In recent years, Mysore has been developing rapidly and with a very western influence (inevitably catering for the many foreigners here for yoga). From the single Coffee Day (their equivalent of Starbucks, except that they also sell pretty darn good samosas) 4 years ago, there is now a variety of coffee places serving expresso coffee versus the local coffee-chicory mix you’d get at the local chai stand.
One such place is Cubs, started by an Indian who spent some time in Italy, which explains the prevalence of pasta and pizza on the menu - in addition to coffee, pastries, quiche, french fries, salad, toasted sandwiches, ice-cream, muffins, takeaway loaves of bread, a large variety of cakes (some just like Balmoral, yellow sponge with tacky white icing and pink / green jelly piping, minus the plastic flowers though) and for the heck of it, local biscuits as well. But get this … no chai!!
Cubs has become a popular hangout for the local teenage population (mysore is home to a large university as well as a number of private schools); drawn to the wide range of food, large sofas, tv screens (usually switched to MTV unless cricket is on) and loud dance music. So, no wonder I felt like I was in Zouk, except it was broad daylight and I was also eating a greek salad!
Needless to say, it was too loud to hold any decent conversation and I felt very old but what can you do … it’s hard to find a decent salad for $2 anywhere else! I always miss leafy green Chinese vegetables when I get here.. sigh!
I’ve been hanging out with Steve, an American who’s been living in Singapore the last 2 years (met him and his girlfriend at yoga there) and is on his first trip here. He’s 6 ft 5’, has cropped hair and is covered with tattoos so let’s just say I look like I have my own personal bouncer .. which kinda fits in with the whole Zouk picture. He’s a professional chef (which is way more useful than a bouncer) so all I have to do is find some elusive greens and I can re-create my own ‘Greek Salad in a disco’ scenario at home … complete with bouncer but minus the loud dance music!
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