I am just crazy about silk sarees and when my wallet was fully loaded with Credit Cards, I was used to purchase Silk saree for my wife (who else?) in the cities we visited during our holidays. Last time I bought Saree (exceptional unusual color) for her was at Jayalakshmi Saree Centre at M.G.Road. Cochin. (You will find M.G.Road in almost all towns in India). Before that it was at Mriganayani and at Jamnalal Bhaiyya (Maheshwari Saree) at Indore, earlier at Shobhana Saree Centre at Coimbatore and so on. Well this blog is not on Silk Sarees. It’s on the Hotels and Restaurants we visited and which we still remembers.
Few years back we had gone to Jagganath Puri and stayed in Nilachal Ashok for a week. Excellent hotel, next to Rajbhavan. That was the first taste of luxury of staying in star hotels. Courtesy, my father’s employer. We thoroughly enjoyed the delicacy of the foods served in their restaurants. We still remember the hefty European Style, Indian style breakfast (on the house, that’s most important). We were so pampered by them; we never dared to eat outside except Bangali mithai’s “Dada ki Khabe. Sondesh, Roshogulla, chomchom”.
I wanted to buy cuttaki and shambalpuri sarees for my wife (certainly not for neighbor’s wife) and thought visit to Cuttack is worth, so we hired a tourist car and went all the way to Cuttack only to find out the meaning of quote “Penny wise and Pound foolish” in reality. The sarees were so costly rather beyond my reach, we returned Puri empty handed. The only console was tasty, delicious lunch at Hotel Akbari. We were so sure of not finding good restaurants in the town, with a background of literally starving during our visit to Chilka Lake. We were culinary shocked to find such a excellent restaurant. It was a shock very hard to digest. (finally I settled the account at cotton sarees that also in Puri itself)
The second in a row is at K.C Residency, Jammu. We still remember it not only because of good food but also for its Revolving Restaurant and luxurious room. Another reason is it was the perfect selection in need when mercury was soaring at 47/48 degree temperate and my son was sick. We were supposed to be in Jammu for overnight stay and then proceeds to Dalhousie. I decided to save some money as usual and we stayed in J&KTDC’s hotel in an only available room without A/C. The climate was extremely hot even during night and in addition to that there was no power. That night my son fell sick with food poisoning. Whatever he ate at Vishonodevi or at Katara or at Patnitop did not suit him. He was having high fever and continually vomiting, we were deep scared and first thing in the morning wanted to shift him to comfortable hotel with Air conditioners and Power Generators or catch a first flight back to home. K.C Residency was just next door and we decided to shift. After shifting, we found that unfortunately Doctor on call facility was not available in the hotel. We searched almost half of the town early in the morning for Child Specialist. We even went of the Children’s General Hospital, the sight of which was most disgusting. I just lifted my son and we ran away from the hospital. Finally we found a good doctor, Dr. Baljit Singh, who really took very good care of my son and us also. Thanks Doc.
We stayed four days in K.C. Residency, as my son was advised to take rest. “Let mother Nature takes her time for curing. Just give his stomach a rest, be easy on food” are the doctor’s word. First two days we ordered food in the room only. Then it was a time to enjoy the grand magnificent view of charming town of Jammu from a Rooftop Revolving Restaurant serving finest cuisines, which we thoroughly enjoyed till the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility, comes into the role. We liked Jammu city and It’s my strong advice to all, not to use Jammu as only transit point but to stay for a day or two.
Other two good restaurants we still remember are Hotel T. Bud in Palampur and Crystal in Amritsar in the same trip. We were in Surya Resorts, Mcleodgegunj in Dharamshala and fed up with the summer heat and decided to move on to Palampur, famous for Tea Estates and pleasant climate and panoramic view of Dhauladhar Range. We stayed in H.P. Tourism’s Hotel T. Bud. (MTDC please take few tips from them on how to run business) where we really enjoyed delicious food, spacious room facing the lawn and the weather and the walk among tea plantations to Nahar. However the trip ended on a sour note. On the last day, one tourist group from Mumbai invited us to join them. The dinner was cooked by own cooks from hometown, Mumbai. I am sorry to say, that the dinner was simply not fit for human consumption, even Varan-Bhat was at worst and it spoiled our mood. We missed badly the utterly butterly delicious food at Hotel T. Bud, that also on the last day.
Next day morning we proceeded all the way to Amritsar to fulfill my life long wish to visit Golden Temple, the holiest Shrine of the Sikh religion. Amrit Sarovar me dubki lagana aur Guru ke samne mattha tekna. Wahe Guru ki fathe, Jo Bole so Nihal, Sat Si Akal. We had just one day in our hand before returning home. On the way we had quick bite on roadside Dhaba Opp. Engineering College at Gurudaspur. Most unhygienic Dhaba with full of flies but still with tasty authenticate Punjabi food. We reached Amritsar in the evening as we were getting late, we choose a hotel near Railway Station, dumped our luggage to rushed to Wagha Boder for witnessing the Closing Ceremony by Border Security Force. Bharatmata Ki jai. Vande Mataram. The patriotic spirit is at high during these precious moments. A visit to Wagha Border is an experience not to be missed. It’s so emotional.
We then visited Golden Temple and offered our prayers. By that time we were very hungry and tired. I wanted to eat in Guru ka Langar, but my son did not like the idea so we decided to go to the best restaurants in the town, Crystal. We went to Crystal straight from Golden Temple without refreshing. When we entered the restaurant we realized that it was the biggest blunder by entering in the most impropriate dress code for the occasion. Everybody around us were so well dressed, most handsome Men from Punjab in suits, most beautiful women in designers wear, fully loaded with jewellery, we were odd man out. It was like Mr.F.M. Hussian entering Wellington Club, at least we were allowed inside. My wife felt so embarrassed; we could not even enjoy the delicious food. May be some other time we will make it. I have also missed those big full glasses of lassi during the short trip to Punjab.
Few years back we had gone to Jagganath Puri and stayed in Nilachal Ashok for a week. Excellent hotel, next to Rajbhavan. That was the first taste of luxury of staying in star hotels. Courtesy, my father’s employer. We thoroughly enjoyed the delicacy of the foods served in their restaurants. We still remember the hefty European Style, Indian style breakfast (on the house, that’s most important). We were so pampered by them; we never dared to eat outside except Bangali mithai’s “Dada ki Khabe. Sondesh, Roshogulla, chomchom”.
I wanted to buy cuttaki and shambalpuri sarees for my wife (certainly not for neighbor’s wife) and thought visit to Cuttack is worth, so we hired a tourist car and went all the way to Cuttack only to find out the meaning of quote “Penny wise and Pound foolish” in reality. The sarees were so costly rather beyond my reach, we returned Puri empty handed. The only console was tasty, delicious lunch at Hotel Akbari. We were so sure of not finding good restaurants in the town, with a background of literally starving during our visit to Chilka Lake. We were culinary shocked to find such a excellent restaurant. It was a shock very hard to digest. (finally I settled the account at cotton sarees that also in Puri itself)
The second in a row is at K.C Residency, Jammu. We still remember it not only because of good food but also for its Revolving Restaurant and luxurious room. Another reason is it was the perfect selection in need when mercury was soaring at 47/48 degree temperate and my son was sick. We were supposed to be in Jammu for overnight stay and then proceeds to Dalhousie. I decided to save some money as usual and we stayed in J&KTDC’s hotel in an only available room without A/C. The climate was extremely hot even during night and in addition to that there was no power. That night my son fell sick with food poisoning. Whatever he ate at Vishonodevi or at Katara or at Patnitop did not suit him. He was having high fever and continually vomiting, we were deep scared and first thing in the morning wanted to shift him to comfortable hotel with Air conditioners and Power Generators or catch a first flight back to home. K.C Residency was just next door and we decided to shift. After shifting, we found that unfortunately Doctor on call facility was not available in the hotel. We searched almost half of the town early in the morning for Child Specialist. We even went of the Children’s General Hospital, the sight of which was most disgusting. I just lifted my son and we ran away from the hospital. Finally we found a good doctor, Dr. Baljit Singh, who really took very good care of my son and us also. Thanks Doc.
We stayed four days in K.C. Residency, as my son was advised to take rest. “Let mother Nature takes her time for curing. Just give his stomach a rest, be easy on food” are the doctor’s word. First two days we ordered food in the room only. Then it was a time to enjoy the grand magnificent view of charming town of Jammu from a Rooftop Revolving Restaurant serving finest cuisines, which we thoroughly enjoyed till the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility, comes into the role. We liked Jammu city and It’s my strong advice to all, not to use Jammu as only transit point but to stay for a day or two.
Other two good restaurants we still remember are Hotel T. Bud in Palampur and Crystal in Amritsar in the same trip. We were in Surya Resorts, Mcleodgegunj in Dharamshala and fed up with the summer heat and decided to move on to Palampur, famous for Tea Estates and pleasant climate and panoramic view of Dhauladhar Range. We stayed in H.P. Tourism’s Hotel T. Bud. (MTDC please take few tips from them on how to run business) where we really enjoyed delicious food, spacious room facing the lawn and the weather and the walk among tea plantations to Nahar. However the trip ended on a sour note. On the last day, one tourist group from Mumbai invited us to join them. The dinner was cooked by own cooks from hometown, Mumbai. I am sorry to say, that the dinner was simply not fit for human consumption, even Varan-Bhat was at worst and it spoiled our mood. We missed badly the utterly butterly delicious food at Hotel T. Bud, that also on the last day.
Next day morning we proceeded all the way to Amritsar to fulfill my life long wish to visit Golden Temple, the holiest Shrine of the Sikh religion. Amrit Sarovar me dubki lagana aur Guru ke samne mattha tekna. Wahe Guru ki fathe, Jo Bole so Nihal, Sat Si Akal. We had just one day in our hand before returning home. On the way we had quick bite on roadside Dhaba Opp. Engineering College at Gurudaspur. Most unhygienic Dhaba with full of flies but still with tasty authenticate Punjabi food. We reached Amritsar in the evening as we were getting late, we choose a hotel near Railway Station, dumped our luggage to rushed to Wagha Boder for witnessing the Closing Ceremony by Border Security Force. Bharatmata Ki jai. Vande Mataram. The patriotic spirit is at high during these precious moments. A visit to Wagha Border is an experience not to be missed. It’s so emotional.
We then visited Golden Temple and offered our prayers. By that time we were very hungry and tired. I wanted to eat in Guru ka Langar, but my son did not like the idea so we decided to go to the best restaurants in the town, Crystal. We went to Crystal straight from Golden Temple without refreshing. When we entered the restaurant we realized that it was the biggest blunder by entering in the most impropriate dress code for the occasion. Everybody around us were so well dressed, most handsome Men from Punjab in suits, most beautiful women in designers wear, fully loaded with jewellery, we were odd man out. It was like Mr.F.M. Hussian entering Wellington Club, at least we were allowed inside. My wife felt so embarrassed; we could not even enjoy the delicious food. May be some other time we will make it. I have also missed those big full glasses of lassi during the short trip to Punjab.
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