Andhra Dining - A Surprise In Ginza!

Roaming around Ginza, we were left with a massive appetite and what we discovered next was quite a surprise, something that we did not expect to find!

While we have developed a deep love for Japanese food - curries, ramen, sushi and tempura, but nothing can compare the way we get drawn to Indian cuisine, especially since we moved out of India. And finding a place that serves South Indian food was quite really the icing on the cake - we could not really believe our luck!!!

And Andhra Dining was rated as the best restaurant in 2014...

Scanning the options...

What a pleasure to see Japanese office-goers going crazy over spicy South Indian food - truly our cuisine is a potent weapon of Indian soft power...

I could not resist ordering vada sambhar...

...and masala dosa!

...followed by cold payasam...

...and filter coffee!

Our last meal in Tokyo was indeed satisfying, a pleasurable end to this trip to Tokyo! And now we will head out to Haneda...

I Don't Want Nirvana! I Want Great Food, Always! -- Part XXXIII - Dosa in DC...

After the morning in Gettysburg, and an afternoon packed with meetings in downtown DC, I headed back to my hotel, passing by the Union Market for a quick dinner...

It was quite late when I reached the Union Market - nearly 9.45 PM and was looking around for a delicious and hot meal, and the usual suspects were there...

But then I chanced upon this - the DC Dosa - wow, I couldn't believe my eyes. South Indian food - this is my kind of comfort food - the food that I crave so much in Songdo. And guess what - I found it in the District!

And the guy making the dosas is an Ethiopian - little wonder that an Ehiopian was brought to do the job. The District has a huge Ethiopian population and the Ethiopians have a savory crepe that they call the injera which is so similar to the amazing Indian dosas...

I did a quick Google search on the DC Dosa while I waited for my dosa to be prepared. The chain was founded by Priya Ammu, who came to the United States from Mumbai, the city I also call home! Her love of food developed after arriving in the United States to attend university at the age of 19.  And after a career in hospitality and information technology, she ventured into entrepreneurship in 2012, opening the first outlet of DC Dosa in Foggy Bottom area of the District. 

And seeing the number of whites lining up to order their dosas was a clear testament to the soft power India commands with its unique cuisine!

And finally I get my dosa which is quite simple yet delicious - the taste of India in the heart of the District, so why shouldn't I say "I Don't Want Nirvana! I Want Great Food, Always!"?

I Don't Want Nirvana! I Want Great Food, Always! -- Part XXXI - Namaste Hanoi...

It is our last night in Hanoi and we decided to venture out of our hotel and "discover" a restaurant serving Indian cuisine. 

And that's a funny thing that happens to you as an expat. When we lived in India and travelled abroad for work or vacation, we steered ourselves clear of any restaurant that served anything remotely Indian. We reveled in exploring local fare, savouring it as locals do.

Now that we've relocated abroad, we still revel in enjoying local fare wherever we travel, but we crave for Indian fare so much that we do end up in Indian restaurants sampling how the Indian diaspora has adapted itself here, serving as ambassadors of India's incredible but understated soft power...

And the front desk staff highly recommended a restaurant called Namaste Hanoi nearly a kilometer from our hotel, in the Hoàn Kiếm area. The way they spoke about it, it was evident, that the locals loved the place...

Walking towards Namaste Hanoi, we came across this neighbourhood performance of some song and dance by some little Vietnamese girls...

Kids enjoying a streetside meal...

A Slice of India in the heart of Vietnam...

Interesting that their menu talks of "louder Namastes in the streets of Hanoi"...

Most patrons here in the restaurant were Vietnamese, a testimony to the popularity of Indian cuisine in Hanoi...

And the best thing - they serve both North Indian and South Indian fare - they have chefs from these regions. Indeed, these are the guys who maintain the incredible value that our soft power has on foreign shores...

And my spirits soared when I realised that the South Indian chef was from Trichy (Tiruchirappalli), a place I used to visit so often when we were in India. And it was Trichy that rekindled my love affair with South Indian cuisine...

A North Indian thali...

Neeti's idli sambhar. We went completely berserk here, ordering a masala dosa as well, but as you probably guessed it right, we devoured it in no time, even before we could take a pic...

Who wants a pic? Who wants Nirvana, when there's so much good food around? "I Don't Want Nirvana! I Want Great Food, Always!"...

Up In The Air .... Part 20

The latest edition of Up In The Air is back. This edition has exciting grabs from the short finals into Bangalore'a Kempe Gowda International Airport!

Flying into Bangalore is always exciting - the skies are normally clear over Bangalore, especially in mornings - the clear blue skies with a touch of clouds, and the multi-hued ground below makes these photos particularly interesting...

The green and brown mosaic below... so beautiful...

Lovely....

The clouds cast their shadow below.....

Flaps down....

Short finals begin!

Beautiful!!!!

Am I landing in the infotech and startup hub of India or in a countryside...?

"Retard, retard!"

Spoilers and reverse thrusters deployed!

The Flight Mural at BLR, Kempe Gowda International Airport.....

Chettinad Exotica....

There is nothing more fulfilling than discovering exotic and palatable food in one's travels... 

In April this year, I visited Chennai for work. A colleague, who is a extreme foodie like me, suggested we head to Ajappar at Nungambakkam for some Chettinad exotica!

There were no two ways about it.... I had to go....

Wow! I was excited to see rabbit on the day's specials...

Last year, on my frequent sojourns to Trichy, I always visited Kannapa's, to have rabbit, but it was never there... but this day, lady luck was smiling on me....

A family enjoying their meal....

As a Punjabi, I had always lived with a stereotype that we were the ultimate meat-freaks in India...

But when I saw these Tams, I knew how wrong I was.....

They are not vegetarians (at least not the majority) and they are into the exotic stuff - rabbit, duck, quail, partridge and what what not, unlike us Punjabis, for whom Tandoori Chicken and Butter Chicken is the be-all and end-all, the holy grail of anything non-vegetarian!

That's my rabbit masala, mutton biryani with raita and gravy....

Fish chop!

Ahhh lovely and easily the best comfort food - Kothu Parotta. I can't forget the last time I had this at Madurai! It was unbelievably great!

A second helping of egg biryani and burped our way out!!!!!