Mysore Phoenix Blog

We are eating faster than I am posting. Going to try to catch up a bit. On today’s menu? Kali dosa!Kali dosaOur plan to work through the menu systematically reveals our lack of understanding of this restaurant. Every menu item isn’t necessarily available at any time...

Yesterday I asked for shavige bath (a mixture of vermicelli, vegetables and spices), but Manju told us that’s only available in the morning. We’re going to have to do a brunch to complete our research. Sara asked for a rava dosa and he told us it’s only available in...

As I walked home with my little bag of flowers this morning, a local lady passed me. She looked at the bag, nodded her head at the bag, and then gave me the biggest smile.Flower garlands are used for puja – a devotional ritual. I buy my flowers after practice...

Okay, here’s what we’re working with: the Sri Durga menu. It’s hung up on the wall in the front room. I’ve been doing the baths and Sara’s been working on the dosas. There’s also a section of breads (poori, chapati, parota). We’re not sure what gets served with the...

Sri Durga is a great local restaurant just off the main road in Gokulam. Specialty of the house: south Indian cuisine. Sara and I decided that for purposes of research, we should try every item on the Sri Durga menu. This will take us many lunches, but we are...

A lizard just fell out of my purse when I picked it up.Off to practice!

I’ve been killing myself trying to get the USB modem I bought from the phone man by the chai shop to work. I left the one I bought last year at home, so had to get another. Cheap enough, but getting them set up is a time-consuming process. They require authentication...

Breakfast at Sri Durga with Angela and Sara. Dark inside, and full of set dosas and idly, and the magical sweet kesari bath. All washed down with sweet, sweet chai.But wait, who do I spy outside?My landlady has three pugs: Shiba and her son, Telly, and daughter, Siri....

I’m sure I’m jet lagged, even though I slept very well last night and feel on top of things today. Unfortunately, Dion is not here to look at me kindly and announce, “You are completely out of it.”So here’s a story from yesterday. As is usual when I visit Mysore, my...

I’m at Charles de Gaulle airport, killing a few hours before my flight to the US. Next stop, Detroit. It is endlessly hilarious to hear the Air France staff say Detroit with French accents. It sounds like a very elegant destination.So, as I was making my way...