Udipi

Description:

As they say, nobody goes to Goa to eat veg food.

But what about pure vegetarians (like the author)?

Research and enquiries threw up the name of Nav-Tara, supposed to be one of the best (?!) for veg southie dishes. We (a gang of 7 comprising 3 senior citizens) went there at 9-00 AM one morning.

At all times, the staff assume that they are doing you a favor. Grumpy and rude.. sample this : we ordered idli. It came ice cold.. believe it or not. When we requested the waiter to get us hot idlis, his response was classic:

" you will get idlis at this temperature only; if you dont want, then don't eat it"

and without even waiting for our response proceeded to lap up the plate of idli on our table. Atrocious !

At 9-00 AM in the morning you get cold idli-s !!

While exiting the place, I approached the manager (I assume so; he was the only staffer wearing a tie !!) who was on the phone, going on and on to his caller about how this particular DVD player has better features, with a remote control that has colorful buttons.. etc.. TOTALLY neglecting a customer who wanted to talk to him DURING THEIR BUSINESS HOURS !!

I prompted.. "Excuse me, Sir.. just a minute, pls"..

He went on and on with his phone talk, looking through me as if I was thin air !!

I prompted again.. "Excuse me, Sir.. just a minute, pls"..

He went on and on with his phone talk, this time je just turned his face away !!!!

I waited for exactly 180 seconds and then barged out.

Visit NavTara, only if you want a perfect way to destroy a simple veg dining experience.

In contrast, there are joints in Bombay which courteously dish out STEAMING hot idlis even at midnite tme.

Description: 'The owner eats here' – I wonder how many eating establishments in the world could boast of that. Bang outside Matunga station in Bombay's mini-madras,matunga - Ram Nayak's Udipi Shri Krishna Boarding sure can. Ram Nayak's Udipi Shri Krishna Boarding is India's and therefore the world's first Udipi restaurant and an absolute gourmet gem. The South Indian thali, which they serve piping hot on a pristine plantain leaf, could easily be the longest, most economical and healthiest buffet anywhere. Walking up to the first floor of what is Matunga's municipal market I was greeted by a chalk sign saying " On account of it being Ganesh Chaturthi, dessert will be served no extra charge. Today's special Mysore Pudding." Akshay reaffirms in faith in God. We find ourselves in the quaint enclave which looks more like doctor's office then a restaurant, the narrow corridor thats leads us in is flanked by a small line of chairs, thronging with people reading magazines and newspapers as they patiently as they wait their turn . The smell of mogras, disguise the faint smell of mouth watering rasam sneaking in from other room. The A man in a indigo white shirt and matching lungi gives us our coupons and after a small short wait we find ourselves in the very clean environs of the restaurant. Then began the long, elegantly choreographed courting ritual of my palate. Step 1 A fresh sparkingly clean, slightly wet banana leaf is kept on the granite table infront of me. Also nice stainless steel glass of cold water is slide across the table. Step 2 Three varities of vegetables are lumped on to my smooth banana leaf. One of them is crunchy and green and has allot of coconut in it. The secand is avial and the third is dal-like pulsy taste to it. Some salt is added on the side and along with some green mango pickle. Step 3 A small glass of butter milk, two empty catoris [vessel], some curd are propped up against my now half full glass of water. A ghee lined roti and some papad are placed on the plateau of my banana leaf and in the mean time my glass is refilled. Step 4 Eat, and as you do so all your food magically re-appear with and watchful bearers replenishing your every move. By the time sambhar and some tangy rasam fills up those empty catoris. P.S - I'm a messy eater Step 5 Once you've finished with the rotis, rice is served and eaten with the sambhar and rasam. Steps 2 to 5 are repeated till I'm full. Time for an afternoon nap. My rating 10/10

Description: Eat Street is a food court sitting on one of the banks of the hussain sagar lake, Hyderabad. The other side being Tank Bund. It's a spacious place with room for people along the banks of the hussain sagar as well as on the roof. Even with the large seating capactiy, it's very hard to find seats here on a weekend. Such is it's popularity. Even so it's very clean and well maintained. This is how the entrance looks. These pictures were taken by Sumeet. The jobless pics are mine. click image for better color Click here for another view, of the inside, under the roof. Eat Street has the following food counters: A Minverva Coffee Shoppe: Serves south indian tiffins like dosa's, idli's etc. They also serve some hot(and fresh) jalebi's. No maincourse items though. Nothing like andhra meals or anything. Chaat Corner: I love the Dahi poori here. The other chaat's are good too, I hear. I've tried the Samosa Ragada and Dahi Poori on many occasions. I have here a picture of Jalebi's and Dahi Papdi(or something). In the bottom left, you see Chicken Manchurian style. Not very pricey at 65 rupees. The one time I tried it, it had a peppery taste to it. Notice the wooden plate on which the dahi-chaat is served on? Don't forget the pomegranate seeds. This is half the spread at the chaat counter. Click for a bigger view. Chinese: This counter serves up around 8 different starts in non-vegetarian and 6 in vegetarian. It has set chinese meal package's in both veg and non-veg and offers a choice of veg fried rice/veg noodles with a curry, dry item/salad. Softdrinks are avaliable at all the counters btw. Here's an example. That's veg fried rice, a chicken curry and a salad. The other plate is a chicken dry item. Wah! Hyderabad: This is the biryani/mughlai counter. My friends vouch for me when I say that the veggie biryani is good here. The chicken biryani is ok-okish but the mutton biryani rocks! One can also get combo's meals with dishes like afghani chicken and naan/roti. Set meals are avaliable in a decent variety. Separate starters/dry items are also avaliable. Good stuff, trustable. Here's a pic of the biryani: I'm sorry for the half eaten cheese garlic bread piece in the right side. Click to take a look at the menu in the background. Icecream Shack: Softies, cones and cups. Various flavours. I've tried Honey-Raisin, Blackcurrant, Apricot, etc. Not pricey at all. And yet, has quite a variety. Here's a pic of pistachio and vanilla-raspberry. Cafe Coffee Day: Like any other Coffee Day. Just Fries: Serves different kinds of french fries. They also serve Moutain dew. Corn Club: All veggie joint. Serves excellent baked corn with cheese and babycorn french fries. Pizza Hut: Although this joint doesn't have ALL the items shown on a regular Pizza Hut menu, it is decent. They serve only small pizza's and have very little variety i.e. 2-3 in each variety with Cheese Garlic Bread. Extra's: Shwarma Rolls: Didn't taste very good the last time I tried it. But it looked rather nice. Here's a pic. Cup corn: Three kinds; Butter, Pepper or Masala. 25 rs a cup. Steamed corn in a cup. I love it. Chocolate Hut: Has a vareity of chocolates to try out. Tibb's Frankie^TM Stand: The original Bombay Frankie^TM in Hyderabad. Has Chicken Tikka, Tawa Chicken, Mutton and Chicken Chettinad frankies in the non-veg and Paneer, Veggie etc frankies too. Also offers grilled sandwiches. Max price of 30 rs. Not particularly filling, but very nice. The good part about this place is that it's always expanding. They're planning to add more stalls to it. FYI, There is a loo present after the kid's playground. Also, one can take the barge or the speedboat and take a tour of the lake. The landing is right off the main eating place. All in all, I'd brand this as a family place. It's timings are: 11:30 am to 10:30 pm.

Description:

Wadeshwar or Vyadeshwar is a snack joint which Sadashiv Pethis in Pune swear by. And that says a lot about a place.

It is a very small snack joint churning out excellent idlis and dosas in the morning. It is open from 8am to 11am and again from 5pm to 9pm. The morning serves you idlis, dosas, thalipeeth - all of which are excellent to sit and eat or take away for a brekkie for the entire family. There is no sambar, don't bother to ask. On Sunday mornings the dosa is replaced by Uttappas and people queue up for parcels. In the evenings you get Paratha bhaji after 8pm which is nothing great. The south Indian snacks are distinctly non-Udipi and very different. They somehow agree with the Maharashtrian palate making this place do very well in the heart of the city.

Description:

A standard Punjabi/Chinese/Udipi snack/food joint. Has an a/c section but no bar. Good filter coffee and a great dal tadka with rice is recommended (and is great 9/10 times). Other stuff is pretty much standard fare.

Description:

Cafe Mysore claims to be the oldest authentic South Indian eating place in Mumbai.

They have very good dosas, vadas, sambar, and rasam. Their coffees are very famous. The seating is on two levels with the upper level being a/c. It is usually quite crowded. On you way out be sure to pick up yummy snacks from the counter.