April 14, 2005

When it comes to Lahori palate, insatiable is the word that best captures the spirit. There's no euphemism for food just as there's no substitute for savoury flavours that entice you, from stall to stall, from street to street, in and out of a roadside cafe.

Delicacies ooze out of Lahore's streets: a salad bar here, a burger joint there, a stir-fry just round the corner, and Lahoris don't cut corners while at it. Nor do they eat by the clock. Round the clock is more like it.

Basant or no basant, the food street in Gwalmandi wears a festive look every night where dining is an event. The fare is diverse and includes fish, paya, hareesa, kebabs, tika, haleem, pulao, kata kat, karahi, you name it.

A 'me too' of Gwalmandi exists a few miles away in Old Anarkali; yet another at the Shahi Mohalla. Other eating-out joints are spread across town, old and new parts alike, in Mozang, Laxmi Chowk, Wahdat Road, Icchra, DHA, Model Town, Main Market, Gulberg, Qadhafi Stadium, etc.

A more stylish fare is hosted by a long line-up of chique restaurants on Gulberg's M.M. Alam Road, where anything from outlandish cuisine to authentic western and fusion food is the order. It's here that Lahore's glitterati is seen hanging out, which is not to take away the popularity of bakeries-cum-eateries which have sprouted all over town.

You can start your day with coffee and scrambled eggs on croissant at a classy bakery (just walk a few steps and you'll invariably run into one); read your morning paper there and take a walk in the park. Warm up with mini-golf and savour lasagna or beef patte for a snack served all day at a park cafe; nearly every park in the city worth its name has at least one.

Go shopping and on your way out of a mall dig into the roadside salad bar. Starters done, now head for a casual lounge cafe for the main course, where earnest-to-goodness vegetarian fare will keep you gasping for more.

Wash the food down with a shake or a steaming cup of aroma tea. But don't forget, by five in the evening, you'll be ready again for that crepe lemon or tiramisu with old-fashioned black tea or coffee latte.

Seven in the evening is just the right time for that delectable dahi-barra at the Regal or Main Market. But don't over do it because, remember, there are the food streets, too. Take your time: go chew a pan at Maula Bukhsh's, or have a scoop of hand-made ice cream from Beadon Road.

There's no hurry, full service fancy restaurants or the more earthly food streets serve hot dinners till way past two in the morning.

Welcome to Lahore, the food lover's paradise.

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)