Food here is pretty cheap, which is wonderful. I've been eating a good amount of fresh fruit. Mango season ended pretty quickly after I arrived. Same for jackfruits. But there are plenty of grapes, oranges and pomegranates (okay, the pomegranates aren't cheap). Oh, and custard apples too (that's what they're called here, though Wikipedia says that I should call it a sugar apple).
I've eaten quite a bit restaurant food, since it's so cheap and easy. There's a nice restaurant near the office which can best be described as Chinese/Thai food with an Indian twist. There are also some small restaurants near my house where I can get pretty good Indian food for 100-200 rupees ($1.50-3.00). I had expected that I would eat more vegetarian food here, but I have been eating meat about ten meals per week, which is even more stark considering that my breakfast is nearly always vegetarian. In the mornings, I like to stop by a little shop near the office for a glass of fresh-made papaya juice. It's my new favorite breakfast.
I haven't cooked much so far, though I did make chana masala (spiced chickpeas), which was pretty good. I don't have too many cravings though I will probably need to make pancakes soon and get into cooking up stir-fries. (Is that the correct plural?) The biggest things that I miss are root beer and Cherry Coke (I'd enjoy a Dr. Pepper instead, and I think I can probably find that at the super-fancy grocery stores).
I also discovered that if I go to the next neighborhood (an area called Kammanahalli about 30 minutes walk from my house), there are two ice cream shops, McDonalds, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Domino's, Pizza Hut, California Burrito (basically a knock-off Chipotle), a couple of Korean restaurants, some ice cream shops (including Baskin Robbins) and much more. I'm glad it's not any closer, though I will probably take regular advantage of the easy access to pizza and burritos. Kammanahalli is definitely a fancy area, but it's pretty far from the beaten path (right at the north edge of the city) and not quite at the level of some of the other ones that have microbreweries and restaurants with fancy pasta options.
There are lots of supermarket options here. I have pretty good access to ingredients (I bought some maple syrup and balsamic vinegar--cheese selection is limited and pricey, but I might cave soon), but the biggest disappointment so far is the peanut butter selection. They have Skippy and some wannabe American brands, but they all have added sugar, palm oil and emulsifiers. Hopefully I'll figure this out.
 |
| Image from Wikipedia, covered under GNU Free Documentation License v1.2 . Photo credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim |
I've eaten quite a bit restaurant food, since it's so cheap and easy. There's a nice restaurant near the office which can best be described as Chinese/Thai food with an Indian twist. There are also some small restaurants near my house where I can get pretty good Indian food for 100-200 rupees ($1.50-3.00). I had expected that I would eat more vegetarian food here, but I have been eating meat about ten meals per week, which is even more stark considering that my breakfast is nearly always vegetarian. In the mornings, I like to stop by a little shop near the office for a glass of fresh-made papaya juice. It's my new favorite breakfast.
I haven't cooked much so far, though I did make chana masala (spiced chickpeas), which was pretty good. I don't have too many cravings though I will probably need to make pancakes soon and get into cooking up stir-fries. (Is that the correct plural?) The biggest things that I miss are root beer and Cherry Coke (I'd enjoy a Dr. Pepper instead, and I think I can probably find that at the super-fancy grocery stores).
I also discovered that if I go to the next neighborhood (an area called Kammanahalli about 30 minutes walk from my house), there are two ice cream shops, McDonalds, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Domino's, Pizza Hut, California Burrito (basically a knock-off Chipotle), a couple of Korean restaurants, some ice cream shops (including Baskin Robbins) and much more. I'm glad it's not any closer, though I will probably take regular advantage of the easy access to pizza and burritos. Kammanahalli is definitely a fancy area, but it's pretty far from the beaten path (right at the north edge of the city) and not quite at the level of some of the other ones that have microbreweries and restaurants with fancy pasta options.
 |
| Plus, when I walk to Kammanahalli, I get to pass this really cool temple |
There are lots of supermarket options here. I have pretty good access to ingredients (I bought some maple syrup and balsamic vinegar--cheese selection is limited and pricey, but I might cave soon), but the biggest disappointment so far is the peanut butter selection. They have Skippy and some wannabe American brands, but they all have added sugar, palm oil and emulsifiers. Hopefully I'll figure this out.
No comments:
Post a Comment