Tag: blogging

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.

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.

Hampiness – An adventure in the waiting!

Virupaksha Temple

A journey that had been on the bucket list for the last few years.

And having explored India from the north and west.

South had a been little unexplored and was waiting to be explored.

Hampi is a city full of temples that have references not just mythology ( Ramayan) Hanuman’s Birthplace. But, also with Shiva- A single monolith statue that’s one of the most visited sights of the city. To the Dynasties battles Kilji, Chanayaka and later the British coming to existence.

No Wonder a city filled with so much history and mythology feels like one place with many world heritage references that the The Ministry of Tourism, on 29th September, declared Karnataka’s iconic destination as the Best Tourism Village of India-2023.

Hampi was selected one among the 795 applications received from 31 states and UTs.

Some bits of Hampi feel like you are in Macchi- Picchu to some feel like you are in Greece. While some truly belong to India.

The city has many world heritage sites.Think your ₹50 currency and you will observe the chariot stone. Hampi is also referred to as India’s Rome with so many ruins and history to the sights.

The historians at Hampi, also mentioned to explore the whole of Hampi that has 80 monuments worth exploring would take you an ideal 45 days here! So much history!

And if you would like to travel to Hampi some of the most important sites are Vitthala temple, that’s full of interpretations of history and the home to the stone Chariot. To the Virupaksha temple an active temple that has rituals performed daily including feeding of elephants as an experience of lifetime.

Elephant Stables a monument that was built for the kings elephant many centuries ago is another site worth visiting.

At times Hampi makes you believe you are In Stonehenge with the rocks here beautifully placed naturally or makes you believe you are In Grand Canyon with trekking around on rocks that are placed with boulders for support.

The sunset and sunrise view points of the city, give you an overview of the lush green landscapes covered with sugarcane’s and Banana plantations.

With so much to offer for history & nature buffs.Hampi still has the rawness and beauty of India.

Hampi is still not considered a tourist destination, with only one flight to Mumbai! And limited advertising for tourism in Hampi.

Stay: Evolve Back Resort

Did You Know?

Karnataka once served as the capital of one of the largest kingdoms of India the Vijayanagara Empire around the 1500 AD. And during that time it was known to be one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world.

The Virupaksha temple dates back to 7th-century, which makes it one of the oldest functional temple in the country is dedicated to Virupaksha, an incarnation of Lord Shiva, built with a pillared hall, three.

One of the must things to do before you leave the temple take blessings from Lakshmi elephant

The pillars in the Vittahla temple would also be used as musical instruments by the locals. Each pillar would have a different sound and rhythm.

Elephant Stables
Vitthala temple

Morocco 2023!

If you can travel to someplace once it’s a privilege and if you travel to the same place again, you should be lucky!

Five Years ago, when I visited Marrakesh for the 1st time, I wasn’t sure! How the place would be. But, today! It was different!

I could notice what had changed in the last few years. Some of the restaurants we dined at were no more, rather a fine dining restaurant and hotel had now opened at the same spot!

The hotel that was our wedding venue for the event, had now renovated its bar and the Classic vintage feel was replaced by the modern bar design that in some way lost the vibe of the place. The other rooftop space too had another modern bar that was set up in what looked like the banquet space the last time I visited.

The City otherwise hadn’t really changed much! It was the neighbourhood that had a few changes.

Morocco: 

A country in northern Africa, that’s very close to Spain. A country that you wouldn’t think about travelling to!

But, having explored most of Europe, America, India and Asia. Africa was something we had not explored.

A nearly seventeen hour journey to reach our destination. 

Marrakech: 

Driving through the mountains in shades of green to browns, and visiting the sight of black and white mosaic tiles to colourful pillars of the medrasa and detailed work on the walls and in the roofs. This was a city that’s seemed like the most popular tourist city with luxurious hotels. 

The most beautiful sights were the hotel’s La Mamounia & Royal Mansour the gardens with orange and olive trees and cactus and coconut trees on the sides.

Bacha Coffee shop. Right in the Bacha palace is a sight on it’s own, with over 200 varieties of coffee from around the world! This is a coffee heaven for all the coffee lovers with aesthetics you wouldn’t get enough of.

And if driving through the mountains is something you enjoy. You should drive the atlas mountains. An hour and a half journey from the city.

Tangier

A small town two hours away from Casablanca is worth a visit to catch the beauty of the two seas meeting each other Meditteran and Atlantic sea from the Kasbah view point where you would notice the two shades of blue. To be closer to the sea you can visit Cafe Hafa to enjoy the view with a glass of tangerine juice.

Visit salon Bleu for a Moroccan meal overlooking the Mediterranean sea. 

Casablanca

The film “Casablanca” made not just the city popular but the cafe Ricks too!

Which was recreated after the success of the Hollywood film in Casablanca and opened in 2004 by an American.

The film too was entirely shot in a Hollywood studio and released in 1940.

A film that was based on a play “Everybody goes to Ricks. “

The Hasan II Mosque is one of the largest and most beautiful mosque in the world.

The Granduer is visible from a distance, but only when you are at the mosques you can enjoy the detailing done in the early 1800s 

Fes 

An old city charm!

An old city with one of the oldest running library in the world  al-Qarawiyyinin thats part of a university Since 859 AD.

A city, that lies right in the centre of the Medina. With lanes reminding of the Grand bazaar of Turkey.

The luggage here is carried in a lorry between the hotels. 

Our hotel Riad Fes was right within the Medina, a palace setting overlooking the whole city of Fes.

Here the trains tracks require crossing over the bridge to go to the other sides of the tracks.

It’s here in Fes, you can visit the tannery’s and witness how the leather is soaked and dried that create your handbags, Wallets, Shoes and a lot more! 

Each of the cities that we visited in Morocco was different from one another.

While Marrakesh had the views of the atlas mountains, Fes had the old town charm. Tangier felt like Europe and Casablanca had the view and vibes of a modern city like LA.

Information:

Marrakech to Casablanca (2Hrs 30 Min by train and 3 Hrs by Road)
Casablanca to Fes ( 4 Hrs by train. It’s better to stay overnight at fes)
Casablanca to Tanger ( 2 Hrs by train. You can do a day trip)
Fly to Casablanca with @emirates @etihad and then drive to #marrakech

Visa: E- Visa within two days for the US Visa holders.

Marrakech:
Cafés: @bachacoffee #grandcafedelaposte
Stay: @essaadimarrakech
Visit: @royalmansour @lamamouniamarrakech @groupeladresse for medinaview #madrasayoussef

Casablanca
Stay: @fscasablanca
Eat: @rickscafe_Casablanca @lasqala
Cafe : @theespressolab @arabica.journal @arabicamorocco @lesquatrecerises
Visit: #hasaniimosque @rickscafe_casablanca

Tanger:
Eat: @salonbleu.tanger #moroccanfood
View: @cafehafa
Visit : #Kasabhsquare #tangerport

Fes:
Stay @riadfes
Eat @cinemacafefez
Visit #chouaratannery

Darjeeling & Gangtok 2023

We have been planning this for last two years! Ever since, we were frequently visiting Kolkata for my sister’s work!

But, the more we were trying to club our darjeeling trip with the kolkata trip!

It wasn’t making sense!

And then we searched and found a direct flight to Bagdora airport! Which was the closest to darjeeling city. But few hour’s drive from the airport!

Well! If we needed to travel to darjeeling.It had to happen soon!!

So we planned this three days trip earlier!!And realised gangtok is another few hours away, so why don’t we do that too!

And so we braved both!

Through the mountains round and round!

We travelled on roads so narrow! It seemed it was made for one way, but they were cars coming from both ways!

The drive itself was so exhausting! We couldn’t think of another road journey for our destinations!

The hotels were our most beautiful parts of the journey apart from the road journey we drove around.

The closest hotel from Darjeeling is Taj Chia Kutir!! Where we stayed For a night.Before we took off for our flight.

There have been quite a few cafes! We visited for coffee and bakes!

But, surprisingly the bakes had no taste! It was disappointing! We only had coffee most of the time there!

The Cafe Fiction, Rachna Books! Was the highlight of our gangtok experience!

They had amazing coffee! And the book collection they had was very impressive! They had a frame of all the Murakami book covers too! The asian and indian regional books they had were unbelievable! I had most of them on my Amazon cart and here they all are under one roof!

Meeting Hilton the pet at the gangtok Elgin! Was our entertainment for our stay with Sikimmese and Tibetan food we tried during our stay.

The drive-through tea estate and staying around one was another experience we experienced.

The darjeeling city mall road was a nice stroll! Bakes at Glenary we’re not that good! But the vibe and the setting of the cafe were an experience you need to experience.

Darjeeling & Gangtok 2023… 

Closest Airport : 

#bagdograairport 

#pakyongairport is another option. Major Flights start soon from this airport. 

Stay : 

@elgingangtok @elgindarjeeling @tajchiakutir 

Tea Experience: 

@mayukh.tea 

Coffee: 

Himalayan Cafe #Darjeeling 

@thelocalcafe.in #Gangtok 

@cafe.fiction #Gangtok #darjeelingaltura 

Eat: 

@dekevas_darjeeling_siliguri 

Momos & Ramen 

@glenarys @glenarysdarjeeling 

@tashidelek #gangtok 

Fried Momos, Pork Belly and Thukpa 

 Bookstore: 

@nerdvana_books_and_coffee #Darjeeling 

#Bibliothéque Cafe #gangtok 

@rachnabooks #Gangtok