Culture High and Low

No rush today but even then we manage to be first at breakfast. There is something a bit decadent about sitting on a sunny terrace in PJs to eat masala omelet and curd with banana. Today R's plan is to hit the State Emporiums to top up on essentials such as cushion covers. These shops are run by the various State Governments and are typical government enterprises. A/c, no hard sell, no haggling and not at all crowded. They are conveniently located in a line together, just off Connaught Place (CP) so we can get there in under 30 minutes using the metro. When we finish here we adjourn to the cafe at the Triveni Gallery, a two stop ride on the metro and then a short walk. A friend pointed us at this place last year and we were really taken with it. A shaded terrace overlooking a small garden and an open air theatre, the service is relaxed , but friendly and the menu has odd quirky things like green burger buns and unusual ice cream flavours.  We have Chocolate Fudge Brownie with Marmalade ice cream. Nummy. There are a couple of exhibitions on and we take a look around them. Some of the ceramic pieces look great and have relatively modest price tags but realistically there is no way of getting them home safely.

We walk back to CP as we want to look for books and we are meeting J, who is on his way back to GB from Burma. It is hot and we are ready for a cup of tea by the time that we get to the Oxford Bookstore. In Kolkata this is the place to go for books. In New Delhi they have almost given up on selling the printed word and are primarily a cafe called the Cha Bar. This is so pretentious that they tell D that he can't have plain black tea and that he should have one of their recommended specialty teas at three times the price. Only the suggestion that we will take our business elsewhere gets a result,  although the resulting brew is weak and tepid. We move on to the Amrit Bookshop,  much more to our taste, where we find a couple of volumes that interest us. There is still time to kill so we wander aimlessly around CP, never a bright thing to do as the touts can spot you a mile away. In an effort to avoid them we hide in the Rodeo, a bar done out in TexMex kitsch where the waiters wear cowboy hats. 

J arrived at our meeting point bang on time and we walked round CP to find somewhere for a cup of tea. It's not quite clear who the Cafe Immigrant is aimed at but we aren't proud. Their black tea is a bit better than the Cha Bar and J is delighted to get cold milk for his cuppa. He tells us about his trip to Burma, and about having to rough it a couple of times. He is pretty much ready for his ready for his return to GB so he can get a decent cup of tea every time. We take the metro back to Race Course and the ten minute walk back to LB. The sun is dropping but it is still quite warm so we opt for a swim. As usual the water is pretty cold but not bad when we get moving.

We have opted for an evening out in Haus Khas Village tonight, one of South Delhi's livelier spots. We take the metro to Green Park, then look for an auto. A young guy quotes 100 rupees which we take but he then tries to up it to 200. We tell him to stop and we will get out and the price returns to the original figure. When we do the reverse trip we are quoted 80 which seems very fair to us. A few spivs get all of the auto drivers a bad name. Haus Khaz is not quite as sophisticated as we had imagined. We do a circuit and try to swerve the barkers who are trying to drum up business for the various bars. One guy's pitch is quite good so we let him lead us up several flights of stairs to a place, but when he opens the door the music is deafening so we turn around. We have a beer in a place that is quiet and empty,  which suits us, but the management start upping the volume in an attempt to attract more business.  In D's view they would do better to drop their prices.

After a beer we head for the Rang Da Basanti Urban Dhaba which turns out to be on the first floor about twenty yards from the bar. We pick this by looking at the zomato website, a listings site for food outlets in India. This place tops the ratings for Haus Khaz.  The restaurant has a Punjabi theme with bright yellow decor, cartoon drawings of cheery Sikhs on tractors and a very Punjabi flavour to the menu. As a greeting we are given a traditional Punjabi drink, chabeel, which is rose water, milk and water and rather pleasant.  We order jeera rice with lentil cakes, chickpea curry which is really quite hot and curried mutton shanks. It is good food but the portions are huge and we cannot finish everything. As we leave the place is starting to fill up and the whole area seems to be livening up. We head straight for bed when we get back. Two days of Delhi heat have taken their toll.