I was in the capital last week, on work, and all I did the whole week was shuttle between the office and my hotel. Thanks to my project timelines, I couldn't manage to drag myself out to any of my favourite haunts in the city for a single decent meal.

As I sat and sulked over a bowl of bland soup and tasteless cheese sandwiches, I tried battling off visions of grilled lobsters and smoked salmon salad and caramel custard.  Wrong timing, I grumbled, as I drifted into my delectable past (when it came to food) where I spent 4 years of my life nibbling around and nodding my head and licking my fingers and sermoning my friends on what to have and where not to have it.

My fav breakfast destination was the barista at Khan market, I know its not big enough, but it has this nice semicircular corridor with huge windows where you could bathe in the good morning sun and dig into soft and crispy hot waffles with honey and of course, coffee, capuccino or black americano. I would recommend this place for a breakfast meeting with your friends on a winter weekend, or with your spouse on sundays when you feel too lazy to whip up a breakfast after a tiring week; or, if you don't have anyone for company, might as well enjoy the serene morning alone with a nice book. Other Barista favourites are the country chicken pie at Barista Creme, South Ex,  and the fudgie brownie at barista at New Friends colony (ok.. you get it at all baristas but I especially liked the ambience at this one)

The other coffee haunt many people like is CCD, well I never could take too much of a liking to it and went only in dire straits when nothing else was in sight only to walk out with a chicken hotdog (acc to me thats the only thing they know to be consistent with)

One could also try out Dilli's special Choley Bhaturey at Nathu Sweets at bengali market, the choley comes with cubes of paneer and this tangy chutney with sliced raw onions and green chillies, and trust me, these guys are the best at it and what's more, its even official. I would also vouch for their gol gappas. I prefer the ones with Suji (or rawa) rather than the flour balls, I just think they are more crunchy, besides I don't get those in any other city. Ideal time to visit would be, well, for me, anytime,  but for normal people, evenings are better.

I also have a special fondness for the Nathu's pastry outlet in bong market, coz I remember knowing their menu by heart, blame it on my umpteen lunches there with a female colleague. It was our favourite destination for our bitching sessions..about bosses, boyfriends, husbands, ma-in-laws, you name it. It was the only place we could go in summers because it is the only place in that area that is airconditioned. Their chicken cutlets are good, so is their caramel custard and fresh fruit tart. I often took home a loaf of their multigrain bread that I thought was better textured than what I had anywhere else.

The Triveni Art Gallery canteen on Tansen Marg is a great place to bask in the winter sun if you ditch the low seating indoors for the cane chairs outside in their courtyard overlooking the amphitheatre. They keep their food quite simple and non spicy, would recommend their non oily kebabs, walnut brownie and carrot cake  along with whatever else you order.

All said and done, when I dream of food, I always dream of an Anti pasti Platter at Big Chill (Khan market and East of Kailash) or a cold buffet at the Intercon (Grand Intercontinental, Connaught Place). Big Chill has an impressively elaborate menu and is famous for the best desserts in town. Their mezze platter aint bad either, niether are their pizzas or pastas or grills, they are just so good at everything.

The cold buffet at Intercon is, well, a dream come true for sea food lovers coz you could choose from lobsters and prawns and clams and salmon in addition to the cold meat and cheese that usually comes with cold buffets or platters. I, for one, am a complete sucker when it comes to seafood and this one rocks. If going a-la-carte, do try their smoked salmon salad, its quite innovative with pineapple cubes stuffed into layers of smoked salmon, totally worth it.

Delhi's favourite destination for Indian style seafood is probably Swagath, they have outlets in Defence Colony, Malviya Nagar and now in Noida too. Their spicy Prawn Sawantwadi is expectedly good with soft appams that melt in your mouth, but what many don't know is that Swagath serves probably the best Hyderabadi biryani in town. They use a special fine grain rice with an aroma that is simply heavenly.

While I'm talking of seafood, I have to mention the seafood soup at San Gimignano, the Italian restaurant at the Imperial. They also have a nice Sunday brunch which is often held at the beautiful garden adjoinining the restaurant. Rating on the basis of food and ambience, I must say they are the best of all Italian restaurants in the capital. Travertino at the Oberoi comes in second, I may be a bit biased since their chef is cute (I hope they haven't changed that one ;) The rest are all passe when it comes to authenticity (I hate tandoori chicken pizzas!)

I know I am missing out a lot of places, well probably in my next post, but for now..

Food, glorious food!
What wouldn't we give for
That extra bit more --
That's all that we live for
Why should we be fated to
Do nothing but brood
On food,
Magical food,
Wonderful food,
Marvellous food,
Fabulous food,
Beautiful food,
Glorious food!