This place has a lot of history so buckle up 'cause it is a long review!!
This place opened when i was a kid. When it opened it was your lovely udipi-type restaurant and had prime placement at M G Road. It picked up from day one. Its South Indian offerings were to die for. Especially the mysore masala dosa because they used to make a special masala for the stuffing that had carrots, french beans, etc. At all other places in the area, mysore masala just contained your regular potato masala with some red chutney coating on the dosa. Meh! Also delicious were some of the punjabi offerings like Alu Mutter and Chana Masala. It served the best thali in the area (the rasam is the best i have ever tasted in an udipi-type place) for a very reasonable price. My aunt used to live in Oghadbhai lane (which is literally next to this place) and i used to make her take me or order from here every time i went there, which was often.
A few years back, the owners of this place opened up another place in Mulund. It seems that they shifted all their attention and resources there and pretty soon this place deteriorated. The service went to the dogs and so did the food. The guy they put at the counter to take orders did not even speak good hindi. Go figure!
Late last year, they decided to revamp this place, i guess taking into account the steadily growing lifestyle and affordability of Ghatkopar's citizens. It is one good place to look at, complete with a water curtain overlooking the entrance.
So, we had to check it out. It was a month or so after it re-opened and we thought everything would be in place and smoothed out by now. We went in the evening and a 'manager' complete with suit and tie greeted us. The menu was leather clad with beautifully presented pictures of their offerings. The interior also rivals a fine dining place, albeit pretty congested. The menu boasted of continental items like sizzlers for the main course and the always lovely caramel custard under dessert. Obviously impressed, we ordered...and were told they haven't started serving it yet. In fact, none of the continental items were available. And neither were the south indian ones. On seeing our shock, he explained that south indian items were carried only during snack times. On asking if the thali was available, the answer was it has been discontinued. So has the rasam. He looked around as if to suggest that this ain't that kinda place anymore. He didn't really have an answer for what exactly we were supposed to eat from the dinner menu since most of it is not available! Ultimately, we were reduced to pretty much ordering the chana masala and batura, and we did that out of respect for the place that was! Not what we came here for at all!
After a long wait, what came to the table was lackluster. The chana was hard and the batura was brittle. Whilst we were waiting, there was a ruckus at the counter because a gentleman had ordered chana masala to go and was kept waiting for 30 minutes. After the ruckus, the chana masala appeared magically and the person left vowing never again! After tasting what came onto our plate, i could only guess the person's reaction on tasting his take away.
Anyway, not wanting fruit juice for dessert (heck, even the Casata icecream was not available), we asked for tea. It was served after 10 minutes and tasted as if the same tea leaves were used for 10 previous orders. Sent it back!
All in all, we too left the place feeling let down. The prices were exorbitant and the service and food quality below average - even when compared to its own former self.
Anyway, a few days later on a sunday morning, we decided to order south indian items and called them. The same non-hindi speaking guy is at the phone and he basically tells us that there is no home delivery on Sundays, and even on other days the mininum order is of Rs.100 value! WTF! Aunt later told us we didn't miss much because the sambhar is watery and contains no vegetables at all, and the idli was reheated & dry. She also told us she had ordered dal rice and got sent sambhar instead of dal!
The most obvious conclusion was that this place still had the owner's back to it, and was revamped solely to cash in on the increased spending ability of Ghatkoparites. They were a run-of-the-mill udipi trying to be a fine dining place, and were failing at both in the bargain. We hoped they would realise that they were suffering from an identity crisis that needed resolution soon. Till then we turned our backs on it too.
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Fast-forward ten months, and now they serve south indian stuff at all times. There is no Rs.100 limit on home delivery. The sambhar is thicker and has veggies in it. Unfortunately, the chana masala hasn't improved, and neither the thali nor the rasam has made a comeback. Sizzlers are still not available. The mysore masala contains just the potato masala. Oh well, thanks anyways for the great childhood memories!
juleswinnfeld
