Menus and Scotch tape - the case for iPad menus

I've just sat down at the Barista Creme cafe at the Grand Mall on MG Road Gurgaon. I used to like coming here. The place seriously needs some renovation, the chair seats are torn on atleast four chairs that I can see.

They're also running a penguin books promo and the tent cards are not in the best shape. I get a menu from a friendly waiter fairly quickly. The menu itself has been designed well, the company has tied up with an Indian designer fashion designer to do the artwork. The cafe obviously gets a lot of business as the menu is worn and held together by scotch tape. 

What I fail to understand is when this outlet is positioned as a premium one ( they charge more for the same coffee that they sell in other Barista outlets), why don't they atleast get new menus. Or better still why can't they look at  a tablet menu.

This is one area where many restaurants slip up, fancy furnishing, well dressed staff, great food, sadly the bill of fare or the menu itself is either too difficult to read in terms of font size, font color or is in bad shape, torn, tattered, covered in pen marks, curry stains etc. 

This particular outlet could do a lot more, it has such a nice view of some greenery and you can see the metro train go by on its elevated track. There is seating space outside which is popular with smokers.

I do however like the bookshelf that penguin has put up with books from the publishing house as part of the promotion, good idea. I like the title of one of the books 'Losing my virginity and other dumb ideas', hmmm.... wonder if it's a good read.

Dulce De Leche - Caramel sweetness

I love you Argentina! Yo Te Quiero!

Dulce De Leche! 'Sweet of milk', yes that is the literal translation, caramelized condensed milk. A very plebeian, basic sweet, used like jam on hot buttered toast or eaten by the sinful spoonful. 

1986 came back this morning at The Leela Gurgaon, we had taken the kids for breakfast and on the pastry counter in the coffee shop I found a long lost friend, a jar of Dulce De Leche.

1986 was the year when I visited my parents in Buenos Aires. The year that Argentina won the football world cup, the year that Maradona showed the world that God indeed had a hand in his victory.

So many memories came back, my first cup of Cafe con crema, a wonderful strong espresso, crowned with  whipped cream, savored lazily at roadside cafes. My first bite into an alfajore , a chocolate covered biscuit sandwich with Dulce de Leche in its soft crumbly center. 

The strong sensual smell of fine Argentine leather. My initial hesitation as I cut into my first medium rare steak of the finest beef, juicy and pink on the inside. Glasses of Vino fino Tinto or red wine that my father specially bought and kept for me whenever I visited Buenos Aires.

Memories of simple breakfasts, thick slices of toasted whole wheat bread drizzled with honey and flowing ribbons of toffee flavored Dulce De Leche.

Sweet memories of the beautiful and warm portenos, the people of Buenos Aires, so elegant, so gracious,so brave, having weathered a horrible political and financial crisis.

Walks through Plaza San Martin, often pulling my jacket across my chest to keep out the chilly wind in the evenings.

It's funny isn't it, the simplest of things, a whiff of perfume, a few lines of a  song, the taste of a dish can transport us across time. 

Sparrows and Mangoes

There was a news article recently in the Times of India about a sparrow survey. Apparently the common house sparrow is becoming fairly uncommon. Still remember sparrows making their untidy nests with grass and in crevices around the house and behind the electricity meter. They would fly endless sorties transporting the building material taking a break once in a while to have a drop of water or a dirt bath in our garden.

My mother would tell us not to disturb the eggs, for sparrows give up eggs if they smell of human touch. We would eagerly wait for the baby sparrows to hatch  and share the good news with our friends.

It was such a peaceful time, they say that when we look back in life, that's what we prefer to remember, the happier times. Well they were happy, we would play for hours in the garden behind our house, climbing onto the jamun tree, watching the big black ants going about their business. Once in a while the ants would get irritated with us trying to divert them using small sticks and we would howl and jump around with one of the soldier ants stuck onto a toe. Those bites were painful.

Coming to Gurgaon nine years ago to a call center job, in our busy busy lives, never realised that there were few sparrows, who had time for sparrows and time too had been turned on its head, working to follow the American sun during the Indian night.

Intrigued by the article I set off to explore our condominium and look for signs of sparrows. In our lives we often become blind to the little things, and it is only when you focus your attention consciously that you begin to see again.

In not more than half an hour I came across a little sparrow, hopping around doing sparrow stuff. Further investigation led to a small straw nest in a hole in the parking area. So sparrows are doing alright, atleast in my condominium, they are going about their lives and building houses too!

Not worth the Cost..a!

Last week the wife and I had some time to kill before we went for an Andhra meal so we stepped into our favorite Costa outlet in Gurgaon. This is the store at the Crosspoint Mall, it's a nice cosy place and we have great memories of lazy winter afternoons on the corner sofa, sipping our coffees and reading the paper.

The Costa menu now features mini meals with pasta as an option and we chose the spinach ravioli, on an earlier occasion we had enjoyed the chicken ravioli in a lovely tomtoey cheesy sauce. So we were eagerly looking forward to the vegetarian cousin ... the spinach ravioli. It arrived looking so depressed and sorry, hiding behind congealed pieces of a spinach white sauce. The pasta pockets dehydrated, dried out, to use Chef Marco's phrase they were more leather than Al Dente.

I did not have the heart to complain and when I did bring it up with a trainee steward ( he was wearing a green Tshirt), he replied that the spinach ravioli was  not meant to have a nice flowing sauce like its chicken cousin.

I picked up a feedback form, meaning to share my thoughts on email with the Costa management, however my previous complaint on email was never acknowledged. Seems like many companies do this, they do  not acknowledge customer feedback, yet they spend so much money on setting up customer feedback cells or even outsourcing the process to other companies.

The meal for me was definitely not worth the Cost..aa!