A Day With 'Foodies'

This was almost a first to me...a day that pretty much centered around food. 

With a brother, and a cousin who are bigggg foodies, I figured it's best to flow along. End of day I couldn't wrap my head around how many different places, and how many different kinds of food we'd done in a day.

The day started with breakfast at Minerva Coffee House, and because we were seven of us, we just had this crazy variety of food on the table. If I thought my order was a simple ravva dosa, on the table was wada, pongal, button idli, uttapam, and the inevitable masala dosa. All of us had all of that. In fact even drank so much sambar, that it took two strong coffees to down it all.

Soon the breakfast turned to brunch.

Afternoon, we branched off. Amit and Diksha hit the new pubs in town, (he's a restaurateur, see) and we to the Qutubshahi tombs, till we met again. Diksha's orders were to find a 'brewery'. She picked  'Repete', this beautiful terrace place in Madhapur.

It has a whole menu of brewed beer. On our table was Belgian wheat beer, light ale, dark ale and stout. All not just new tastes, but even new words to me. And what's called 'pub grub'. There was bacon wrapped prawn, and chicken, and my old favorite... finger chips. 

In between all this we did Qutubshahi tombs and couldn't resist doing Irani chai with the little  Irani samosas. The chai was out of this world, as Irani cafe chai always feels. The tombs are yet another world (pun intended)

I couldn't believe there could be more. From Repete we went straight to 'Ulavacharu'

This was proper desi meal. What a contrast in ambience. If Repete was all about ambience and  style and aesthetic, Ulavacharu, was grounded and functional ......focused all on food.

It was  kheema vepudu, and natu kodi koora, and gongura mutton and ofcourse biryani. We did their signature biryani which was like nothing any of us had ever seen. In fact Swaroop was like "I think they messed it up and are trying to pass it off to us" (It was after all past 11 at night). It looked like some kind of broth, (I think I even heard the word dog food mentioned from Swaroop, with Amit's rejoinder of "tasty dogfood anna"). A lesson in 'looks can be deceptive'. It was simply yummm...in fact they almost wanted to go again the next day just for that biryani. 

An interesting conversation over beer, triggered by the question:  'On a scale of 1 to 10, how much does food mean to you". 

Praveen (after a few moments of serious thought): "I think fifteen or sixteen" (lolol)

Amit quickly says "I'd go with that too"  (no surprise there :)

Swaroop brought the graph to a more sensible and sedate seven or eight. And then the graph shifted further, with Diksha at a five and me at a two.

So now, with me at a 2 on that food scale,  you know why this post is at this level of detail. I'm still wrapping my head around it (stomach managed well enough :) 

Some pics from the day: The onion ravva dosa...tasted as good as it looks

The bunch of us at Minerva, dad and mom included.

This was near Qutubshahi tombs.......Chai and Samosa on the car

Ulavacharu spread, with Rubaiyat looking goblets 

The cousin gang getting buzzed at 'Repete'

Guess there's always scope for 'mores & mosts'  and 'news' & firsts'. Praveen, Swaroop, Amit and Diksha...to reiterate the cheers of the evening "to many more of these" !!