Author: Akhil Nanda

I am Still Trying To Write ...

Some Of The Must Visit Cafes In India!


When you have lived In a city like Mumbai for a long time and have had the opportunity to enjoy some of the best Yum food in the city and also get equally good food at home, It
becomes difficult to find food that tastes just as good in the city or town you travel for vacation or Work.
While travelling around the country, there have been some amazing cafes for Food, Coffee or The View and occasionally all three elements.
Here are some of them I have visited and recommend

Goa: The La Plage Cafe in Goa.
The beach view is amazing, The Coffee is good too and the seafood options are Yum.
Babka in Anjuna has the best Eclairs, Coffee and Pasta.

Kolkata: The Roastery House location, The White & Yellow colours on the walls Definitely make you feel you are in Kolkata the cold brew options In coffee and the Baked fish in mustard is amazing!

Bengaluru: Araku’s Orange Cold Brew and the savoury Waffles have been two of the best things from the cafe. The Roastery within the cafe, The Mod Bar Espresso machines, and the Coffee table Books at the cafe does not make you get enough of the cafe.

Lavonee Cafe’sAcademy has been the Foundation for many patisseries and Pastry chefs in the city and in India and no wonder the Cafe Gets the Bake and the coffee right! The breakfast menu has been one of the most beautifully presented and filled with Taste and texture in the Bengaluru city.

Conoor: The Culinarium cafe en route to Ooty has one of the most breathtaking views. The coffee option, The Bakes( Lemon Cake) was one of the perfect ones I have had not too sweet or not too sour.
The pizzas were amazing too!

Dharamshala:
Moonspeak Deli Cafe – A tiny cafe near the main market is a hidden gem!
The coffee Ricotta Cake has been one of the most delicious Tea-cakes I have ever had!
The coffee was also well-balanced and the Ham and Bacon sandwich was very good too!
The Cliffs In Palampur is a cute little cafe that’s like a cottage in the woods, with a small corner filled with books.
The Marble Cake, Filter Coffee, and Mutton Kheema Dosa were the highlight of our meal

The Other Space: There wasn’t any other space like this one in Dharamshala!
The day we visited this space, we witnessed Hail and Rain from the balcony of the cafe while sipping our Coffee and enjoying Spaghetti at this cafe.
You just can’t miss this for the view!

Varanasi:
Vatika – A cafe Overlooking the Ghats of Varanasi and you are enjoying the most delicious pizza, you could not imagine you could get here! For desserts, you must have Apple Pie with Ice Cream and try their Saffron Milk and Paan Stuffed With Rose Petal Milk.

Himachal, State of a Mind!

It’s a state where, I have had quite a few childhood memories.
Starting From Solan, there have been Memories of Playing cricket with a bunch of my cousin friends for days, whenever we visited, plucking of Apples & Peaches from the Trees, Watching Films at Laxmi theatre a family owned Cinema theatre the first & only one in the town.
To enjoying fresh fruit Jams from now popular Bhuria Jams ( Gauva, Apple, Orange and many more flavours) and then having the HPMC fresh Squashes.
While this would be Solan!
Shimla not being far away and the cousins studying there, we would frequently visit the Hill Station’s too!


A lot of times the spiral roads from Chandigarh to Solan to Shimla would make me feel dizzy’s and a lot of mints and breaks later, We would reach our destination. In Shimla The Toy Trains would be our favourite spot, on many visits would we only like to go there.
The Combermere Pizza’s would be a treat for us, since they would be the most cheezy and the only hot food, we enjoyed in the winters at the Hill station.


We would also like trying out the Bakes from Trishool, the Cream Roll would be the Favourite.


A tiny little Restuarant style place in the lanes of Shimla also served the Best Momo’s and Soups that we couldn’t get enough of!
The Maggi noodles from the Highway near the Waterfalls, where we would Enjoy the shower and witness the sight of Monkey’s jumping and Hopping from the trees.


One time, When we visited Wildflower the Oberoi hotel, one of the most beautiful hotels with a view. There were snow leopards spotted just a couple of days earlier than we had visited.
Wildflower is also the same hotel, where The movie Black was shot starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukerji


When we would visit Himachal in snowy winters we would slide down the hills and throw snow balls on each other.
The memories with Himachal, Solan, Shimla are so fresh that all these Himanchal memories seem like yesterday, but indeed it has been over 3 Decades and Multiple visits of memories.
Now too, though it’s been about six Years. Since the last visit, Shimla hasn’t changed a bit.
The CeCecil Oberoi: Has its own old-world charm that brings you back to the hotel again.


We also went a little further ahead to Theog and experienced the Hills from the Top overlooking all the Pine Trees, or snow trees from the Taj Theog.

Information:

Travel to Shimla from Chandigarh.

3-hour drive from Chandigarh.

Stay:

Chillaru

Taj Theog

The Wildflower by Oberoi

The Cecil by Oberoi

Cafes:

Cafe Sol

Shimla Times for Pizza and Sunset View.

Combermere for Italian Food.

Trishool Bakery For Cream Rolls & Eclairs

March Reads!

Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami.
Also known as the other Murakami.
This book is about two babies who are left in a coin locker in Tokyo.
A concept in Japan, where babies are kept in lockers until they are adopted.
This story is set in the early ’90s in Japan and it’s about two babies, One is a bisexual rockstar in search of his mother, and the other is an athlete looking for revenge from the woman who left him behind.
A dark thrilling read on Japan and Japanese culture.

Around the World in 80 Trains:

A Book, that takes you on a journey around Asia, Europe, the U.S.A. and the U.K. through some beautiful & adventurous train journeys.

Dopamine Nation: Anna Lambke

A study on how certain activities result in Dopamine levels shifting to higher or lower levels.
Dopamine is a chemical messenger that works in the brain that makes you feel good, A happy hormone that is released from the body.
This book makes you question your habits and how we humans have changed behaviours when our dopamine levels shift.

Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Is a story Set in Africa about a child stolen from his parents by German troops. After Years, He returns to his village to find his parents gone.
This book is an emotional ride through the lives of the characters.

Forgotten Foods by Tarana Hussain Khan, Claire Chambers, Siobhan Hurley

A Book on Food Recipes, Food as a Culture for Bonding and the Ingredients that Make Food Taste Authentic and More importantly how they originate. Today it’s only a few who follow the recipes with authenticity.

Some of the recipes mentioned are

Soybean Biryani, Qiwami Seviyan, Custard Apple Kheer, Nabi Bux’s Jelly Roll, Qeema Fry, and Kaleji fry.

Flamin Hot Cheetos!


A Story about Richard Montañez who was a Janitor, Bold & Confident about his idea to directly call the boss at Frito lay and tell him about his plan to save the company’s factory and Jobs!
The story is about how some believed him, while others mocked him. It was the push he got from one of the seniors, who believed in his Idea and the CEO who trusted his instincts. Yes! He did save the jobs and Grew the company too, with a simple idea of following his roots for a snack, that’s loved globally today.
A Completely new range of products was introduced and handled by Richard Montañez the man who changed the lives of Cheetos.
He retired in 2019 after being involved with the company for 42 Years…
Flamin Hot is Streaming on Hotstar.

Holi Hai!!


A festival, that’s always been associated with fun, colourful and childlike!
The older crowd, just can’t let their childishness go away. Over the years, Holi has been filled with colours, friends & Family and Food too!
Since childhood Holi celebration memories have been about being soaked in water, Sometimes the faces looked like Mud Pack or sometimes they were unrecognizable.
It would take days before we or someone could recognise us as ourselves.
We would get thrown into inflated water Pools and while all this would be happening, there were rain showers too for Rain Dance with Good Music with popular Holi festival songs and occasionally playing musical instruments and enjoying shaven ice Lollies dipped in Rose, Cola, Jamun and Kala Khatta Syrups to beat the heat.
The food would be a street food style menu.
Chaat, like Sev Puri and Paani Puri, Chole Kulcha, of the north to the South Indian Dosa, Samosa, Kulfi & Jalebi’s for Desserts with Thandai, Coconut Water, Kokum as beverages.
Holi has always been that day where you meet up to socialise with family and friends.
Holi-Day is that festival where you would take a couple of Holidays only to get clean with the mess, because you forgot to Apply the Oil or because you enjoy the break.
Holi Celebration this year was like, the ones we celebrated earlier, but this time with a small group! A celebration after years!!!