Back to the Bazaar

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Wednesday night was our "regular" night out for dinner. (I used quotes because weather and other things sometimes interfere and change the date.) It was a cool, damp night, with mist swirling around through the town. As we sat in the upper level of The Tavern, we could see it wafting through the street. I suspect we may be going directly from monsoon to winter. The rains appear to be gone and I'm hoping the mists will dispel soon.

When our friends the Lals lived at Woodstock Villa, Brij could often be seen on the khud below tending the flowers. The entire pushta is now covered with dahlias in bloom at this time of year. They are quite lovely and I know this picture doesn't show the full extent of the lushness.

Patches of blue were showing through the clouds as we walked along Tehri Road.

Near the hospital, they have trucked in more huge river rocks to be hammered into smaller ones to be used for building more pushtas.

I loved the sign at this little shop just above Picture Palace. "We have what you need best." It might be an exaggeration.

A glimpse inside Picture Palace, which is now full of arcade games and other amusements.

I mentioned last week that The Tavern has a new cafe at street level. We stopped in to see what it is like, and were quite impressed. It is small and sells more snack-like food than upstairs. The menu boards were fun -- they are using the names of local places and celebrities to describe their foods. Brentwood is the name of the hotel owned by the same people, Capt. Young was the first English resident of the town, Vincent Hill was the Seventh Day Adventist School, Steve Alter is a Woodstock alum and writer who lives here. Don't you love the Missionaries Delight Chicken Wings?

We did eat upstairs. First they brought the condiment tray -- fresh coriander chutney, pickled onions, and achaar (a type of pickle).

Dan had mutton biriani with raita (yogurt), one of his favorites.

I decided to have American Chop Suey, one of the first dishes we ever had there back in the 1970s. For some reason there is a fried egg on top. Crunchy noodles are on the bottom, and the sauce is chicken, mutton, and lots of sweet peppers. It turned out to be very sweet, almost cloying, which I didn't remember. Otherwise it was pretty good. I brought half of it home. It doesn't seem particularly American or Chinese.