DesiTraveller

  Breakfast buffets at Indian hotels are probably the best means of sorting out what the F&B experience will be like at their other restaurants. Unlike with hotels in many countries abroad, the Indian breakfast buffet is usually largely vegetarian, with an egg and dosa counter, as well as a token display of cold cuts and sausages. Marked, usually, with an absence of pork. What are the points to look out for with a breakfast buffet in India? 1) Go for the pre-boiled eggs. Crack one open. The rest of the egg adventures will depend on the colour of the yolk inside and how fresh the egg tastes. If the boiled eggs served are lousy, then the rest of the breakfast is also, probably, a collection of lowest bids. 2) Check out the idlis. If they are fresh-steamed, plus points, but if they are lying sadly neglected in some sort of serving apparatus, then once again you realise that the typical Indian star hotel truly has not learnt anything from the many Indian vegetarian restaurants on t...

  Contrary to most supercilious, patronising and condescending write-ups on domestic travel in India that many of us may have seen, I have yet to suffer a bad stomach due to food when on the road or in the trains, but then again there are simple basics to follow. Anywhere in the world, incidentally, and not just in India. I love meat. But Number 1 on my no-go list when travelling is meat. Non-vegetarian food, especially mince meat in any form, and especially highly spiced curries and kababs based on mystery meats, are by their very nature, suspect, globally, unless you see the meat with the bone attached prancing or swimming in front of you, or nearby. Anything that has been in transit, cold chain or not, and then stored, has a reasonable chance of being tainted.  I do not say this lightly - storing of food in freezers was amongst the most serious and important cross-domain functions going on ships. The engineers needed to ensure that the fridge rooms (all four or more) functi...