Hot and Steamy Nights in Bangkok : Food expose

I know I have cheated on everyone I know. I feel guilty and terrible that I have cheated, but not with the " Thai Bar girls" and the "Sandwich massage" but with the food. Yes I did not eat Thai street food but lived a surreal and an airbrushed life of a expat, eating at, the better and high end restaurants (comparatively) rather than the street food and local exotica and the hard core stuff that I was yearning for.

When I was growing up in Visakhapatanam (aka Vizag and Waltair), across the street where we lived in Dwarka Nagar was a house with Thai tenants. They were perhaps students or what and the girls always wore shorts (this is 1975) all the time and always showed their plump and fair thighs. I often wondered and fantasized.... hmmm thats the reason why they call it Thailand.

Seriously, we were in Bangkok for 4 nights and lived at the Wireless road, the expat area opposite the US Ambassadors residence in the Hotel Conrad complex at the All Seasons Mansion. We arrive at 8pm and again unabashedly order Indian Chinese food yet again, from dragon express.com a home delivery. If you have read the previous post you would know, we are with Shilpa our host and we order Veg momos (yes momos and not dim sum), Veg chowmein , Veg fried rice, Veg Manchurian and Salt and pepper Prawns. Believe me, I haven't tasted a more authentic Indian Chinese food meal anywhere else in the world, even in India. Every ingredient was perfect and this is high street Bangkok.


The Other interesting meals were at MK's Gold at Siam Paragon(the upmarket version of a chain of Chinese restaurants), Seafood Market Restaurant at Sukhumvit, GreyHound Cafe at Central Chidlom, Loy Nava (traditional rice boat dinner cruise), Curries and More -traditional Thai restaurant at Ruamrudee, the Jungle cruise buffet at Safari Park, Calderazzo Italian Ristorante at Lang Suan, Witch's Oyster bar at Ruamrudee and Au bon pain at M Thai Tower at All Season's Place and that's it. If you don't count a deli or two here and there for breakfast or a Mc Donalds thrown in for good measure.


So how do you elaborate on 9-10 interesting meals without losing the reading retention span. I will try to write an abridged narration with outline experiences, price and a narration of food so please bear with me.

Mk's is chain of restaurants, I understand they have a upgraded version called Mk's Gold thats where I went, to a sit down restaurant for a quick bite, roast duck, roast pork with rice served with a soup and slivers of pickled ginger and some cucumber in and out in 10 minutes for a served on table with crockery cutlery and a white serviette service. In all Bht 100 with a gratuity. Thats nearly a Rs 140/-. Amazing Thailand. The food was yumm.

Sea food market restaurant at Sukhumvit, basically a large hall as big as multiplex with 6-8 screens, it was my third visit and the family's first. We start with a hostess with a trolley taking us around to shop at the stylised fish market, we bought, river prawns, sea halibut fish, shrimp cakes and lots of pakchoi and broccolli and french bread. Accompanied by Chilean white Saint Alacia wine. After shopping and paying for the ingredients we seat ourselves and choose a cooking style with cooking charges we choose between, stir fried fried and char grilled. Detective An (Ananya) freaks out she binges on everything, prawn cakes (fried), stir fried garlic river prawns and the garlic and soya pakchoi. Dear wife Praveen can't handle the smells, however, she feasts on the char grilled halibut fish and pecks on the garlic bread and sticky white rice. I gorge myself in the surreal lighting. In all a great experience . It costs Baht 1735 which nearly Rs 2400 now. I am sure going to a countryside place in inner Thailand will always be better, however in downtown Bangkok it was nice. It took us a little over an hour for the entire experience. Fantastic service 4 waiters to a table and unobtrusive.
Detective An loves it, she takes to the fish(seafood) as fish takes to water, metaphorically, that is. Good experience, for three persons with drinks (coke, Asahi beer wine and the starters and main course). The only caution, there are several smaller restaurants masquerading to be the real thing. The cabbies play dumb and try to misguide you.

The next stop is Grey Hound café: Started by an advertising professional, has restaurants all over Bangkok. Dear wife Praveen detests restaurants located in malls. But she agreed to this one on Shilpa, our host, insisting. It’s a quirky place with Thai fusion cuisine with waiters with quaint messages like “I may not be cute, but I help you order the best”. The restaurant is designed in black and white”. Four of us ordered, drinks- Ginger ale, Sprite , a yoghurt smoothie. Lunch – A pasta for shilpa, Fried fish in beer barter with chips for Detective An and Dear wife and I shared a Pomelo salad (grapefruit with shrimps and dried fish), Phad Thai (Thai flat noodles and shrimp with peanuts and chilli powder), spare ribs of pork, and a portion of fried rice with salted fish which came with a bowl of soup. The food was fashionable but not yummy and we tried quite a bit. More like our Indian fusion cuisine places which have enormously dressed up plates with passable food. It costed about Bht 1400 which is nearly Rs 2000/-. Not bad for the price despite the shallow service.

Curries and More: I must confess I did not go, my dear wife Praveen went to this lovely restaurant on Rumrudee and loved the experience. I ate some of the food they brought back. Yummy, Some rice and some interesting dish of chicken (with a nice yellow thick curry, Indonesian) and a flavourful prawn dish again yummy, Tom yum Kung soup, a pomelo salad, jasmine tea, iced tea and blueberry cheeese cake about Bht1800 approx Rs 2500/- for two and a little spillover for home which I ate.

Now the Dinner Cruise night on the traditional rice boat Loy Nava which has been in operation for over 39 years. This was an all farhang (goras) outing and me and Praveen were the only brownies on the wooden boat and deck (of course apart from the service staff and the dancers). This was a romantic dinner date, with Detective An at home , watching movies and gorging on yet again on Indian Chinese food.We started with a beer and orange juice at the pier, waiting to board the cruise. The Goras were elegantly dressed in collared shirts and trousers and women in dresses. Praveen was in formals and as usual I was as usual grubby in a T-shirt and jeans. Now for the food, reminds me of Bruce Springsteen's song, 57 channel s and nothing to watch. Similarly, to summarise excellent service, expensive wine, high end expat travellers, clipped British accent guide (Derek) and owner but terrible food.
We were served with soup, a choice of actually12 main courses brought to the table, desert and tea and coffee. The only thing edible was the Tom yum kung soup, the pineapple in the dessert and of course the tea. Everything else was just inedible, more quantity than quality (steamed fish, clams, prawns, callamari, fried pork, fried beef, soya based vegetarian stuff, chicken and more and believe me I pecked. If couldn't eat it, believe me a lot of people and more cannot go beyond pecking. The wine a sparkling one, a German Trocken was decent. On a experience quotient it was an interesting thing to do. Fantastic service standards, poor food. Amazing sights of Bangkok from the river Chayo Praya.

Just a hurried mention of the lunch at the Jungle cruise restaurant in Safari world, Me and Detective An dug into the fish ball soup and everything else was forget able. Curiosity, got me to peak into Jungle Cruise restaurant 2, there was Indian food, pooris, veg pulao, aloo subzi, dal , rice. There was even a Jain version, for all the droves of Indian Holiday makers. Me and Detective An had a super deluxe time picked and dropped in a Toyota Camry with the tour and guide Mr Mee who was a such a gentleman. It cost us Bht 3200 approx Rs 4500/-. I was memorable trip with cold wet towels and mineral water with chauffeur handing out an umbrella. Too propah I must say.

Calderazzo, dear wife had already been to this fine dining Italian restaurant on her previous visit, and wanted to repeat and relive the experience with us. Its a beautiful restaurant in a villa on Lang Suan road, Its five years old and has had nine version of the menu upgrade (means the menu has been revised nine times). Its sparkling white with nearly three waiters/waitresses to a table. We order, there are four of us, drinks - a glass of house wine- a chardonnay, a singha beer, a sprite and something else. Start with a bruschetta, lots of bread with olive oil and balsmic vinegar, I have a bed of mashed potato with a Italian sausage and great honey balsmic sauce, heavenly. Praveen has a pizza and Detective has a pasta (penne) with a kind of arabiatta with tons of parmesan cheese and shilpa has ravioli. Outstanding food and outstanding service. In all about bht1900 approx Rs 2600/-. Outstanding and a repeat yet again is highly recommended.

A quick stop at Witch's a pub for expats after a crawl in Suan Lum the night bazaar topped of the trip. Witch's is a kind of pub/ tavern place with a online community and a tabloid called The Cauldron attached to it. The white boys showing the Thai girls a good time kind of place, decent hot coffee, cappucino and we were ready to pack, just before that......

Praveen suggested and bought us yet again a great lunch at a Deli called Au bon pain, nice toasted bagels and cream cheese, Bagels with salmon and wasabi, tuna sanwich , sprite and coffee all this for the three of us, for Bht 500 about Rs 700/- Cheerful place with helpful and real smart staff. Some trips to Starbucks and others closed the trip from gastronomic point of view.

I have decieved the cause and the raison d etre (the reason of my existance), but what the hell. Once in a while I can behave and act like a true blooded expat when I really was one, though a brethren of the Asians in that.

Largely, Thailand felt unaffected by the global recession and crisis, the hoardings were all full and crowded, shops, malls were crowded and full of shoppers (it was also the Chinese New year weekend).

In all a great trip which cost me + 2.5 kgs...

So Long

China to Chandni Chowk : Indian Chinese food

Indians will eat anything fried, spicy and sour, said Sanjay Khanna, my mentor at Discovery Channel. He introduced me to both, eating better Chinese food in most continents of the world . Also, eating Indian Chinese food with pride and not feeling hesitant to order sweet corn soup and manchurian anything (only Indians will understand this) in its various forms. Albeit , we did it with an eggdrop and canned asparagus (to renforce ,we had more evolved tastes).

My first experience with Chinese food as a child, was at this quaint Chinese restaurant called Shinkows at Ootacamund on cold and damp winter afternoon. I was on a day trip with my Dad, a travelling salesman , who had then become manager. We had noodles, sweet and sour pork and lots of chilli chicken (I thought for a few years that all sweet and sour was pork) As a teenager, I made an ass of myself, asking for sweet and sour at a family gathering at The Host (a restaurant in New Delhi). My sister in law said sweet and sour what. I then understood the style or the gravy is sweet and sour with a choice of vegetables and meats rather than a dish by itself.

For many years, we understood Chinese food as something you got from a van parked in South Extension , at New Delhi with an obscene name like Hungry Hop. Extravagance and more money meant, going to Chungwa (then at Defence Colony), Aka Saka, Faley (again at Defence Colony), Daichi (at South Extension). My taste buds and exposure to the cuisine improved with the highs and low of Chinese food at Pearls (the Chinese restaurant at the swanky Hyatt Regency in the 80’s with my bro Sanjiv and wife Poonam) to the Tibetan Dhaba and generically called Tib Tabs at Ladakh Budha Vihar opposite the Bus Terminal near Delhi University to Chopsticks at Churchgate in Mumbai (experienced the birds nest soup for the first time). While at Mumbai ordered from Chinese room at Kemps corner and ate at Nelson Wang's (High priest of Indian Chinese)China garden.

So many persons contributed to my evolution in Chinese food, father, brother his wife, friends and of course my mother who will try anything for the experience . So when I met my dear wife , Praveen, and on our first lunch date at Fujiya in Diplomatic enclave at New Delhi, I was kind of equipped to order a Chinese meal. We both enjoyed it, we grew and so did our taste buds, with more guidance, travel, experiences, we understood Chinese food to in its entire glory from provinces to style of cooking with travels in Asia, and US.

The real art of ordering a good Chinese meal is what I learnt from boss and now friend (hopefully) , Sanjay. The Chinese tea, the soup, the steamed rice and chinese greens and especially pakchoy. We had been to every Oriental (Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Burmese restaurant, that was worth visiting in South and South Asia). Mean while Praveen’s taste buds and Chinese food affinity had evolved with innumerable vists to Taipan, Fa-hian, Larry’s China and with her immense travel and lo behold our daughter at 4, was a Dim Sum fiend and enjoyed paper wrapped anything and, adept at chopsticks and enjoyed greens, everything was going fine until ……………

One winter evening, Praveen’s friend Shilpa (working and living in South Asia for 14 years) meets us. We invite her out for dinner. She requests for real hard core Punjabi Chinese (Indian Chinese) and we go to Fujiya. All our learning and delicate development of our palette to distinguish between, Cantonese, Sechwan, Hunan, Haka, Mongolian subtleties is lost and we un learn and immerse into. Hot and Sour soup, Veg Spring rolls, Veg Manchurian, American Chopsuey and what not. Basically, lots of Soya sauce, cornflour, vinegar, chillies ghotala. Prophetic words…. Indian s will eat anything fried, spicy and sour……

However, Shilpa really surprised us with her fondness for this cuisine. Now every winter we have to find and line up the meanest Indian Chinese joint for her visit and shamelessly enjoy Indian Chinese.

Though Wikipedia defines Indian Chinese as the adaptation of Chinese seasoning and cooking techniques to Indian tastes. It is said to have been developed by the tiny Chinese community that has lived in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) for over a century. Immensely popular with Indians, it is widespread in major Indian metropolitan cites such as Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata; and is also enjoyed by Indian and Chinese communities in Malaysia, Singapore and North America. Indeed, in a curious twist, Indian Chinese has followed the mainstream Indian expatriate community as they have spread across the world, providing expatriate Indians with a taste of authentic Indian Chinese.

True , Tangra in Kolkata is where each one of us have their favourites, Kimling, Kimfa, China Haus and my recent favourite Golden Joy (introduced my Manjeet Narwan), contributed to this amazing cuisine .Which has legends like Nelson Wang, Camelia Punjabi and many unsung heroes and improvisers all over India, Nepal and Bangladesh to develop this Chinese chaat which is strangely appealing and perhaps addictive as yet again another Praveen’s friend Tina would say lets order Dirty Chow…….. Cheers to Dirty Chow, Chinese Chaat, Chinjabi, Chindian, Sino Ludhianvi cuisine. I am loving it.

Pal check out Indian Chinese !

Parting shots:
Whats your favourite Tangra restaurant ?
Whats your Indian Chinese food story ?
Where have you had the dirtiest Chow ?

So Long !

Wish Sandwich : Great Sandwiches at Jangpura, New Delhi

The 4th Earl of Sandwich (John Montagu) sat on his gambling table in 1762 for a long session of gambling and asked for cheese and meat ensconced in slices of bread. To eat, while playing cards and he was presented with this meal by the humble cook. Though the name of the cook is not known, the name Sandwich stuck. John Montagu may been inspired by his travels to the Mediterranean where bread and meat wrapped in some form had been around for many centuries (e.g Shawarma, Slouvaki, Pita etc)

Colonel Charles Young was entrusted the task of rehabilitating the residents of Raisina Hill to make the humble lodge of the Viceroy and the Secretariat of the British in India in the early 19th century. He took the residents and set them up near Nizamuddin on the banks of the river Yamuna and the residential area was then called Youngpura (set by Colonel Young). It was slowly distorted and began to be called Jangpura .


So whats common between John Montagu’s invention and Jangpura- Sandwiches. Yes Sandwiches.

The place, Novelty Dairy and Store on Birbal Road in Jangpura aka (also known as), Hawkers House, has nice Sandwiches. As you enter you walk past the store and the passage leads to long hall with 20 foot bar table (which was gotten from The Oberoi, down the road). With six bar stools, this must one of the only Sandwich bars, which looks like a bar.

Its tube lit with, with three sardars (Sikhs) on my right, discussing fuel prices and one burly sardar on my left strongly and silently munching his Sandwiches and drinking his Coffee. What’s this place. This was once Bar with actual Alcohol, till the laws changed and now it’s a timid Sandwich Bar. It goes back 53 years, when Shanti Swarup the the founder, a post partition refugee set up this Place to pass it on to his silent son Sidharth in September 2008 when he expired. Its surreal almost the kind of bar, Mr Walker (aka) as Phantom, walks up and asks for Milk, for himself and his wolf. Its quite uncanny how many post partition refugees contributed to the evolution of food catering and restaurant business (please see previous posts on Motimahal (Kundan Lal Gujral), Kwality amd Gaylord (Purshottam Lamba and Iqbal Ghai respectively).

You do get good Sandwiches which are elegant, delicate, soft and tasty. We bought, Two Ham ( Rs50/-), One Chicken (Rs 45/- and one set of Tuna Sandwiches (Rs55/-). They were all nice. Our Daughter Ananya (Detective An) Loved them though she is partial to tuna with bits of Onion. The ham is cut in slivers, on slightly buttered bread and spread with home made mayo. The Chicken is more like a Chicken ham with the rest of the stuff done like the ham. They come with a green Chutney (Mint ) and Tomato Ketchup. They are four triangle sandwiches in a cling film wrapped set. And, delicate enough to be served at the the High Tea in The Peninsula, over looking the Bay in Hongkong.

I am sure you will like them as we do,I have to make a pit stop in Jangpura on the way home. Besides, they fit in well within the eating out within the Rs 100/- budget (for the Salesman’s guide to eating out).

Parting shot or shots : What’s a Wish Sandwich ?
Two slices of Bread and wishing there was something in between.

What is the other stuff you get to eat at Hawkers House Or Novelty Dairy and Stores at Jangpura.

Name and please describe your favourite Sandwich place or memory.

So Long !

Steakhouse, Jor Bagh Delhi : Lee Chongs Grocery Store, Cannery Row

Speaking to a colleague today, i.e post Christmas, I realised, how well marketed is Christmas is, it has a brand mnemonic, cuisine, Santa, gifts, involves children. It fuels a sagging economy. Everyone gets a gift. In India its normal in a household with school going children to decorate Christmas trees, sing carols, get gifts from Santa, buy marshmallows, Christmas pudding, Mince pies. As a contrast, Lohri a north Indian winter festival involves, rural population of Punjab, punjabi couples (newly married) and families in their first year of marriage (first Lohri). Rewri makers and wood cutters and sellers benefit. That's it.

This not about Christmas or Lohri this is about an afternoon, at a store in Jorbagh,(two days before Christamas and how it is similar to a store in John Steinbeck's novel Cannery Row and in that, Lee Chong's store(Lee Chong's Heavenly Flower Store).

Steak House : Jor Bagh Delhi

Located at the sanctum sanctorum of the New Delhi's Old rich District. In the tiny and full of character Jorbagh market. This was my fourth or fifth shopping visit ( incidentally I have been billed twice, in excess). The blue blooded Dilliwallah doesn't care or check their bills. The store was set up on 12-12-1963. A break away from Khub Chand and Sons ( a famous store in CP in the 60's, however the piggery by the name Khub Chand and Bros survives). The one act play that follows has the following characters:




The Lady (shopping for bacon and ham, spectacles, fair and professor like giving- free advice)
The Daughter (from the mother and daughter separate bill duo)
The Mother (from the mother and Daughter separate bill duo)
Bikram (the overweight food show host)
Cheese buyer (gives advise on buying cheese, specs blue round neck sweater)

Parthasarthi (bureaucrat shopping on way home from abroad asks for some credit to pay for Christmas pudding from the establishment)
Kuldip Shenker (the owner of the establishment)
Vir Singh (billing, been with establishment for 42 years)
Two uninterested and demotivating store attendants call them Thapa 1 Thapa 2 (largely responsible for uncourteous behaviour)





I had gone to the store for our Christmas food shopping waiting to be served in a brown skin and brown clothes. I was giving Wengers the pass this year and was ready for a more gastronomically interesting Christmas, this year. On the list was cheese (a Pondicherry Gouda), Ham, Sausages, Rum soaked raisin Cake, Christmas pudding and if possible a cured leg of ham.As you enter the store you get an unexplainable smell a blend of stale air, cured meats, matured cheese , yeast and groceries rolled into one.

Started with buying Cheese and overheard the The lady and The Daughter go.... If it wasn't for their ham and bacon I would never come here. The Daughter: The Le Marche at Select City Walk by Sugar and Spice cuts out great slivers of ham, great for sandwiches. The Lady : Sugar and Spice sucks. I added, no, there some great cold cuts stocked at their Khan Market outlet. The Lady: Oh shucks I was just there. Under their breath The staff here is so unhelpful and impolite.

At the cheese counter, I look, I hear, The Daughter tastes smoked Gouda I try and choose the smoked gouda and pepper gouda. I talk about the Flanders's Mozzarella, The Cheese Buyer, says Flanders has a shop at Meher Chand Market In Lodhi Colony and by the way Amul's Mozzarella is the best. He buys his cheese and leaves.

I spot a Bikram an Unknown Food show host,who I had seen on TV,he had been to the Santa Village at Lapland and had covered a restaurant and Spa which offered a meal, unlimited food and Spa @ Euro 300 ! Steep ! We get talking, he asks what are you buying, we discuss my quest for the perfect sausage, he says Calcutta, I ask, in Delhi, He says Pigpo Breakfast Sausage a few Shops away, deep down I don't agree as I have tried it, my quest still continues.


Meanwhile, The Mother says out, aloud, a recipe for Pork Chops (she is getting them dressed, like she is buying and then deciding on the recipe). Bikram suggests, marinate in salt and pepper half cook, smear apple sauce and roast. Kuldip Shenker (the owner), dishes out the right foriegn "expensive"brand of apple sauce bottles and the sale is made.


Me: Desperately looking for Christmas Cake Or pudding I am offered Indian Palco which I can buy from my Anda Breadwallah, or expensive imported cake at Rs 1100/- a pound. Finally I chat up with the establishment he dishes out Mrs Walia'sStuff, ( a relative of the Mrs Bhicoo Manekshaw who runs Basil and Thyme , who I ran into at this store once before i.e Bhicoo), from under the counter. Its the Christmas puddings packed in a steel container. I ask for one.

Parthasarthi: (the bureaucrat) who is buying Ritter Choclates overhears and begs for one as well. We both get one each. Parthasarthi discusses the exotic way his wife will steam and flambe it. However , he is short of some Indian currency and asks for credit as he is coming from abroad (no credit card ? in this day and age ??)


We all patiently wait to be billed, first The cheese buyer who see buys and leaves, Bikram (buys expensive Cheddar, baked beans and some other stuff), the lady, Parthasarthi, Me, The Daughter and The Mother with separate bills and I then move out. It was more than a visit to a store it was like a congregation of foodies, at the local shrine.


This was a slice of life from an afternoon at Steakhouse, so different from the proletariat and pedestrian places I hang out at. As a part of the experiences for a Salesman's guide to eating out under Rs 100/-. This was so different and so detached. I felt like the rich old Delhi Boxwallah albeit, for a little while, raised me from my middle age and middle class existance.


So why the name Of Lee Chang's Grocery in the title of my post. You need to read the Cannery Row by John Steinbeck to see the similarity in the two stores. The cult attraction, the conversation. the late evening hangout, the exchange of recipes and everything in between.

Chong's Grocery in Cannery Row By John Steinbeck


Lee Chong's is the first location we are introduced to in the novel, the hub of commerce in Cannery Row. Lee Chong's store is truly a "general store" in which you could buy, "clothes, food both fresh and canned, liquor, tobacco, fishing equipment, machinery, boats, cordage, caps, pork chops. You could buy at Lee Chong's a pair of slippers, a silk kimono, a quarter pint of whiskey and a cigar. You could work out combinations to fit almost any mood." Almost everyone in the area owes money to Lee Chong, but he is generous with his debtors because he has found they will usually pay him back rather than make the long trek to the next nearest store over in New Monterey. Its also said what you cant get at Lee Chongs Heavenly Flower Grocery you can at Dora's.

Unfortunately, there isn't a Dora's at Jorbagh.


The parting shot.


Today is Boxers or Boxing Day : Why is it called That ?

What the estimated price of Christmas pudding for a pound and two pounds at your favourite outlet ?

So Long !

I know a lot of you are reading, please do leave a comment its quite easy. Love and wishing you all a Happy new year. 2009 will be fine.

Kwality and Gaylord:The First Family of Restaurateurs (Restaurant wallahs)

It all began with ice cream. The British had a settlement in whats now Palika Bazaar and Iqbal Singh Ghai and Purshottam Lal Lamba started making hand churned Ice Cream, sold at the Regal building in Delhi. This was in Circa 1939 . In 1942 an American dropped in and tipped them to keep their business open after the late night show at Regal. This changed their fortune and friendship grew into family and Lamba married Ghai's sister and then what, they got into the restaurant business and started Gaylord. The "G" from Ghai and "L" from Lord. Thank goodness they did not call it Lordgay. But, those were innocent times and gay in the 40's in Delhi was an unknown word (in the current context). Though some historians feel Lord Krishna was termed as Gaylord in the indian context in an innocent way gay meaning happy.


PL Lamba started the Kwality resturant (misspelt as a marketing gimmick that Absolut vodka would follow 4o years later). I think Lamba meant Quality in the Punjabi way. Then came the partition of India and Pakistan and lots of family came and settled in various parts of India, there was a Kwality every where started in Bombay, Calcutta and at my last count there was or had been a Kwality in Mumbai, Kolkatta, Bangalore, Amritsar, Chennai, Nagpur, Chennai, Chandigarh, Patiala,Jamshedpur,Kanpur, Pune, Dehradun, Nagpur, Baroda,Goa, Agra, Mysore, Lucknow, Udaipur, Dalhousie , Vizag and some others I could not trace. All had some family linkage, brother, uncle cousin, son in law, old employee and so on. To the extent my friend and senior blogger Sandip Ghose tells me (he was in HUL, then HLL) that they had to buy the Kwality brand many times over as there was so many other claimants after the deal was done.


Meanwhile Gaylord made inroads abroad, 1946 to 1957, there was a Gaylord Indian Restaurant in Delhi, Bombay, London, Japan, Chicago New York. These were more stylised restaurants with a continental food experience, with a live band and an esoteric feel of a european fine dining experience. While Kwality stuck to the North Indian cuisine and popularised and immortalised the humble channa bhatura (the Pindi channa, a recipe of a halwai who came in from Rawalpindi and Lamba met in 1948 on a vacation at Mussorie). The dish is still a show stopper at Kwality, Delhi and in all their catering do's.


The story of Jay and Veeru progressed (Lamba and Ghai) expanded their footprint Kwality into Kwality Ice Cream amd the mantle from Pl Lamba was taken over by his astute son Sunil Lamba. Who further, expanded to Kwality catering besides expanding the footprint to 49 restaurants. Mean while the sons of Iqbal Ghai (Ravi and Sanjeev) were busy with Gaylord restaurants abroad, The Natraj hotel on Marine Drive (1960-1999)(which is now The Intercontinenal at the Marine Drive in Mumbai). It had the legendary RG's discotheque named after Ravi Ghai. They even started the Gaylord Ice cream with Yankee Doodle Ice cream parlours (though they now hold the Baskin Robbins franchise in India). Now have expanded to Mayfair Banqueting and Hot Breads.

So what was it that drove these men to develop brands which like the Moti Mahal which are faked in most cities in the world from Vegas to Kobe, from San Francisco to Sacramento, London to Birmingham there is Gaylord or even a Kwality everywhere in the world Krishan Kripalani has made a huge business out of Gaylord restaurants in the whole of North America without paying a cent in franchise fees to the Original owners. We think they had a tremendous vision to involve friends family and employees to set up businesses across India and across the world. Perhaps the only mistake of not registering the brand worldwide (there were hardly any systems to monitor it).

Kwality had a simple model make and sell Ice cream (a dream with cream) , and open restaurants with family for families to dine in.When Sunil Lamba came to handle the helm of affairs, his big ticket was at the Asiad Village in 1982. He opened a series of restaurants in the complex, Angeethi (frontier cuisine), Ankur (Indian Cuisine), Chopsticks (chinese cuisine), Tonic the bar amd another American fastfood restaurant, the name I forget. Which has been taken up further by his son Dhruv Lamba starting , Kwality express and Chopsticks express in Malls and Hospitals and Breads and More all over. Kwality also caters at the Delhi Gymkhana Club.



My experiences, began as a child at the Kwality restaurant at Vizag (aka Visakhapatnam), where the owner Mr Johar would call his waiters as Samosa, Bhatura and me and my brother Sanjiv found that very funny and even do so now. While my wife Praveen while growing up in Patiala and Chandigarh, had many fine dining experiences to share about Kwality.As we grew and met we had visited several Kwality and a few Gaylords all over India (like adding dot pins to the map of India).

So quite like a Sher -e -Punjab Dhaba there was a Kwality everywhere.Who can forget their first Choc bar, or the Mango Duet, the Choconut and the even now, prevalent, Kassatta (much copied but never the same)




Niloufer Billimoria my then boss at Times of India at Mumbai, many years ago perhaps in 1993 took us to the Gaylord (at Church Gate, Mumbai) and ordered a hearty meal of Waldorf Salad, Baked Alaska, Chicken Strogonoff and ended it with an ice-cream and she ordered coffee. As a dining experience we have had better experiences at Gaylord than at the Kwality which is largely remembered for the exhorbitantly priced Channa Bhatura and perhaps the butter chicken.



I tip my hat to these extraordinary gentlemen i.e Ghai and Lamba who taught most of India how to use cutlery a serviette and the table cloth made of Damask and offered a fine dining experience and fairly good and sometimes great food at an affordable price for the middle and upper middle class India. In a recent Big fat Kapoor wedding a few weeks ago I savoured the Fish Orly and fat Kakori Kababs, the Biryani, Taar Meat and of course the Channa Bhatura. Impeccable.

Request anyone to give the current and exact price of :
A) Channa and Bhatura's at Kwality Delhi (as they are priced seprately) ?
B) The Price of the Kassatta ice cream (Kwality Walls) Currently ?

So Long !