Well, DH and I just came back from a lovely week in the Dooars (jungles of West Bengal)along with some friends. I'll post about the trip in a day or so, seeing as we are still recovering from the attack of allergies and congestion that converged upon us when we arrived back in polluted Kolkata! :)

Tung Nam

DH and I have been eating out at a lot more new (and out of the way) places these days. This time it was to a place we've seen photos and heard about the food, but never been to before. It's called Tung Nam, and its located in Tiretti Bazaar, or Old China Town. It's just off the Central Metro station and to the Tiretti Bazaar side. Once you come out, just cross the statue of a man on a horse, and go straight down the road where the cars are coming in and you'll spot this little joint. The only thing is, it closes between 3 and 6pm. Don't be discouraged by the lack of decoration, the food is amazing! It is also very cheap. For 3 bowls of wonton soup you will pay around Rs 280, seeing as they are Rs 90 a bowl.

My favorite, won ton soup

This is all that you will see.

This is their amazing wonton soup. I love this stuff. This is a meal in itself. Add a bit of soy sauce,
their chili vinegar sauce and some chili sauce and it's amazing!

Steamed pork rice!

Steamed Noodles, I didn't try this, so I don't know how it is,
but looks a little bland to me.

Pork Hamie, this was had with the noodles (for DH and a friend) and the
Pork itself was good, and I can imagine it went well with the steamed noodles.

Hotel Raj Homely Restaurant

Today DH and I decided to go out for lunch. We didn't want any meat because there is both mutton and chicken cooked at home and we would eat that for dinner. So, we decided to go for something veg, or some other meat. We also wanted to try a new place. So we landed up at Hotel Raj Homely Restaurant today. This is located at 10/2, Manohar Pukur Rd, Kalighat, Kolkata. Incidentally, this is a Southern Indian restaurant!

Today we had some pizza, as another friend posted about it here. We went and sat in the AC section and soon had decided what we wanted. Here are photos of our food. 

Papdi Chat Rs 52

We ordered the Al Fungi pizza (Rs 152) and added Fresh Tomatoes (Rs 15 extra) and Black Olives (Rs 60 extra)

I loved the pizza. I'm definitely going to go back and get it again!

 

Fares

Oh, for those of you who take auto's around Kolkata be aware that the fares are going up.

The new fares (I've experienced recently) are :

Gariahat to Ruby (or vice versa) is now Rs 10, but if you get down on the Bijon Setu (at the train station) it's only Rs 8, and to Fern Road is Rs 9. This raise is from Rs 7...so a bit steep. I still remember when it would cost me Rs 5 to get to Gariahat.

Also, now from Ruby to Jadavpur Thana it's Rs 10 from Rs 9.

Also, for taxi's the fare has gone up (quite some time back though...) and the calculation is quite complicated. The formula is Amount on Meter  multiplied by 2.4 and then you add Rs 1. So if the meter says Rs 24, the formula is 24 x 2.4 = Rs 57.6 + Rs 1 = 57.6, so rounded up it's Rs 58. Complicated I know...

Ah, and a few times I've taken taxi's that have their meters recalibrated. Meaning, the meter will read Rs 25 when they turn it on and then you just pay what is shown at the end of the trip. It's kinda trippy, I've only taken these 2 times (both times with DH, thank god, because I didn't know about the recalibration thingy) and I'm always thinking "The taxi driver needs to reset his meter" until I remember and then I'm like what an idiot! LOL

Sowwy

Okay, yeah I really really suck at this whole blog writing thing...I really should write more, I know. The problem is I keep thinking I need to blog about this, but then I totally forget. I need to start writing down my ideas.

Nothing new is going on...just with the weather going from warm and humid to rainy and cold I've been stuck with a cold pretty much non-stop for the last few weeks. Not. Cool!

They Love Me Here...I think?

Okay, you know you go to some places way too often when these sorts of things happen. 

I love Banana Leaf, a small south indian food joint, within walking distance from Rashbehari metro (towards Gariahat). When I go I normally order 1 or 2 plates of rasam idli, depending on how hungry I am, and if I want some filter coffee. This is how it normally goes when I walk in after I sit down.

The waiter normally hands me a menu, and I look at him, and tell him I don't need it. If it's one of my normal waiters they just ask me "rasam idli?" and I smile and nod. They even know to give me extra rasam instead of the coconut chutney. They give good, fast service. :-)

The other place that DH and I go to a lot is Oly Pub, on Park Street. Now here, see we go a lot. Here we get amazing service. So here are the ways you know we go there too often

1 - we order a plate of chicken sandwiches, which is 3 sandwiches cut diagonally, normally served on one big plate. Well, one of our waiters will give 2 small plates with 3 pieces on each. This must mean he pays attention to how we share our food...or he just splits them up evenly. 

2 - I, well both of us can really but it's easier for me, can bypass the entire line (especially on the busy weekends) and normally get a table instantly or after a short wait. Normally this only works if we find a waiter who serves us or we go upstairs and into the back.

3 - The door guy (we normally give him Rs 10-20 when we leave) will tell either me or DH (whoever comes later if we come separately) where the other is sitting. Awesome! This means I don't have to search everywhere for DH.

4 - We also give the guy who cleans the tables, gives ice, and whatnot Rs 20 when we leave. We do this for a reason. If he sees us come in and knows there is going to be an empty table he will tell others that the table is not empty and give it to me. Also, I know he will watch out for me if I'm waiting for others.

5 - We normally don't have to tell them our drink order. They normally bring us Old Monk and pour us our standard large pegs. This happens unless we specify we want beer. Then they bring it.

6 - Sometimes we sit downstairs, and some guys get rowdy we go upstairs. When we tell them what happens they sort of get irritated.

7 - They aren't intimidated by my Bengali and just talk to me, :-)

I love Oly! Those are the 2 places we go to a lot...so we get good service :-)

Trolling at a friend's wedding

Saturday night, DH, P and I went to a friend's wedding. We didn't plan to stay long seeing as how we were already late. We meant to pick up DH around 8, but managed to pick him up around 830pm...so off we went.

We went said hello to the bride and groom, and then decided to eat. There was a plethora of foods...biriyani, jeera rice, daal makhani, naan, and lots of other things to eat. My problem with wedding food is that it's normally pure bengali food and it's hard to eat my fill. So, thinking I'd enjoy it, I took some jeera rice (the flavour was a bit overwhelming for me...) and some butter masala paneer. Then I spied some chicken florentine (YES! Some continental food =D)

Well...I went to the counter where they were serving the chicken and they gave me a bit. I asked for more, they said "This is chicken, non-veg" to which I replied "Aaro din" (give me more) and they again replied "But it's chicken." Slightly frustrated at this point I said, "Jaani, aami porte pari, Chicken Florentine lekha achhe" (I know, I can read. It's written Chicken Florentine.)

Then we had more food and left...I ended up coming home and having a maggi at 1am. :-)

Yep, highlight of my night was trolling at a wedding =D