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zomatocommunity · 7 years

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7 Regional Cuisines In Bangalore You Need To Try This Week

South Indian food isn't limited to what you find in darshini style restaurants. If you're from Bangalore or have lived here long enough, you know better than that. Let's explore some of the best that this part of the country has to offer. Mangalore, Chettinad, Kerala, Coorg, Rayalaseema, Konkan and other regions in south have bounties of dishes to offer of varied tastes. Spicy, sour, sweet and vibrant flavours are what their food is made of. Try out something new if you haven't had food from these regions before. We've got them all right here for you.

The Coorg Food Co. Where - Kalyan Nagar When - 12 noon to 10:30 PM (Closed on Wednesdays) Average cost for two - ₹700 What to order - Pandi curry, pork fry Why - Kodava (Coorgi) food is not something you'd find at any South Indian restaurant. That's a good thing. You want a restaurant to focus on that kind of food instead of serving it with others. The Coorg Food Co. is that restaurant for sure. With a rustic pandi curry, pandi fry, pandi chops and all things pandi (pork), this sure isn't for the faint hearted. But their menu also offers a variety of chicken and vegetarian options as well. So there's something for everyone! Kanua Where - Sarjapur Road When - 11 AM to 3 PM, 7 PM to 11 PM Average cost for two - ₹1450 What to order - Biskoot rotti, prawns curry Why - Kanua dishes up some fantastic food from the Konkan region in Karnataka which is pretty much the coastal belt of state. And it's all about the seafood, there are some delicious vegetarian dishes and accompaniments that are unique to Konkan region like jackfruit pappad, patato ambade, deep fried sugarcane, biskoot rotti and so much more. Enjoy all of them at Kanua this week. Chettinad Kitchen Where - Jayanagar When - 7 AM to 10:30 AM, 12 noon to 3:30 PM, 7 PM to 11:30 PM Average cost for two - ₹1000 What to order - Kolethar varutha curry, nandu pepper roast Why - Chettinad cuisine has been known for its fiery seafood and meat dishes and Chettinad Kitchen in Jayanagar doesn't disappoint. They've got chicken leg roast, Chettinad chilli chicken, rabbit chukka, crab roast and so many more dishes. But there's also a variety of vegetarian ones like paneer chukka, spicy rice dumplings, Chettinad style crispy fried corn among others. Mangalore Pearl Where - Frazer Town When - 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM, 7:30 PM to 10:40 PM Average cost for two - ₹550 What to order - Squid fry, crab curry Why - Mangalore Pearl is where you go for home style Mangalorean food that is not just delicious, but makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. They do fantastic things to crustaceans that will make you want to go back for more. Also, don't forget to try their ragi manni. It's a finger millet pudding that is absolutely delicious and a perfect way to end your seafood feast. Rayalaseema Ruchculu When - 12 noon to 4 PM, 7 PM to 11 PM Where - Indiranagar Average cost for two - ₹800 What to order - Gongura chicken, seema kodi Why - Look beyond the Andhra meals plate and find a world of unexplored dishes from the state that gives us spicy and delicious food. From Guntur chicken to gongura chicken, from naatu kodi veppudi to royyala pulusu, there's so much to eat and repeat. There are plenty more options for vegetarians as well - alasandala vada, vegetable fritters, akka podi beans and gongura pappu among others. Jose's Mess Where - BTM Layout When - 7 AM to 9:30 PM Average cost for two - ₹300 What to order - Beef fry, fish curry Why - There are many lovely restaurants in the city serving fine food from Kerala. But at Jose's Mess there are no frills and fancies. Just good old mess food, Kerala style. They serve cheap and delicious breakfast as well. What's not to love, right? Appam, puttu, dosa and much more. At lunch they serve kappa biryani, chicken biryani, beef fry, chicken roast and Kerala meals among a few other dishes. Simple menu but brilliant flavours. Meera's Beegara Oota Where - HSR Layout When - 11:30 AM to 4:30 PM, 7 PM to 11 PM (Tue-Sat), 8 AM to 4:30 PM, 7 PM to 11 PM (Sunday) (Closed on Mondays) Average cost for two - ₹450 What to order - Mutton chops, special beegara oota Why - Beegara oota essential translates to 'feast for guests' and that's what you'll get here. Go back for the other dishes another day and first roll up your sleeves for some special beegara oota that includes a feast of ragi mudde, boti gojju, mutton masala, mutton fry, biryani rice and other accompaniments. This is authentic Bangalore food and while you're there you should give it a try.

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rajakolagatla · 8 years

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Taipei Daries

I landed at around 1pm in Taipei. Along with my flight, couple of flights also did a touchdown, making it a long queue for immigration check. I could see only 2 Indians (including me) in the 10+ immigration check queues for international visitors. It looked like a preview of my next three weeks stay in Taipei.

Immigration check took only 20 min despite long queue, no questions were asked since I am on visiting visa (or may be my company name is well known there :)). Airport has couple of ATMs and I took money from Bank of Taiwan, right side of the exit. As advised by my colleague, I withdrew 6000 NT Dollars, which were sufficient for next 2 weeks (I did shopping on my credit card and used cash for every other transaction). You can either visit the prepaid taxi stand or ride with the Taxi drivers, who will be waiting in visiting area and request you to come along with them. One of the drivers approached me while I was waiting in ATM queue and I obliged to ride with him. Although it took more than 15 min to withdraw the money, he waited patiently. I was charged 1000 NT Dollars (INR 2200) for a 30 minute and 45km journey, not bad for Mercedes S-Class.

My accommodation was in Fuzhong, Banqaio district, New Taipei City. New Taipei City is the outskirts of the Taipei and is well planned and well connected by MRT (Mass Rapid Transport). Although cards are accepted everywhere, Taiwan is cash driven economy (you know where I am mentioning here). Per-capita income of Taiwan is high (39600 US dollars and ranks 29) and it reflects in Taipei. I was told by my colleague that the real estate prices in Taipei has been sky rocketing since last decade. It reflects in your hotel charges:).

Surprisingly, food isn't very expensive. Good (not plush) restaurants charge 150 NT for a good meal (which is very much like India). If you are a vegetarian, Taipei is a hard city to survive, hardly anything is vegetarian there (even the croissants will be stuffed with meat). Since language is an impediment, you need to be choosy while going to restaurants - most of the restaurants won't have even English menu – Google translator doesn’t pick up some of the local dish names. I managed to tell in Mandarin - 'No Beef' and 'No Pork'. Taiwan's staple food is rice with lots of meat (pork, lot of sea food and chicken) and boiled vegetables. Hence fried rice is common in every restaurant and you need to tell them to exclude pork / beef. Taiwanese prefer local food although there is fair share of westernized restaurants. Don't expect to find any spicy here, except spicy tofu. You can try out fried dumpling or spicy dumpling (again non-vegetarian), fried noodles.

If you are vegetarian, you need to survive on fried rice with vegetables, noodles, tofu and some bland curries. Salzeria is one Italian chain of restaurants where you find not-so-westernized Italian food (in fact it was my go-to restaurant when I ran out of options) or you can go to Thai food restaurants (again it is hard to find unless someone helps you out). If you are sea food fanatic, you find sushi express everywhere and can add other sea items to any dish you order. If you are rice eater (south Indian), you can try Vietnamese Pho (rice noodles), Korean Bibimbap and Japanese rice bowl (called Duong here). Japanese restaraunts I tried are Yoshinaya and Sukiya. Both of them don't have English menu, you need to ask for Ji (pronounced as shi, mandarin word for chicken) . McD, KFC and subway are quite common, but does *not* serve vegetarian. Mos Burgers are good try too - I found them fresh compared to McD and have one chicken option :). During my stay of 2 weeks, I found only one pure vegetarian restaurant, that too in a hospital basement, next to my work place :). Most famous Indian restaurant according to google reviews is Fusion Asia Indian restaurant, near Da'an district, which I haven't visited. I visited one Indian restaurant near my work place (Sagar India restaurant as per google, but photo says otherwise) - you need to take exit 1 of Dongmen station and take a right, walk for 100 m and you will see the restaurant on the left. It was a decent restaurant I would say, since I went with limited expectations, but found it bit expensive.

If you are okay with beef, don't miss beef noodles here and dumplings (ah there are 100's of varieties). Dumpling restaurants, we tried near Dongmen station are said to be very famous and we have to wait for 20 min during lunch time. If you have appetite for Taiwanese food, try Din Tai Fung, whose branches are found all over the world, which is famous for Xiaolongbao (bigger than size of dumplings, tastes like kudumulu in Andhra - http://mommyfood.com/recipes/sweets/kudumulu). Another food item you can try is Taiwanese naan (similar to paratha in India) - similar to street food in India, served with egg, different kinds of sauces.

Taipei is full of coffee shops and Starbucks is found in every nook and corner of the city. I found Louisa coffee is good and serve all types of American coffee. I frequented Oklao coffee too as it was near to my work place- they don’t serve cappuccino, but latte was fine, not so much milk like in India. Make sure to tell to add some sugar otherwise it will be very strong for you J

I found Taiwanese people friendly, calm, patient and willing to help. Hardly you find good English speaking citizens, but they were always willing to help. I was amazed at their discipline in MRT, where they rush to form queue on the right hand side of elevators / stairs and leave left hand side completely for people who are in hurry – wish we could learn from them. Taipei MRT is world class and

follows the color coding system like any other Metros in world. You hardly find dirt in the cabins or stations as the drinking / eating is completely banned. You can purchase Easy card which can be topped up at any station and also can be used in regular grocery stores. Commuters wait for the people to leave the train and then get in, they strictly follow queues. Frequency of trains on all the lines till 10PM is quite high, train every 3-5 min. Information kiosks / maps are present at every station detailing the site seeing places in that area. All the must-visit places are connected by MRT. Like all the south Asian nations, Taiwanese are data savvy and gorge on video games. You see people glued to their mobile phones in MRTs, buses, while walking and crossing the road too :). Whole Taipei (including MRTs) is covered with 4G and touch amazing speeds. Data plans are very cheap and most of the service providers provide unlimited plans at decent prices (1100 NT). MRT has good connectivity all over the city and touches most of the site seeing places. During the 3 week stay, I boarded bus only couple of times. Every

MRT station is equipped with good information, signs (in English) of nearby places.

Taiwan weather is highly unpredictable, because of the tropical climate in the island – you never known when it will rain. Always keep an eye on the weather forecast whether it is going to be sunny, rainy or cloudy. My visit is during winter season – although the temperatures don’t fall below 12 deg C, because of the wind, the real feel was well below 10 deg C. Better to carry umbrella without always.

Must visit places in Taipei (not according to priority):

1/ Baiteou hot spring - Red line and branch out to Xinbeitou. As suggested by my colleague: If you want to try hot spring bath, there are quite some hotels around this park, they offer “2

hours hotel room” for hot spring bath. In Chinese it pronounced as “Pao Tang” for this kind of service.

The price are quite different, Most expensive is Kagaya, pretty decent. Also the most traditional one is this : http://www.longnice.com.tw/. With reasonable price, old but historical. I haven't tried hotels though, but public hot spring was fun. Walk along this place till the temple on the hill will be good.

2/ National palace museum and Shilin official residence near Shilin station. National palace museum is must see. Lots of historical things and it is a huge one, might take more than half day to visit all the rooms. In fact, this museum has more collection than the national museum in Beijing. Shilin official residence was okayish, gardens were good.

3/ Longshan temple - not very big, but most popular temple in taipei. Actually you find so many temples since Taiwanese are very much religious. You find same as in Bylukuppe, Karnataka and rituals looked pretty much like india (India is birth place for buddhism :)).

4/ Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial hall, huge sprawlin garden in centre of city - make sure you go up to the monument. I couldn't enter the memorial hall as it was closed due to some agitation in-front of the building.

5/ National Musuem of history - i felt it was okayish.

6/ Taipei 101 - similar to Willy's / Sear's tower in Chicago - once upon a time tallest tower, now pushed to 5th. You can see the Taipei's sprawling concrete jungle from observatory at 88th floor. If you have full pocket, you can empty it by buying expensive gifts on the deck. Entire area is good for branded shopping, taipei 101 mall itself is very good. You can spend half day for this.

7/ Taipei Zoo and the Maokong Gondola - good one day outing!

8/ High Speed Rail (HSR) from BanXiao or Taipei main station - I haven't tried it though.

I would suggest to take the city tour (although you may not get the english speaking guide), but many places can be covered at a stretch.

Like all the cities, Taipei also suffered due to exploded urbanization post 1970 – several tribes, places on outskirts lost their independence and lot of people migrated from rural places to work as bonded laborers contributing to city’s skyline. Details are seen in the museum near the Baiteau walkway. Despite wide main roads and busy traffic, Taiwan government has made sure that dedicted cycling paths are marked in main city. Govt provide bicycles at most of the MRTs (UBike, which can rented using Easy card and costs 10NT per hour at most places) and can be left at different destinations. There is a dedicated bicycling path on the banks of the rivers that cut through the city. I rode 8 km stretch near the zoo (http://kitchen.j321.com/taipei-cycling-bicycle-bike-rent-hire-path-taiwan, check the Jingmei River Bikeway (Muzha)).

Me and my colleague's observation is that branded sport shoes are cheaper compared to India and you find lot of models, that are not found in India. Pineapple cakes are very famous here and must takeaway. Iphone and HTC mobiles are cheap here :) and you can go to syntrend mall in Taipei, where each floor is dedicted to different gadgets for more options (although on higher end). Branded shopping can be done at Megacity mall (opp Banxiao station) and QMall (on top of Taipei Main station) - street shopping (not at all low quality) can be done at underground malls at Taipei Main station, Zongshan stations. Taiwanese regard Jade as one of the ornamental rock (it dates to their historical times, also main land china is one of the highest producer of jade) and you find all kind of expensive ornaments made of jade in the local market – they are heavily expensive, one of the Jade ornament, which is termed as luck bringing shape is being sold for 42K NT, which is hardly of size 3 cubic cm.

To summarize, taipei:

Must visit places: Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial hall, National palace museum and Taipei 101

Must eat: Beef noodles, spicy / fried dumplings

Must buy: Pineapple cakes, High end electronics

Finally, when Cathay pacific airlines CX405 took off on Thursday (28 days after when I landed), the words in my mind – Xièxiè Taipei!

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