Bye to "Journeys 2 Remember" & welcome to "Travel Twosome"

The time has finally come to bid good bye to blogspot. It has been three years since we started sharing our experiences and it has been an amazing journey so far. 

We realised that it will help us to move into our own domain. We started looking for the domain name and finally settled for "Travel Twosome" as "Journeys2remember" was not available. We travel together and this name was apt.

The efforts of last few months have paid off and we feel that we have a good website to work on....

Here is how the new website looks........

We have made the website "Photogenic":-) .........and more reader friendly.

We stop posting in "Journeys2Remember"and all future sharing of our experience will be in "Travel Twosome".

We thank you all for supported all these days and we expect the same patronage as we move in the new direction and continue journeying with us........

12 Food Streets in India you should explore!

We all love to eat. As travellers we always love to explore local cuisine. Whether it is "Benne Dose in Davanagere" or Poha Jalebi in Bhopal or Momos in Mirik or Kashmiri Chai in Kashmir it has always been a gourmet experience for us. In fact we have gone in search of well known and iconic places wherever we have travelled. While some cities have some lovely stand alone restaurants, others do have streets lined with fabulous eating joints. When we started listing the "food streets" we surprised at the list. We present below the food streets you should not miss while travelling in India. 

1. Bengaluru - VV Puram, Mosque road, Avenue road and Church street

A typical menu in food Street

Naturally we are starting with Bengaluru, our home town. The city is a gourmet's paradise. We can easily identify food streets in three places - VV Puram, Mosque road, Church street and Nagarthpet/Avenue road. Go to food street in VV Puram for all types of South Indian food - Akki rotti (Rice roti), Idlis, Dosas - many varieties, Mandakki, Dabeli etc etc. Mosque road and surroundings is for you if you are looking for Non vegetarian food. Start with iconic Albert bakery for Kheema puffs and explore for Biryanis, Goshts, rolls etc This place is a must visit for non vegetarian lovers especially during Ramadan month. The Avenue road/Nagarthpet opens up in the evening. Savour the dosas and Idlis and other south India snacks. Lastly, Church street is for all those who yearn for continental stuff. Look out for rolls, coffee shop, dough nuts and ofcourse sip the authentic coffee in India coffee house!

2. Mumbai - Muhammad Ali road

Malpuas in Suleiman

This is a meat eater's delight. Start from Minara Masjid and enjoy the culinary delights as you explore the stalls on the street. The variety of kebabs, barbecues, curries is overwhelming. My Bambayya friend who is a hardcore non vegetarian says that he has to visit this place once a week, if not more! Being veggies we go by his experience. If brave enough, cross over to Bhendi Bazar for Bara Handi. End the meal with Firni and Malpuas from Suleiman Usman Mithaiwala.

3. Kolkata - Gol Park

A spread @ Mouchak

The Two KMs stretch from Gol Park to Dhakuria bridge is a paradise of Kathi rolls. But you will also get a taste of Kolkata biryani. Veggies can take a heart too. Mouchak serves Puri - Sabjee and Hing Kachoris, and of course Sondesh. Savour Pucchkas at small stalls of Pushkwalas near dhakuria bridge. What about fish? Yes, Benfish, the Bengal Fisheries department parks its van outside Dakshinapan serving mouth watering fish fingers etc.

4. Delhi - Paranthawale Galli

Parathas under preparation

Your trip to Delhi will not be complete without visiting the streets of Old Delhi. Crispy Parotas from Pandit Kanhaiyalal Dixit, hot jalebis from "Old and Famous jalebiwala", Golgappas from Balaji chaats, Kachoris, Biryani and muglai dishes around Jumma Masjid area in Bakra, Jawahar Hotel, Rabri-Falooda from Gianji's. You will be spoilt for choice.

5. Indore - Sarafa Bazar

Joshi's Dahi vada stall

Sarafa bazar is equivalent of Chartori Galli of Bhopal. A mecca for vegetarians. Dahi vada and Butta Khees at Joshi's, Chats at Vijay Chat. For more details check out this post in this blog.

Food streets of Indore

6. Bhopal - Chartori Galli

Kebab buns @ Chartori Galli

A narrow lane in Ibrahimpura in Bhopal. This is street food in true sense. A food street rich in Bhopali Mughlai flavours. A mecca for meat and fish lovers. Marinated meats & fishes are displayed in front of you & are made on request right in front of you. There is almost nothing that is made & stored. This is also the place to savour the famous "Kebab bun" of Bhopal. For vegetarians, you have samosas and heavenly Suleimani Chai!

7. Lucknow - Chowk and Aminabad

Kebabs @ Chowk

Chowk in Lucknow is a foodie's paradise, mostly non vegetarian. You start with delicate Gilouti Kebabs in iconic Tundey's and follow it up with Kakori Kebab of Aslam and wash it with Raja ki Thandai! Vegetarians may not get disappointed. You have Dixit Chaats for lovely snacks. Starters done, for Biryani head to Aminabad. Better pick up an auto rickshaw to Wahid ki Biryani. Chowk can consume your entire day, of course—beginning before breakfast with ‘makkhan’ and ending long after dinner with paan and Kashmiri chai. You can also check out Kulcha and Nihari in Rahim's. End it with tasty Kulfi in Prakash Kulfi. Thanks to my friends in Lucknow who helped me with this list.

8. Varanasi - Around Vishwanath temple

Baba thandai shop

The serpentine lanes of Varanasi around Vishvanath temple is a treasure trove of vegetarian delicacies. Savour Poori made in Desi ghee and Chole in Ram Bhandar, Drink lassi in Blue Lassi corner, savour the crispy samosa and malpuas in Raj Bandhu, Tikki Chole at Dina Chaat, Crispy Kachoris in Kachori galli, in winters try Nimis at Markandeya, bhang laced thandai at Baba Thandai and of course chai in Kullad and famous Banarasi pan at many stalls along the lanes!

9. Amritsar - Old city and Majithia road

Jalebis being prepared in Gurdas Ram

The streets around the Golden temple is where you get some authentic Punjabi dishes. Eat legendary Punjabi vegetarian meal - authentic Maa di Dhal - cooked in desi ghee in "Kesar da Dabha". If you have finished with dhal in Kesar, then head to "Bharawan Dabha" for that out of the world "Baingan da bartha" Once you finish them, wash it with a big glass of Lasssi at Amrisasr lassiwale near Regent cinema. Though the vegetarian joints are closeby and walkable, if you are looking for Amristari fish and Butter chicken then head to Majithia road and Lawrence road. Take an auto rickshaw and head to Surjit Food Plaza on Lawrence road for that authentic Tandoori Chicken and Chicken Tikka Masala. To Beera's in Majithia road for Tandoori chicken and then walk down to Makhan Fish for that iconic Amrisari Fish.

10. Ahmedabad - Manek chowk

The fare @ Manek chowk

Like Sarafa Bazar in Indore, this is a vegetarian's paradise. Like Sarafa Bazar, the place which is a throbbing jewellery market during the day transforms into a Food bazar with numerous stalls which are set up in the evening. Savour chaats, Pav Bhaji, vegetarian biryanis. Of course there is a host of desserts starting with hot jalebis to Ice golas to Matka kulfis. Gujarati snacks like Fafda, Farsan and hot Jalebis can be savoured in famous Chandra Vilas. For Matka Kulfi head to Bastirams. 

11. Chennai - Mint street

A sweet and savoury shop in Mint street

We never knew about this till another friend in Chennai mentioned about it. Mint street is where you get best Rajasthani food in Chennai. Rajasthani food in Chennai, of all the places? Yes. This is the street where you can savour Gol gappas and Onion Kachoris in Kakada sweets and Maya chaats, hot and crispy Jalebis in Ajab Sweets, Kulfi at Maharaja Kulfi. Hot Badam milk at and the surprise -Murukku Sandwich at Murugan Sandwich!

12 Pondicherry - French Colony

La Maison Rose

We started with Bengaluru and we will end the list with another favourite of ours. French colony in Pondy is a gourmet and walker's delight. The cuisine here is French, continenetal or Creole. So many restaurants around and easy to walk. This is one place where one can spend days exploring the eateries. Coming to brass-tacks and since all the places are close by here is our list

• Le Club, Rue Dumas 
• Satsanga on Labourdanais Street
• La Terrase on Subbaiah Street 
• Randezvous
• La Plancha, Rue Romain Rolland
• La Maison Rose
• Umami
• Cafe Ole
• Roof top restaurant facing the sea on The Promenade hotel
• And lastly Appachi, the best Chettinad meals served on Plantain leaves

Incidentally we have been to all these streets except for Chowk in Lucknow, Muhammed Ali in Mumbai and Mint Street in Chennai. There may be still some more like the ones in Darjeeling or Gangtok or Madurai or Mangalore or Pushkar. You are most welcome to add to the list. We would love to explore them.

If you love to explore local food like we do, then you should look at the following posts in this blog.

A Checklist for Gourmets on Travel in India

Food Safari - All posts related to Food

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Skywatch Friday - A Church with a Garuda Gamba!

During Christmas holidays, we were in Vagamon in Kerala. We stayed in lovely Vanilla County which we had featured in 17 cool options to beat the heat in South India. We arrived for lunch from Kovalam. After a sumptuous Kerala lunch, our genial host Baby Mathew suggested that if we are not tired, we can visit the sunset point near Teekoy at Ellappara. 

We never say no to exploring new things and were game for it. Maju, the right hand man of Mr Mathew accompanies us for the drive to sunset point at Ellapara We leave the home stay and hit the highway. After few kilometres of drive on the highway we take a detour. This is a hill road and sheer climb to the highest point in Mavadi hills. Winding road through plantations and forest take us to the sunset point. We were in time to watch sun go down in the horizon.

As we prepared to leave, we notice the church - where we had parked the car - with a brass pillar in front. It looked like Garuda Gamba or the holy flag post which we normally find in front of Hindu temples in South India. We got curious and went closer to check. Yes, everything was same except for a "Holy cross" on the top of the post! It was unusual and surprise to us. Maju said churches in in Kerala uses such pillars for flag hoisting. 

Interesting indeed. Amalgamation of two religions, two traditions! Isn't this what we call India?

You can also read this post on this blog to know more about "Garuda Gamba"

Skywatch Friday - Garuda & Sky!

Postscript - More about unexplored Vagamon in future posts on this blog. Keep tuned.

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