Very easy to access, very easy to reach, and situated inside the Gujarat Bhavan, this canteen caters to all kinds of crowd, but most importantly, people who are looking for nice and hygienic, home cooked food.
Their menu changes everyday, but the essentials in their menu that are constant are Dal, chapati, rice and salad, papad and green pickle. They don’t have an ala carté menu, only a fixed thali for both lunch and dinner.The lunch thali is priced at a humble Rs. 90, and the dinner thali at Rs.110. Not much of a difference between the thalis served at both these times. They give you repeat helpings of all that you want, and serve you food very warmly!On the particular day that I went, their menu had Bhindi, Dal, Chhole and Pakode ki Subji. The small snack that they give on the side was Dhokla.
A lot of places mess up bhindi big time! This includes weddings, restaurants, halwais and just everyone who cooks bhindi for a large number of people. People mess it up so much so that I dread having bhindi at people’s homes as well. The bhindi is always undercooked, always raw, always chewy. But the bhindi here was a star! Bharwa bhindi with so much flavor, crispy, and perfectly cooked!The Chhole were also really nice, just like you have chhole at home. Their Pakode ki Subji was a very different dish. I’ve never found it on the menus of any restaurants, only had it at home, that too just twice or thrice. The dish was very nice, and very subtle on flavors. A typically home-cooked dish that was for me.Nothing to say about the dal because I really don’t enjoy dal at all. But my mom found it really well made as well.The Dhokla was very dry, just okay according to me. And you don’t get repeat servings of the snack.The thali comes with Chaach, which was nice and chilled, and there are unlimited servings of this too!
We asked the server for their sweets menu and he told us sweets are only prepared on order. There was a gathering of 20 people coming in shortly, and there was a special kheer (priced at Rs.20 a katori) that was only prepared for them. He was very very kind to have given us a bowl of kheer upon us insisting. The waiter also very sweetly answered all our questions about the timings, cuisines, what time the chefs wake up, etc. Very chatty guy - totally added to my dining experience!
The kheer was just delicious! Lip-smacking delicious! No extra sugar, no watery consistency - it was superb!
Go to Gujarat Bhavan if you want delicious home-cooked hygienic meal, go there if your maid hasn’t come or your mom isn’t in the mood to cook, go there if you’re a pure vegetarian and want a dining out experience only for the heck of it, and go there if you’re really low on budget.
2. Goa Bhavan
3. Karnataka Bhavan
Connect with me on:Twitter: @sahibagursahaneInstagram: @thetastingforkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetastingfork
