Ashutosh Eating Tips

It is nearly 17 months since the start of COVID -19, I have not added any post. During this period I had not travelled and have stayed at home in Canada & India. I had not been to any restaurant to dine - in and Ashutosh Eating tips is review of the food where I had dine-in. No doubt I had picked up food from few restaurants but the taste of takeaway food is not the same as freshly prepared and eaten while you dine-in. ... I pray that COVID difficult time gets over soon and life become normal again. Our only ray of hope is vaccination. Take Care.

To All my Friends and Family " May the dawning of this New Year Open up New Horizons, Fill your heart with New Hopes and bring Promises of Brighter future for you and your family. Wishing Happiness and Prosperity in 2020."

28th October 2019 first day after Diwali is celebrated with Govardhan Pooja. Traditionally in our house( from my Grandfather’s days) Annakoot Sabji , Kadhi and rice is prepared and eaten with family & friends for lunch. I prepare Annakoot since years and this year was no different. At present, I am in Toronto Canada and getting different vegetables were quite a task from various stores far and near. My daughter in law could get 42 vegetables moreover I do not use vegetables l...ike Asparagus, Broccoli... Cleaning ,Washing and cutting the vegetables takes long time as vegetables should be cut in proper size such that after cooking they are not mashed completely. I follow my mothers cooking method and vegetables which take long time for cooking are put in first followed by vegetables which needs medium cooking time and on top leafy vegetables. Normally use a Kadhai but this time used a big pot . All cooking is done using Desi Ghee, every day spices and slow cooking covering the pot. As quantity was large in total it took over 5 hours from preparation to final Annakoot. Satisfied with the outcome and shared it with 7/8 families and they also appreciated.

28th October 2019 first day after Diwali is celebrated with Govardhan Pooja. Traditionally in our house( from my Grandfather’s days) Annakoot Sabji , Kadhi and rice is prepared and eaten with family & friends for lunch. I prepare Annakoot since years and this year was no different. At present, I am in Toronto Canada and getting different vegetables were quite a task from various stores far and near. My daughter in law could get 42 vegetables moreover I do not use vegetables l...ike Asparagus, Broccoli... Cleaning ,Washing and cutting the vegetables takes long time as vegetables should be cut in proper size such that after cooking they are not mashed completely. I follow my mothers cooking method and vegetables which take long time for cooking are put in first followed by vegetables which needs medium cooking time and on top leafy vegetables. Normally use a Kadhai but this time used a big pot . All cooking is done using Desi Ghee, every day spices and slow cooking covering the pot. As quantity was large in total it took over 5 hours from preparation to final Annakoot. Satisfied with the outcome and shared it with 7/8 families and they also appreciated.

Chole Bhature is very popular food item liked by one and all. Delhi is the city to satisfy taste buds by lovers of Chole Bhature. Given below is the Chole Bhature Map of Delhi. One should definitely try while in Delhi. I have tried couple of them, not all . Will keep exploring in my visits to Delhi. My ranking of TOP 4 :- 1- Nand Di Hatti - Sadar Bazar ( Two shops side by side as division in brothers) Both follow same recipe for Chole. They use Pure Ghee. 2- Sitharam - Pahar...Ganj ( Now they have branches in few place in Delhi).They use pure Ghee. 3- Chacha - Kamla Nagar, Very popular, they use small chickpeas 4- Baba Nagpal - Lajpat Nagar , Very Busy and popular in South Delhi . Happy Hunting for Lovers of Chole Bhature.

Chole Bhature is very popular food item liked by one and all. Delhi is the city to satisfy taste buds by lovers of Chole Bhature. Given below is the Chole Bhature Map of Delhi. One should definitely try while in Delhi. I have tried couple of them, not all . Will keep exploring in my visits to Delhi. My ranking of TOP 4 :- 1- Nand Di Hatti - Sadar Bazar ( Two shops side by side as division in brothers) Both follow same recipe for Chole. They use Pure Ghee. 2- Sitharam - Pahar...Ganj ( Now they have branches in few place in Delhi).They use pure Ghee. 3- Chacha - Kamla Nagar, Very popular, they use small chickpeas 4- Baba Nagpal - Lajpat Nagar , Very Busy and popular in South Delhi . Happy Hunting for Lovers of Chole Bhature.

Our hotel at Punakha Bhutan was Zangdo Pelri, here again discussed with the Chef and had a very good food . Chef was local from Bhutan and insisted that we keep in the menu. Believe me Most of us , out of 31people, said Such tasty we never had earlier . Excellent Dinner. Old Beautiful hotel , WIFI available only in reception hall.

Mountain Cafe in Paro city, Bhutan offers Vegetarian Food only. They even offer Dosa’s , Idly, Pao Bhaji, Roti, Nan and few vegetables, Buns ..... , local Bhutanese dish Long list . Food taste is very good , one of the best vegetarian food we had in Bhutan however quite expensive.

Base Camp hotel at Paro is about 15 km out of town, beautiful view of valley. Small hotel with 15-16 rooms, newly built, very quiet. They served Indian vegetarian food, Buffet was basic with one Daal & two vegetables. Just OK. The boy at reception was very impolite and arrogant ( unlike other Bhutanese)

Our hotel at Punakha Bhutan was Zangdo Pelri, here again discussed with the Chef and had a very good food . Chef was local from Bhutan and insisted that we keep in the menu. Believe me Most of us , out of 31people, said Such tasty we never had earlier . Excellent Dinner. Old Beautiful hotel , WIFI available only in reception hall.

From 12th June to 17th June,19 visited Bhutan, we were four couples and took SOTC tour. First stop was at Thimphu at Hotel Pedling- A 3 star hotel, in the centre of town, Neat and clean and very courteous staff. Beautiful building, good service. On the first day the dinner, Indian food was tasteless, none in the group (31 people) liked it . Further, Some of us do not eat garlic . For the next day , I decided to discuss with Chef how to improve-he was a Bengali settled in Sik...kim. It helped , next Dinner was much improved with proper tadka in Daal (properly cooked ) spice and salt level improved in vegetables- Mutter Paneer, Mix Veg, Jeera Aloo and Spicy Chillie cheese ( Bhutani Local preparation). Even the B.F. was improved - stuffed Paratha, curd, Poha , fruits , Eggs of choice etc. Lesson learnt- if one want to eat good food need to make an effort. SOTC arrangements were just ordinary. Few words on Bhutan- beautiful country, green all around. They believe in improving happiness of people , not in GDP. No big industry, No Big Multistories , No honking on roads, didn’t see any traffic light. No littering, No plastic, No Beggers. Mostly small roads but we were asked by our guide to cross on Zebra crossings. Bhutanese people have learned to live and respect nature.

Today to celebrate my wife’s Birthday went to Sattavik for Lunch as all decided to go vegetarian. We reserved table for nine people and on table allocated for us we were little cramped. The ambience was good. The Badam Tulsi shorba was cold and watery, ( would not recommend) however Tangy Lotus Stem and Mango Sesame & Lemon Salads were tasty. For starters we tried Papad Wala Paneer ( fried- did not like ) and Mehroon Beet ki Seek (Very good). Ganne ka Ras was tasty and Masala... Papad -OK. We tried Dal e Satvik ( Yellow Daal - Blend) and Dum ki bani Daal ( Black Daal - OK) . In vegetables we tried Paneer e Moksha (OK), Makhmali Kofta with Zaffaran (good) and Khumb Matar Hara Piaz (OK) . Khasta Roti, Tandoori Roti, Butter Nan, Garlik Nan, Aloo Onion Kulcha , Assorted Raita - All OK Overall food was less spicy, bit mild and best part less oily . Individuals who like spicy food should ask for some green chillies. We had a great company, enjoyed our Lunch , food was good nothing extraordinary and Sattavik - little pricy.

We were at Harbour Square,Toronto. It has been quite some time I had Dosa so decided to go for Brunch at My Dosa Place along with my wife and Bhabhiji. We ordered for Crispy Masala Dosas with Aloo Bhaji on the side, Idly dipped in Sambar and Vada dipped in Sambar. All the dishes were served with two chutney - Tomato & Coconut. As ordered Dosas were crisp, Aloo Bhaji has proper proportion of Aloo & Piyaj ( Onion). Idlys were soft & Vadas were crisp outside & soft inside and... were served with few chopped onions & Carrots-very good taste. Sambar and Tomato Chutney were good and had right spices but Coconut chutney was disappointment. On the suggestion of the girl at the counter we later tried Tea and were pleasantly surprised with the Masala Chai we got. It is a small place-with few seats to dine in - more as a takeout joint and one has to order at the counter. Food was fresh and service was very good and friendly. We enjoyed good South Indian food, which I was looking for. Vadas were toooo good.

We decided to try this restaurant open recently. It is not fine dining. As kids were feeling hungry we ordered by phone butter Chicken ( Non spicy . Zero Chili ) and Nan for them . On arrival both were ready and kids enjoyed their food. We order Kakori Kabab, Daal, Malai Kofta, Chicken Kadhai . Naan , Laccha Paratha. All the food was tasty and Good.... It is a new restaurant, it was Saturday night , we have to wait for some time after ordering food-Food was freshly cooked and towards Bengali Style. Good Experience

Last week while driving back from USA to Toronto, we passed Niagara and memories of the Horrible experience we had last year ( Aug 2018) while having our dinner at Chef of India restaurant, Niagara got refreshed. Having traveled to over 85 countries, Customer Service and rude behaviour by staff at Chef of India Restaurant at Niagara is Worst experience so far. Food was also very Bad at this restaurant. I wrote about this last year .

About a week back , had dinner with family ( 12 of us) at Burma Burma - A vegetarian restaurant without any liquor . Interiors were soothing to eyes, food was different than normal Indian Vegetarian or Chinese and is not oily. They also have some interesting non alcoholic drinks. Service was good and they charge 10% service charges, overall little pricey. We enjoyed our evening

Chole Bhature is very popular food item liked by one and all. Delhi is the city to satisfy taste buds by lovers of Chole Bhature. Given below is the Chole Bhature Map of Delhi. One should definitely try while in Delhi. I have tried couple of them, not all . Will keep exploring in my visits to Delhi. My ranking of TOP 4 :- 1- Nand Di Hatti - Sadar Bazar ( Two shops side by side as division in brothers) Both follow same recipe for Chole. They use Pure Ghee. 2- Sitharam - Pahar...Ganj ( Now they have branches in few place in Delhi).They use pure Ghee. 3- Chacha - Kamla Nagar, Very popular, they use small chickpeas 4- Baba Nagpal - Lajpat Nagar , Very Busy and popular in South Delhi . Happy Hunting for Lovers of Chole Bhature.