Hungry Kya? Food In Noida
For many Delhiites, Noida is where the offices are. Many of us also know that the dark underside of crime-ridden Noida was in the headlines three years ago. For years, Noida has been in all aspects not-quite-Delhi, but it is increasingly becoming similar to Delhi. With infrastructural growth, rising connectivity through the Delhi metro and expressways, and the Delhi's National Capital Region spreading outward, many Delhiites can now opt to live in more affordable houses in Noida.
But, what seems to have escaped several chroniclers of the city of Noida is how the city caters silently to the food cravings of its residents and visitors.
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Noida, which was once a group of villages in the Gautam Buddh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, is now increasingly seen as part of the expanding old Delhi. While many Delhiites have moved to Noida, either to find jobs, or to build homes in this city-away-from-the-city, it is not surprising that their tastes in food have moved along with them. Although my adventures in Noida are limited to walking from the metro station to my office and an occasional lunch-time stroll, I find the sheer range of choices mind-boggling! To a novice, the food guide to Noida should begin classifying the different sorts of food in the city.
First of all, there are many good restaurants; either food chains or independent restaurants where you can sit relaxed, for a meal. While fast food chains like McDonald's, Subway and KFC do not grant you a relaxed dining experience, there are many gourmet chains that cater to the people who have more refined tastes. Many restaurants offer a wide range of cuisines although according to a Times of India report, Indian, Italian and Chinese are the preferred cuisines. Noida has many not-so-fancy restaurants which offer baked goodies, upgraded street food, South Indian delicacies, and Chinese, Tibetan and Continental food. Food in Noida Sector 18 is good because and it has many fast food outlets like the KFC, Subway, McDonald's and The Karim's.
The drinking culture is flourishing too. Noida is in a dead heat with Gurgaon, Delhi's favourite watering hole after the midnight curfew in Delhi.
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The second type of food outlets in Noida have take-away and delivery options. As Noida is fast emerging as a bustling commercial hub offering employment to many, many paying guest accommodations and hostels for the working class have come up in the city. The demand from these establishments keep the food outlets open around the clock. The good thing about the take-away and delivery outlets in Noida is the wide range of options that are available even into the wee hours of the morning. These eateries deliver mostly to the people staying in hostels who pull an all-nighter to work or study, or to the employees of MNCs whose working hours fit in well with American office timings. It is difficult for them to eat out at regular restaurants. As these places cater primarily to the needs of students and employees who live on a narrow budget, the food is priced lower than that of the regular restaurants. Many start-ups take upon themselves the onus of providing home-cooked meals to its regular customers. These packages often have roti, rice, sabzi ,daal, raita/curd and a sweet dish.
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The third (and my personal favourite) is the sheer variety of street food joints that dot the streets of Noida. If you are out on a stroll and hungry, the street food in Noida is a few minutes' walk away. While the food in Noida do not capitalize on the popularity of Mughlai street food .Much of the popular Delhi street food has made its way to the streets of Noida, many different kinds of butter-dripping paranthas, aloo tikki, samosas, etc. The street food in Noida also caters to the working crowd that throngs its streets by offering separate breakfast, lunch and tea time menus at the same stall. The most popular among these are the omelettes, sandwiches, chhole bhature and poori/roti sabji for breakfast, while rajma/kadi chawal, biryani and even pasta seems to be doing the rounds during lunch time. At tea time, the street vendors offer not merely chat items, but also recent variants like the chowmein burger. Fresh juice stalls are increasingly becoming popular too. The street vendors are increasingly trying to recreate Mumbai's street food palettes in Noida. What I like the most, however, are the large number of litti-chokha stalls, a high-protein food that has reached the streets of Delhi and Noida from the homes in Bihar. With its earthy flavours, these tennis-ball sized coal-baked globes of spiced sattu served with the spicy chutneys appeals to your gastronomic senses.