Whatever happened to my old favorite joints? Ever since my health took a turn for the dicey a few years ago, I have been kept away from haunts like the Kabab-e-Bahaar at the Taj Banjara, my all time favorite lake side kebab place and Kebabs & Kurries at the ITC Kakatiya which along with its south Indian specialty restaurant Dakshin took up most of my free evening-feeling like some good food days…albeit once upon a time.

After ages I went there last night and I must say it was like a homecoming. My hosts were obviously pretty popular with the hotel and the red carpet was laid out for us in style. But the food, that was just so predictably and familiarly special that … “pate to saala bhar gaya, but dil jo hai, khushi say ubhar gaya” if I’ve managed to get my Hindi right

Kebabs & Kurries which is a reinvented version of Peshawari still has the open kitchen-raw & rustic-eat with your hands kind of appeal that Gautam Anand had first defined. I remember the hours of tasting, the consultations on seating and the menu card with great affection and satisfaction.

Same with the case of Taj Banjara whose lakeside kababs & roti counter has been legendary, especially when the wind is in your favor

With all the new restaurants and specialty cuisine destinations, have these two old war horses taken a back seat? I wonder…

And I think it’s a real pity…because these two places are truly something else.