When it finally did hit the stands, it was with this image screaming out on the cover - more than picking it up and opening it I, and am guessing a lot of other people did too, picked up BBC 's Good Food India inaugural issue and almost licked the front page. Thankfully, the cover itself tells you that the recipe is on the inside and I have kept it aside for one of those days when the chocolate urge gets very strong.

Food Lovers is perhaps the only "Indian" magazine before Good Food and it being Bangalore-centric was soon restrictive in its coverage I felt. And the repetition of the same names and faces in the magazine made me pick it up only for the superb food photography after a short while.

And for Good Food now - for a magazine it has all its fundamentals from magazine creation point of view in place. And why not, considering the stable from which it comes

* Its a food magazine and every picture is drool worthy. Wearing a bib while reading is recommended

* Information is not long and tedious, but rather in tidbits making you take your time on each page

* The feature stories are not too long and again page layout is so good you won't want to skip it.

* The sections are simple and basically cover everything a regular "foodie" would like - Eating In, Eating Out, and Eating Away

* The pictures - the fact that a few of them were showcases on photographic ability, like the one on the Mediterranean menu were great. Even most of the ads in the mag are very food based in terms of their pix making for good continuity.

* The info given in most of the smaller sections is enough to pique your interest and giving the URLs for further information is really generous

*  Coverage of the major cities of India and almost all of the big names (Indian and International) in this inaugural issue is a good way to make an entry. 

* The little tips and nuggets of info thrown in many recipes are great value add and aesthetically done on the pages. 

* The opportunities for interaction with the readers in Pro v/s Punter, the contest and even in the showcase of blogs and websites is really nice. 

* Have been editing copies for almost decade now and have a tendency to spot typos (I make quite a few of them meself too). Didn't think I would find them in a magazine of this caliber but there are. 

* Would have preferred if the 50 pages of recipes were a pull out section. Would be great to have my own Good Food Recipe collection. (But having been in the magazine making business for a while I can understand the several considerations that go into doing this.)