Spicy Morsels in Chennai

I peered outside my window curiously as the airplane began its descent. I was returning to Chennai after two decades; the city was called Madras then, and not exactly a popular destination. How things have changed! A recent Harvard School study forecast Chennai as the next big IT city in India (after Bangalore). From the sky, I could see more greenery than I had expected. Pune is reeling from an unusually hot summer right now, so even the weather didn't seem too bad to me.

I stayed at Le Royal Meridien, about 15-20 mins drive from the airport. The hotel is very unremarkable from the outside (only four stories high, and looks old from the outside). However, the atrium/lobby area and the three restaurants are of good quality. The Gold Club rooms were large, nicely appointed, but haven't been refurbished any time recently.

I spent a few hours with colleagues at the lobby bar (called the Dome). Cricket continues to rule supreme even though India has crashed out early, disappointing a billion people, and bringing TV sales crashing down all over the country. The TV in the bar was showing the cricket match between West Indies and Sri Lanka and the waiters were dressed up in the teams' colors.

During this visit, I was able to eat at the Cilantro and Navratna. The Cilantro serves breakfast and lunch buffets, and is always crowded. The Navratna, serves what they describe as Royal Indian Cuisine, is quieter, has an interesting decor, and serves local South-Indian delicacies (they also have North Indian dishes that I didn't try).

The Guntur Kodi Vepudu is a very spicy starter made of boneless, succulent chunks of chicken marinated in South Indian spices. I loved it, as I did the Mutton Chettinad curry which I polished off with some very good Kal Dosa (the Kal is a hot stone on which this dosa is cooked) and Malabar Paratha (flaky South Indian bread). And finally, for dessert, I recommend the Athipazham Halwa which is made of figs and the black-currant ice-cream.

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The Trip Back Home

The duration between my trips to the US keeps getting shorter! I have set a new personal record with just two weeks between my trip to Orlando and this one. BTW, the US has (finally) begun introducing exit procedures when you leave the country. In San Francisco airport, there are now automated machines where you can scan your visa/passport to record your exit.

While awaiting the departure of my flight to Singapore, I noticed some wonderful murals in the new (?) Terminal G of San Francisco International Airport. The first one is by Juana Alicia and Emmanuel Catarino Montoya called Sanctuary depicting the arrival of immigrants and drawing similarities with migrating birds. The mural is painted in Fresco Buono, an ancient technique that mixes pigment directly into wet plaster.

The second is a ceramic tile mosiac by Rigo, called Thinking by Balmy Alley, of a solitary boy totally absorbed in the art of painting, and is inspired by a mural (since destroyed) painted in 1993 by the artist and local youth in Balmy Alley, located in the mission district of San Francisco.

I had six hours to kill at Singapore Airport which gave me enough time to write up most of these blog entries in the lounge, take a shower, and enjoy some Chwee Kueh and hot wonton noodle soup, before taking the flight to Mumbai.

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San Francisco Moments

San Francisco is one of the prettiest cities in the USA. I love watching the traffic disappearing over the hilly horizon, the tram-cars that remind me of Calcutta, streets with Spanish and Victorian houses, the Golden Gate shining in the sunlight, the downtown area filled with many dining and shopping options, the hustle-and-bustle of Chinatown, and of course the people. I have been here many times before, but I still like visiting here.

The picture alongside is that of a decorative vase in my hotel room. My room on the 12th floor had a great view of the downtown area; the Metreon multiplex and Bloomingdale shopping complex are only two blocks away and I could see the distant hills with houses and roads winding up and down in the distance.

On the last night of my stay here, I ate at the Ame, the Regis' signature restaurant at the lobby level. Ame combines elements of fine Japanese and Western cooking.

I ordered chilled sake and started with Tuna Sashimi with avocado tartare, shaved sake cured foie gras and nori tuile. For my entree, I ordered the chef's special for tonight that consisted of honey glazed rabbit with snow peas, spinach ravioli, dusted with goat cheese. And for dessert I went with the waiter's recommendation of a warm rhubarb pie with fresh strawberry salad and ice-cream, followed by freshly brewed Earl Grey tea.

Ame is run by husband and wife chefs, Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani. You can find more details of this wonderful restaurant and the menu here. The pictures in this posting are of the sashimi, the dessert and the unique teapot in which the tea was brewed and served. After this awesome dinner, it was time to pack up for my long trip back home the next day.

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The Fleur de Lys

The team dinner this time was in an upscale French restaurant. The Fleur de Lys is said to be one of the best restaurants for fine dining in San Francisco. This 45 year old restaurant has won many awards, as has its celebrity chef, Hubert Keller, who also owns this restaurant. Keller has been a guest chef to the Clinton White House, and the author of more than one cookbook.

We started with a tasting platter of Alsation Choucroute consisting of Choucroute soup, toasted spatzle, paprika oil Choucroute fondant with Osetra caviar and Choucroute strudel with sauteed foie gras.

This was followed by saddle and chops of rabbit with bean salad, carmelized cumin seed, honey and mint vinaigrette. Then came the symphony of smoked salmon tartar, chilled cream of salsify, Tartine of foie gras, duck breast and salad Lyonnaise.

For my entree I chose the boneless Quail stuffed with ris de veau presented with roasted parsnips, young leeks and foie gras, lightly smoked Tarragon jus. Dessert was equally grand with peanut and chocolate pot de cream, chocolate mousse cake flavored with lemon herbal tea, chocolate and strawberry feuilletine, Vanilla bean ice-cream and orange terrine. Whew! I bet it will take you a dictionary or heavy use of Google to figure out what I ate unless you are French.

For those who are wondering what Fleur de Lys means, it is a stylised, decorative flower symbol associated with the French monarchy and is still used in many logos and banners.

And finally, here's a picture of yours truely with the celebrity chef himself!

UPDATE: You can read about a more recent visit to Fleur de Lys here.

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Getting to San Francisco

I finally got to experience Singapore Air's new business class. The new seats are like the ones in first-class cabins of most other airlines at this time. Much wider than before (they have replaced the 2-2-2 configuration with a 1-2-1 configuration, which means there are two less seats per row, and every seat is an aisle seat), large TV screen, and lots of storage space for glasses, books, shoes, etc.

The seat converts into a fully flat bed, with bedsheets, duvet and large pillows! They also have new and better noise-cancelling headphones. Watched Casino Royale all over again; I think this one is one of the best James Bond movies ever. Also watched Flushed Away (children will enjoy the movie), Deja Vu (timepass), Dreamgirls (very good), and A Night at the Museum (timepass).

The stopover in Incheon Airport, Seoul was extended by an hour due to some technical problems in the aircraft that had to be fixed. That gave me a chance to spend time at the excellend SilverKris lounge.

The service by the Singapore Air staff continues to be excellent. They had hand-outs explaining the delay within mintues of our landing in Seoul. I also noticed they won the Conde Nast Traveller's Best Airline award for the 8th consecutive time this year.

The pictures here are from Seoul airport. The first one is of food displayed at an airport restaurant, the second in the Silver Kris lounge.

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Four hours in Mumbai

Unpretentious, superior hospitality, and cosy restaurants. That, in a nutshell, is how I would describe the Le Royal Meridian Hotel in Mumbai. I spent exactly four hours here before taking the Singapore Air flight on my way to San Francisco. The hotel is located behind Hyatt Regency and ITC Grand Maratha, and is very close to Mumbai's International Airport.

The hotel is not large and lavish like most five-star hotels in India. However, the lounge area on the same level, surrounded by the Chinese and multi-cuisine restaurants are done up rather nicely with white drapes and chandeliers. The live music during the evenings livens up the atmosphere considerably.

I ate at the Imperial China which had Oriental fans swaying to-and-fro in the ceiling; never seen that before! The prawns in black pepper sauce was delicious; however, the chilly-garlic rice was nothing to write about. I finished off with rose-petal ice-cream, which was rather nice and reminded me about childhood indulgence of home-made rose-flavored sweet dishes.

What stood out during the few hours I spent here was the great service by the hotel staff. The moment I got off the car, one of the staff greeted me by name, escorted me directly to my room and handed me my room keys, etc. The bellboys and front-desk staff were very courteous, as was the waitress at the restaurant, offering me complimentary kimchi and starters while I was waiting for my order, and magazines to read. Definitely a notch higher than the service levels at most hotels I visit; almost Oberoi quality!

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