PUDUCHERRY.....Walk n Eat

 

Pondicherry as it is called is coastal place on East Coast of India. The place was a French colony and has left back influences that can be seen in planned streets, typical French architecture, beachside Promenade is one of the main attractions to visit.

I had planned the Trip from Chennai to Mahabalipuram to Puducherry. Site seeing was of course the itinerary but food was on the Mind always.... French, local coastal.

At Mahabalipuram after the site seeing, for lunch, I had researched and zeroed on Babu’s Cafe, a seafood specialty eatery. It is a small place in old villa, dining is on first floor with mild sea breeze blowing. ). Nice wooden tables & bamboo roof, no soul was around being odd day. We ordered.

First came the full masala fried Pomfret   The local spice n coconut flavour was good, Pomfret fresh and crispy fried. A few gulps of fresh lime soda and the next dish of Prawn curry, tawa paratha & steamed rice was served. Curry had tomato & coconut base with spice hitting your palate a few seconds later, tiny prawns had a sweetness of their own tasted awesome with paratha & rice. Enjoyable meal. All for Rs.945/- only for 3.

We reached Puducherry by 4pm. A quick check-in at Palais de Mahe the immediate priority was Promenande (beach front). A beautiful 1km long stretch of rock beach, sand beach and well laid walkway lined with trees and grey /blue French style buildings. Le Beach Cafe here is nostalgic and has canteen ambience, though seating is along the beach. Bombo, 

a condensed milk coffee on the black board menu caught the eye. The coffee served in 120ml glass has layers of condensed milk, dark coffee concoction and topped with frothy milk. Stir and sip, it’s a new experience.

For dinner, at the Seafood Grill in the hotel it was Roasted Pumpkin Soup (nice smokey taste), Seafood platter of squid, tiger prawns, fillet of fish basted with olive oil and sprinkled with pepper n lime. Very fresh & tasty. The bacon wrapped chicken chunks 

were delicious having honey n spice combination. I found later during the tour that bacon /sausages were really delicious all over. For dessert Creme Brulee made the day end on a sweet French note.

Next day was planned for a walk thru French colony - heritage town for exploring culture n arts. Breakfast was fruits, croissants soft n buttery, omelette with sausages 

and off the french route... dosa. During the walk we checked out gardens, war memorials, Ganesh temple and boutiques selling handmade array of soaps/essential oils/paper/embroidered clothes. In between the walk, Nariyal paani was refreshing. 

Bakers street, one of the most popular bakery in Puducherry is worth visiting for traditional bakery & confectionary products like pastries baguettes, quiche & crepes all transporting you to the French era. They also have organic breads. This small break helped us sustain till Lunch time. Villa Shanti restaurant 
serves European and cuisines from regions of India. We settled for Tomato Black Pepper soup (nice for throat therapy), main course Black Dal and Paratha was delicious. We had our main attraction of dessert as the name itself coerced us into ordering the two dishes. The waitress came with the first surprise –

Tandoori Roasted Pineapple with tamarind & jaggery chutney finished with coriander powder, served with sweetened hung curd. Out of the world taste, roasted pineapple with tamarind & jaggery gave the tangy taste and since the piece was large, finishing at one go is difficult so to reduce the sweet sour tangy taste just take spoonful of sweetened hung curd & whoa...you are all ready again to bite into the pineapple again. The next innovative dish was, to be honest it was like eew brinjals as dessert ? the dish named Shrikhand & Candied Eggplant,  
a dish from north India. Unbelievable is the only word and to taste is to believe it. I am no fan of Eggplant aka Brinjal but the candied small green brinjals were super, all credit to the Chef who thought of this !!! Eat the eggplant with shrikhand & mini butterscotch nuggets with a hint of cardamom and you are in heaven.!!!!

The wandering continued on to Mission street, famous for street food. The mushroom Bonda

is fluffy n spiced, you can eat with chutney or just bite into it. The mutton samosa on the south boulevard street must be taste to believe the perfect combination of meat-spice- crispy outer layer.

We were not very hungry so quick starter type dinner at Bay of Buddha was only for Chicken Satay....

barbecued to perfection, nice soya n honey taste.

Day3 was tour of Auroville. It was a pleasant calming experience. The dreamers Cafe at the visitors centre serves organic menu and a few vegan dishes too. I was famished and the Roast Chicken on the menu seduced me into ordering. My friends had chicken curry (chicken I believe must be normal but curry made from organic ingredients !) with rice. The Korean Glass Noodles were average but the portion was value for money. The roast chicken was perfectly cooked and the skin crispy, the fried potato wedges were crisp, the accompanying salad was dressed with vinaigrette dressing. Yummy all in all. For dessert we tasted the coconut crumble (crunchy coconut) and lemon tart (it was toooo sour, not good). The fresh lime soda  with jaggery n salt is not to be missed with any meal /snack.

The early dinner was at A2A (anand adyar bhavan). The aroma of food was all over in the dining area. It’s a not a restaurant but a self service eatery, very busy place. The Parota Kurma with onion raita was awesome. The vegetable kurma had distinct flavour of coconut & cloves, parota had circles layer. The Papadi chaat on the side we ordered was too large portion but was so chatpata that we finished it. The A2A vegetable biryani was with lots of masala but nice taste.  

The tour came to end with still many seafood places, street food stalls, bakeries remaining to be explored. Next time. !!