Traveling
and eating is one of the most favorite things that every food lover dreams for.
Specially if you are travelling in India,which is also known as the land of spices, you will get endless opportunities to taste a wide variety of dishes on the roadside eateries that are very much famous for serving scrumptious dishes, which you may often not find in the luxurious five star hotels.
Though many people complain about the bad hygiene of the roadside eateries and it is true up to some extent. In fact there are also some eateries along the roadside that are not only kept clean but are also renowned for serving some of the fresh and mouth watering dishes. The best part of eating on such places is that they have their own specialty. I have the traveled the length and breadth of this country and here are my personal 10 best roadside eateries of India.
North India
Kesar Da Dhaba, Chowk Passian, Amritsar,
Punjab
The
Kesar Da Dhaba is situated in the Passian Chowk in Amritsar, Punjab, which was
initially started by the late Lala Kesar Mal in the year 1916. He had set up
this shop at this place when he migrated to this place from Shekupura in
Pakistan. At present, the fourth generation is running the dhaba.
Even
though the shop has gone under several renovations, nothing has been changed
about the place as a whole. According to the words of Mr. Vijay Kumar, also
popularly known as Babbi Pehalwan, who runs the dhaba at present says, “It is
not that we cannot afford to change things, but we want to keep it in its original
form.” That is why the eatery still serves food on 20 clean tables which is
attended by about 25 waiters, who are not so fluent in English. You will find
them quite busy trying to meet the demands of the continuously bustling crowd,
sitting on the wooden stools of the shop.
The
shop serves vegetarian food and uses 100% ghee in their dishes. The restaurant,
located in Chowk Passain, can’t be accessed through cars. One has to hire a
rickshaw from the Golden Temple, which will charge you around Rs 20-25 for the
one way drop.
At
the initial stage, the shop served only parantha and mah kid dal, prepared in
pure ghee. Currently, it serves around 23 items, including baingan (brinjal)
bharta, shahi paneer, lacha parntha, daal tadka etc. The place is also known
for serving some sweet desserts like phirni (a cold sweet dish made of ground
rice, gulab jamun and rasmalai.
The
dishes served at this eatery gives complete value to your money, with a plate
of baigan bharta costing you Rs 60, palak panner- Rs 90 and the dal fry-Rs 30.
If you choose to order a thali at this place, they will serve you two
paranthas, mah kid al, cholle and raita, all in a nominal price of just Rs 43.
For
the food lovers, who are visiting the city of Amritsar, the Kesar Da Dhaba is a
must visit place.
No.1 Ahuja Dhaba, G.T. Road, Murthal, Haryana
No.1
Ahuja Dhaba is situated in Murthal village, which lies on the NH1 highway on
the way to Punjab, about 50 km from the northern border of Delhi. In fact,
Murthal is known for several numbers of brightly colored dhabas with the
lucrative smell of ghee fried pranthas.
This
particular dhaba is not only known among the budget class, as when you reach
the place, you will notice Mercedes and Audis parked outside the dhaba along
with some loaded trucks on the either side of the road. The place remains
mostly remains crowded, especially during the festival time. Even with the
largely swarming customers in the dhaba, the owner and a waiter called chotu
will always welcome you warmly. Even after the huge popularity of the place,
the humble personality of the owner and his waiter, has made the dhaba among the favorites among the customers since
1948.
The
popular items of this vegetarian roadside restaurant are stuffed paranthas,
tadka dal along with with achar and raita. Apart from these, the restaurant is
also known for serving Chinese dishes, among which the soups and the spring
rolls are worth mentioning. The early morning sweet and milky masala tea is
another specialty of this place. Looking
at the Mercedes and Audis parked outside the dhaba, one should not get worried
about the rates of the dishes, as a meal or two at this place will not cost you
more than Rs 180 to Rs 250. The place has been kept as hygienic as possible and
the vegetarian dishes served over here are prepared out of fresh produced and
green vegetables, which are directly brought from the close by fields. On top
of this, the dishes are prepared in pure homemade ghee.
Lassiwala, MI Road, Jaipur, Rajasthan
If
you are visiting Jaipur in Rajasthan, then do not forget to visit the Lassiwala
on MI Road. Now, there are three of them, but the original one is said to have
been there since 1944. The shop number
of the original one is 312 and is situated on the extreme left. Even though the
parking may be an issue at this eatery, their service is prompt, which will not
keep you waiting for long.
Make
sure to visit the place before 1 pm during weekends, you will not get to taste
the refreshing lassi of this place. During
weekdays, you may get few glasses of lassi even after 3 pm.
The
eatery serves lassi in disposable earthen pots, which come in two sizes. The
lassi served in smaller pots costs you Rs 15 and the lager pots will cost you
around Rs 30 to 40. If you are confident enough for your stomach to bear the
thick creamy shake of the lassi, you should opt for the larger glass. The shop
sells various variety of lassi including sweet, salty, saffron and mango
flavored ones.
The
lassis of the small shop is so tasty and refreshing that it is one of the
popular lassi shops among the tourists and the locals.
East India
Balaram Mullick & Radharam Mullick,
Padmapukur Road, Bhawanipore, Kolkata, West Bengal
This
renowned sweet shop situated on the Padmapukur Road in Bhawanipur started a
long time ago in the year of 1885. It was started then by Ganesh Chandra
Mullick. Now, the shop has grown is size and stature, with a neat and clean
sitting arrangement, attractive décor and the place is even air conditioned.
Even after the so many years of constant popularity of the shop, it has
preserved the traditional methods of sweets making.
When
you talk about food or dishes, Kolkata is renowned for its variety of sweets
like rosogolla, sandesh and even misti doi. Though the city is filled large
number of quality sweet shops, one that should be missed is the Balaram Mullick
& Radharam Mullick, which remains open from 6 am to 11 pm. They have earned the reputation of a popular
sweet stall with their own variety of items like the chocolate sandesh, baked
rosogolla, and the mango doi. Even though their new tried items have gained
popularity among the customers, yet the most popular ones are the traditional
items like jolbhora, sor bhaja, talshaash, abarkhabo, patisapta, kachagolla,
rasmalai and sitabhog. Along with these, they are also known for their misthi
doi and chanar payesh. During the winter season an extra item gets added to
their menu, i.e. sweets made of nolen gur.
Given
the quality and the freshness of the variety of sweets served at this place,
the sweets are not highly priced. Two people can fill their appetite for sweets
for Rs 60 to 70.
Roll House, K G Marg, Gangtok, Sikkim
Roll
House is hardly a 10 ft by 10 ft shop, situated on a narrow alley that branches
out from M.G. Marg towards Sadar Police Station in Gangtok. Even with the
smallness of this shop, you will not miss its big sign board.
The
shop started after Raju Sharma, the manager of the shop, went to Kolkata and
the realized the value of authentic rolls. At first, the Roll House did not
gain instant popularity, as the locals being fond of only momos and thukpa. At
the initial stage Raju Sharma had to face a major setback, as nothing seemed to
pull crowd towards his shop, when even distributing free rolls was not working.
But the scenario seemed to gradually change when he included even momos in his
menu. Locals along with some tourists went to this shop to eat momos and slowly
began to taste the rolls. In this way the Roll House gained immense popularity,
as of now during the peak tourist season, it records the selling of over 3000
rolls per day.
The
shop only serves vegetarian rolls and its items include vegetable cheese and
paneer rolls. Panner roll is the most popular one. Along with the rolls, the
momos served at this eatery is also quite famous as they are bigger and tastier
than the ones served in the neighborhood.
This
small roadside eatery is certainly a must visit place for the food lovers as a
double paneer or a cheese paneer roll is priced between Rs 40 to 50 and Rs 30
for a plate of eight momos.