if such a place exists, i'm moving there when i get back to the US. until then, i'll have to make do with this tiny slice of heaven on Earth called - aptly so, i might add - The Only Place.
i'm in India for 6-8 months, and the country is understandably notorious for its lack of beef. after all, the country is 80% Hindu and one can see cows roaming yards, dirt paths, streets and highways alike as if they own the place - which, when you think about it, they do. so coming across Beef with a capital B is difficult at best. an exercise in patience and the taste of bad meat in your mouth. McDonald's here - by the way, those are ubiquitous - don't serve any beef at all. there's no such thing as a Big Mac, where in the States those two magical words translate into "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun." according to John Travolta in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, that most special of all recipes is referred to in France as "Le Big Mac" [Royale with Cheese jokes aside]. here, the McDonald's serves you the Chicken Maharaja Mac - which is admittedly tasty. same deal as a Big Mac back home, but substitute fried chicken patties for the beef and add some typical masala sauce that tastes like India - no other way to put it - and you've got the signature burger offered here.
but i digress. beef. no, Beef. with a capital B. that's the deal here. a few weeks ago, we had heard rumors of this place in Bangalore - this carnivorous fantasyland - called The Only Place. and we laughed at the name because it was so clever. but then we heard that it wasn't just a myth, and such a place really did exist.
so we organized an expedition to go to Bangalore this weekend for the SOLE PURPOSE of eating red meat from that fabled animal that once used to go "Mooo!" but would now be dead, cooked and served to me on a clean plate, preferably with some fries and bread.
we found the restaurant Saturday evening - turns out we chose a fantastic hotel, as the restaurant was only a block away - and went in, sat down and opened the menus. and there before my eyes -
steaks. sadly, no porterhouse or smaller t-bone - i'll say that off the bat - but an extensive, two-page list. and i did something i would never ever do in the States -
i jumped immediately to the most expensive thing on the list. Rs 345. hmm, let's see what we get for that -
"a double filet mignon," i said aloud. people around me nodded in silent agreement, their eyes just as glazed over as mine, shocked, amazed, relieved, ecstatic, giddy that we had actually found this place and really were now absorbing the words in front of our eyes.
of the 18 of us at the table, 10 ordered the double filet mignon. do the math, people. Rs 345 at an INR 40 to USD 1 exchange rate means that my meal cost me a little over $8.
and when it came out, and i took that first bite, my eyes half-closed, a slow smile spread over my face, and an involuntary moan emanated from somewhere deep inside me. i probably look like a total idiot, i thought to myself in a split-second moment of clarity, but i didn't care. this was the most incredible steak i had ever had.
i savored every bite of my food for as long as i could, because while i wanted to cherish every precious moment of this experience, at the same time i wanted to wolf down the meat because it was so delicious.
now, looking back in retrospect, i recognize that this incredible sensation, and the quality of the steak, may have been slightly colored by the fact that i had not had good steak in so long, and that perhaps in a placebo-effect moment i took the steak to be much better than it actually was. but no, i know good steak when i see and taste it, and though i don't have the most discerning taste buds in the world - i'm certainly no steak connoisseur - i know good steak from bad steak, and this was most certainly GOOD STEAK.
here's a picture of my steak. i had to take one just to show it off before i tore into it.
one thing's for sure - i'm going back to Bangalore again, and soon. SO GOOD.
No comments:
Post a Comment