anil

In India; among Hindus ( punjabis that I speak of) , the tradition is that there is no fire (i.e cooking till) the "Chautha" fourth day. So, neighbours, relatives take turns to bring food for the mourners - i.e breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner. Depending on what type of rituals one adheres to, on the fourth day - There is a reading of texts and fire ceremony - called Havan. After the havan, there is a mini-feast - Which a Halwai - a master chef prepares a meal. After that, there is a 10th and a 14th day ceremony, a feast follows all. Depending on one's financial ability, a trip to the river Ganges takes place - One immerses the ashes in the river and feed the poor who are on the temple premises. While one may not have cooked the meal to feed the poor, one does serve to all the poor who are there at that day. Among the Sikhs; one goes to the Gurudwara, and feed the faithful at a "langar" simple meal that is cooked is served. Many volunteer at the Gurudwara's kitchen that day.

My deepest condolences, Suvir - I know exactly how you feel. nani's have a special place in the hearts of many people. Specially young boys growing up in India.

Better restaurants within hotels in HKG Island are in Hyatt Grand and Mandarin Oriental. On the Kowloon side is another story

Correct, that is why it is not always possible to get a seating near the area. The counter exists on your left as you get off the escalator - mostly shell-fish and some fried stuff.

I maybe be visiting HKG before that so may be able to give you our updated impressions.

Jin Fong can be a hit-or-a-miss depending on where you sit. Sometimes you could be seated really far off from the cart staging area, by the time they reach your table, many of the dim-sum entries have turned cold. On weekends (that's when we have visited ) it can get hectic at any large Chinese restaurant --

Haldiram's has a mega-store-restaurant-manufacturing operation outside Delhi - more like near the Airport towards the 'burbs. Membership quazi-lobbying entities is now a days mandatory - I figure Snack Food Assoc. is as good as a few hundred other entities in DC area

The measured and puny-little pourings of whiskey in London is a major negetive - And no third on the house The number of buybacks I've had in NYC are enough to quench the thirst of the whole of London.

I agree that London is expensive - The tube is god-awfully expensive - Having said that here are a few cities that are as exciting -- HKG, GIG, IST and Ofcourse Berlin is fast getting there .....

Congee Village on Allen St. has frog Congee along with snails and other kinds of congee. Also stroll by Division St.

Yes, including Irish Whisky - I have never refused a chota-peg with my dinner

It always helps if one states when the trip is planned for (this way we can get a sense of timing) FLM is not known for its dim-sum, still what they have for dim-sum is good. It also depends on where you'll be staying - Lin Quai Fong, Queens Rd., Kowloon, all have small dim sum joints along with congee places. Nothing lie a congee in the morning with tea indian-style.

There are none. Having said that, I have seen unothrodox on-the-fly variations done in dhabas as well as some bewda-joints (bewda = country liquor) In dhabas, the meat curry (mutton,chicken...) is re-doused with XXX-RUM, and thaka done just before serving to the tired truck-drivers and road travellers. In the bewda joints it is done to just tenderize and marinate tough meats, which are then fried and served with the bada-peg ..... This ofcourse is from my recollection of way way back when I was young...

Pray tell me where did you get Feni in dC ? Or for that matter in the US ? I would like a bottle or two, not for cooking mind you

Now, why didn't I think of that! Most of my friends of my youth, moved to IL in the late 70s through 'mid 90s. Very few of Indian Jews remain in BOM/DEL/CCA. It is important that the traditional Jewish Indian cooking get documented and preserved

I have found a few different kind of rolls (spring,egg,shrimp) prepared differently (steamed,fried) and the dipping sauces offered varied - SG/HK/TW/TH/MY all have different take on it. All interesting and delicious.

IN HKG many places offer to do lobster any-style. Many places will make you lobster with black bean sauce, which is popular, My favourite is lobster braised green onions with ginger & wine sauce. I had this in Aberdeen.

I doubt adding Do as in two will add anything much Dopiazas were very poular in WB, less so in NewDelhi, I guess Simon can invent a few good names.... Describe a few of the dishes and someone might take a shot-at-it.

Not necessarily. If the place is called Bhelpuri House in LON, probably the owner(s) are native Gujurati speakers, if so, they tend to be vegetarians. A Bhelpuri House in JuhuBeach, Mumbai, India also would probably have someone from UP or Bihar running it, and good possiblity of them being vegetarian.

It has been open since '00 at that location. I gather they have one more location in either Queens or LI. Went there twice, once; when there had opened, and the last time was in '01. Nothing memorable that stuck out.

Suvir, chaccha-amba (chopped green unripe mango) is essential to bhelpuri.

Among the greens try baby bok choi

Watchout young man. Do not underestimate us neighborhood folks Welcome back Pan -

Our centric world view tends to focus on us being tourists in Paris, while not realising why the same should not hold true for NYC ?? Just because most of the folks who started this site are NYC centric ?? Chinese in Paris, according to distracted and fussy faculty of a particular University ,we know and with whom many similar places we frequent; Chinese takes a back-seat to Vietnamese, has done so and continues to do so, since early '50s. You'll find many chinese restaurants in 6,7,8&5 to have dishes that are from Vietnam,Thailand & Laos. This OfCourse is a very personal and narrow understanding of the dining scene.

Quite interesting observations about Thalassa The space had been underutilized for sometime; till the owners decided to open a restaurant -- slightly upscale than the rest of the run-of-the-mill greek diners. About fish - It is indeed fresh and imported daily (some-of-it) from the coasts off Greece and Italy. More later ....