I was excited as my Emirates flight touched down in Prague on a bright and sunny day. It was a while since I was in a new country. When I told a few of my friends I was going to be in the Czech Republic, almost all of them referred to the country as Czechoslovakia. It is endlessly annoying to the locals that people around the world seem to get this wrong even twenty years after the new Czech Republic was formed.
Cafe Mangii advertises itself as Mumbai's most popular Italian restaurant. Not sure if that is true, but I was quite happy with the experience during my first visit to this restaurant within Phoenix Market City. This place has a contemporary casual look with great thin-crust pizzas and cappuccinos. When I returned last weekend, I had difficulty getting a table; apparently it is also getting more popular!
Jiggs Kalra's Punjab Grill opened in Pune. And boy, has that improved the quality of North Indian dining in town! Having been here three times already, I can say with confidence that this is now clearly the high-bar in Pune for North Indian kababs and curries.
The Murgh Tikkas at this restaurant are completely extraordinary. Wonderfully marinated and grilled, these simple kababs showcase the expertise of master-chef Jiggs Kalra.
Among the many Italian restaurants now in the city, I think Pesto Pesto is among the best when it comes to reproducing the authentic tastes of Italy. Located on the top floor of Onyx Towers in Koregaon Park, window-side seating at this restaurant makes for a romantic dinner experience. But if you want to sample a larger variety of items, you may want to be there for the weekend lunch buffet.
Having tasted Malay, Chinese and Japanese food during the preceding days, I turned to Turkish and German for the remaining day! Completely different cuisines from different parts of the world but prepared and served by immigrants from those countries in Singapore. While both Turkish and German cuisine is dominated by breads and meat, they are - of course - completely different.
It was a business event that brought me to the resort world of Sentosa. We were at the beach-side Rasa Sentosa resort run by the Shangri-la group. In the bright sunlit day, I could see the vast expanse of green-blue waters of the ocean pock-marked with ships of all shapes and sizes. Singapore's importance as a maritime trading port has been has remained unchanged since the late 13th century. You can see that most of the vessels anchored off the coast are industrial and cargo ships; I didn't spot any leisure boat or yachts like I would in such a sunny coastline in any other part of the world. There is no mistaking that Singapore is business first!
