Maharashtrian

We went to Abhiruchi Village Cottage Restaurants (look up their site www.abhiruchivillage.com) for a saturday night's stay.

Pro-s
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Tracts of greenery.

Well constructed swimming pool. (read on)

The air smells green. Relax in hammocks.

The AC Room was freezing without the AC on (perhaps due to the Pune January season).

Cons
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The story begins.. brace yourself..

VERY VERY VERY VERY POOR maintenance.

If you want to see a first class swimming pool (well tiled) with carpets of moss and scummy water, then this is the one.

CAVALIER attitude towards customer service; ranging from the farm gate sentry to the room boy. Everybody from the office, watchmen and room-boys address you in singular ('Tu') while you address them with respect ('aap')... cantankerous ! Talk about customer orientation.

One is reminded of Gandhiji on the 'customer' - the most important person on our premises.... Abhiruchi does everything opposite to that. This requires special talent.

Food is a simple non-pompous veg fare. But INR 150 (USD 3.75) per head for what they dish out is DAYLIGHT ROBBERY.

Enquire about their horse ride, camel ride etc. 'First pay and then talk' seems to be their credo.

TV sets are available for as low as INR 2000 (USD 50). They have one grainy TV common for all guests. It doesnt receive ANY signal. So no way of knowing a quick update of whats
happening in the world. "Cable waale ke paas light nahin hai" comes the careless reply. A scrutiny reveals the presence of a dish antenna !

The filthiest bathroom/toilets you would have ever seen, replete with the latest and unseen species of mosquitoes and flying pests. Let me reserve my vocabulary.

They take pride that they have NEVER washed the bed covers or the pillow covers since inception. They forewarn you to bring your own towels, napkins and bedsheets. So you really can't fault them on this.

The website boasts of facilities not to be found at all. Try to procure a bucket of hot water for a shower. The roomboy conversation goes like this..
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With a grumpy irritated and disgruntled tone
"Why do u need hot water ?" (tula kaa paahije)

At my wits end
"Excuse me !?" (Maaf keejiye.. kya kahaa aapne)

With an expression as if he has been compelled to perform a rectal examination on a person with piles trouble
"To take bath or to drink ?"

"to take a bath"
On first thought - "to perform your coronation as the King of England at the Westminster Abbey" came to my mind; but I had to resist it.

"Wait till 7 in the morning" like a HC judge pronouncing a verdict..

Projecting an expression of urgency on my face "Sire.. I badly need a bucket of hot water pls.. I bathe atleast twice a day"

I thrust a tenner into his hands.

"You will get one bucket. wait for half an hour"

"Sire.. pls show mercy.. one bucket is too little"..
I thrust another tenner.

"Ok wait for half an hour.."

This was the ordeal for all the essentials.

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A stay at Abhiruchi is a humbling experience. You are humbled by the greenery and the staff who treat you like turd regardless whether you are a President or a peasant.

Are the owners (The Bhide-s.. I understand) even aware of the mess that is going on?

I shared these with a good Maharashtrian friend of mine, who guffawed "it happens all the time.. But you have to see / feel it to experience it".. My jolly good friend has strange ways of exacting revenges for past unpunished deeds.. Recommend Abhiruchi !!!

To end, Oscar Wilde had to say this about America -

America had often been discovered before Columbus, but it had always been hushed up.

Do we see a similarity?

Sachin is a very old establishment in Dadar. It is a small joint with minimal decor with no pretensions to being anything but.

We had a bunch of things, a prawn masala which was good (altho i personally thought it could have been fresher). The rava fried surmai was excellent, as was the pomfret despite being relatively small. friend ordered a tomato salad( chopped tomato and chutney and curd) and that was a hit, we ordered seconds.

Chicken sukka was good, spicy and garlicky but not very oily. The egg masala was excellent (had some black masala, which gave it a sangli/kolhapuri flavour. We also ordered the mutton vada, supposedly their speciality. The vadas were good (if you like them in the first place) not oily, or chewy. The mutton was disappointing. The gravy wasn't as appetizing (the egg on was better) and the meat was badly shredded, nice bigger chunks would have made a big difference.

the butter milk and sol kadhis were soso.. chapatis were excellent, light and fresh.

overall total value for money. 5 of us ran up a tab of 516 bucks, and everybody except me confessed to overeating.

no beer.

There is no menu card, just the brightly shining thalis with vaatis lined up. And they start as soon as you are seated, clock work precision.
Here is what we got in our thalis, not in any particular they were served :

Sweet Gujrati Kadhi,
Typical Toor dal
Dahi Aloo
Chawli (Rajma/Lobia - similar to kidney beans)
Koshimbir(sweet mixed raita - tomatoes, onions, beetroot etc)
Pitle Bhaji - a spicy dish made of gram flour ,
Baigan Bharta
Chilli Pakora and some Dal vadis
Curd
2 types of chapatties - wheat and bhakri
2 types of rice - plain and pulao
Papad
2 pickles and 2 chutnies

I am sure the main dishes will vary with the day, but more or less, basic items would remain the same.

Decided to bite into chilli pakora and dal vadis first. soft and spicy pakora and crunchy vadis. ok, time to take the plunge. Bhakri with chawli and kadhi. delecious combination of sweet and spicy. Tried Pitale Bhaji next, i have never tasted this before. Spicy. Baigan bharta, spicy. Ok, time out. give it a rest. Try toor dal, pretty ok, Dahi Aloo, ok. chutnies, tangy and spicy. koshimbir- sweet.Alright, time to restart..yes..spicy..but the amazing thing is, I cannot stop myself. It doesn't seem if we are eating at a restaurant. No added colour, no artificial presentation. Just plain simple delecious food. I almost half filled up just while sampling the different combination of served dishes. The kadhi gets over faster than anyother item, since i have to take a spoonful after every bite.

The servers materialize again, for the next round. Take some more bhakris and kadhi, which are way too good to describe. Then, the rice and pulao appear.Pualo and rice, served with spoonful of ghee ( Of course, you can refuse the ghee..!!), are good to taste, but thats about all I can do. Taste, not eat. Stuffed till the throat. Rising up and leaving the table would require help. Lossen the belt a notch or two.

I do not have a typical experience of home cooked maharashtrian food. But, I am sure, it would not be any different than this one. For a simple reason - the simplicity of the food itself which lends it the authenticity. My maharashtrians friends vouch for the same. I would go by their words as well.

The service is fast, ambience well lit, neat, clean and hygeinic. So, for a typical home cooked maharashtrian experience, different than the regular punjabi paneer/mix veg/kofta/kabab/tandoori roti routine, try Shabree. You won't come back disappointed, and definetly not hungry. Better still, skip the breakfast/lunch, if you planning to go for lunch/dinner. You will do more justice to the Thali !!.

Wallet dent : Costs you Rs 100 per Thali. May be less for the non-A/c dining.

Rohit
http://thepunefoodie.blogspot.com/

This is the least seedy bar I have found in Hadapsar. It has 2 floors with an air-conditioned room on the ground floor. TV exists.

Food is strictly mediocre. Most of the times they won't serve kababs and you have to make do with the Chicken chilly starter. But, the mutton thali is the saving grace. It has a "wati" of mutton broth, mutton kheema in addition to a very maharashtrian "liquid" mutton gravy - with chapatis and rice. Its a very satisfying dinner to have after a couple of beers.

There is a small restaurant called TOSA tucked away next to a big Cafe Coffee Day in VilleParle East, station road. Went there for the second time today (this time for lunch). They happen to serve some very creative authentic marwari / gujarati plus maharashtrian food. I'm told their menu resembles that of Swati Snacks, and the restaurant is run by the famous Trupti Caterers.

We had a kairi na muthia as a starter served with a green chutney and a sweet chutney. Then shared a baked khichdi with raita (mini meal). Yeah the khichdi (very flavourful, no excess masala etc) was actually baked after the thick kadi was poured on the top and the yogurt had browned a bit like cheese.

But the highlight of the lunch was Mango on Mango Kulfi, which was incredible for the creativity involved. It's a slice of mango with peel that had half inch of mango flesh, topped with mango kulfi. They manage to destone the fruit somehow, stuff it with mango kulfi and serve it quartered. I regretted not having carried my camera. Prices are quite reasonable too.

If you are in Vileparle East, you must give this one a try. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Try and avoid the Pastas and other continental varieties, especially when you have lots of options available from the traditional menu. I've heard that you'll forget what Italian food is all about, if you eat it here. So don't tell that you weren't warned

One of the few decent eating joints in the stretch from Pune to Kolhapur on the Pune-Bangalore highway.

Standard multi-cuisine menus. The spicy dishes are really spicy since it's Satara. So Beware.

We had a Mahendra Special Veg which consists of one spicy and one non spicy dry veg gravy. I liked the spicy gravy.

On our first visit we had chapatis but the next visit they said they claimed not to serve chappatis and we had to remind them that they served us a couple of days ago. Then they cribbed about chappatis taking a long time to make before finally getting them.

The Dal Tadka, Rotis, etc were also good.

The service is a bit poor which is probably a result of them being the only decent restaurant around that area.

One of the better hotels in Kolhapur but now seems to be going down in service levels and mostly living off the name it's created.

It has a couple of restaurants, a Pub/Bar, a Coffee Shop + Swimming Pool area and a discotheque.

Stayed there for 2 days but only had the breakfast buffet at the Coffee Shop which was just ok, decent food to start off your day but nothing to write home about.

Room service was quick and efficient but the air conditioning was poor. Everything else was at acceptable levels.

Well with the room rates around those of a budget hotel in Bombay, it's a pretty decent deal but most people I spoke to suggested Hotel Pearl as the better and cheaper alternative.

One of the very few (or the only one??) Maharashtrian joint in Bangalore. Is run by the a maharashtrian couple from Pune. I dont have a relative scale to compare but the food is good (i like the taste)

- Sabudhana Kichdi / Vada
- Poori / Srikant / Bhaji
- Thalipeeth
- Misal
- Vada Pav (the pav that you get in Blore is real bad.. u can beat what you get in Mumbai)

Its more like a fast food joint... no place to sit. Just pick up your food and they have some tables where you can stand & eat.

My favourite Vada Pav is CTO Vada Pav at Ashok Satam’s stall on the Flora Fountain (Hutatma Chowk) side of the Central Telegraph Office (CTO) in Mumbai.

The Vada is served freshly fried piping hot and is crisp and crunchy on the outside. That’s how a good Vada should be from the outside, nice and crisp, not soft and soggy like most of the fare dished out elsewhere.

The moment you bite the sharp zesty effect of the spices and greens hits you – there is an abundance of tangy greens in the tasty fusion inside: green chillies, coriander, curry patta, ginger-garlic. Don’t chew, just roll your tongue and press the hot stuff against your palate and let it dissolve. You’ll feel stimulated for sure! It’s not only mouth watering; it may be even nose-watering too if you have a delicate tongue. So might as well put the vada in a pav and savor the CTO Vada Pav gazing at the Hutatma Memorial, the Fountain and nice faces in the crowd rushing by towards Churchgate.

Can anyone tell me where I can enjoy a good Vada Pav in Pune? I’ve tasted a few so far, and found them quite soggy and insipid compared to the Mumbai’s ‘CTO Vada’.

VIKRAM KARVE
vikramkarve@sify.com
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

A small vada pav joint started by the canteen guy of Parle Tilak Vidyalaya. The menu is very basic (batata vada and samosa, with and without pav..) The food is very cheap and served hot with spicy chutney.

I personally like samosa-pav..