When you are a Foodie in Hyderabad you have to do justice to both the words that define you…or so it seems. Because while most of the foodies who collected displayed an amazing depth of knowledge about cooking, cuisine and food they also displayed the rather disappointing trait of arriving late for the event, or in fact not landing up at all.

It was a cheerful Sunday plan that brought us all together to the haloed precincts of the legendary Taj Mahal Hotel, Abids for a brilliant breakfast-brunch-lunch marathon hosted by Sri Chandrasekhar & Aditya of the Taj and their wonderful team – Mithun, Dinesh, Rajsekhar, Krishnamurthy and the rest.

The menu had been intimated to us so there were no surprises.

The Brunch Menu (Buffet) included Idly & Veg. Idly, Dosa  (Masala, Hara Bhara Dosa and Roast salad Dosa), Button Idly & Button Vada, Semiya Bath, Taj Mahal Special mini cutlet with special sauce, Rava Kesari and Tea/coffee.

The Lunch Menu (Thali) had been designed to include  a Welcome Drink: Special Butter Milk, Soup: Pacha Curry Soup, Starters: Masala vada & Gol Pakoda, Salad: Kosambari (Split Moong Dal), Dry Curry: Cabbage Green peas poriyal, Wet curry: Avial, Dal : Lemon Dal, Rice: Masala Sadam, Indian bread: Palak Poori, Sambar: Bhenda Bolgodel, Rasam: Pineapple Rasam, Desserts: White Pumpkin Halwa, Curd: Beetroot Dahi vada ,Plain Curd, Pickle: Vegetable Pickle and Accompaniments: Steamed Rice, Papad, Ghee.

What astounded us however was the extreme care and attention the hotel management took to make us feel welcome.

And what impressed us was the quality of food that announced itself with the very first cup of coffee that was served when we walked into the spacious and well laid out banquet hall. Avi, a born in Coimbatore Tamilian swore that this was the finest filter coffee he had had in Hyderabad, ever.

No wonder, because we later found out two things…one, that the man who actually made the coffee for us was from Chennai and the other, that the coffee powder used to make the filter coffee had been specially procured from Davangere from the same vendor who has been supplying the Taj from its very inception. This secret formula coffee powder is the reason why the coffee is so good and so consistent.

And this we found to our delight was also the reason why Taj Mahal food hasn’t changed in all these years.

Everybody and everything is just the same. Most of the staff have been with them for years. Almost all the vendors have been supplying items like oil right from the very start. The recipes are never compromised, the menus never allowed to take short cuts and the original, founding commitment of the management – providing quality food at affordable prices has been unwavering and the beacon that lit the path for the hotel’s success for more than 60 years.

The second generation owner of the hotel Mr. Chandrasekhar spent some quality time with the Foodies and regaled them with some memories and anecdotes. Excerpts from his very casual session can be seen by clicking on this link…http://youtu.be/fs1_ZOjyWPs

There was some discussion a few days back as to what the foodies could do between breakfast and lunch. The answer was provided in the shape of Mimicry Srinivos garu, a world famous Mimic and Ventriloquist whose experiments with Sound Magic and Sound Illusion have got him international acclaim. He kept us laughing, in wonderful spirits and with the help of an old man puppet described our morning experience from the smell of the saambar to the delicacy of the soup. He also proved that it was he and not Edward de Bono who first came up with the idea of describing a man who wore several hats…and he did that with the help of origami.

The event also gave the foodies to exchange notes about various specialty and signature dishes in Chennai, Vijayawada, Goa and so on…and we actually ended up considering not just a few day trip to Goa in August but also a trip to Dubai soon…

…in search of good taste, in search of foody heaven, in search of paradise…