. Simple flavours of tomato & basil from the passata, enhanced by stringiness from a good quality mozzarella that adds a creamy texture, maybe Read more
Last night, I went to Mum’s Kitchen for dinner. I was so hungry & excited at the prospect of getting Xacuti after three months that I forgot to take pictures. This happens very rarely (me forgetting to document my gastronomic adventures), but that’s what Mum’s Kitchen does to you. In the 21 years of its running, I must have had at least 50 meals here. They started out as a multi-cuisine restaurant when Goa was building its hype and claimed to be one of the most authentic Goanese exper Read more
When little street side cafés serve such fare, you know you’re in a culinary paradise. This is a hip little high street café that serves restaurant quality dishes & some mean coffee! I personally loved these Kebaps that were served with a pickled onion salad & a sea buckthorn reduction. The quality of the produce, the simple homestyle techniques and yet, the complex flavours & textures make this a hearty, warming meal. Read more
Pegasus supposedly means a lightning bolt in Greek Mythology and well, the food at this establishment does nothing short of leaving one awestruck. I’ve been to this place thrice in the last one year on three different trips and it never ceases to amaze me every single time. Read more
Chimney cakes or Trdelník are Czech only in name. An ancient practice of rolling the dough around a stick & baking it over an open fire or hot coals before the advent of bread ovens & stoves is something most parts of Europe indulged in. So, where, why and how did this become Prague’s favourite street food? Available at every little street corner that usually rolled in Cinnamon Sugar, these cakes are served filled with ice-cream, Nutella, berries and other tra Read more
Living in New Delhi, we may have come across the term 'Halal' a lot but I can guarantee that most people are ignorant to say the least about Kosher food, including me. A chance encounter with a tiny Kosher café in Europe made me delve deeper into the concept. I realised all I knew about Kosher was that it was a Jewish concept that laid certain dietary restrictions on its practitioners.After stepping into this quaint little café and chatting up with my server, I realised how much I really did Read more
I have to travel to Tallinn, Estonia quite frequently and on my second trip here, I discovered Sushi Plaza. Now, Japan has been on my bucket list since aeons & I still haven't managed to book a trip. After trying sushi at enough fine restaurants across the world ( Nobu, Wasabi, Zuma etc.) I can safely say this tiny hole-in-a-wall establishment is hands down the best sushi I've ever had! Read more
The old town in Tallinn is divided into two parts. The higher one where the nobility lived & the lower one where the proletariat existed. Connecting the two was the old town square. Why am I giving you this history lesson? Because tucked away from the old town is a little street that houses not only the best hotel in Tallinn (Telegraaf) but also an exclusive collection of fine dining restaurants. From Tchaikovsky that is in the hotel itself to Controvento & Dominic, these are the best sh Read more
The year is 1997; Delhi is riding high on the Chinjabi wave. Chinese food modified to suit the North Indian palate is a rage, dishes the Chinese have never even fathomed like Manchurian and Chilli Paneer take up space on the specials menu of most Chinese stand-alone restaurants mushrooming everywhere. Food trends come and go and unfortunately, this ketchup and vinegar-laced cuisine face a lot of backlash from the conscious eaters for the copious amounts of MSG in it. A lethal chemical that Read more
We start with breakfast at Dariba, the silver smith’s lane. Street hawkers line up with Aloo ki sabzi served with hot khasta kachoris and fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth bread pakoras. Another classic is the same Aloo ki sabzi served with Nagoris ( Baby poori-matthi hybrid) and scalding sooji ka halwa. In winter, the same lane is buzzing with Daulat ki chaat stalls. Daulat ki chaat isn’t what you expect from chaat, it’s actually a soufflé that can give the French a run for their money. Fluff Read more
Afternoon Tea is a 175-year-old custom brought to England by a Duchess that swiftly made its way into the British society and is now a tradition in the British culture. However, this custom, or as I believe it to be an ‘experience’ hasn’t really caught the imagination of the rest of the world and still seems to be an alien concept. A typical afternoon tea is not meant for the impatient. A two hour ritual where you indulge in scrummy scones with clotted cream, lemon crème and an array of Read more
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While travelling, I try to maximise the number of restaurants I can visit. Before I plan out my sightseeing and travel schedules, I’m already on the phone making dinner reservations. It’s pretty clear I live to eat and I love to experiment. So, if I repeat a restaurant at a destination, one that isn’t even the local cuisine, I can safely say they’ve hit the spot. Madam Woo in Queenstown, New Zealand ticks all the boxes. A quaint little town by the lake with Read more
Road trips are a boon to long weekends, heading out of Delhi to the peaceful hills or the vibrancy of Rajasthan are my favourites. Unfortunately, most of these highways don’t have nice & hygienic eating options and gone are the days when you would pack oily parathas & Theplas for these journeys. Snacking is the order of the day and a holiday doesn’t necessarily have to be a holiday from counting calories and loading your system up with junk. To combat this, all you need is a Read more
Calcutta, a city characterized by its colonial hangover, has a handful of heritage 5-star hotels and Taj Bengal is one of them. A 28-year-old institution, this Taj property has updated itself to suit modern needs but some age-old traditions and truly world-class services are still the order of the day. A good Concierge can build or break a luxury hotel. One of my best experiences internationally has been at the Metropole Hotel in Moscow. The Concierge there w Read more