In a NUtshell A nice cafe with semi indoor (no air conditioning) & also outdoor seating, self service, Staff behaviour like in old government canteens, big plates, very good food. Address & other details: cafe la terrace Meal for 2: ₹400 onwards Cuisine type : vegetarian & non vegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has … Continue reading Cafe La terrace (Solar Kitchen, Anjanaiyar Koviel St, Auroville, Bommayapalayam, Tamil Nadu)
In a NUtshell A super cool, visually delightful cafe serving One of the best Turkish coffee we have had in india, an unbelievably good cold brew with a mild fermented feel to it, fresh cookies , bakes, the best robusta coffee I have ever had & of course a master class of understanding coffee by Marc, the coffee wizard from Barcelona, who settled down in … Continue reading Marc’s cafe (Auroville Rd, Auroville, Kuilapalayam, Tamil Nadu)
In a nutshell: A cool eatery inside a heritage building, that serves very good veggie and nonveg continental food. Address & other details: Woodside inn Facebook page: Woodside inn Meal for 2: 800 onwards Cuisine type : vegetarian & non vegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips also. http://www.yummraj.com does not have … Continue reading Woodside inn (Wodehouse Road, Opposite Regal Cinema, Colaba, Mumbai)
This is in continuation to my earlier super popular post on AC 1st Class Duronto train In a nutshell: Quite enjoyable food, a memorable journey & excellent service by the crew. Address & other details: N.A. Meal for 2: N.A. Cuisine type : vegetarian and nonvegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill … Continue reading Food aboard AC 1st class Rajdhani train, Delhi Mumbai
In a nutshell: A winter sweet sold in Lucknow that is conceptually similar to Daulat ki Chaat of Delhi but tastes better & is more flavorful (in my opinion). Address & other details: Chowk Meal for 2: Rs. 40 onwards Cuisine type : only vegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & … Continue reading Makhan Malai (Chowk , Lucknow)
This is a review by YUMMRAJ’s foodie friend Rashi Agarwal. She is the one who poked & prodded YUMMRAJ to go to this place. YUMMRAJ’s review is placed just below this review: So one fine day I decided to ditch the malls and go to the National Science Center and National Crafts Museum. What I expected while entering the majestic gate of the museum was … Continue reading Cafe Lota (National Crafts Museum, Bhairon Marg, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi)
This is a part of YUMMRAJ’s series called TIMELESS KOLKATA EATOUTS – reviews of Heritage Kolkata restaurants. Each restaurant has been rated as ‘Old is Gold’ or ‘Old is no more Gold’ based on the experience. Year/decade of opening- 1920 as per cmpany website, banner outside shop says 100 years……maybe they rounded off. In a nutshell: Legendary Kolkata 100 yr old restaurant with a typical … Continue reading Mitra café (47, Jatindra Avenue, at Shobha Bazar Metro station crossing, Kolkata)
This is a late add to YUMMRAJ’s series called TIMELESS KOLKATA EATOUTS – reviews of Heritage Kolkata restaurants. Each restaurant has been rated as ‘Old is Gold’ or ‘Old is no more Gold’ based on the experience.
Year/decade of opening- Around Independence.
YUMMRAJ Demystifies the Legend of Peter Cat & maintains OLD IS GOLD
In a nutshell:
A retro restaurant (not by design but coz they never changed with time) with a great ambience, old school staff, good food for the prices that they charge but nowhere as good compared to the ’real thing’- be it European or Persian.
Peter Cat has been around for decades & that speaks a lot – Restaurants open very often & close down almost as often. The ones who survive the test of time surely have something good / unique to offer.
The décor as I mentioned above is retro in today’s context – red sofas facing each other & nice lamp shades above each table. The lighting is dim overall but the lamps on each table illuminate the table good enough to see each other, have a good chat & enjoy some good food. There are two floors & the way to top floor is as grand as it can get.
The dining Hall at Peter Cat & the Waiting staff in the background
Waiting staff look Grand as well, with their sherwani suits, flamboyant headgear & pointed shoes. Most of them are however quite Old School – smooth talking, knowledgeable, not overtly attentive but attentive as well, not quite warm, talks with an air of authority interspersed with some rare smiles & I guess quite bored of doing the same job for donkey’s years…… & that shows on their face. U will enjoy the evening if u think this to b a part of the package – dining at a retro restaurant & being served by people who r enacting the past:)
The food is good in general & at the prices that the food is offered, I wud say some are excellent. However, if u compare the non- Indian dishes to the original dishes the way they r, then u might b quite disappointed.
Read YUMMRAJ’s latest review of AC 1st class rajdhani here: rajdhani
In a nutshell:
My first time travel in AC 1 of Duronto – turned out to b a series of Pleasant surprises. Pretty Good food, very good service & an amazing experience in a coupe of a new coach.
The story:
Duronto , like the Rajdhani trains, r full AC trains with meals included in the ticket price. Unlike Rajdhani, Duronto is a ‘no stop’ train – so it straight away stops at the final destination. We decided to travel by this train for a holiday from Delhi to Kolkata & chose AC1.
inside Duronto AC1 coupe
What is strange about AC1 is that even if u book way in advance, the seats / cabins r not allocated till the day of journey. We were thrilled to see us being allotted to a coupe (only two people in a cabin instead of four).
As I entered the coupe , I was pleasantly surprised. It did not quite look like Indian Railways. New coach, spic & span, pristine white walls & ceiling, a huge 4ft X 3ft mirror, a tiny mirror etc. I cud sense the room freshner as well. At times it felt like we were sitting in a mid-range hotel (of course ignoring the size of the cabin).
We were lucky to have the pantry car just next to our coach. It had transparent glass window & I peeped into it – looked as good as an open kitchen restaurant. Within I guess 10 minutes after the train started, an IRCTC representative came & welcomed us & gave us a rose & a facial wet wipe.
welcome rose & face wipe aboard Duronto
Within minutes of this, the pantry boy appeared with two menu cards – printed & laminated like the ones in low to mid end Restaurants. One menu card was veg Indian & nonveg Indian. The other was Veg continental & non-veg continental.
We started to read the Indian non-veg & were surprised to see ‘veg au gratin’ written in it. We were told that ‘the starters r common for Indian & continental but the main course is different’.
Detailed Description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:
Service started within 30 minutes of the start of journey. The server came in & pulled out two foldable tables from one corner of our cabin & set them up.
Foldable dinner tables aboard Duronto
He served freshly made thick vegetable soup. Good to taste by Restaurant standard & awesome to taste by ‘Indian Railways standard’. Soup sticks were also given along with this – those turned out to be sub optimally crunchy. We njoyed our soup with dollops of Amul butter. Halfway thru the soup I decided to season it with black pepper – that is what turned out to b a bad decision. The pepper provided was as fine as dust & it was quite weird. Spoilt the Soup to some extent.
vegetable thick soup aboard Duronto
After a gap of almost 20 minutes, we were served starters – 2 pieces of Fish Orly & a lump of vegetable au gratin, in addition to one apple.
Vegetable au gratin turned out to b a catastrophe. It was a lump of sweet potato with cheese popping up at different spots, funny texture & really bad by Restaurant, someone’ home or train or any standard.
The fish orly was awesome to the power 10. It was deep batter fried fish that had a thin outer batter layer & a superbly juicy, soft, flaky fish fillet inside. Outstanding flavors of the fish & also the spices ……………….. Good by all standards – Restaurant, train, aeroplane, someone’s house etc.
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