Contrary to popular belief, food really isn't a problem at all. Lots of places serve regular English breakfasts, pure vegetarian thalis and excellent Chinese fare. And there's lip-smacking local fare, if you know what to ask for. Not just noodles and momos, but a whole world of exotic cuisines. A profusion of exotic vegetables, wild mushrooms, varied greens, red rice, tangy chutneys, bamboo pickle and new spices to delight even the vegetarian palate. Green tamarind is pounded into spicy paste. Syrupy sweet wedges of pineapple are served on sticks like a lollipop. Even the papayas and oranges, the passion and other fruit all ooze ambrosia. Fresh squash, frozen lassi and lemonade made with tart local limes. If you're strictly a carnivore, there are delicious chops of home-bred pork to be had. Stir-fried, barbecued or smoked over pinecones. Juicy beef steaks are not a rarity here and the rivers and lakes are teaming with trout, mahaseer and salmon that grew up in these pristine climes. Tribal cuisine is amazingly varied and makes innovative use of whatever is available. Food is rarely doused in masala. Subtle flavours mingle with ease. The road from Dimapur to Kohima is lined with many Manipuri Rice Hotels serving excellent local cuisine. Pherima village is a good stop to sample some. Hotel Regale promises the Sema tribe's delicacy? Dry Pork with Axone (fermented soybean paste. The Bamboo shoot Restaurant offers Lotha cuisine.
Want a taste of regional specialities? Ask for the following:


TIEREI - red rice
DALI - light lentils
THEVU - chicken stewed in bamboo-shoot stock
NULA - small snails with pumpkin
MOUDI - beef with chillies
ANISHI - dried colocasia leaves and vegetables stewed with Naga herbs
MOUDI GADZ - beef gravy
PHOZIE GAD - pork gravy.
AXONE - fermented soya bean paste, a Sema tribe special
TUKULUK LUN - liver chutney
TAATHU - any chutney

If you're the queasy kind and your sense of adventure stops here, stop at a pineapple stall on the highway and try their sweet, juicy pineapples. China Town & Little China near Police HQ, serve good Chinese, Rendezvous nearby, serves multi-cuisine and the best Indian food. Evergreen is perfect for vegetarians hot spicy sambhar, dosas, idlis etc. At Popular Bakery on PR Hill Chowmein-samosas-hotdogs are all on the menu. There's a fast food place, Spice Zone with dosas, chaat, chowmein, burgers and even cholle bhature in the Ser's Bazaar shopping arcade. A long counter here, stocked chock-a-block with exotic sweets, chewing gums, preserved plums, Thai khemboi and all manner of Burmese goodies runs eye-level with a 2-7-year age group's eyeballs. Very successfully too, from the sound of the podgy kid in red clips wailing as loud as she can. She walked out smiling, with a bagful of treats. We prefer to climb above, to Dream Caf where you can actually order snacks, exotic coffees and just chill to the soothing music after hours of shopping.