Spice route november 2016 issue

FOOD ||||| EATING OUT
A food walk in Bengaluru takes enthusiasts through the 89-year-old Russell Market
6 GREAT INDIAN
FOOD WALKS
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU HAVE
JUST A FEW HOURS TO DISCOVER A
NEW CITY? YOU DITCH YOUR RUN-
OF-THE-MILL ITINERARY AND LET A
FOOD SPECIALIST WALK YOU
THROUGH THE CITY’S DELICACIES AS
YOU SOAK IN ITS CULTURAL AND
HISTORICAL LANDMARKS.
BY: BEVERLY PEREIRA
The most intriguing way
to explore a city is to
walk your way through
it; better still, eat your
way through it! Not
surprisingly, in cities across the country,
food-centric walking tours hosted by
local guides are fast replacing cookiecutter
sightseeing tours. Popular with
tourists and locals alike, food walks
familiarise you with every lane, nook
and cranny even as they let you soak in
the many sights and secrets of the city.
Interestingly, the trend is being
embraced not only by foodies but also by
photographers and Instagrammers
vying for that elusive shot of the day!
by writers, thinkers and theatre artists
to sample the best idli-dosa in town. The
Shivajinagar food walk through Russell
Market, a commodities market dating
back to 1927, is just as intriguing. Amid
the clanking of temple bells, the
occasional azaan from a nearby dargah
and shouting of street vendors, the
Unhurried food walk takes you to
bakeries and restaurants that came up in
the 1900s. Among the many historic
halts is Excelsior Bakery, established in
the 1930s and still wildly reputed for its
milk bread and coconut barfi; and the
Taj, the area’s oldest restaurant where
you can tuck into their iconic biryani.
Unhurried.in
BENGALURU
Unhurried is a culture-driven travel
company founded by writer, traveller
and history enthusiast Poornima
Dasharathi and offers food walks across
various pockets in Bengaluru.
The Basavanagudi food walk across
one of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods
takes you to institutions once favoured
CHENNAI
Blaffer is a start-up founded by IIT
students Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj
Bargal and Yash Murty and conducts
food walks along Chennai’s cultural and
culinary byways.
The Mylapore Food Walk takes you
through busy streets surrounding
Kapaleeswarar temple in the heart of
UNHURRIED
124 ||||| NOVEMBER 2016