PHADTARE MISAL CENTRE

Today in the morning after having Darshan at Goddess Mahalaxmi Temple wanted to satiate my breakfast pangs so without thinking a bit went straight away at Shivaji Udyamnagar where there exists one of the iconic eateries of Kolhapur and this place is heaven for Misal Pav lovers. Yes I am talking about none other than Phadtare Misal Kendra. This is one amongst the oldest Misal Pav place in Kolhapur and this is their 3rd generation who is presently taking care of business.
As it is situated in an Industrial estate its regular customers are the workers, drivers, auto wala etc and also people from locals and some of the ardent Foodies like us. It has very narrow area and 6 to 7 tables set for eating and due to its popularity it is always overcrowded and people have to stand in que for their turn to come. Average waiting time is around 15 to 20 min but it's worth devoting that much time for mouthwatering Misal. This place is not rich in ambience as it's a local roadside eating joint and has typical mediocre outlook but the food that it serves makes up all. As you enter this place you can see that it's walls are full of newspaper cuttings and some TV channel awards awarded to them for serving best Misal.

Now coming the food. Here Misal consists of mixture of hot Matki along with spoonful of potato subzi(dry) and it is topped with Zini Sev and chiwda which here they call Chiwda mixture. This is mixed in a bowl and in that Hot Rassa is poured which is called Sample here and if you need it more spicy and pungent taste they serve spoonful of Cut(Tarri). Then a little smack of Curd is topped on it and served along with complimentary sidings of chopped onions and a lemon to squeeze. Rassa is spicy and is prepared using their Secret masalas and one person from their family always remain in kitchen to supervise the entire play. Misal here is served with Slices of bread. Overall it has same level of popularity among locals as we Barodians have for Mahakali Sev usal.

Highly recommended breakfast eatery if you are in Kolhapur. Not to be missed otherwise your visit here is incomplete and take care of timings as they are closed after 2 pm. They don't believe in left overs and serves fresh misal daily. They have a high consumption ratio.

Sam's report card
Taste- 8/10
Ambience- 6/10( for me it hardly matters)
VFM- 8/10

MADRAS IN MUMBAI-CAFE MADRAS

 Sameep Karve wolfs down delicacies of Dakshin

"There is a feel-o-sophie in life- Hotter the temperature higher is the Lungi tucked in."

In the scorching heat of summers in sultry climate with my shirt almost wet and sweating profusely I caught a train from Dadar to Matunga Central railway station. After getting down at Matunga railway station headed towards East side of the town and coming just outside the narrow lane of Railway station there is one Iconic restaurant named Ram Ashray. I am not talking of the same in this post. I walked some 400 mts eastwards towards King Circle and to the left of it on a corner side there is another Legendary restaurant which serves Authentic south Indian food. It is none other than Cafe Madras.

“Matunga is like Mylapore of Madras. This reference is understandable when one visits Matunga, especially the area near Matunga Central station. The temples are built based on South Indian architecture. Matunga starts its day at 5am in the morning with several stores and restaurants opening- something that is unheard of in other parts of the city. The area is peppered with plenty of Udipi restaurants and the only way to survive is to be the best.
For those who aren’t familiar with Matunga’s geography, the four restaurants are Manis, Ram Ashray, Arya Bhavan and Madras Cafe. Each restaurant has its own set of loyalists, who believe that their preferred restaurant is better than the other.
The food critic too has a problem: it is difficult to determine the best of the four restaurants because each of them has something different to offer. True, traditional vegetarian South Indian food is similar. Each of the restaurants serve idlis, dosas, bisi bela Bhaath, pongal, upma, a variety of sheeras, but the flavours that come out of these dishes is what gives these restaurants their loyalists.
Without getting confused over which one to select I made a choice to have my brunch at Cafe Madras. Cafe Madras was started in 1940 and it just completed 75 years last year in 2015 and from last 75 years it is serving delicious dishes of south with no compromise in taste and quality. The space is small and cramped with irregular ceilings on upper berth and here you need to share the tables as it is always flocked by its regular customers, morning walkers, students, office goers etc. This place is indeed a " "Crowd Puller". The service is without frills and very quick. If you expect your dining table or even a breakfast menu to be free from "Chutney or Sambhar" you are at a wrong place.
Now coming to the menu. Menu consists of all the south indian items like idly podi, upma podi, rasam vada, raagi dosa, pesarappatu, bisi bela bhaath, mysore dosas, utthapams, set dosas and lot more. Out of these I ordered 3 items Butter idly podi, Bisi Belle Bhaath and Raagi dosa. Butter idly podi is their signature dish and sure try out. All of the food is served on stainless steel plates that are thrown on to the tables with abandon. Chatni and sambar arrive in multiple baby bowls, spilling over the edges.

Butter idly podi: Butter idly podi is soft and spongy idly drowned in young coconut chutney sprinkled with malagapodi on top and spreaded with white butter. It is served with Sambhar. Awesome taste and not to be missed if you are there.

Raagi Dosa: It has a unique flavour in itself and blackish texture with some small holes in between and very crispy and good in taste and goes well with sambhar and chutney. It is also must try out as not available everywhere and they have mastered the skills in preparing it.

Bisi belle Bhaath: Bisi belle bhaath is spicy hot rice flavored with tamarind and mixed with veggies like carrots, capsicum, potato, beans, roasted cashews with dollop of ghee. It is served here with Coconut chutney and south indian pappadams of orange colour. Taste was nice but still I am more biased towards MTR's in Bangalore when it comes to Bisibelle Rice.

Finally to end had a filter coffee which is at its best and served hot in steel glass and bowl underneath. I spent around 200 bucks but was highly satisfied.

Sam's report card:
Taste: 9/10
Ambeience: 6/10
Service: 8/10
Value for Money: 9/10

Queen of Pink City- Pyaz Kachori

Think of this Rajasthani capital, think of food, and it's a dead heat between dal bati churma for a meal and pyaz ki kachori or (onion kachori) - a spicy round flattened ball made of refined flour and filled with onions, garlic and potatoes. Soaring onion prices - it sells for around Rs.70 a kilo against Rs.30 a month ago - have hardly an impact and the savoury is flying off the shelves as quickly as it comes out of the frying pan. Arguably, there is no better place to gorge on these hot onion filled kachoris than at the Rawat Misthan Bhandar in the walled city. The outlet claims to have "invented" these kachoris many years ago and they have become so famous that any visit to Jaipur is considered incomplete without Rawat's kachoris - otherwise you're certainly missing out on a quintessential element of the Pink City. Each kachori, usually the size of a quarterplate costs Rs.25 and goes well with tea, coffee or sweet lassi (sweet buttermilk). Considered a favourite teatime snack, the Rawat kachori is eaten at just about any time of the day (even before and after a full meal). "Three of the things which are a necessary part of the kachori - onion, garlic and red chilli - are grown in farm near Jodhpur. Even the groundnut oil which they use to fry these kachoris is brought in from Gujarat in tankers.The unique part of kachori here is the taste and aroma. They serve the Kachoris without any tamarind and mint chutneys so that customers can feel its original taste. Moreover, such is the flavour of these kachoris that a chutney or sauce is not needed." Rawat Mishtan Bhandar started selling these kachoris in Jaipur from 1972 and since then there has been no looking back. The kachoris are served from 6 a.m. right till 10 p.m. into the night and one can see long queues of people eagerly waiting for the lip-smacking snack. It has average daily turnover of around 10000 steaming hot, crispy and flaky Pyaz Kachoris. The kachoris are not only popular within the country but are now also travelling halfway across the world with increasing demands coming from countries like Singapore, Dubai and the US. These kachoris have become so popular that people come to them enquiring about the shelf life as they want to take them abroad,It has a shelf life of around 30 hrs and hence it has gained so much of popularity in overseas countries also as people can conveniently parcel them and can have them at their homes by heating it in microwave. A staff of over 200 is dedicated to this culinary art, working from 5 a.m. in the morning late into night. Eating these kachoris hot is just out of this world. You just cannot wait to have them coming to you straight from the pot.

So if you are in Jaipur dont miss this savoury of Pink city

DURVANKUR DINING HALL

Sameep Karve joins the list of Pune Patrons for Maharashtrian Thali.

It was a Sunday noon and I was coming back from my Bhimashankar trekking. The journey started at 9 am in the morning from Bhimashankar towards Pune. It was a foggy morning with drizzle of showers. The road was good and clear. Had some light snacks at Bhimashankar at around 8 am with tea before boarding the bus. My plan was to have a full meal as was damn hungry and tired with 4 hrs of journey in ST Bus. If you are in Pune and looking for the Thali option then Durvankur should be in your list as it serves simple food with homely touch.

Located around the Sadashiv Peth corner on Tilak Road, Durvankur is an AC Hall serving affordable no-frills simple Maharashtrian Thali. Don't judge this place by its interiors and entrance as people from far off corners of the city and outsiders like us come here for dining. Their Tiffin Parcel Meals offer great value for money for the quantity packed.

The ambiance is simple and the AC Hall is crowded on weekends. You go there on Sunday and you will be amazed to see the queue of customers who visit this place. My choice to hit this place was my craving for the authentic Masale Bhaat which they serve only on Sundays and I was lucky that I was there on this day. Just reached there climbing the dingy stair case that leads to this hidden gem. Just table up yourself and within a minute server starts and you are flooded by  delicious scrumptious food which you won't stop eating.

As can be seen from the photograph, the thali is not extravagant and it resembles home food only. My thali consisted of following items:

Anjeer Rabdi: Thick brown textured rabdi laden with pieces of anjeer. It was one full meal in itself. I gulped upon 2 to 3 bowls to satiate my hunger pangs

Shrikhand: Shrikhand was simple as we get anywhere with a hint of cardamom. Goes well with Hot puris.

Mix Veg: Spicy vegetable with veges like cauliflower, potato, carrots, peas. Was good in taste. Nothing great to describe.

Dried Aloo Subzi: It was simple vegetable made of boiled potatoes giving tadka of Jeera.

Dahi wada: It was well prepared dunked in sweet yoghurt sprikled with red chilly powder and masala. Nice and tasty.

Farsan: Dhokla and Bhaji. Bhajis were hot but dhokla is not so good and spongy. We here in Gujarat gets better dhoklas.

Chutneys: Dried Garlic chutney with groundnuts and coconut and chilly chutneys are put on every table and you can self serve yourself as much as you want.

Koshimbir: Sweet mixed raita of cucumber given a nutty concoction of groundnuts and green chilly pieces. This is also kept on every tables in huge bowl. You can self serve yourself.

Papads and Papdis: Had a variety of Papads and Papdis of different colors and tastes.

Masale Bhaat: Last but not the least(Pic is missing) is their signature dish. Masale Bhaat is prepared in a traditional way and is on the list of menus in many of the Maharashtrian weddings and other social functions. This was my sole reason to visit this place as they dish out this delicacy only on Sundays and it is served with its authentic taste. Not so spicy and cooked with perfection by adding vegges like carrots, peas, potatoes and garnished with coriander and grated dry coconut with spoonful of pure ghee. Just one morsel in your mouth and you will get a heavenly happiness.

Overall a very good experience and also the thali was quite pocket friendly. My total damages were Rs.250 as got Rs.30 as discount for finishing entire thali. Here they have a policy to promote avoiding wastage of food to offer discount to its customers who don't leave the food in their Thali and waste food. Great thought.

PRAKASH SHAKAHARI UPAHAR KENDRA PART -2

Sameep Karve enjoys a fried fare in Mumbai rains.

Monsoon is at its peak in Mumbai and city is getting heavy showers from last 2 to 3 days. In Monsoon when heaven opens up there is a rule to head out for off the stove crunchy snacks. It is best to indulge into fried roadside savouries available on Mumbai streets like Batata vada, Vada Pavs, Samosa, Bhaji etc. My taste buds were already tickling to have something piping hot and deep fried right from the assembly fryer. Also the delicacies like Kothimbir wadi, Sabudana wadas, Aluwadi were inviting me to gobble them up at Prakash as in my last visit had missed these items and they are served fresh and hot over here giving justice to rainy weather. As this is my 2nd visit to complete the list of menu over here, in this post I wont talk about its history, ambience, location, popularity etc as already had posted all this information in my first review. Hence now coming straight to food, I ordered Sabudana wada, Aluwadi, Kothimbir wadi, Thalipeeth. These are staple dishes not to be missed out if you are in Mumbai. Here you can also get other Maharashtrian dishes and coolers like Puranpoli, Shrikhand, Piyush, Amla Sarbat, Kokam Sarbat, Solkadhi.

You shall get these delicacies in almost every Maharashtrian restaurants and at Prakash we get in its pure form.

 

 

 

 

Sabudana Wada: The 'Sabudana wadas' (spicy sago fritters)(Rs.50) are top of the heap; a sole reason to make the trip. The crust of the 'wada' is fried to a perfect crunch; every single sago seed deep fried to perfection with intermittent groundnut and fried chili adding to the pleasure. And yet, somehow it doesn't seem over the top greasy. The accompanying chutney is a masterpiece in itself; quite different from any other; a nutty concoction of spice tempered ever so slightly by the abundant groundnut a la chunky mode. Make sure you order the extra chutney in advance. You shall need it. 'Crack' open the crunchy shell of the wada and the uncover soft sago seeds glistening and studded with nuts all perfectly cooked and spiced. Combine the outer shell, the steaming insides and a bit of that chutney into a single bite; and you are in heaven.

 

 

Kothimbir Wadi: The Kothimbir Wadi (Rs 38) is another house specialty, which includes three piping hot crispy on outside but soft on inside squared patties. It is light and fluffy made out of chopped coriander, a generous amount of chopped green chillies, crushed ginger mixed in a thick gram flour batter along with other spices, which is then steamed. Later, it is cut into squares and deep-fried. Because this dish is quite spicy, it is served alongside with a sweet and sour date-tamarind or khajoor-imli chutney.

 

 

Aluwadi: The crispy fried Aluwadi (Rs 45) occupies a special place in my heart, thanks to my childhood memories. Unlike the Gujarati version of Aluwadi known as Patra, which are mini-sized and are given a tempering of mustard seeds and garnished with fresh coriander. The bronze exterior holds a soft inner core, and carries a hint of sweetness. Spoiler alert for those expecting a more Teekha wadi, but I couldn't stop peeling those rings and popping them. Prakash serves two big, thick slices of Aluwadis fried to crisp with little specks of sesame seeds on them.

 

 

Thalipeeth: The Thalipeeth (Rs 45) is another hot-selling snack that one shouldn’t miss. Basically, it’s like a fried thick circular disc made from a mixture of ground foodgrains like jowar, bajra, nachni, etc., spiced up with garam masala and chopped onion. To ensure that the centre of the Thalipeeth cooks through, they have a little hole in the centre. I could feel the goodness of these foodgrains as I ate the Thalipeeth.

 

Most items on their menu are priced between Rs 20 to Rs.50, and in today’s age of merciless inflation it is a steal. The food is as authentic as can be and the consistent quality is the restaurant’s USP. So pardon the lack of good ambiance and friendly service, and embrace the delicious spicy food and quick service. My total damages were Rs.178/- which was total worth for me.

Sam's Report card.

Taste- 9/10

Ambience- 6/10

Value for Money- 9/10

Service: 7/10