Real Heroes Don't Die.....They just Reload.

This post being the final post as part of the Blues appreciation month is dedicated to two such heroes, absolute rock stars in their own right, who have had such an immense fan following that they can walk away from all their fame on their terms; and walk away they did, yet they are back once again, back to the tremendous delight of many a soul like myself. Ladies and Gentlemen I'm talking about the one, the only.....Warren Mendonsa and JEETU BHAI.

Whaaaattt ???? All this buildup for some dude named Jeetu? That's not right, maybe I have him confused with someone else. Well actually I don't. I am indeed talking about THE Jeetu Bhai, owner of one of Powai's greatest and most sasta restaurants ever. If you people still haven't heard, Daffodil or DAFF as we fondly call it is back, same location, almost same prices and most importantly SAME TASTY FOOD. Jeetu Bhai has returned after an absence of almost 3-4 years much to the delight of every powai dweller. I remember when Daff shut down first, it was almost as if the crown of Hiranandani had lost its diamond stud, I mean this place was THE hangout for kids and grownups alike. Lip smacking food, dirt cheap prices and the perfect combination of Quality and Quantity, daffodil was one of the better restaurants in Powai. In its first stint, I was sadly a vegetarian but daff was soo good that even my parents would approve of their Paneer Makhni and Chinese food, specially the chinese food. 4 years later a very wise man named Raahil Chopra tweets about the return of Jeetu Bhai and how awesome his butter chicken is, so I simply had to try it out. As fate would have it, I just had an empty apartment for the weekend and good food had to be ordered, and order it I did. Chicken Tandoori, Butter Chicken, Garlic Naan, Butter Naan, etc etc. Now let me describe to you simply how good this butter chicken was by means of a very simple poem,

If the world is indeed gonna end in 2012, we'd all be panic stricken,
And if I had to chose my last ever meal on planet earth, it would be Jeetu Bhai's Butter Chicken.
For no butter chicken is as good, tasty, cheap and awesome as the one at Daffodil,
The gravy is so tasty that you'll lick every last remaining bit from the dabba, the cover or even the bill.

Yeah that should pretty much some it up. Remember I told you about our good friend Pawan at Juicy Stuff who entertains us while we eat his awesome Butter Chicken, well as sorry as I am to tell you, I don't think I'd ever be going to Juicy Stuff anytime soon, Daffodil is the only place to eat if you're in Hira. Sorry Pawan, sincerely. For just 160 bucks, you get the sexiest butter chicken ever from Daff, the chicken pieces are perfect, the gravy is just too damm good, and like I might have mentioned before, there is no shame in admitting that you lick the dabba of butter chicken clean with that piece of naan, you make sure you don't miss even a teeny tiny spot. If you're eating alone, then order only the butter chicken with naan or roti, if you're in a group and you want to try something new go for it, but still order the butter chicken because its that bloody good. Their Chicken Tandoori is delicious with 6 proper pieces for about 195 bucks. The menu isn't over priced at all, its the ideal place to eat from when you are not willing to spend more than 150-200 bucks per meal. Their chinese is also very very decent, not as good as 5 Spice, but come on very few places serve chinese as good as that. Daffodil's chinese is the more indianized version dare I say, the chindi chinese, but it does the job both quantity wise and quality wise. I cannot begin to thank Raahil and Jeetu Bhai for the many happy meals I've had from Daff over the last couple of weeks itself, and I'm sure I will continue to do so in the coming months (hopefully years). Jeetu Bhai and Daff 2.0 are back, and lets hope this time they are back for good. The only complaint one can have about Daff is the fact that you don't have a place to sit and eat the food, since the old market road is very small as it is, so you can only take away or have them deliver at home. But that's hardly a setback, I'm sure if its just the 2-3 of you'll, you can manage, if you're group is more than that, just take a parcel and call my man Pranav Kalluri or BBM him, he stays bang opposite daff and he will always let you come over to his house to eat, provided you give the guy his fair share. One of the greatest comebacks this in Powai, and fitting tribute to my beloved butter chicken.

Okay now coming back to the actual Blues part, the last blues artist and all, I thought about Bob Dylan but come to think of it, he's got way to many albums and soo many songs, I'm pretty sure at some point he has covered every possible genre that there is in music. So I went with the rather unknown quantity of Warren Mendonsa and his rather successful solo project, BLACKSTRATBLUES. One man show this, and some show it is. Warren Mendonsa is one of the better guitarists of India and with blackstratblues he gives us 16 of the most delightful songs, the perfect fusion of the bass guitar and other unconventional mixers like pedals, amphs, cabinets etc. This is one such ensemble that has no vocals, just blissful blues symphony. Only 2 albums to speak of, both very low key, made for the sole purpose of making music and not the commercial aspect of it. Artists like Warren Mendonsa are very rare to find nowadays, this man lives and breathes the guitar, he often performs at festivals and concerts/events, most notably the Mahindra Blues Fest. After a successful career as both a solo artist and a band member with Zero, Warren now lives in Auckland, New Zealand. He still makes regular trips to India, and although no official word is out on a possible third album, you wouldn't put it past him. Like I said, he's one such rocker who will only quit on his terms and I can assure you he is far from done. I'd pay good money to hear Blackstratblues live, and I strongly urge you'll to download both his albums, Nights In Shining Karma and The New Album (yes those are the actual names). They are only 8 songs each, and each song is different in its own way, the harmony, the melody, the sheer class of Warren Mendonsa is for everyone to see, and there's no way any music fan can NOT  like the Blackstratblues. The Nights in Shining Karma especially is a real work of art with some memorable tunes like "Soar The Sky", "Incense", "A Weekend With You" and my personal favorite "Bombay Rain". A definite download this, and I can't think of any better artist to wind up Blues Appreciation Month.

Long live Warren Mendonsa and Long live Jeetu Bhai. The world owes you'll too much, and I hope this is a fitting tribute on behalf of every Powai resident. And now that the Blues is wrapped up, lets get back to the good ol' days of Classic Rock. If it ain't CLASSIC, it ain't ROCK. Cheers!!! 

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The Italian Job

Sorry I was away for a good two weeks, I was rather busy with my managerial duties in Football Manager 2012 with Napoli which got me thinking, how is it that I have gone a whopping 50 odd blog posts without talking about arguably one of the most loved cuisines in the world - Italian; more importantly PIZZA. Bombay is a pretty much a flawless city but if there's one thing that we lack, its probably a good pizza place. The American's have this concept nailed down you see, every street literally has a decent pizza place, where you can come, chill, order a few slices, drink some beer, and pack some lasagna home. Well I for one thought that day was far off in India, but as it turns out, PizzaRoma is just the place I was waiting for. The best part about PizzaRoma is that it's in POWAI. Yes my sweet and beloved Powai now has a genuine Italian Pizza place, finally a place that recognizes the need of the thin crust pizza. As good as Domino's and Pizza Hut are, everyone is sick and tired of the same old BBQ Chicken and Mexican Red Wave, I for one needed some change and PizzaRoma is just what the doctor ordered. I'm gonna make an old fashioned pro's and con's list like Ted Mosby here (yes I still persist with HIMYM and I still don't know why??).

Pros:

• They serve slices of pizzas and they have only two sizes Regular (10'') and Large (13"). This pretty much covers every demograph and so there is never really a case of ordering too much or too little. 
• Like I said, delightful thin crust pizzas, so that we can all indulge in our pizza cravings without having to worry about our waist lines.
• Great selection of toppings - some of them include Bacon, Sausage, Ham, Artichokes and even Pepperoni Salami. 
• When they say Authentic Italian food, they actually mean it. The spellings of Napoli, Verona, Diavola etc are all correct and we don't have any comical typos like we do at the chinese places with their Tripplle Sezvaan Fride Rice.
• They accept Sodexo coupons, and anyone who is friends with Raghukul Mathur would know how much of a boon that is. 

Cons: 

• Possibly their greatest con is the fact that this place is incredibly expensive. Even their cheapest Regular pizza will set you back by 500 rupees and although the quality and quantity are there, its still not feasible to spend close to a grand every time you eat a meal from PizzaRoma. 
• For a fancy pizza place, they have got absolutely no combos or offers to entice the customer. Their menu is a simple sheet of paper, with ridiculously overpriced items. No One-pe-One free deals, no discounts for bulk orders, no pizza and pasta combos. They will definitely have to change this if they want to seriously compete with the likes of Dominos and Pizza Hut. 

Final Verdict: 

Overall I'd say PizzaRoma is definitely worth the extra cash you spend, sure for about 600 bucks you get a nice meal for 2 in most pizza outlets, but I think their variety in toppings and the cheer craftsmanship of their pizza's deserve some recognition, I'd definitely choose PizzaRoma over any other pizza place in Powai for the simple principle of "Quality over Quantity". Of course you can't eat here every other weekend, because it will be detrimental to your pocket. You must try the "VERONA" or the "Pizzaroma Special". They are easily one of their best pizzas.  

Since I already brought up one of the most ridiculous TV shows on air currently (HIMYM), its only fair I talk about one of the better shows around - House. Everybody knows that season 8 is going to be the last season of Dr. House's awesomeness and I for one think its good that the show is ending on a high, save some grace rather than drag itself pointlessly on for years until it gets cancelled by the network. We'll all miss Dr. House and his sheer charisma more than anything else, but Hugh Laurie can hold his head high. Not only was he the highest paid TV actor - a whopping $ 700,000 per episode, but he's easily one of the most talented british actors to have ever graced the magical world of TV. For about 3-4 seasons, I was under the assumption that Hugh Laurie was actually American, that's how perfect his american accent was in House, but then I was told he was indeed a Englishman. His life trajectory is quite fascinating and I think if anyone of you have seen the episode of "Inside An Actor's Studio: Hugh Laurie" you'd know what I am talking about. A largely talented man this guy, who despite his age is only getting better. Blackadder was his starting point and from then on Hugh Laurie hasn't looked back. The adorable King George in Blackadder season 3 was one of Hugh Laurie's wittiest and funniest roles. Hugh Laurie was also one half of probably one of the most famous sketch-comedy pairings, and along with Stephen Fry he gave us "A Bit Of Fry and Laurie". Till this date Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie are the best of friends, and if you guys are interested in some light sketch comedy, something along the lines of Blackadder then you should definitely check out this show. 

House was Laurie's grandest and most monumental success'. The character of Gregory House was so challenging that Hugh Laurie has been rumored to have suffered from chronic depression on more than one count. Despite a glittering career in TV and Movies like Stuart Little, 101 Dalmatians, Flight of the Pheonix etc, Hugh Laurie still suffers from constant bouts of depression due to his troubled childhood. He had a strained relationship with his mother and having had to suffer the loss of his father (whom he considered the sweetest man on earth) at a very young age due to illness, till today Hugh Laurie remains an enigma with only his closest friends and family; Stephen Fry, Robert Sean Leonard and Emma Thompson really knowing the REAL Hugh Laurie. As you House fanatics would know, Hugh Laurie is not only a gifted actor, but he also plays the piano, was part of a band and quite recently also began his foray into the Music industry with his first studio album. Yes all this build up and praise about Hugh Laurie was for this album only. Released in 2011 - Let Them Talk is a classic Jazz and Blues album, I say classic because even after just one hearing you will fall in love with this man's voice. The british accent is ever so evident in this album, and the genre is an absolute peach. A perfect artist to continue my Blues appreciation this March, Hugh Laurie's album set the music charts on fire hitting the top ten across Europe after months of its release. 

The entire album is pure melody and some of the songs are really expressive and show some insight about Hugh Laurie's life. There's obviously a lot of reference to Britain and the Hugh Laurie's brief stint in the army and World War and all, but what the hell, this is one beautiful bloody album. A definite download this, I for one cannot wait for more music from Hugh Laurie now that he's hanging up his boots as Dr Gregory House. A true british pioneer in the Media, Arts and Theatre field, and surely a knighthood isn't far away for the great Hugh Laurie. Some of the songs you simply cannot miss are "The Battle of Jericho", "They're Red Hot", "Swanee River", "Let Them Talk", "Baby Please Don't Change". 

Wow, that was a rather long post, one more blues artist for this month and then I shall switch back to classic rock. Till then let the melodious sounds of Hugh Laurie's piano enthrall us all. Peace out.  

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Damm Right I've Still Got The Blues....

As promised more Blues appreciation this March, today I have to, simply HAVE to talk about BB King. No I'm not talking about every person who owns a Blackberry within the age group of 17-25, I'm talking about the real King of Blues, the absolute legend and one of the greatest guitarists of all time - Riley B King known fondly as BB King. Where do I even begin with this guy, I mean 86 years young, BB King is the Pink Floyd of Blues music. Given the nickname BB because in his cavalier days he was called the "Blues Boy" because he was the first guy to actually perform solo with his guitar and that eventually was the building block for an entire genre in music. Every blues artist who has rocked them blues in the 70' owes a great deal to BB King and there's no doubt they would have all been influenced by him.

Most people still don't know what Blues really are? They might actually like it without even knowing that such a genre does exist, LOL simpletons. A perfect example of Blues music is at every Poker table or a Casino based movie, you know that awesome music playing in the background - the one with the piano, guitar and the super seductive helping of jazz; well that ladies and gentlemen is the BLUES. Lil' kids nowadays raving on about Adele and her awesome tally in the grammy's, I'll have you know that Mr Riley King has only 15 Grammy's to his name, an induction in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame, a special homecoming festival named after him in tribute to his music in his hometown of Mississippi, a Grammy Hall of Fame award and countless other honors. This guy is a true Legend in every sense of the word. Some mind boggling stats here, BB King is now 86 years old and he has officially retired. Yes officially, he just completed a farewell tour and all in 2009, and in these 86 years he has sung a staggering 43 studio albums, that's like an album every TWO years. So there's really no way you can actually get hold of his entire discography because a large chunk of it was much before our parents were even born. Still like I said before, Blues is one such genre where you don't need to care how many songs you have, hell they all are equally good, they all sound just as soothing and trust me if I had a rupee for every time I've played the same BB King song over and over again, I'd be a very wealthy man.

Nevertheless not a lot of people know that BB King idolized the late great Frank Sinatra himself; (who shares his birthday with a certain Rajnikant) and BB King has carried on Mr Sinatra's legacy in the Jazz/Blues field. An absolute no brainer this, I strongly urge every music lover to get hold of a copy of BB King's Definitive Greatest Hits. Its arguably the best 35 songs you will ever hear when it comes to Blues music. Try listening to "The Thrill is Gone" only once, I dare you. This is without a doubt BB King's greatest ever song, yes this is the same song that has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. I'd hate to actually pick favorites among these 35 because they are all timeless classics, two and a half hours of musical majesty this from BB King. But if I were to pick a top five per say I'd go with "The Thrill Is Gone", "There Must be a Better World Somewhere", "My Guitar Sings The Blues", "Darlin' You Know I Love You" and "Why I Sing The Blues". There are very few artists who are blessed enough to make musical symphony and Riley B King (Blues Boy) is definitely one of them.

Alright I have tried really really hard to find some sort of link between the Artist and the restaurant that I write about, but alas that day has finally come when I find myself trumped. I mean I could say I was listening to some BB King when I was eating the delicious Shawarma but I'd be lying. Alright enough of the mind games, its Shawarma, there are very few good places serving this utterly delicious Lebanese delicacy. One such place is Kareem's. Rather famous chain they are all across India I'm told but I had the fortune of eating at their Powai outlet recently and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised with their food. Look lets be realistic here, at some point we've all walked by a restaurant craving some of their food, but we have simply walked on by because they are too pricey. Come on, we've all done it. Hell I still do it. But that being said its smarter to have Shawarma cravings because its dirt cheap, hell even at Kareem's its only about 140 bucks and its not the worlds greatest Shawarma or anything, but its good, I'd definitely eat it every once in a while. Now obviously the beauty of the Shawarma apart from the fact that it is cheap is that it comes as a nice wrap so its rather easy to eat, and from personal experience do not make the mistake of ordering only one with the hope that everyone can share it as a starter. 2 Shawarma's is a proper meal, with some of Kareem's nice pudina chatni and a Thumbs up, you've got yourself a good meal in a little under 300 bucks. I wouldn't recommend the rest of the Kareem's menu because it is indeed a tad over priced. Like make no mistake I don't mind eating at the occasional 500 per head place every once in a while, but for that kind of money I would atleast expect better food and more importantly more quantity. But then again, I often make the mistake of going on these random dinner plans with my good friend Kalluri, adorable as he is, he's quite the man mountain and no amount of food is ever enough for this BWOUY. Quality wise their Butter Chicken is nice, their Tandoori dishes are good but like I said ridiculously small portions. Go to Kareem's for the Shawarma, I'm told they deliver also so you won't have to listen to the god awful music they play in their restaurant.

That's all for now folks, the next update will wind up some rather unorthodox Blues artists but in case anyone is really interested in an actual Blues Encyclopedia then be sure to tune into the Blues Show every Sunday from 10pm to 1 am on Radio One 94.3 FM. In case you haven't heard they are a full on International station now and trust me the Sunday night Blues show is one that you don't wanna miss. Adios Amigos!!  

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Feelin’ the BLUES with the Gang of Gardullah’s

I know that the Mahindra Blues Festival is over and for the third year running I have not been able to attend due to some rather unforeseen circumstances, nevertheless I can still listen to some vintage blues music on my pod at my own will, and just to prove that point, for the next couple of weeks I shall be throwing some light on some of my all-time favourites in blues music. Oh and yes I’m gonna do this entire Blues tribute in poetry; well at least the first post!

T’was a lazy Wednesday afternoon and the Gardullah’s had nothing to do,

So Swami G made an awesome lunch plan to eat at Out of the Blue,

Now I don’t mean to sound cocky, but I’m kind of the most affable person in the group,

Despite the few number of followers I have, its kinda hard to keep me out of the loop.

Now the most important member of this gang is Madam Gardullah herself,

She’s got 3 personalities, 2 awesome cats and ONE nice book shelf,

She’s crazy this Gardullah with her unpredictability and poor capacity,

And despite the amount I used to torment her, she’s one of the safer drivers in this city.

Even the balding Hakeem Chacha decided to join us, in this totally spontaneous plan,

He’s got a mad sense of humour this guy, but he’s also a very wise man,

You guys should check out Raconteur Walks, it’s about the city that’s loved by one and all,

I seriously won’t be surprised if this guy someday becomes India’s Director of Football.

How can I forget my Chicken Fry, my favourite Marathi Manoos,

The Vincent Chase of this gang, who is a lot of things but NOT kanjoos,

No one can throw a better party than our very own Mr. Adhikari,

He’s always the guy to help you out in a sticky situation with his kickass Marathi.

So after a lot of delays we finally go there for our lunch,

For obvious reasons we were a very very hungry bunch,

Straight to the salad bar this Gardullah took us,

One nibble of the Prawn Biryani and she parked herself like a BEST bus.

The soup was average, but the salads were devine,

The shredded chicken so delightful, we finished it in no time,

I don’t know what sauces and veggies this Gardullah put in our salad but it was awesome,

All this was just the aperitifs; the main course was yet to come.

Since we were four of us we each wanted to try something different,

There were choices between Pasta, Sizzlers and Barbeques (all money well spent)

The chicken was probably a tad bit undercooked,

But what the hell for 295 + tax; I’d eat stuff made out of my old history text book.

The stand out thing about their lunch buffet has to be the dessert,

Hakeem Chacha couldn’t get enough of the Strawberry Cheese cake, he even dropped some on his shirt,

Gardullah kept going “Ummm” after every bite,

I ate soo much chocolate cakes and brownies that my jeans started to feel tight.

Excellent place this for a nice long meal with close friends, family and gardullah’s

The gang’s next target is to go eat some food at Bori Mulla’s

A double thumbs up for Out of the Blue – Great music, ambience and good food,

Now let’s talk about Buddy Guy – a mad blues artist and one cool dude.

There’s not one person in this world who would NOT like the blues,

Its easily the most soothing kind of music, a nice cognac perhaps to get you lose,

Buddy Guy is one of the few guitarists who didn’t smoke himself to death,

Unlike crazy miss Houston, who shot pretty much everything from Coke to Crystal Meth.

These blues artists have simply too many albums,

After a certain point they all sound the same, like one beautiful blues anthem,

I’d suggest Buddy’s Baddest as a perfect album for a newbie,

Hell I’d also tell you which of them are Friendly Chap’s best songs as a freebie.

“Mustang Sally” and “Midnight Train” are easily the stand out songs,

“Rememberin’ Stevie” has got some nice solos, but it’s a tad too long,

“Miss Ida B” proves that this Buddy Guy was no “Innocent Man”,

But his best song undoubtedly is “Damm Right, I’ve Got The Blues”

Okay after almost 45 minutes of rhyming and makes stuff up, I have reached the conclusion that it is simply impossible to write only poems about blues. The rest of the Blues updates will definitely be in a non-poetic form, or NOT. Till then let’s hope that Swami G doesn’t get OUT OF THE BLUES!!! Three Cheers to some awesome music, and watch out for the Gang of Gardullah’s – coming soon at a bar/lounge near you.

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Gman goes to Gomantak!!

The days are going by at a rather alarming rate, February is almost done and dusted and my Lets-eat-at-a-new-place-every-week plan is still going strong. Last week my fellow Marathi Manoos buddy took me to this delightful place on the highway for some authentic Malwani cuisine. For those of you who don't follow, Malwani means seafood, and good delicious cheap sea food too. Now all my hardcore non vegetarian friends keep reminding me that seafood is the way to go, its tastier, healthier and well the variety is just too much. But being a former vegetarian myself, we find it tough to hog seafood like you barbarians, I mean of all the kinds of animal meat we probably have the biggest mental block towards seafood. There's no denying seafood is an acquired taste and once you acquire you can really really have some fun with it, but till then I shall be satisfied with my Chicken and the occasional Prawn fry. Now I think I can speak on behalf of all vegetarian converts that we are not comfortable with eating seafood, here's why - None of us paid much attention in Biology class during school and we obviously don't know the anatomy of a fish. Then again its not like there is only one type of Fish, there's like a whole race of Nemo's that we simply haven't found. Evidently our homes don't cook meat so there's no chance of us learning about the insides of a fish at home.

So obviously when my friend told me to go straight ahead to the Pomfret Thali, I took his word for it and did. I sat their bewildered looking at this one big piece dipped in some delicious gravy with some traditional Solkand on the side. Now obviously this was no boneless chicken piece that I could just gobble away, I had to be very very careful. The irritating thing with fish is that you have to get your hands dirty, quite literally. I mean there are so many teeny tiny bones to pick, and a newbie like me would not know what to eat and what not to. And some of these bones are very very sharp, despite their size and you're friend sitting next to you telling stories about how they can cut a mans throat certainly don't build your appetite. I mean in all fairness the Pomfret thali was good, but I certainly didn't enjoy it like my other Marathi Manoos friends. I'm still not completely convinced about seafood, fish especially because I still get grossed out by the fact that I'm like sitting and dissecting this animal to its bare bones and then eating it. But not all fish is bad, the Rawas fry we had was a pleasant surprise, I'm told they have just one bone and it's one of the easiest fish to eat, Bombhil Fry was also well made, pretty good quantity for about 150 bucks a plate. I guess Highway Gomantak is one of the few 'cheap' sea food places left in Bombay. No extravagant ambiance and all, a hardcore traditional Maharashtrian eatery, where you have to eat with your hands and should you want to tinkle, you gotta do it Indian style. You obviously cannot compare Gomantak to Gajalee and Mahesh Lunch Home etc, because this place is nowhere near those standards in terms of class and location. But if its just about the food, Highway Gomantak still gets a thumbs up from Swami G.

Hell make it a double thumbs up, simply because of the Prawns. Now prawns I have grown to love in my short stint as a hardcore non vegetarian, I quite like them. The Prawns Fry at Gomantak is easily their best item on the menu, coupled with some Prawns Sukha Thali and a cup of Solkand and you are one happy camper. The Prawns were miles better than the fish, without a doubt and considering we were about 12 of us and we still billed only about 350-400 per head, thats very cheap for Seafood standards. Gomantak is one of those novelty restaurants that haven't been sodomized by the commercial demand and still focused entirely on FOOD. Good food. The only problem with this is that the place is insanely popular and this means its almost always crowded and they need to run out of their specialty items. So you gotta make sure you reach early and  order quickly. Other than that this place is a nice hangout for the occasional seafood craving, and one thali with an unlimited plate of Prawns fry is well worth the trip to Bandra. I am still looking forward to actually go gaga over fish, but for now I'm happy with the food I am eating. Prawns are easily the best kind of seafood that there is, although its too early to make that assumption, but I'm gonna stick by that.

Now turning the page to the Music part of the blogpost, this morning I woke up and felt like listening to Bob Seger. Now he's not nearly as famous as the other Bob's of the music world, but if you are into Country Rock  then you might just like Bob Seger. He's very mellow and the perfect kind of artist to listen to on a lazy Saturday morning. Now I'm sure everyone has heard of Metallica's cult hit "Turn The Page" but little do people know that it was Bob Seger who first sang the original, Metallica's was a mere cover, a mind blowingly  awesome cover nonetheless but the original still wins it for me. Bob Seger's best  song by a mile, closely followed by "Roll Me Away" and one of my all time favorites "Old Time Rock and Roll". I like this song simply for its awesome lyrics:

Just take those old records off the shelf
I'll sit and listen to 'em by m'self
TODAY'S MUSIC AIN'T GOT THE SAME SOUL
I LIKE THAT OLD TIME ROCK AND ROLL.

Now the song goes on like this emphasizing why classic rock is easily the best kind of music to listen to and I really can't put it any better than Mr. Seger himself. Not the greatest artist around, but definitely worth the download for a Greatest Hits album. Good music and good food, ahh this indeed is the good life. Long live the Flavor of Rock. Cheers! 

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Chillin’ at CHILLI’S with some Chilled Beer listening to some Red Hot CHILI Peppers…..

February has been a very good month for me; you know that saying in hindi, “Ek Farishte ne aakar mujhe sankat ke samay mein par maddad kiya”, well that chubby angel was none other than Mr Raahil Chopra for introducing me to the wonderful wasteland that is Chilli’s. Now it was always the common misconception that Chilli’s was one of those super pricey places were simpletons like me just could not afford to go on a weekly basis, well that was true until Mr Chopra enlightened me about their “Happy Hours” scene. Every day from 4-8pm they have the standard One pe One free as part of their happy hours offer, but the best part is this includes not just their draught and regular beer, but also Cocktails, spirits, mocktails, shots etc. Now economists will still argue that they wouldn’t pay top dollar for over priced alcohol even if it is One pe One free, but let me explain it to you in detail. 

Firstly Chilli’s has a rocking bar. I mean the sheer size of it is inviting enough, not to mention the layout of the place. Very well made I must say, with booths, tables and your traditional bar stools. A rather spacious smoking lounge, a whole lot of LCD’s to watch every sporting event that is there to offer and very whacky posters and accessories like the BIG MOUTH Burger’s poster. Trust me, after you see that poster and drink at that very booth, you’re gonna wanna have a meaty Big Mouth burger. The glasses are bigger at Chilli’s. The Beer is colder, better and tastier at Chilli’s. There are booths at Chilli’s, perfect for my gang (Two Guys, A Girl and One Nigga Nigga Nigga). (I am not a racist, as my friends would tell you, I just have a rather strange fascination to African American people, and I call them my Niggas only with Love). Yeah so think about it, 450 bucks for 2 pitchers (8 big glasses) of ice cold beer served in ice cold mugs, with unlimited Tortilla Chips and Salsa sauce, come on you have to be swayed now. If you’re still not, then I can tell you from experience that the crowd in Chilli’s is mostly American and the well off working class, and trust me some of the things I have seen at Chilli’s are beyond my wildest dreams, but that’s really not a selling point for everyone. Can’t say much about the food except for the Tortilla chips so I’m just gonna wing it, I quite like Mexican cuisine, its probably the one type of cuisine where I wouldn’t mind Veg food. I have to say the food is a tad overpriced and seeing that there aren’t any happy hours offer available, it must be one dam good burger if it is worth 400 bucks. I wouldn’t come here just to eat because, there’s just no sense in that at all, the bar is the only reason why you should visit Chilli’s. There are also very liberal about their Happy Hours policy, and the waiters actually go around the tables asking you for the last order before Happy Hours ends, and trust me you can order all the alcohol you want when its Happy Hours and keep drinking till like midnight, as long as you pay your bill they are cool with it. A great bar this, a great place to hang out, make conversation, get drunk and CHILL with you’re friends. I can’t thank Raahil enough for all the wonderful times I’ve had at Chilli’s over the last month and I am sure I will be a regular in the months to follow. Gun to my head, this month the happiest I’ve ever been is between 4pm to 8pm. 

Apart from the pretty chics and cougars at Chilli’s, even the music is very nice; they play a lot of pop and hip-hop, but every once in a while they play good stuff like RHCP. Imagine our surprise when we were all drinking and suddenly we see our black magic woman going “Bobble head” and singing “Give It Away, Give It Away Now…” Yes we actually heard Red Hot Chili Peppers at Chilli’s, fitting really and I knew right then that I shall have to write about Chilli’s and RHCP. Now first things first, if you thought RHCP was spelt Red Hot Chilli Peppers, then you are just a fag and its too late for you now. If you did know the correct spelling, then you would be the first one to agree with me that RHCP is probably one of the greatest ever rock/alternative bands to have graced planet earth. I mean I still don’t get why they are clubbed under Alternative, but that being said, they have been the undisputed kings of that genre for a long time now, sorry Coldplay fans (me being one of them), RHCP is off a different level altogether. Now it wasn’t all hunky dory for this band from Los Angeles, they started off on a rather disastrous fashion with their first two albums was an absolute waste of radio waves, and they were well set on becoming one of those countless bands who tried to make it big, but just fizzed out. The 80’s were not a good time for RHCP, four studio albums and barely a single good song to talk about. The band needed some change, needed some spunk, attitude etc. In short the band needed some Blood, Sugar, Sex and Magik. This was without a doubt the album that really changed things for RHCP, Blood Sugar, Sex, Magik was the band’s first commercial success, paving way to a decade mind numbingly awesome studio albums. Things just kept getting better for RHCP in the 90’s, probably had something to do with the arrival of the aforementioned ‘Black Magic Woman’ into this world, but yes Red Hot Chili Peppers were now a force to be reckoned with. One Hot Minute was just an tiny appetizer compared to their single greatest studio album till date – CALIFORNICATION. This was really when RHCP had hit India, back in the day when walk-mans and disc man’s were cool, I would save up all my pocket money and the first ever cassette I had purchased was RHCP’s Californication album. Quite possibly on of my all-time favourite albums ever, this is one musical master piece. Every single song from this album is perfection, such a vast range and after hearing this, every single person will agree that Red Hot Chili Peppers are most definitely one of the all-time greatest rock bands, definite top ten material in my book. Flea is probably one of the craziest bass guitarist I have known, I can’t even begin to count the number of crazy jaw dropping guitar solo’s he’s had in this very album. Quite frankly Californication reached such great heights that I feared no other RHCP album could live up to that name, kind of like Pearl Jam with Ten, one feared RHCP had peaked too early. But By The Way and Stadium Arcadium are equally good in my opinion, the first side of Stadium Arcadium is just a joy to listen to, and By The Way if you give it a lot of hearings, you will undoubtedly grow to love that album. All in all, an awesome discography and an awesome band, here is their discography in order of awesomeness of course: 

• 1999 - Californication
• 1991 - Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik
• 2006 - Stadium Arcadium
• 2002 - By The Way
• 1995 - One Hot Minute
• 2011 - I'm With You
• 1984 - The Red Hot Chili Peppers
• 1985 - Freaky Styley
• 1987 - The Uplift Mofo Party Plan
• 1989 - Mother's Milk

Now seeing as I have not recommended any songs, I decided to have a little bit of fun, now I cant stress enough that EVERY SINGLE SONG FROM EVERY ALBUM AFTER 1991 – Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik is awesome and all of these songs are in my top rated list, but if I had to be choosy and pick say my top 25 all-time greatest RHCP songs, my list would go something like this:

 
I’m on my way to Chilli’s to have some beers, meeting my Cabron right Under The Bridge, By The Way our ringmaster Gardullah shall also be joining us. At our booth we will talk about the most random things like whether the hot foreign chick will Give It Away to the fat indian guy, or about how Charlie Kelly is the man. In between from time to time my friends will go to smoke on the Otherside, whilst I will wonder about random things like the possibility of a Parallel Universe or the distant hope of having Snow in Bombay. Now I Could Have Lied and totally made up this entire paragraph, but assuming I didn’t I Can’t Stop now can I? Like I have already said, Chilli’s man - This is the Place, the place where we all hang out no matter which day of the week it is. From time to time random people will join us and say more random things, like KK about his adventures in Gondia with his Aeroplane or about how a kid named Raghukul can live the life of a Hank Moody from Californication. And then there’s Rathod the wackiest one of them all, he once broke his leg by stepping on a twig on some Wet Sand. Everyone will always call Mr Parth Adhikari first, and if its not a guy he will always go “Tell Me Baby” first. You must wonder why I spend so much time outside the house, because I have an overbearing set of parents whose main goal is to Torture Me. Summer is well and truly here as the temperatures go up, every 60 seconds spent outside feels like One Hot Minute. Dani California is one RHCP’s most famous songs from the album Stadium Arcadium, I’m running out of ideas here cause nothing on this earth is in context to Emmit Remmus, Apache Rose Peacock and The Zephyr Song. 

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Happy Valentine's Day............BARF!!!!

Its that day of the year again, the day you randomly see a lot of people in Red, the Shiv Sena's favorite bribe collection and lathi charge day, yes I'm talking about Valentine's Day. I feel bad for the guys who were actually born on Valentine's day, I mean not only do they have to endure their birthday with all the cheesy, tacky celebrations but also the whole world's buying chocolates and flowers and the poor bugger HAS to do the same despite the fact that its his birthday today. But its 2012 people, couples have evolved from this petty holiday and refrained from such tacky meaningless celebrations, at least most of them have. I mean don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the concept of love and showing that love to your partner with flowers and what not, but why make such a colossal deal out of it.

Now obviously for argument's sake we shall assume that there is a certain lady that I myself am trying to woo, and for the purposes of confidentiality we shall refer to this person as HER or SHE. Now the very fact that I am sitting and blogging/tweeting on the eve of Valentine's Day does say a lot about my current situation. I mean I could be a complete diplomat and come up with a bunch of excuses like, "SHE doesn't live in Bombay which is a real deal-breaker", or "SHE is not looking for what I have to offer" and my personal favorite and the plain and honest truth, however sincere it might be, "SHE is just out of my league" :P Irrespective of that let's assume I were to celebrate tomorrow, with HER I wouldn't to what every other guy does and buy her lame ass flowers and some chocolates, here's what I would do.

Buy HER a CD of Marvin Gaye's greatest hits, okay I'll probably not buy her that because that would be very very hard to get hold of, but nevertheless save the album "Motown's Greatest Hits" on HER iPod. Now I say this for many reasons, and the most important of them being because Marvin Gaye is a black dude who sings very well. Now we all know that them Blackstrat Blues and Buddy Guy are the most romantic and groovy singers in this world, hell its R&B, Blues and Jazz in general, but this Gaye isn't soo far behind, very very soothing vocals and he was quite the hit with the ladies I tell you. Its a shame all these Black Blues' singers die soo young, I guess its due to their lifestyle, nevertheless in the 44 years that Mr Marvin Gaye was alive he did sing some beautiful melodies, exactly the kind of music you would want to listen to hell even waltz to on a romantic date/evening. The first thing you think of when someone says Marvin Gaye would be his hit song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" from that DHL ad, and quite frankly I like that song too, its quite peppy, a bit too fast to actually be considered as an R&B number, but good nonetheless. My personal favorite however is "You Are Everything", simply awesome this song is, and exactly the kind of song that suits well the day. The entire album is a good listen, not like an everyday listen, but once in a while when you are in the romantic mood, smitten and what not, this is exactly the album you should listen to. More cult Gaye hits include "Heard It Through The Grapevine" (the CCR version is only a million times better), "Let's Get It On", "That's The Way Love Is", "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby", "How Sweet It Is", "It Takes Two" etc etc. Looking at some of the names, you clearly get a fair idea about some of this kind of music and just for the record, one can only wonder how many women has Marvin Gaye wooed with his sweet talking attitude and songs like this !!

Now that the gift aspect of the evening is taken care of, where to dine - not to worry, Swami G has that figured out too. This tiny cafe in town a few minutes away from VT Station called "Cafe Universal". Sure Iranian or Parsi food is a really bold choice for date night, but the Cafe in general is a very quite and chilled out place. Its a bit tiny so there's gonna be a lot of waiting time specially tomorrow, but the service is mindbogglingly fast, but you're gonna wanna enjoy a nice long date over at Cafe Universal. Its the perfect for those lazy afternoons when you really no place to hang out, not very expensive this cafe, but its not too fancy either. The food is really the reason why you should go here, one of the many places that serve all kinds of meat in Bombay, now being a Vegetarian Convert myself, us converts generally prefer Chicken to anything else because it takes us a while to transition into being a proper Non-Vegetarian. So obviously the first time I went to America and tried Beef, I hated it and could not eat more than 2-3 bites of it, mainly because they don't know how to cook those Americans and plus its just very thick in general. So obviously when my buddy told me about the Beef Burgers at Universal, I wasn't super excited for obvious reasons. Nevertheless our entourage went to paint the town red, famished and a little worn out from the train ride from Kanjur Marg to VT. But boy was it worth the weight, the Steak Bun or the Beef Burger as we could call it, was easily the best burger I have ever had in my life. Period. Topped with onions, a perfectly sized steak, with chilli sauce and mustard and a little bit of fries, for 175 bucks (plus tax), this is easily the best bargain you can get in Bombay. And trust me its filling, we each had ONE and we were so full, we had to walk back to the other side of town just to feel a bit better. Pure magic that burger was, one of my friends called me the next day and goes, "Dude last night had dreams of that burger man, I want to go again". And he's right, you have to have for yourself to know what I'm talking about. There's more to Cafe Universal than their burgers and beer, I hear that Parsi food is quite the delicacy and I must try more of it someday, you know some of the authentic stuff like Dhanshak and the Patra Ni Macchi. You get all of that and much more at Cafe Universal, and I will definitely try more of it in my forthcoming visits, but if you are going to Cafe Universal and you have room just for ONE item then it has to be their Beef Burger, and if my words don't convince you then this picture should.

Now that everything is sorted I shall get back to my day-to-day activities and give no further importance to this petty day, for whatsoever reasons, and to all the other love birds out there - Happy Valentine's Day......BARF!!! 

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