Well, just one of those days at IFMR, Room no. 14 (I think), with the Andhra gang, my most reliable and enthusiastic (In their lust for food) mates that would, with me, fantasize about and frequent our favourite food joints.
Krishna, on that evening, like on any other, had just about woken up, was still lying in bed, not exactly fresh as a daisy! (And if you know him you’ll know he never is) gawking at us like we were aliens from mars (and all this at 8 PM mind you!!!).
Chetan was on a call, walking from one end of the parking lot to the other. He only stopped for a second to tell me that they were planning to head out for dinner because the food in the canteen was not exactly inviting, to say the least, and that was all that I needed, to get the drift.
Vijay and I had been casually exploring options for our first (and last) meal of the day. A number of options thrown in, I had worked him with a good deal of enticing, and Chinese food it was that we wanted. Explored a couple of options, WANGS was the best but a little beyond what we would have liked to see snatched out of our wallets. A friend had recently suggested that I try out CAFÉ Q a new place in Nungambakkam, Chennai, but he only had their number, no address or directions.. He had described how the food there was very tasty while being much more reasonably priced than it is at WANGS for a reasonably good quantity of food to top it all. It was run by the same people that run Wangs and Wonton (that was the cherry on top; the food had to be good). So I narrated the entire conversation and that was it, and CAFÉ Q it was for me and Krishna (oh yes !! he’d woken up and he also seemed to recognize us now ). Vijay was in, but didn’t have too much patience. He just wanted the good food and it didn’t matter one bit where it came from. Vijay and I are equally crazy about good food and when tempted, neither of us can resist. As for me, once that dish gets into my head, I have cravings that could put a pregnant woman to shame. Chetan wasn’t too particular because he’d missed the best part of the conversation and he too just wanted to leave ASAP and get a bite.
We quickly called my friend who incidentally happened to be in Delhi for a conference but he was still nice enough to give us the phone number which to our bad luck turned out, belonged to a dentist. Pretty close, but right now, the men we wanted on the phone were the ones that would make us go there (to the dentist I mean. My surmise was, we’d need him after we’d bitten off the spoons after tasting the sinful food… yeah I know this description is quite irrelevant, but I quite like it so ill leave it here). Vijay was getting impatient now because we had neither directions or address nor a phone number. “Let’s just go to Wangs” he said. Me and Krishna still keen on CQ were dilly dallying, and quickly enough a few impatient “NEE YABBA’s” flew across the room, with me throwing in a few not to feel left out. (NEE YABBA is the Telugu equivalent for the Hindi “tere baap ki ……” and I can’t quite find an English equivalent that really gets that message across and does justice to the emotion, but basically, it’s a curse that’s directed at ones father). Almost while we were leaving for WANGS, it struck me that the guys at WANGS would have their number since its run by the same guys!! I called them, got the number, called CAFÉ Q got directions and we were off, back on track. It was a little bit of a hunt, and that added to the excitement of getting there and as we were about to discover, it was well worth it, and to food buffs like us, maybe more than just worth it.
There it was, a cute little place with dim lights, outdoor tables (surrounded by plants and trees, it seemed perfect for a date, but that’s not happening now so let’s get back) separated from the ones indoors by a glass wall, it shared a common wall with an equally cute n romantically light boutique with bags, dresses, Kutras, accessories, the works, all in one compound. It was an old house converted into a boutique, and the restaurant was created in what I’d guess was a vacant passage on one side of the little cottage. Nestled between scores of houses in a residential locality, it was the only commercial establishment in the vicinity and made for a quiet, cozy little joint. Just the kind of place I’d like to be at for a fun yet peaceful, simple evening getaway.
On seeing the menu card, I knew exactly what I wanted. It had to be my all time favourite, DRAGON CHICKEN. I was hoping the others would cast their vote for it, which they did (Vijay knows it’s my favourite and being the nice guy that he is, most often, he does what he can to make me happy), and we all shared it. I ordered a chicken schezwan fried rice for myself. Vijay and Chetan ordered for a sweet corn chicken soup and fried rice. I got to taste the soup and it was just delicious. Quickly enough the food was on our table and even more quickly it went into our mouths, slid down our throats gently, gracing our food pipes all the way down. Ah!! THIS WAS SIN!! Not much talk happened while we impatiently gobbled up our yummy food, lifting our heads only to meet one another’s gaze and shine our appreciative grins in complete approval, lauding our fantastic collective decision to try out this new place.
Chetan has a smaller appetite than the three of us and he was more than happy with the quantity, we were too. It filled us and yet wasn’t large enough in quantity to let what started in nirvana, end in exhaustion (from eating). I think the fact that we were hungry had a little to do with how good we found the food. That said; we revisited the place for about a week in a row and many more times thereafter, skipping meals on many occasions just to accommodate the CAFÉ Q dinner into our daily budgets and not to mention, we recommended it to every second passerby since that day on. These CAFÉ Q guys should pay us for the great publicity we’re giving them, free of cost, not to mention a 1300 word article on it; and if there is justice in the world the four of us should be made stakeholders at no cost. We definitely deserve it.
Finally the bill reached us and it was indeed a pleasing figure. We did a brisk calculation and quickly fished the Gandhi’s out of our wallets. There was some confusion but a few recalculations later, and not before a few more NEE YABBAS had flown across the table from all corners, the bill had been settled and thus ended our great evening.
PS: They do deliver. :P and the place isnt as good as it sounds here... please dont beat me up...
The Curry Pot
All of us can relate to some part of the movie or the other... There probably are better movies on the same issue which I havent watched... but the movie is set completely in our times... which probably makes it easier for us to relate to... several issues in the movie might seem like they arent relevant to some of us because our lives havent gone as bad... or dont seem like they ever will... and if that is so , there couldnt be anything better... but it certainly is relevant for a lot of us... and increasingly so... and I wouldnt really say that its an amazing movie... its not the kind of movie that you watch and feel like you've woken up from your blind sleep... but, its a nice movie... a simple movie with a simple message... but an important message nevertheless... definitely will set you thinking....
