Chef at Large

A hectic day ended with a visit to Pind Balluchi. I wasn’t very enthusiastic about it as more often than not, places serving Indian food tend to smother everything in thick, over-spiced gravies. Also, when you see a ‘rustic’ ambience being offered, it’s probably their way of saying ‘our waiters are monosyllabic morons and our [...]

Thought I’d pop in for a quick bite and read while the family shopped at the Great India Place. I’m gradually getting over my aversion to trying new places and Pizzaria Express looked as good as any other. It’s a new place started by a chap named Raghuvir Sahai. According to Mr. Sahai, he has [...]

The Citrus Cafe is in a small (and very good I must add) hotel called ‘The Lemon Tree’. Rather hard to find due to no signage out front, it is however well worth the trouble, as we found out on Sunday.
Looking for a convenient spot to meet on Sunday, the Lemon Tree was suggested and [...]

We visited Blanco a few days back for a drink and some food.
Quite a nice place. Either I haven’t been getting around as much as I used to, or restaurants are becoming more and more daring and experimenting with bold themes for their decor. I did like the way Blancos was set up. The staff [...]

We awoke to watery sunshine then went back to sleep.  We dozed for ages, it was so relaxing.  We read and drank coffee then went for a drive at about 3.00pm, by which time it was raining again.  We climbed Mont D’Or where D had been the previous evening but the 56 steps of the [...]

I was at a barbeque this past Sunday, very kindly invited there by Joseph and his wife Elisabeth. It was my first such experience in this country and quite nice too.
We had grilled beef steaks, mince meat kebabs, boiled jacket potatoes topped with cheese, sauteed onions and bell peppers, sauteed mushrooms, ciabatta, duck and greens [...]

We awoke to a cool and damp day but as it is our holiday we don’t mind that much.  We did some basic shopping then had a drive out to the countryside.  There is a distinct lack of wild life in this area compared to some places we have stayed, the only things of interest have been [...]

On the MV Bretagne from Portsmouth we find our cabin and stow our luggage.  To the restaurant for dinner but there was a long queue and we had to put our names on a list to be called when a table became vacant.  To the rear deck, with drinks - Sancerre for me and a [...]

Hello and welcome to another Mothers Day. Its May 11 and time to put in place the things you’ve thought of for your mum, hand over the baubles you’ve purchased or post that card you picked up.
Some of the things I can remember most vividly is the food I’ve grown up with. An army officers [...]

I went for lunch today to Superstars in Sector 18, NOIDA with an old friend, who I was meeting after nearly 14 years.
They haven’t spared any expense in doing up the place and have probably paid a pretty penny for the decor. A pool table, glass floors, huge bar, a music system that can be [...]