Flitting by Lucknow and Nainital

Whenever I travel I try to soak in as much of the local culture, scenery and of course food as possible. I recently undertook what some would say an arduous journey from Calcutta to Nainital. I had to travel 4 days by train to spend 2 nights at Nainital. The reason I agreed to this gruelling travel schedule was the company of good friends which made 4 days in carriages of Indian Railways feel less dreary.

I took an overnight train to Lucknow via the Punjab (Now renamed Amritsar) Mail from Calcutta. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the 1^st A.C. Compartments (including the toilets) had been done up recently. It's been given a more contemporary look and a comfortable feel. We reached Lucknow in the evening of the following day. I interject here to add a commentary about a personal quirk. I am in the habit of making pilgrimages to certain places or eateries of different cities whenever I flit by. To me the experience isn't complete without a visit to these places. In Lucknow for example, there are the Imambaras, the Residency and of course Tunday Kebabi. I confess I couldn't make it to the Imambaras or the Residency this time due to paucity of time between connecting trains. But I did jump into an Auto-Rickshaw and headed straight for Aminabad. The drive in a Lucknow Auto from the Lucknow Station to Aminabad and from there to the Aishbag Station (where we took the train to Lalkuan), was akin to a high speed chase from in a Robert Langdon starrer Dan Brown Novel with an equal measure of thrills thrown in. It took me 35 minutes to get to Tunday Kebabi, another 30 minutes to get Mutton Tunday Kebabs and Mutton Dum Biryani packed (although I still regret not getting the whole Tandoori Chicken packed). A 30 minutes dash back and we were on the train in an ordinary 1^st Class Compartment. I confess this was an experience hitherto unknown to me. However, in congenial company aided by the aroma and heavenly flavour of Tunday's delicacies, it didn't seem that bad after all. The 'Tunday’ (or Tunde) Kebab is actually a spiced version of the Galouti Kebab although much slimmer. It is crispy on the outside and melt-in-your mouth soft on the inside. Although we had it with the Mutton Dum Biryani, I feel it always goes a lot better with a Naan or a Roomali Roti. I did not rate the Dum Biryani too high. The unseemly usage of vanaspati or dalda marred the lucknavi flavour of the Biryani. However, the Kebabs more than made up for this lacuna.

We arrived at Lalkuan at 6 AM and it was bitterly cold. A khullar of masala chai offered comfort at the railway station. We took a car to Nainital, the climb was steep yet scenic. We also managed to get twenty if not forty winks on the way. It took us about an hour and a half to get to Nainital and our hotel Armadale. The hotel did not quite live upto my expectations or it’s advertisements on the Website, and we quickly changed from our so-called ‘Executive Rooms’ to the ‘Majestic’ Suite, which was a tad more comfortable. To our dismay we were informed that the chef had taken a week’s leave, so all the hotel could offer was Parathas and Toast. We took a stroll down Mallital and had lunch at a nondescript restaurant which served rather nice cheese-chicken sandwiches. The dinner was at a hotel called Vintage Inn and was on the whole forgettable. The next day we ventured to the Mall and had lunch at Sackley’s Pastry Shop and Restaurant. This was quite the find. Sackley’s is a tastefully decorated eatery which serves Continental, Italian, Chinese and Thai food with equal élan. We tried a combination of Chinese and Thai which proved most satisfactory. The Tom Yum soup was very well prepared. The Chicken Chowmein and Chicken Fried Rice were also quite well prepared. But they excelled themselves at the Chilli Minced Lamb and Kung Pao Chicken (a Cantonese Version which I’ve never tried before). Dinner that night was at the Hotel Armadale and was predominantly vegetarian. The next day, we set out sightseeing in and around Nainital, visited the Naina Devi Temple and did some shopping on the Mall. The Naina Devi Temple is an oasis amidst the bustle of the busy hill station; it is an abode of serene solitude. The temple opens right up to the lake and the effect on the meditative pilgrim is most pronounced. On our way out of Nainital, we visited the fabled ‘Machan’ restaurant for lunch. It did live upto it’s reputation in the variety and quality of the fare it had on offer. We ordered Onion Kulchas, Gobi Mutter, Mutton Seekh Kebab, Murgh Kali Mirch and Kali Dal. Except the Seekh Kebab which appeared to be undercooked, the rest of the fare was extremely well prepared. I particularly enjoyed the Murgh Kali Mirch with the Onion Kulcha. After a stroll down the Mall we realised that we needed to have dinner packed for the train…so it was back to Sackley’s . They packed a wonderful basket of Chicken and Cheese Sandwiches, Chicken Rissoles, Mushroom & Chicken Pizza, Chocolate Eclairs and Chocolate Tarts. The Pizza and the tarts were simply exquisite.

We reached Lucknow very early and our connecting train to Calcutta was delayed by 3 hours. I was not in the mood to dash to Aminabad so early in the morning. So after a nap at ‘Indradhanush’ the Lucknow Station’s bijou Air-Conditioned guest rooms (you guessed it – the rooms bear names like Hara, Peela, Neela and so on…), I went out hunting for books on Urdu Shayari and Hindi Sahitya. The only interesting books I found were a compilation of the works of Nida Fazli and another of Bahadur Shah Zafar. Unfortunately nobody had a copy of Diwan-E-Ghalib or the works of Meer Taqi Meer. But most strikingly, the city of Lucknow did not have any compilation of the works of it’s last Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, who was an accomplished poet and wrote under the pseudonym ‘Akhtarpiya’ amongst others. Nearer to the time of our trains’ departure, we realized that we hadn’t had lunch and went to the ‘Cumsum’ Restaurant at Platform No. 1. We ordered a meal of Chicken Biryani (which was served with a gravy – Hyderabadi Style) and Egg Quorma. Both these items proved edible. We proceeded to board the Punjab Mail back to Calcutta. The evening’s meal was supplied from the pantry car which consisted of piping hot samosas, Pakoras and aloo bondas. A much awaited home-cooked dinner came from Varanasi. The train arrived in Calcutta more than 5 hours late, so we also got a chance to breakfast on bread, butter and omelette from the train’s pantry car.