It felt like going from gudumba to Johnnie Walker in one bite. Cephas and I had a pact — if I had Rs 120 and he had Rs 130, no discussion was needed. Cephas was my friend in BCom; I still don’t know which is debit and which is credit, but I know where you get the best Chop Suey.
My first date? Chop Suey. My first relationship? Built on crispy noodles, a half-fried egg, and tangy curry. After the breakup, I stopped going — not because the place reminded me of her, but because NanKing’s Chop Suey cannot be finished by one person. Years later, I returned alone just to prove a point. And yes Hyderabad, you all are wrong NanKing has not lost its charm, its Chop Suey is as good and tastes the same, just like Fa Hien liked it.
Then Somajiguda gave Hyderabad its first momo stall — Kathmandu Momos. For Rs 70, I got steamed joy. His name was Prakash — that’s how much I knew about him — and his family was from Darjeeling. Everyone else was a fan too; someone created him a Google ad, a Zomato listing, and way too many positive reviews. Soon unemployed youth from the Old City saw it as a lucrative business. They took mayonnaise from leftover shawarma and fried the momos to compete with punugulu, which created a new fusion dish called disappointment. I tried to protest it but used the wrong hashtag: #SaveTibet.
I had given up the love for food. Then came Priyanka. I thought I’d found someone to share Chop Suey with. But when I suggested Chinese, she said, ‘Have you tried Asian?’ ‘China is in Asia only na’, I replied. ‘By that logic, idli is also an Asian delicacy’, she shot back.
