Ooty- Sidewalk Cafe

Ever since i watched the Ooty episode of Highway On My Plate(HOMP), i have wanted to go
there for the sole purpose of eating at the places that were featured on the show.
Last weekend provided the perfect opportunity. It had been two weeks since work resumed after the shutdown and we badly wanted to get away someplace. Ended up rounding up a bunch
of people- friends, friends of friends and off we went to Ooty.


First stop was at Pykara and we stopped at one of the home made chocolate stores to pick up
an assortment of chocolates, tea and essential oils.
A long road trip from Mysore to Ooty and the walk at Pykara got us all hungry and we knew
where to go for brunch- The Sidewalk cafe. However, we could make only by lunch time and we settled down to order some pizzas that they are famous for.

After placing our order for the pizzas and sizzlers we asked their manager if we could take a peek at their famous firewood oven. The genial manager let us into the place where they baked the pizzas and let us all help the chef with the making and baking. And not only that, each of us was allowed to don the chef's hat, turn by turn and we posed away merrily for pictures!

The pizzas came out of the oven nice and hot( They had to.After all, we had helped them make it) and we wolfed down the Sidewalk specialty pizza, a spinach pizza called Popeye
something and a jain pizza. The sizzler had the yummiest and creamiest pasta that i had eaten till date.

The place has some really nice desserts on offer too. Not only that, you can also take your pick at some of their tasty chocolates- run and raisins, walnuts, almonds, cashewnuts and the like.

Sidewalk cafe is a laid back and warm place. I was delighted to see framed, old coca-cola
print advertisements adorning the walls. The baking place is modeled like a bar where you
can sit around on barstools and watch your pizza getting done. Apparently, the place gets really crowded during the evenings. Since we made it slightly early for lunch, we missed the rush. It
allowed us to sit back and enjoy the lunch at leisure. At the end of it, i knew that it was
one more name added to my satisfied-after-eating-here list. Seems the place has become more famous after it was featured on HOMP. I am gonna recommend it to all of you too. Do not miss it if you visit Ooty.

A heavy lunch and then it was time for shopping at Charring Cross- more chocolates,plants and woolens. Eating and shopping- the ultimate indulgence during an outing! :)

So much so,that we forgot that there were other places to cover before we headed back to
Mysore. Somehow wrapped up all the places before sundown and headed back. Spotted elephants on the way, in the bandipur forest, quietly grazing at night.
It was a single day out to Ooty but i got back with my batteries charged. And each time one of the plants from back there flowers, it is going to remind me of the trip and bring a smile on my face.