FOOD FOR THOUGHT!

Yes, I am still on the Manali trail! While we got a much welcome relief from the blistering Delhi heat, while some of us went on long walks and hikes and some of us stayed in the room- reading, watching the TV and most of the time gazing endlessly at the stunning views from the balcony and terrace restaurant of Vivaan-The Sunrise Resort - there is one thing we did together, wholeheartedly and with enthusiasm. We ate and we ate- at Vivaan, at Johnson's Cafe and at several joints at Old Manali and at La Plage at Vashisht. 

View from Cafe Vivaan on the terrace

The beauty of dining out in Manali is that it depends on the season you are there. Tourist season(April-June) the place is buzzing and there seems to be a new joint popping out everyday especially in Old Manali. Off season and the place is quiet, sedate and the eateries suddenly dwindle down. That's because during the monsoons (July- September), quite a few of the restaurant pack up and move to Goa!  And its not just restaurants but also shops, hotel staff and what have you. In fact, the proprietor of Super Bake (Manu Market, Manali, Phone: +91-1902253303) - a fabulous store for foodies with an unbelievable range of products,  local, from other states and imported and an in house cafe - tells us that it was just a year or two ago that he began keeping his store and cafe open all the year round otherwise the off season would see him at this Goa store and cafe. As he has lived half the year in Goa for more than a decade and a half, his friends in Goa, he says with a laugh, tells him that he is now a full grown Goan and he travels to Manali for some months for work. And while you are at Super Bake, do check the Tsering products (from Ecopshere much higher up in Spiti) like seabuckthorn jams, concentrates, seabuckthorn berry tea etc. The jam comes in a round squat bottle and what I really liked was the label around it that says 'Tsering, blessings from heaven'. In Spiti, Tsering means exactly that. The seabuckthorn is also called the wonder berry and grows in the high altitude cold desert area of Spiti, Leh and Ladakh. The jam was a bit too sweet for me but that's being petty, they need all the support they can. And it is indeed a fact that all organic jams and jellies that do not use any kind of chemical preservatives do have a bit more of sugar.

The gluttony started with Vivaan-The Sunrise Resort, Kanyal Hills where it was a close fight everyday between the Indian and the Italian dishes. For sake of peace at the table and naturally because we wanted it all, we decided to have a balanced share of both. I am a little wary of eating gnocchi everywhere; I don't like the floury taste in the mouth that one often gets but the one  at Vivaan was like melting moments. Loved the pasta is white sauce too, raising eyebrows because I am not an advocate of white sauce. Binged on the Indian dishes too especially the tandoori bharwa potatoes and all the tandoor chicken and fish. Vivaan has its own tandoor and that makes all the difference. Vying for attention was the delectable fare on the table and the view to die for from the cafe. We chose to sit outdoors at the terrace cafe so we could have a leisurely fill of both.

Keep some for me too!

Certain things in life are like first love and I never seem to fall out of love with Johnson's Cafe in downtown Manali operated so efficiently by Piya Johnson. If it's winters then its the indoor section for me but during summers there is nothing like sitting outside in the sprawling tiered lawns, amidst the blooming flowers- (this time I managed to get some beautiful geranium cuttings from the gardener Ganga, of course with Piya's permission) - the snow capped peaks in the distance and the buzz of the summer tourist rush. Incidentally I can't help bitching a bit here. Does going to the hills mean knee high boots even during summers. Even as the temperate in Manali was hitting the late 20s (centigrade) and a haze seemed to be hovering over perpetually, thanks to the traffic overload, it tickled me pink to see a fashionista all togged in slick tights and over the knee boots and acting as if was on the Milan ramp. Well, tee-hee! Let's forget that and get back to my favourite subject- food, besides travel that is.  At Johnson's just close your eyes and ask for the cheese platter and the roast pork. We devoured every morsel and scrapped the plate clean . What I really liked was that most of the cheese on the platter is locally made and that should say something for the cheese makers of Manali. Since it was trout season, there had to be trout too. For some reason I always seem to meander round to the baked almond trout, as usual delicious. 

Baked Almond Trout

Yeah! this time I was lucky enough to be able to dine or rather lunch at Le Plage because the other times I was there was during non-tourist season and La Plage operates in Manali for six months or so. Its run in partnership with an Indian couple from Chandigarh and a French man. Yes,yes La Plage is in Goa too. How can it be not- that's the Manali-Goa age old tradition. The menu is French and it is located at Vashisht (Club House Road, Old Manali Village, Beyond Club House; Ph: +91-9805340977) in the midst of an apple orchard with River Bears flowing by. I just adore the restaurant housed in a beautiful cottage - think French all the way. It seems like someone living somewhere in rural France, someone very chic decided to move to Vashisht and open an eatery and carter the structure lock, stock and barrel. But hang on! it was actually built from scratch. The attention to detail is so minute that it is easy to believe that one has been transported to French soil. The front lawn is huge and the best way is to occupy a table for the whole day and indulge in lotus eating. A bottle of wine, a Caesar tofu salad, a trout tartar (you can't escape the trout in Manali during summer), a pumpkin ravioli and my favourite, apple tart - true value for money, taste, and ambiance. Its very difficult to get oneself to leave.  

Le Plage

Stay off- That's mine!

If you don't hang around in Old Manali when it open, functioning and buzzing then there is no point to a Manali trip. Because half the year Old Manali becomes a one-horse village - sorry make that several-street-dog- village. I really wonder if there is a municipal corporation in Manali or for that matter any NGO or any noble soul/souls working with strays because the whole place has been taken over the dogs. Yup, it has gone to the dogs. Old Manali to be technical is just a winding road that starts from the Club House area and snakes up and up.

Old Manali

Everywhere you look there are eateries, shops and more eateries and more shop- quaint, whimsical, funny, stupid, very good and what-on-earth-is-that kinds. Most of the eateries appear to have a short life span, a few years and a new avatar and then totally shut down. Thankfully, some of have not only survived but become mini legends. There's Drifter's Inn &Cafe( Manu temple Road, Old Manali Village, Manali, Phone: +91-9805033127). It calls itself a 'cozy place with a big heart' and it lives up to it. There's property coming up in the hills of Uttarakhand. I am sure when the proprietor Nishant Singh quit his corporate job to set up Drifter's,many must have given up on him like a lost cause! Kudos to him.

I used to like The Lazy Dog and I still do like its outdoor seating with River Beas thundering by but this time to chose to walk out because for some strange reason the management insisted they would serve only a particular kind of Vodka. I drink the vodka I want to, not the one you want to sell to me because maybe the company gives you a fat commission. Somehow one felt very offended. Goodbye Lazy Dog.

There's so much more to do and so many more places to check out. The daughter loved Cafe 1947 but we couldn't make it, so that's next on the list for the next visit..................