Happy New Year -2012 recap

2012 has been a fabulous year both for us and my city. The year started with us moving into our new home and slowly renovating it. The renovations still continue but it now feels like home. We spent the early part of the year glamping  with friends in the Peak district. Unfortunately for all of us after an unusually warm April we arrived at Knotlow farm during a freak change in weather and were surrounded by snow. Lets just say that despite having a wood fire oven in our yurt, I required three layers of clothes to sleep in. Glamping in bad weather does not suit us ! Thankfully friends stayed close by and we spent the last few days in their beautifully renovated new home warming our bones.We then moved into jubilee celebration mode that took over the entire country.

 Elizabeth II birthday celebrations were done in style all over the country, we had a little street party which was a nice way of meeting other residents on our street. I realised we have a street mailing list with some very enthusiastic people organising events along the street. Soon after that my parents came visiting in separate lots. My dad first and mum followed. Mum was lucky, we got to see Wimbledon finals and Olympic semifinal football match.

 The Olympics took over our summer. What can I say, London rocked! As a country and as a city this event got everyone absorbed. We spent agonising hours between patients catching news about Wiggo and Pendletons achievements. Wishing the gold medal tally to increase with each passing day. We were lucky we got to watch several events, hockey, football, boxing , archery and wheelchair fencing. I enjoyed every minute of it. The Olympics was in my city and I felt every bit a part of it. The volunteers made the game, every event I went to had rows of smiling helpful volunteers engaging us in banter. These people were normal Londoners who felt strongly enough to take time out of their lives in order to help organise the biggest show in the world and welcome the world to their city. What can I say, as a Londoner they did us all proud.

The end of the year brought us much travel, we did a two week trip through Peru, visiting Machu Picchu, bits of the Amazon and Lake Titicaca. For S and I this will be a vacation we will never forget and hopefully the beginning of many more such holidays. October brought us a trip home and my first visit to Kabini. The year ended with Christmas spent with close friends and family in Cornwall on a little farm relaxing , eating and knitting. The New year was probably the quietest I have had in a while, I spent the morning walking from Vauxhall to Holborn because S and I had just realised our lives were going to change and energy needed to be expended. 2013 I cannot wait for you to begin!

PS ( I wrote this a year ago and sat on it for a while, better late than never, Ha! )

One of the bucket list, how it started.

 S and I crossed 10 years of marriage, which obviously got us thinking of notching things of the bucket list. South america had always been on the cards, but it never happened. We decided 10 years should warrant making it happen. So of we flew to Peru, with only two backpacks worth of clothes, which was a miracle given my inability to travel light.



 Our first destination was Lima, we reached early evening after a short detour via Amsterdam. Our excellent travel agents, JLA had sorted out a guide and car to take us to our hotel in Miraflores. Language is an issue, I could not survive on " hablo un poco de espanol" so our guide Janet helped us communicate although some bits were lost in translation. I got my first view of the Pacific and I was surprised at how much this bit of the city reminded me of Marine drive in Bombay. It was packed with hip kids and bunches of tourist. The marina in Miraflores is swanky and urban and the typical tourist in me was a bit disappointed, I wanted ancient ruins and the exotic of south america.

Miraflores Marina

The snow capped Andes peeping through the clouds

Children's day festivity in Cusco

The next morning we flew to Cusco situated at a height of 11, 200 feet. We had read up on altitude sickness and obviously pooh poohed it.This city was everything I imagined it to be, old, decaying, full of history and warm people who looked just like me. We reached our hotel and were raring to have a nose around the city. As luck would have it, we had arrived during Cusco's children's day festivity. We saw children dressed in beautiful colours dancing to a glorious beat in the city centre, while S and I slowly struggled to catch our breath. We still thought nothing of our laboured breaths and headed off to Chicha the brainchild of Peru's Gaston Acurio and his German wife Astrid. We tried all forms of exotic food, washed them down with some of the best pisco sours in town and generally made merry. As the meal came to an end and we started our slow walk home, altitude sickness hit both of us. To cut a long story short, it was an uncomfortable walk to the hotel, we spent the entire afternoon and the next morning downing coca tea and sleeping. By the second day our bodies were gradually getting acclimatised to the high altitude and I didn't feel like I had a permanent hangover with smokers lungs. I did spend the rest of my trip with mildly cyanosed lips but everything else seemed to function well.

Valley Sagredo 

Cuy Pequinés - guinea pig on a beetroot pancake

We then headed off by road to the sacred valley, spent the night at the exquisite Pakiramtapu nestled between the mountains with the ruins of Ollantaytambo overlooking us. The next morning we got onto the Vista Dome to head towards Aguas Calientes the closest town to Macchu Picchu. Most people on the Inca trail skip our rail journey and start a four day journey towards Macchu Picchu. We however decided that our ripe age warranted a bit of comfort. Macchu Picchu was a half an hour journey via bus from Aguas Calientes. The road was narrow and the route was packed with large buses navigating tight spaces at 7,970 feet. Its safe to say if you are an adrenaline junky sit by the window seat and watch yourself climb precariously along the edge. If like me you are petrified of heights, hold on to someone and look away from the window. In spite of the alarming increase in perspiration I could not peel my eyes away from the stunning views that followed. I now understand why the Incas worshipped nature, because in all its glory Macchu Picchu is truly spiritual. Many things have been written and will continue to be written about this wonder of the world, words though will never do it justice. At the end  all I wanted to do was bottle the day up and bring it home with me.

Pakiratampu, a little oasis

Macchu Picchu with Huayna Picchu ( Little Mountain ) behind it.

Festival of lights

This festival of lights was spent scrubbing the house and dotting it with my ever growing collection of tea-lights and diyas. Diwali, the festival of lights holds a soft spot in my heart. In bombay we spent the week buying noisy crackers that my father probably enjoyed as much as my brother and I. Packaging sweets in several boxes and running to the different apartments in our building exchanging sweets. I always knew which apartments kept the choicest goodies and which aunty would give me my favorite jalebis.

This was my first Diwali in our not so new home anymore. I spent the actual day running into the city to meet friends for dinner at twenty four. The views from the twenty fourth floor of the city with everything alight was london's version of Diwali for me. To complete my week of diwali celebrations we met over the weekend, all the usual suspects and more, played teen patti, ate excessively and ate even more the next morning. It was as Diwali should be, filled with the lights of london, food, friends and family.

I hope your Diwali was filled with light.

A decade

S and I have crossed a decade ! It just crept up on us. They say time does fly when your having fun. Happy anniversary my darling, to many many more decades.

Winter Warmer

As the temperature outside plummets, theres nothing like a bowl full of french onion soup topped with a generous slice of homemade garlic and cheese bread to warm my bones. Whats your winter warmer?

Summer Recap

As we move well into autumn, knocking on winters door, its time for a summer recap to warm  my bones.

We had an early summer this year with temperatures reaching the mid 20's as early as April. My favourite memory of that month was a week long trip to Tuscany. We went with friends to a picturesque little village called Poppi. My enduring memories of that trip was a tastefully furnished villa with spectacular views of a medieval castle, rolling hills and vineyards. Our hosts Franseca, her mother and our chef Mamma. Learning how to stuff a quail, roll fresh pasta and make stuffed tortellini. Finishing several bottles of fantastic wine. Spending most mornings in the heated pool even though the temperature was sub optimal. 

A room with a view.

This March our friends G & S had a gorgeous baby girl and asked us to be her fairy parents. She is a feisty little poppet, keeping her parents on their toes and bringing much joy to all who spend time with her.

Mandarin ducks at the Isabella Planatation

The best bits of summer was my week off in London. I spent a day trekking through Richmond park and exploring Isabella plantation with a friend. I started training for a 5k with my friend A and my sil A. I discovered my love for running, who would have known! A day spent with both the A's exploring portobello street walking into random pubs and then changing in S's office and continuing our 5 k training that evening around Lincoln Inns field ruing the fruli 's we had consumed. I entered and ran the Adidas 5k and finished it in 35 minutes and 8 seconds. I tried to get S to run but he seems to prefer spending time at the cricket nets in regents park with the boys.

My quota of luck this summer was pretty decent as well. I won 80 quid on the lottery. I got centre court tickets at Wimbledon this year. I discovered a beautiful lavender field close to my old apartment and enjoyed it till summer ended and we moved. I got to watch a bit of village cricket in Torquay.

Cockington Cricket Pavillion

Lavender fields

I have also realised S and I have developed a yearly routine of events. We always catch some cricket and tennis every summer. We explored Taste of London with my sil and enjoyed every morsel. S used his BFI membership to catch some interesting movies, unfortunately this year we will be in Bombay during the festival. We have trekked through Dorset for 4 years in a row and this year was no different. We always catch an interesting musical act at the Royal Albert Hall and this year it was Shankar Ehsaan Loy. We always get a large quota of Ethiopian/ Eritrean and Korean food into our system.

Durdle Door

Dolsot Bimbim Bap

I also made the biggest purchase of my life. S and I bought a house. We spent the best part of a year hunting for an apartment and fell in love with a house. We moved a month ago and are slowly trying to make this 80 year old house into our home. I am sure there will be many more stories from our new house but I will leave that for another post.

All in all its been a fabulous summer and I would not change a day. Hope your summer was just as memorable.

Bhaag

I have moved from being able to run 1 minute only to running 40 minutes. It started with trying to complete the C25K before a vacation in the hope I could squeeze into my swimsuit. A friend and I met for evening runs around the common and Richmond park. The vacation came and went, but the running stayed with me. I'm exhausted and everything hurts at the end of 40 minutes but I love it. I've signed up for a 5k this September with my sil and we hope to finish it in good time. I am using the run to raise some money for a cause close to my heart. Its not a huge distance in the grand scheme of running, but the numbers will get bigger and the times shorter ( I hope!).

I think I have got the bug, Bhaag!

Snow !

This is becoming a yearly phenomenon in London. Snow!! I love it. I stay in Greater London so suburbia with all its greenery looks even better with a bit of snow dust. I had a long trek into Barnes today for a course that was cancelled thanks to the snow. The south western trains were a mess and after 4 hours of travelling, like a sardine packed into a tin, I was all wound up. So, I spent the chance day off by walking down the lane I live in and taking pictures. I look at this every day as I drive into work and I kept telling myself, I need to take some pictures. Its a lovely tree lined road and when it gets dusted with snow, it just starts looking a wee bit magical.

Santa and his baubles!

So christmas came and went. Mine was white, food filled as always and perfect. 2009 wraps to an end and when I look back at this year, I will think of it as filled to the brim. I did a lot this year and I hope 2010 continues in this trend.
I hope the new year brings you what you seek, and on that note I leave you with santa and his baubles!

Diwali

Diwali this year was all about:

- Food; we had a delicious menu of kalmi kabab, channa puri, maa ki dal, malai kabab, samosas, matri, kachoris, assorted sinful Indian sweets.It was a meal that will make me pay in inches.

- Friends old and new; Diwali started with four friends and then ended up with ten, all the more fun, noise and chatter.

-Firecrackers; it was a small display but it was entertaining, reminiscent of childhood pattakas, we had sparklers, dodgy chakras that had a mind of their own and noisy colourful rockets. It was just the right amount for the small patio space and we didn't have the bobbies knocking on the door.

- Tea lights; they were in every little diya I owned and they were oh-so-pretty.

- Rangoli; I couldn't source powder this year so I used flowers and the artistic input of my bil to end up with a pretty little mango design.

- Dressing up; yes we went the whole hog and it was lovely. All the girls dressed up in their Indian kurtas and jhumkas and the boys did their part too. It was the last touch to a good evening.

- Teen patti and charades; in true Diwali tradition we played teen patti (a form of Indian poker). We then moved on to charades to end the evening. It was a riot and we laughed the night away.

- Thumma; much of the Diwali menu this year was thanks to Thumma. If you haven't seen this Andhra gem, google "vah re vah "and try some of his recipes. He is entertaining at the very least and his recipes are all spot on.

This year we had a gathering of so many different people, old friends without whom the food would have never materialised, new friends without whom the evening would not have been as much fun. Here's wishing you all a Happy Diwali and a Prosperous New Year

Green Fingers

I have a little outdoor space (patio) in my apartment and I have always wanted to grow a vegetable patch and a little tropical urban garden. I love plants in urban spaces, it softens harsh architecture and generally brings a little cheer to a drab place. Everyone at work has been bringing in apples and berries from their gardens, all this has made me want to get into this very British past time. However, I also have a previous history of killing house plants. Sigh!.

So despite lofty aspirations of a tropical paradise in my little patio, I decided to start on a small scale, with a few veggies, that can grow indoor and survive the fast approaching autumn and winter months.

A few weeks ago I set of to homebase and picked up a few seeds, a germinator box, some compost and pots. I spent an entire Sunday afternoon planting my herbs, in the germinator box and re- potting my old house plants that looked close to death. If I can nurture this lot for a few months without too many disasters I will venture into increasing my brood of plants.

As the weeks passed my little seeds grew into shoots, stems and leaves. I now have a thriving box of basil, spinach, chillies, carrot and coriander saplings that will shortly need potting. Lets hope my fingers are slowly turning green.If they do the next step will be guerilla gardening.

Mid- August Lunch

This bank holiday weekend we decided to take it easy, put our feet up and spend a little us time together. S had already charted out our itinerary for the day. So Saturday morning was spent heading into London. I stopped at Heal's to pick up a very cute little 2 person tea pot with an infuser. As I am the only one in our household of two that drinks tea, this was perfectly sized for my daily cuppa. I picked a bright red one and used it over the weekend to have real adrak chai, complete with tea leaves that I picked up from Bombay.


After a quick lunch at Benito's we headed to the Renoir at Brunswick Square, to catch the Mid- August Lunch (Pranzo di Ferragosto) . This sweet Italian film is actor/director Gianni Di Gregorio's debut film. He plays the role of a cash-strapped son, looking after his ageing mother in Trastavere, a suburb of Rome. Over a 24 hour period, he is coerced into taking on temporary care of three more elderly women. The movie is an observation into the care of the elderly with a little charm and wit. It is an effortless 75 minute journey into the life of three elderly woman who bicker over television rights but over a period of two days become friends. They bond over Gianni's patiently prepared food, palm reading and life in general. Gianni is an inherent soft-hearted rogue whose cure to every problem in his life is a swig of Chablis. I left the movie with a little grin inside me.

We spent the evening by Vauxhall at the Riverside pub. It is located at a beautiful spot by the river bank at St George's Wharf looking across Vauxhall bridge. The buildings by this pub, however, are an eyesore. They are stern, lifeless and almost cardboard-box like in their appearance. Not one of my favourite developments in this city.

As the evening passed we were both quite famished and headed to Myungga at Soho for dinner. This little restaurant churns out delicious Korean fare. We had some yummy Khimchi- pickled cabbage with chilli and I tried some Gui twigim- deep fried oysters, which were not to my taste. For our mains we went straight to the barbecue menu and had Bulgogi- marinated beef strips and Jumul luk- sliced tenderloin seasoned with sesame oil and garlic. Both our mains were delicious, what I loved about this meal is the little grill on our table, and the fact that our meal was cooked in front of me. It's a smaller version of a Mongolian barbecue. It was plenty of theatre, but I loved it.



We walked all the way back to Victoria, taking in the sights and sounds of London on a Saturday night. It had been a day well spent.

Girls about Town

Spent last Saturday catching up with some girlfriends in different parts of town. You have to love an all girls meet-up, add some good food and a nice restaurant to the equation and it adds up to a whole load of fun .
We decided to meet up at The roof terrace gardens at Babylon for a late lunch. Now I had heard good things about this restaurant especially the location.

I was not disappointed the location is stunning, perched a 100 feet above Kensington high street this restaurant is situated above a terrace garden complete with a small pond and orange flamingos.This beautiful exotic garden is spread over 1.5 acres of the roof terrace with a Spanish, Tudor and English woodland section. There was a wedding party in process when we arrived and so we could not explore the gardens which was disappointing but we got to sit above it in the outdoor section of their restaurant.

The menu is classic British fare which changes with seasons, which initially got me skeptical.The food was pricey but as we had settled for the set menu it was more reasonable. The food was surprisingly delicious but there's nothing classic British about it. I had a delicious black truffle risotto, followed by a perfectly baked sea bass and rum cake to satiate that sweet tooth of mine. The service was impeccable, we were seated inside but on requesting them for outdoor seats we were accommodated. To compensate for their reasonably priced set menu the cocktails are priced on the higher side. We had mojitos which were not up to scratch but the mango margaritas were delicious. It was an afternoon well spent, we all had a good laugh while watching a wedding party taking place in the gardens below.The sun was bathing us on this perfect august day. We were pampered by our attentive staff inspite of two small accidents involving spilt food. We left feeling well fed and well cared for.



After this lovely meal with the girls I headed out to watch Kaminey (Bollywood Flick) with another friend at the Trocadero. Thanks to the temperamental tube service from Kensington I reached a little late and the theatre was packed. We got seats quite close to the screen which was a bummer,the movie was what I would call Eh!. It was watchable, some of the songs were great,the camera work was stylish and tarantinoesque at moments,but it was still eh!

We then headed out to Benito's Hat a small Mexican joint at Goodge Street.The weather was perfect and London was bustling so we decided to leg it to Goodge street. Benito's was a small colourful place with minimal seating. We settled for burritos which were very generously sized and at 5£ a piece very generously priced.We had steak marinated in chipotle chillies and chicken burritos packed with rice, refried beans,cheese, salsa verde and guacamole. The food tasted as good as it looked, we sat for hours working our way through their generous portions,catching up on life in general.

I enjoyed the conversation as much as my meals through this day. It was all about us girls we moaned, laughed, gossiped , exchanged interesting blogs, promised to make this a monthly event and generally acted silly at moments. I got to try two completely different restaurants and some great food. Sometimes a girl just wants to have fun!

Supercool !!

I have just blogged some of the backlog that should have been posted a month ago. I'm back after a month long vacation, well rested and all. It feels good to be back home. While your sifting through the many posts I hope to write this week ( I have the week off before I start work) , catch this absolutely awesome supecool wedding entrance video. These guys just make me smile :)

Cupcakes and Anniversaries

On June 16'Th S and I crossed the 7 year mark without an itch in site. It doesn't feel like 7 years. Possibly because our first 3 years were spent more like students living together. What can I say, so far the rides been awesome and I know it can only get better. I took the afternoon off on June 16'th and headed out to finish some last minute shopping before leaving for India. We had not planned on doing anything special as our social calender was booked for the next 4 days and I just could not eat out anymore my stomach was on strike. I called S to tell him I was going to lounge about at home. The closet romantic that he is, he took the afternoon off and surprised me while I was grocery shopping. He had a little bag of cupcakes from Bea's . We headed home on a working weekday to spend the afternoon together a guilty pleasure, while devouring some delicious cupcakes.

Sabbatical

It has finally ended. Nearly 4 years at my current employer has come to an end. We don't part on unhappy terms, I love the people I work with. I am going to miss them dearly but it is time to move on. They gave me a lovely sending off. Mr W and all my girls from work made me a farewell decay monster cake with rotting teeth and all. This is probably one of the sweetest gifts I have ever received . I now leave for Bombay in a day and am going to enjoy 4 blissful weeks of unemployment. There is much catching up to do and I have so many blog posts lined up in my head but there has been no time. I am not complaining I like my full life.

Gastrocnemius Workout

Lulworth Cove

We spent this bank holiday generally lazing and then recovering from a long trek in Dorset. I have recently reconnected with my old tuition friend. She is quite the traveller and is a very outdoor physically fit individual. S had mentioned our previous rambling expeditions in Dorset to her and she was quite enthusiastic about trying another day trek . So we decided to go down to Dorset again. I have blogged about the Jurassic coastline previously and it is gorgeous. We have a standard path that we frequent which is rated as moderately difficult. Now I mentioned this at work to Mr W and he suggested we try the walk along Lulworth cove. He promised me it was not too strenuous and the views were well worth it. So I pestered S into trying this walk even though the websites had rated it as difficult. Silly me.

We reached Dorset after a 3 hour drive on Sunday morning. The weather was gorgeous and everyone south of Surrey seemed to have got the same idea as us. Head to Dorset. After a long drive involving discussions on work, economic crisis, country ratings ( both S and tuition friend are economists) we finally reached our destination with my bladder reaching bursting point. It was packed. I was quite certain now this walk would feel more like a pilgrimage given the vast number of cars and people at Lulworth. Boy was I mistaken.

Audience along the way

The walking path was a killer. It was strenuous from the word go. We choose to walk along the coastline as the views were truly spectacular. Most of the walking paths were uphill and the gradient increased as we progressed. We walked 7 miles which is not much but it took us 3 hours given the gradients. After crossing the first gradient most of the crowd gave up. There were many small pebbled beaches along the way which was where most people were headed. We trudged on.

Durdle Door

Tuition friend like a true pro came with a customised 3 litre water bag with an interesting large straw contraption to keep her hydrated and dry fruits for the walk. I came with chutney sandwiches, minimal water, mango juice, cherries and bananas, most of which was left in the car as S refused to carry that much weight up hill. I groaned and moaned through most of the ascents but the views at the end made it worth the pain. The high point actually managing to finish the 7 mile walk. It felt like an achievement. Lulworth cove is truly spectacular, choose a sunny weekend and head out for the perfect gastrocnemius workout.

Alive and kicking!

While I dust off the cobwebs on this page I realised I have neglected it for over a month! Ennui has taken over me. I am just plain bored with blogging. I think its because I haven't figured out what I want this blog to be. I want it to be a reflection of my life but that's too personal to bare to all and sundry. I want it to be a catalogue of all my culinary adventures but I don't quite have the skill or motivation to pen it down. I want it to be a diary where I record events I want to share but as I start typing down my thoughts I am constantly chopping down words/events as some things are better left unsaid. All this leaves me with little to say. So now after a month of blogging abstinence I have collected enough fodder for a few posts. May be that's what this blog will be, an irregular record of my thoughts.

Things that have changed in my life.

I am moving on, I leave my present job on June 19'th. Shortly after this I am off to India for 4 weeks, to attend the much awaited family wedding and generally spend some much needed TLC time with the parents. I start my new job in August so this allows me a gap of over a month after spending 4 years of working as a GDP.

I have now shifted my career path to a large extent. I am either nuts or its the ennui at work, especially with my current corporate employer. I am not a fan of corporate dental bodies, I agree dentistry is a business but it's also a service and if the only thing that drives you is profit it's a dreary job. I now move into community dentistry. After 4 years of being a self employed general dental practitioner, my view of NHS general dentistry is a tad jaded. I move onto full time employment where the work load will be less target driven or income driven where I hope to learn and make a difference or at the very least try something new. If it all goes pear shaped its back to GDP work at worst so I have nothing to lose. In case you haven't realised by now, I am just convincing myself this move will be good.

I will miss the people I work with, some of my amusing adorable patients, general dental work, my Mondays off (sob!) and the proximity between work and home.

I am excited about my new place of work, my clinical head ( she grilled me during my interview but she seems sufficiently motivated to encourage me to try new things in time) learning new skills, driving to work ( yes its still a thrill) and my fabulous new surgery.

I got my driving license I am legal to drive so keep off the roads.

I have seen a lot of turmoil in family and friends lives this past month. Its been painful for both me and them. I hope things settle down for all involved.

I have had a serious wake up call with regards to my health and my general out look on life. Its too short to worry about what the world thinks, to fret over petty matters. If you have your health in order everything else can be worked on. Its the basic building block and I need to get mine in order. As for life, its been good in most respects. I have people that care about me around me I could not ask for more. Life is like a tree the dead wood slowly gets cut off for there is no other way to survive and thrive.

I have been very lucky my profession allows me so many choices while other people are losing their jobs or having difficulty finding employment. People always need their teeth fixed, thankfully!

I have spent a lot of time with different people, friends and family this month. I made an interesting blog friend shes been trying to get me to train for a marathon in September but that deserves a separate blog post. I met up with an old tuition friend. We last saw each other in 1997! Yes, in India you have tuition friends, we got friendly on the bus journey into our tuition class, she was in the genius section, I was in the average one, but somehow our paths crossed in the accounts section. I spent a lot of time with my anchors from dental school, they keep me sane and are basically family. I spent time with a little pumpkin who like her mother has her finger on the pulse of baby fashion. Its been a good socialising month.

So those are life's updates in bits and pieces. I have also kept my stomach busy with many new places visited, new recipes experimented on friends . While all this was happening I also notched up another year. Yes and I'm still alive and kicking.

Chutney Mary

Chutney Mary is the first love-child of the Panjabi sisters of Masala Zone, Veeraswamy and Amaya fame. I first came across this restaurant thanks to a passionate foodie blogger, Lulu. Since then, I have frequented this gem in Chelsea with family and friends. It never fails to please.

My favourite meal at this restaurant is their Sunday lunch. At 22 pounds per person, which includes a starter, main course and dessert, it's very reasonably priced. They used to have a limited set menu for these lunches but thanks to the recession they have become more generous with their choices. Now you can choose from their entire à la Carte menu. The setting is beautiful. It has a glass conservatory at the centre of a non descript building and the stylish decor and the strategically placed beautiful foliage gives it a warm relaxed feeling. They usually have live jazz music on Sunday which sets the mood for a relaxed lunch.

Saffron Chicken Tikka

Dabba Ghosht

Yam Tikki with Blueberry Chutney

Vegetarian Thali

Sea Bass in Mustard, Mangalorean Prawn curry, Goan green chicken curry

Their food, like their setting, are like individual pieces of art. It tastes as good as it looks. I know I will be back for many more lazy Sunday lunches here. Are you tempted?

Chocolate tart with coffee icecream

Mango Panna Cotta

Sita Sings the Blues

This clip has been doing the rounds now for a while. I picked up on Nina Paley through Sepia Mutiny a few years ago when she first started her illustrations on the Ramayana. I love her buxom Sita set against Annette Hanshaw's angelic voice. If you want to catch this imaginative take on the Ramayana on big screen, head to Watermans at Brentford this Sunday. The Tongues on Fire Asian film festival is screening this little gem, details can be obtained from their website.
If you cannot make it to Watermans you can catch the entire movie here.