It was indeed a dream, which us bloggers from Blogger’s Table got to live a few days back. Visiting Kingdom of Dreams, which is located in my own city, on a Friday evening was something which was highly coveted.
Especially, when I have been so busy at work. It couldn’t have been better to get all my energy revived and get charged up for the weekend to come. So right after work, I headed straight to experience this extravaganza of Indian tradition, food and culture.
As soon as you enter the complex, the lavish palace like facade enthralls you and you are welcomed by the live heartwarming music being played by musicians and percussionists dressed up in traditional Indian attire. And it feels so much home.
A magnificent entrance to the Culture Gully opens up into a very deep alley with food pavilions of various states of India. Each pavilion has got it’s specific identity which perfectly epitomizes the state’s culture, people, tradition and food.
If there is Ma Kaali’s ravenous statue symbolizing West Bengal on one side, it is a truck on the other side, which pictures Punjab perfectly.
Assam displays the tea lounge, with a cup and saucer embellished wall, where Madras boasts of it’s coffee house with old fashioned benches.
Mumbai has got it’s beautiful Victoria terminus and a train bogie turned into a craft shop.
A beautiful bridge and a real looking sky, where there is always an evening time, reminded me of Venetian in Las Vegas.
The use of such bold colors on murals all over makes it a place that has come out straight from a story book.
After we were done visiting various pavilions, we sat down for a meal at Rajasthan’s. A low seating with individual dining tables for each one of us, made the experience so special.
It started with a warm welcome by the most humble and happy chef, or more popularly Maharaj, I have ever met. He is so down to earth and such a nice story teller. He would take you through the narratives of food and how the recipes like Raj Kachori, Ker Sangri came into existence.
He brought us Raj Kachori and an executive thali, of which I enjoyed the very bit. No ostentatious display of complex recipes, yet simple and flavorful food.
A real food of real people, oblivious from the jazzy stuff which chefs hurl into the kitchens of five stars of world.
Servers were so humble that they would teach us to eat Dal Baati Choorma, the way they do it traditionally in Rajasthan. Everything is so personalized that you would feel the true hospitality of Rajasthan.
It reminded me of my various trips to different cities of the state in past and the their famous welcoming one liner; Padharo Mahare Des {welcome to our region}.
All in all, Kingdom of Dreams is a place, where I would want to come back again and again to experience the diversity of Indian food, which is reasonably priced. There is so much to be experienced and absorbed, that one visit isn’t enough.
And Culture Gully is just a part of Kingdom of Dreams, that I have taken you through. There are Bollywood themed Musicals and a lot more to it.
Others on table that evening:
- Sangeeta Khanna of Banaras Ka Khana
- Sushmita Sarkar of My Unfinshed Life