Pabrai's Icecream

When Pabrai's opened their doors at Sindhi Colony, everybody was talking about their 'Nolen Gurer' icrecream and the other varieties. Now one day when I had been to that area along with family for some work, we thought we could make a stop here on our way back home. The place is tiny with about 4-5 tables, but there were hardly any crowd. We settled in quickly and I went over to their freezer display to checkout the flavors available.

On an impluse I ordered Nolen gurer, paan and then I thought I could combine then with south Indian coffee flavor. The Nolen gurer, frankly, was very very average for me. I could only distinguish that faint flavor of gur(jaggery) and apart from that it really wasn't up to mark for me.

The paan definitely stole the show from nolen gur, and the flavor really did justice to its name. The south indian coffee flavor was unique, a bit different from the normal coffee flavored icecream that I have had earlier at other places(not to mistake this with chocolate flavor). The combination of coffee and pan was simply good, the coffee being of a more subtle flavor nicely complimented the ever so slightly pungent taste of paan.

I had been to this place for about 2-3 times and the time when I remember was when I tasted the wasabi flavor. It actually floored me with its pseudo pungent taste and I think it was probably much better than the paan flavor!

Note:- April 2015

Sadly, this place has closed down for reasons best known to the owners. But sincerely hope to see them back in business again. For the price, they really had some nice flavors of icecream available with them!

Starbucks Hyderabad - A star arrives in style!

A delightful news for all those who like and love Starbucks coffee. Starbucks opened its Hyderabad store this month in collaboration with Tata in Jubilee Hills. From what I have heard, they are procuring the coffee beans from Coorg plantations owned/operated by Tata group. I have had the opportunity of tasting a variety of flavors at Starbucks chains during my visits to US and so I was happy that we will now be able taste the same standard of coffee here in Hyderabad more often. They have a range of coffee preparations on their menu and they do have a snacks counter as well having a good number of items starting from puffs and rolls to pastries. My favorite at any Starbucks has been the hazelnut latte/mocha, though I do like their caramel macchiato as well. I would say each of the versions and flavors available at any Starbucks store is a piece of art for me!

The store at Jubilee Hills

Exotic coffee next to the Indian blends

Coffee additives

mugs galore

tailor made for India

the snacks and pastries, all sourced from Taj hotel properties

Red velvet cake - a great taste

Hazelnut latte and caramel macchiato

A fishy Sunday!

Back in those days, I used to accompany my father to the fish market in my hometown regularly. This particular one was the largest when compared to all the others located in various parts of the town. It was in fact a sort of distribution center as well. Every morning tonnes of fish would arrive here and the local retailers would buy their share of fish to sell all over the town. But many patrons liked to come here and buy their fish from the huge stock on display. I remember being fascinated by the variety of fish available, considering that a substantial catch was also from Lake Chilika, the 2nd largest coastal lagoon in the world.

When I heard about Ram Nagar fish market in Hyderabad a few years back, I always imagined taking a walk down the crowded lanes with fish strewn all over. It wasn't until last Sunday that I was finally able to make it to the famed fish market. I must say it was a sight to behold and both of us were satisfied - my camera and me! It all started on Saturday when I was having a casual chat with my trusted vegetable vendor and he mentioned Ram Nagar fish market in Musheerabad area of Hyderabad. That was the trigger which got me started and I set myself a target of getting early on Sunday morning in order to be there on time. The camera was readied the night before.

In about 40 mins after I woke up, I was standing on what could have been the busiest road in Hyderabad with almost no space to spare. Though I encountered some good varieties of fish that morning, I didn't find some very popular varieties like the pomfret and crabs, or I might have missed seeing them. In any case, I will let the pictures do the talking about the most fishy place in Hyderabad!