Brothers Dhaba, Amritsar

Amritsar. Golden Temple. Brothers Dhaba. The three words go hand in hand and it is due to both the location of the restaurant as well as the taste of the food that Brothers Dhaba has to offer. Brothers Dhaba is walking distance from the Golden Temple and is unmissable to the passer by on the way out of Govind Saab. It is highly recommended to complete the Amritsari Dhaba experience after paying ones obeisance at Govind Saab.

The full name of Brothers Dhaba is Bade Bhai ka Brothers Dhaba and is a direct outcome of the elder brother of the family that owned Bhrawan Da Dhaba starting up his own restaurant in 2001. The two restaurants run side by side without apparent trouble and Brothers Dhaba is clearly positioned on the hygiene platform on a relative level. The restaurant is fully air conditioned and there are a lot of uniformed staff attempting to be very prompt in service.

At Brothers Dhaba, we sampled two dishes which are the trademark of Punjab as a whole and Amritsar in particular. The Amritsari Kulcha and Sarson Da Saag with Makki di Roti. The Amritsari Kulcha is a many layered Kulcha with a stuffing of a potato an onion paste. Amritsar does not go easy on ghee and butter and the Amritsari Kulcha was not an exception. It was cooked to perfection soft when bit into, yet maintaining the essential crispiness of an authentic Punjabi Paratha. The Kulcha was served with Pindi Chole, some salad and a bit of boondi raita and is pretty much a meal by itself.

Sarson da saag and makki di roti is a staple for the Punjab households during winter. The leaves of the mustard plant are cooked into a gravy, and it is served with rotis made from corn flour. The dish is served with a generous dollop of white butter on top of the saag, which immediately banishes all thoughts of health food, but greatly augments the sensations of your taste buds. It is up to you which way you want to go, but Amritsar is definitely not a place for the cholesterol conscious.

The Sarson Da Saag was very tasty but I somehow like the one served at Urban Tadka Mumbai better. You can call me blasphemous but I am just being honest. The Amritsari kulcha however was outstanding and Bade Bhai ka Brothers Dhaba is not to be missed when in Amritsar.

A meal for two at Bade Bhai ka Brothers Dhaba will cost you approximately Rs 200/-

How to get there: As mentioned, Brothers Dhaba cannot be missed when you approach the Golden Temple. It is located right opposite the Amritsar town hall.

Aaswad, Dadar, Mumbai

In my mind if I were to serve you an authentic Maharashtrian food experience it would not be possible to do so through one meal. I would need a minimum of four to introduce the distinct and authentically Maharashtrian food experiences that the state has to offer. The coastal cuisine from the Malwan coast is a fish and sea food lovers delight. The spicy Kolhapuri cuisine with the famed Tambda and Pandhra Rassas that take the meat eating experience to a whole new altitude, only to be shamed by the even more spicy Saoji cuisine from Vidarbha. The three aforementioned cuisines are however the glitz which sits atop the basic vegetarian Maharashtrian cuisine. The fare is the 'ghar ka khana' the Marathi manoos survive on everyday and Aaswad is one of the more famous eateries in Mumbai where you can taste hearty vegetarian Maharasthrian cuisine, may not be glamorous, but it is definitely very very tasty.

Aaswad is a value for money food joint and the interiors seem to state the same. Space is a bit cramped with almost all tables designed to seat four people at the most. Most importantly the place appears to be clean and hygienic. The service is prompt and attentive with language being a slight problem. The waiter we had was not very fluent in Hindi and we were lucky to be bailed out by a Maharashtrian who could converse with him as well as suggest a few of the local must haves. You could be restricted to try your luck pointing out dishes on the English menu card without knowing a great deal about what might be served to you but I think that's a risk worth taking.

At Aaswad we sampled quite a large number of dishes due to us being a pretty large group, we sampled piyush, pithale bhaji bhakri, dalimbi usal, kharwas and puran pohli. (I think you may understand now that it is safer to go there with a Maharashtrian :)).

Piyush meaning "amrit" is the Marathi Manoos' food of the Gods. We were served this first at Aaswad, piyush is a yellow drink with a lot of milk, kesar and shrikhand (if you are Bengali the taste is somewhat like a "Ghol", only better). Piyush looks a bit like liquid custard and has a sweet curdy taste. It was the perfect filler as we waited for the meal without taking too much stomach space.

The pithali bhaji bhakri was served next, the dish had three parts, the bhakri which is a round bread cam with choices of bajra, rice and jowar. We sampled a bit of all three:). The bhaji was made of brinjal which the Marathis refer to as "Vang", it was spicy with a generous helping of tomato and coconut. The pithale was the undoubted star of the piece, it looks exactly like daal but is cooked using 'besan' or chikpea flour spiced up with mustard, cumin with a generous amount of coriander, the texture is exactly that of a thick-ish daal with the coriander clearly visible. It was brilliant both from a taste perspective and when you know what the ingredients are.

Our meal was rounded off by the dalimbi usal and the special pola usal, the dalimbi usal was a preparation of sprouts cooked in soury kokum. Again extremely tasty and easily one of the best ways to have bean sprouts. We had it with some more bhakri and also ordered a couple of puris as a side. The dishes were also wonderfully complemented with a kokum chutney and another spicy chilli chutney on the table - added spice on offer at all times.

For dessert we ordered kharwas and puran pohli, the 'kharwas' is a pudding made out of the milk from a cow which has just given birth, soft, not too sweet and positively delectable. The puran pohli appears to be a bread but is stuffed with some lentils and a generous amount of jaggery. The dessert made us wish that we had not had the main course but then that is always the case in a great meal. Overall a truly outstanding meal and a must have for the all round Maharashtrian culinary experience.

A meal for two at Aaswad for two people without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 250/- on the higher side.

How to get there: Aaswad is perhaps aptly located right out side the Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar TT. Bal Thackeray's imposing statue looks to the restaurant situated slightly towards the left of the gaze. It serves as a rightful beacon of the unequivocal competency of the Marathi Manoos with a clear niche in the city with much cosmopolitan competition - at least on culinary terms. Jai Maharashtra!

B. Merwaan and Co., Grant Road, Mumbai

The Iranis are the "other" Zoroastrians who have made Mumbai their home along with the Parsis. The Parsis visibly have a greater share of the Mumbaiya wallet, mindshare and the history of the city but the Irani's do have a greater share of the citys facade with numerous corner shop Irani cafe's. The number of cafe's may be dwindling ( a result of rising real estate and business feasibility) and the set ups may mostly be in town rather than suburbs, but the Irani cafe will always be inextricable linked to the Mumbaikar's day to day life and the city's truly cosmopolitan character.
The most obvious reason to like Irani Cafe's, is obviously the food, for the non cholesterol conscious the Brun Maska alone is a reason to preserve such café’s as world heritage sites, add the mawa cakes, samosas, the vegetarian patties and the wondrous egg preparations and we are basically talking wonders of the gastronomical world. The main reason I like the café’s is its dedication to serve the wallets of the common man and the intention to keep the margins wafer thin so that the common Mumbaikar can retain his favorite haunt. Rising real estate prices is obviously the major modern obstacle to the business model and I hope that more café’s can do what Merwaan B. is trying to do and double us as a Kirana store to sustain a long cherished and much lover business. Which brings us to another interesting thought as to how the café’s started in the first place as the prices were always cheaper even on a comparative basis? The answer lies in simple economics, demand and supply. In the Mumbai of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, corner plots were considered unlucky for business by the Gujarati and the Sindhi. The entrepreneurial Irani stepped in and created the ubiquitous corner Irani café to make a living and give Mumbai its unmistakable cosmopolitan character. Unfortunately for the sustainability of the café’s and in an ironical tribute to the Irani’s entrepreneurial competence such false notions no longer exist.
B. Merwaan and Co. has been around since 1914 and has been supplying countless sumptuous meals to weary travelers entering and exiting Grant road station. I was introduced to the café by my cousin Shirsha Guha Thakurta and her friends Delnaaz and Mithun. The three of them, specially Shirsha are responsible for one of the tastiest and definitely one of the largest and filling breakfasts I have had in the city of Mumbai.
The breakfast we had started with a round of vegetable patties, the vegetable patties were filled with primarily carrots and it almost stuns me even when I write that I rate the patty better than any patty that I have tasted in Kolkata’s Nahoum or Flurys. The vegetable patty was followed up by Brun Maska which is nothing but hot Pav with oodles of butter. I have had well buttered pavs and bread earlier but for sheer decadence bordering on obscenity nothing beats the amount of butter on an authentic Brun Maska. Delnaaz, who accompanied us for the meal is the daughter of the proprietor and I think they were being slightly over generous in an effort to impress the bosses daughter, but the description still stands as we were reduced to scraping some of the butter off the pav using knives in an effort to commit lesser sin.
The follow up to the Brun Maska were the Mawa Cakes and the Mawa Samosas, the taste is difficult to describe but I loved them more than any Mawa sweet I have ever had before. The cakes and samosas were just the right temperature to aid the melting of the morsel as it enters your mouth and the sweetness of the Mawa was beyond perfect. This was followed by a double egg half fry with some more brun maska, there was about as much butter on the egg as on the pav. We literally had to beg the mind and the stomach to ask the tongue to stop ordering for more goodies and rounded off the marathon err…. meal with some authentic Irani tea, milky and just with the right amount of kick. A truly brilliant breakfast but with a major downside, driving home after a meal like that can be a real pain! A side note: The mawa cakes and samosas are made at 5:30 AM, so if you go after 7:00 and are even lucky enough to get a few before they are all devoured, they will taste only half as good as they taste when they are really fresh. I agree good food can sometimes be a “labour” of love, but then there is no greater love than the love of eating!
A meal for two at B. Merwaan and Co. will cost you approximately Rs 80/- even if you really gorge.
How to get there: B. Merwaan and Co. is bang outside the East gate of Grant Road station. There is no way you can miss it as it is right opposite the main exit.

Minerva Coffee Shop, Himayatnagar, Hyderabad

Hyderabad is known for it Biriyani. Hyderabad is revered for its typical Andhra cuisine. Hyderabad is famed for its spice. The spice however can sometime
s get to you, and after two to three spicy, hot culinary experiences, the time may be just right for food that is light and easy on the stomach, but at the same time extremely delicious. Minerva Coffee Shop is just that oasis that you may be looking for.
A restaurant that has stood the test of time as one of the best places in Hyderabad where one can sample some light, delicious vegetarian South Indian delicacies.

Minerva coffees shop has nice comfortable seating becoming of the cuisine that they serve. They have sofas, instead of the usual chairs and you have more than enough space to seat yourself and enjoy your meal. Service is also prompt as is I guess the norm for this sort of a place. What really struck me was the menu card, which had an interesting caricature promising a culinary journey.
I sampled the Paper Dosa and some Button Idlis when I went to Minerva Coffee shop for break fast. The dosa was crisp, thin and very tasty, just right for a sumptuous breakfast. The experience rivalled that of a Sarvanna Bhavan in Chennai. The button Idlis were served hot and swimming in a bowl of Sambhar. Very tasty. Again a fantastic breakfast dish.
We finished off our breakfast with some traditional filter coffee which is of course a must in a place like Minerva Coffee Shop. Definitely a must try if you are looking for a good breakfast in Hyderabad and get some relief from the spicy Biriyani and Andhra meals.
A meal for two at Minerva Coffee Shop will cost you approximately Rs 200/-
How to get there: Minerva Coffee Shop in on Himayatnagar X Roads in Himayatnagar, Hyderabad. It is right on the main road and is pretty much a landmark. Your auto/ cab driver should easily be able to locate it.

Haryana Sweets, Kankurgachi, Kolkata

Kolkata is a Bengali city. Without doubt. But the Bengaliness of Kolkata does not mean in any way that the city does not welcome people from all across the country. The city welcomes hordes of people all over the country with arms wide open and imparts in all its residents certain values and characteristics which make them and the city inextricable Bengali in nature, and also largely in language spoken. There is no MNS equivalent enforcing the diktat in Kolkata but the people from the other states inevitably learn and start conversing in the language of the state. Kolkata belongs as much to the Marwaris, Biharis and Tamilians as it does to the Bengali, and the cosmopolitan nature is seen not only in the constitution of the population but also in the food habits of the residents.
If the roll and the 'phuchka' are Kolkata's most popular snack through the day, the morning belongs to the Kachori and the Aloo Subzi. Aloo Subzi called Aloo Tarkari, and the Kachori, pronounced Kach'oo'ri is easily the most popular breakfast in the city of Kolkata. The food is available at most street corners in Kolkata. The menu : Hot Kachoris, Aloo Subzi, some Samosas rounded off by Jalebi and a cup of tea. Positively brilliant and a great way to start the day.
Haryana Sweets in Kankurgachi is one of the more famous shops serving the Kachori - Aloo breakfast in North Kolkata. The claim to fame, the obvious quality and the effort to create the smallest Kachoris you will ever see, yet each piece cooked with better care and precision than the larger variety at most street corners. Haryana Sweets is a treat for the regular Kolkatan for the smaller variety of Kachori and to the visitor to begin the Kolkata day in trademark fashion. A great breakfast, if slightly unhealthy, but what the hell, when in Kolkata, you just cannot worry about health when it comes to food. Also, do please remember to have a Jalebi to end the meal. Food in Kolkata is never complete without a sweet to round of the meal. It is part of being Bengali!
A meal for two at Haryana sweets will cost you approximately Rs 40/-. The Kachoris come for Rs 2/- each
How to get there: Haryana Sweets is on the main road from Kankurgachi Mod towards Phul Bagan, it is a 50 m walk from the cross road. It will fall to your left.

Ambica Dalwada Centre, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad

Gujarati's love their food. Gujju food, is famous across the length and breadth of the country through the revered Gujarati Thali - Kadi, Rice, Khichdi, Subzis, and a whole variety of rotis and puris. All served up, mostly unlimited, round after round, unless one asks for mercy. All, please not that the food is typically sweet and almost drips with ghee, so please exercise, and get enough good cholesterol to negate the inevitable buckets of bad cholesterol that is a necessary bi-product. The thali almost immediately springs to mind when one talks about Gujju food, but it is the next frame entering my mind when discussing Gujju food that really makes my mouth water. The delicious world of Gujju snacks (or 'snakes' as they like to pronounce.)

Gujju snacks is I believe the greatest contribution to the Indian food landscape by the land of Gandhi. The offerings are almost as numerous as the offerings on a standard thali, I particularly love the Gathia, the Dhokla and the Khandvi. The last time I was in Ahmedabad, I was introduced and fell in love with a 4th. The Dal Wada.

The Dal Wada is as the name suggests, a vada made of Dal, the Dal is soaked overnight in a secret spice and is packed in to little balls which are then deep fried. The other visible condiment in the mix is coriander which adds its unique flavor. The result is an incredibly tasty offering which makes for a fantastic break fast or mid day snack. I had the Dal Wada at Ambica Dalwada Centre which is a food landmark in Ahmedabad.

It is a small shop with just a few tables for seating, their primary business is however take away, they are renowned for their Dal Wadas so much so that they actually sell the Dal Wada mix in packets which you can take home and fry and eat in the comfort of your home. A pointer obviously to the quality that they produce. We had our Dal Wada at the store however. They sell by weight and two of us ordered 250 gm. We absolutely devoured our plate of Dal Wada that was served, piping hot and absolutely delicious. The Dal Wadas were served with a few Onions and Chillis/ Hari Mirch, the mirch was marinated in salt and sugar and not very spicy at all - went extremely well with the Dal Wadas. It is interesting to note that Ambica serves nothing apart from the Dal Wada, nothing at all, no other snacks and not even a cup of tea, not even water actually. A completely mono liner Dal Wada centre, nothing else. I would think that it made business sense to serve some tea to go with the Wada, but I guess it just shows you what a focused approach can do, I guess.

A meal for two at Ambica Dal Wada centre will cost you approximately Rs 60/-

How to get there: Ambica Dal Wada centre is just off Commerce 6 Road, in Navrangpura, in Ahmedabad. It is a very famous joint and you will not have any problems getting there.

Mani's Lunch Home, Matunga

Mani's Lunch Home rounds off the corner of Mumbai that will forever be Tamil Nadu. The location with the Aayappa stall serving regular South Indian snacks, the Nalli Silks outlet situated right opposite and the typically South Indian temple at 45 degrees from the outlet gives one a picture that would be completely at home in Chennai. Mani's rounds off the picture with a typical Tamilian lunch home serving delightfully well cooked and hygienic vegetarian Tamil meals at incredibly affordable prices. Mani's is however definitely not a fine dining option, it is a small place and believes in community seating. You will most probably have to wait till you get a table and will definitely have to share the table with other ravenous eaters.
Mani's has two meal options the rice plate and the full meal. We were

not at our hungriest and ordered the rice plate. The rice plate consists of unlimited chappati, rice, rasam and sambhar, one bowl full of three standard South Indian Subzis, a bowl of curd and one chhaas. The food is very simple, is served hot and is brilliantly authentic to taste - highly recommended by my Tamil friends. Amazingly the cost of the rice plate is Rs 35/- and you have to buy the coupon before sitting down for the meal from a counter at the shop entrance.
The other option is the full plate which costs Rs 70/-, the full plate is served on Banana leaf instead of the steel plate we were served food on and has some extra bits in sweets and banana chips that we could see from a photo of the dish that we saw. After devouring the rice plate we ended with a little helping of Mysore Pak and the typically Tamil slightly fat and dry Jalebi which we bought from the counter at the entrance of the shop. Great food and definitely recommended if you want a typical vegetarian Tamil meal in Mumbai.
A meal for two at Mani's lunch home without drinks will cost you Rs 100/-
How to get there: Mani's is on Telenga road in Matunga right opposite the Nalli's Saree shop. If you do not know the area you have get to Kings circle. From Kings Circle you have to get on the road leading to Matunga station. From there you have to take the first right to get on to Telenga road. Mani's will fall on your right. It is almost impossible to find parking on that road near Mani's so chances are you might have to walk a bit to get to the lunch home.

Cream Centre, Oberoi Mall, Goregaon East

Cream Centre is one of Mumbai's oldest and most famous vegetarian restaurants. They have been around since 1958 and have a landmark restaurant on Mumbai's marine drive. The place is however 100% vegetarian and I half - reluctantly venture into the outlet at Oberoi Mall Goregaon in the company of some office friends and was not at all disappointed.
Cream Centre is a fine dining vegetarian outlet and is nicely decked up. White is the prevailing colour and it adds a nice "creamy" ambiance to the restaurant:).
I was a bit thrown off however by the menu which seemed to be a mix of everything without really having a really large elaborate section on starters/ main course. There was a section on soups, salads and sandwiches, one on starters, one on trademark dishes, i.e. classics that cream centre prides itself on - they actually have the trademark emblem on some of their offerings on the menu card. There were also whole sections on pizza/ pasta and mexican food and a complete section on Thali offerings - a combination of what is there on the menu, you had to choose from a set of dishes which you could also order separately. The menu card also had a very nice picture of the marine drive of yesteryear, specifically pointing out the location of the original cream centre restaurant.
I ordered the Original Chhole Bature TM, and also ended up tasting a number of dishes including Mumbaiya Ragda Pattice, Masala Parathe and Paneer. Here I would like to comment on the service which was very eager to please and asked us specifically if we would like our food to be served together or no. We insisted that the food should be served together but the service was very very dispersed with all the dishes arriving at different times at pretty long intervals. Not good especially after asking first!
The food however was fantastic to say the least. The Bathura was nothing spectacular but the chhole was out of this world - easily the best that I have tasted. The Ragda Pattice was also very good and was served very neatly enabling separate bites of the chhole (ragda) and the aloo cutlets (pattice) as well as the combination offering. The Masala Parathe was also very good, so much so as the same could be had as a meal by itself. I also washed down the meal with another trademark drink they served which was the lime mint cooler. It was as refreshing a drink as can get and is highly recommended from my end. Overall slightly expensive but very good vegetarian fare once you can decide what you want. I think the way it works is that people just come over to the restaurant and order their favourite dishes.
A meal for two at Cream Centre without drinks would cost you approximately Rs 750/-
How to get there: Cream Centre is on the top floor of Oberoi Mall, Goregaon East. The mall is on the Western Express Highway.

Jumbo King, Andheri East

Along with Bollywood, BSE, Gateway of India, and Dharavi, the Vada pav is probably the thing most Non Mumbaikars would associate with Mumbai. However unjust and untrue that may be given the wonderful cuisine on offer all throughout the city, there is a reason why the Vada Pay can lay claim to being the culinary symbol of the city. That reason is the sheer numbers that are consumed in a day in Mumbai and Thane, figures on the net put the number at 1.8 to 2 million Vada Pavs in a single day. If you ever travel across Mumbai on a weekday, you will see that the figure is entirely believable.
What is the Vada Pav? The pav is the bread - a bun slit three quarter way or completely down the middle holding a large fried mass of flavoured potato - the pav. The vada pav is typically had with some garlic chutney and some green chilli to add the extra spice if you need it. Very simple. Very easy to cook. Very cheap - the life blood snack/ short meal of the Mumbai office goer. There are vada pav shops all across Mumbai serving the snack at prices ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 8 and doing raging business.
Jumbo King is a chain of restaurants serving the regular Vada Pav and some innovations on the dish all across Mumbai. Their basic Vada Pav - the Grilled Jumbo King starts at Rs 10. Why they charge a premium and can get away with it? They offer Consistency. The Jumbo King Vada Pav tastes consistently delightful at all branches. They offer Hygiene. The vada pavs are served not different from the way McDonalds serves burgers. These two value propositions have enabled Jumbo King to scale up from one outlet in 2001 to God knows how many today spread across the city.
Jumbo King does not have seating space - I am sure the economics do not allow it. You have to select your Vada Pav, pay, stand outside the shop and finish the vada pav. Their basic offering is the Grilled Vada Pav - priced at Rs 10, they also have a butter grilled Jumbo King - basically a grilled Jumbo King with a large slice of butter on top. They have a cheese Jumbo King where they cover the top of the Pav with some cheese shreds. They also have szechuan and chhole varieties with the szechuan sauce and chhole topping the basic Vada. I have sampled the cheese and my friends have sampled the chhole and the szechuan but have come to the conclusion that the plain and the butter ones are the best. I guess the variations work for those who are regular Vada Pav eaters. I do not fall into that category.
The last time I was at Jumbo King, I had one Grilled Jumbo King and one Butter Grilled Jumbo King. Both were very good. The slice of Amul butter on the Butter Grilled Jumbo King basically provides enough for two Grilled Jumbo Kings to be nicely flavoured. Very good and hard core junk food Mumbai style.
A meal for two at Jumbo King without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 60/-
How to get there: You have Jumbo King outlets all through the city. The Andheri East outlet is on the Andheri Kurla road. It will fall on the right if you are travelling from the Western Express highway towards Kurla. It if right after the JB Nagar crossing.

Komala's, Phoenix Mills, Lower Parel

I have been searching for a really good Dosa outlet in Mumbai for quite some time and with my meal at Komala's at Phoenix Mills, Lower Parel, that search has officially ended. I have had meals at Madras Cafe, the dosa is very good but is on the smaller side. The dosa at Madras Cafe is also on the home made side in its feel which while I am sure is healthy is not as crunchy as the dosa you get at say Sarvana Bhavan in Chennai. Moreover, Madras Cafe is more about Bisibele Bhaat, Butter Podi Idli and Curd rice than it is about Ghee, Paper and Masala Dosa.

Komala's has a typical South Indian feel to the restaurant decor. The seating is identical rows that can possible seat 6 people each, clean but without any unnecessary decor. The focus clearly is on the food. The typical serving atleast in design seemed to be to take the food from the counter and eat, however as there were not too many customers when we went, we were served at our tables. The waiters were also neatly uniformed in Orange and Black outfits and were very eager to please.

At Komala's we ordered Mango Lassi, two Dosas - One Ghee Dosa, One was a Pesarattu or Moong Daal dosa, a serving of Rasam and two filter coffees. The filter coffees were OK, disappointing as I thought that they would be served in the typical South Indian style with two cups, one fat and one thin to mix it well. Instead the filter coffee was served in a plastic cup and did not taste as great as what you get in Malgudi's. The Pesarattu was not as good as the version at Madras Cafe and seemed to have an excess of chillies and onions on the inside. What made my day however was the Rasam and the Ghee Dosa. The Rasam was very tasty with a strong tamarind flavour that lingered on the tongue long after the Rasam was had. The Ghee Dosa was without doubt the finest, crunchy Dosa that I have had in Mumbai. It was well cooked, lots of ghee and went fantastically well with the chutney that was served along with it. Sooper! In true Chennai style and the dish will not be out of place at a Sarvanna Bhavan in Mylapore. That very statement should be enough to make you want to go there. Do go for a great meal of Dosas! You will not be disappointed!

A meal for two at Komala's without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 300/-

How to get there: Komala's is in Phoenix Mills in Lower Parel. The restaurant is on the Ground Floor. You have to cross the Landmark in Phoenix Mills and the entry to the Palladium Mall. Go straight down the road and turn right. You should be able to see Komala's welcoming you on your left.

Sarvana Bhavan, Ashok Pillar, Chennai

If you are not from Chennai or are not fully aware of the phenomenon that is Sarvana Bhavan, chances are is that you will think that this is a chain that does not have any business sense or you will think that the restaurant has a huge family business that has been split down the middle and each faction wants to outdo the other. After all when you see 3 restaurants within 50 meters of each other you are well within your rights to make the above assumption in normal cases. However Sarvana Bhavan is not normal. It is I believe the Chennai-ites alternative to their home kitchen and the chain is doing well - a great testament to the quality standards and value for money customer offering that they have always kept up with. The same is evident in the decor. Clean, hygienic and very basic.
The last time I was at Sarvana Bhavan was for breakfast and had a plate or butter idlis, a ghee dosa and filter coffee. Tasty, simple and value for money food!
A meal for two at Sarvana Bhavan will cost you Rs 200/-.
How to get there: You will see Sarvana Bhavans all across Chennai. Just jump into an auto and ask him to take you to the nearest one.

Lassiwala, MI Road, Jaipur

Another must do if you are in the Pink City is Lassiwala on MI Road Jaipur. Be sure to reach before 1:00 PM in the afternoon or otherwise you may be too late as the Lassi runs out before 4:00 PM everyday and even earlier on most days of the week.
Only God and the owner know what they put into the Lassi and how they make it because it is far superior to the ones you get at the other Lassiwala imitation stops. Be sure that you go to the one which says clearly that it has been there since 1944 to get the real thing, because the other outlets although very good on their own are not quite at the same level.
There is no seating place so you have to have the Lassi while standing on the street. The portions come in two sizes, large and small. I always go for the larger as you just cannot get enough. Beware to understand that after having a portion you will feel like sleeping so you have to push yourself. Piece of advice - if you can, go for a snooze after having one, it will be one of the best naps you will ever have in your life.
One Lassi glass comes for Rs 30/- to Rs 40/-. It would still sell if they triple the prices.
How to get there: Lassiwala is just of the Panch Batti Mod at MI Road. Again it is an institution in Jaipur.

Rawat, Polo Victory, Jaipur

Rawat. The Rawat Mishtan Bhandar is not a restaurant. The same is an institution and the fame of the outlet has spread throughout the country along with the Rajasthanis. Each and every person who has food at Rawat becomes an immediate ambassador of the outlet and trust me the same is with good reason.
Rawat is famous for its Peyaz or Onion Kachoris. Made of onion, potato and special batter, all deep fried in the shape of a kachori is Rawats core offering and quite simply is heaven on Earth. The same is only one of the various snacks and sweets you get at Rawat, the other more famed offerings being Mirchi Bhaji, Mewa Kachori but the Onion Kachori just blows me away so badly that I always get stuck at Onion Kachori.
There is no place to sit at Rawat and there is only a common table where people stand and have the Kachoris. The only problem with the Kachori is the size. You can never stop at one because of the taste and it is a bit too much if you are greedy enough to order two.
Rawat is definitely a must do if you are ever in Jaipur. Probably right after the Amber fort:)
A meal, breakfast for two at Rawats will cost you Rs 150/-. Two of you should ideally order 3 Kachoris and a mineral water bottle.
How to get there: Just get into any transport and say Rawat Hotel, Polo Victory. Anybody in Jaipur will know where it is. Polo Victory is a movie hall. A big testament to the quality of Rawat from personal experience is that every time I have been there the auto/taxi driver has also not been able to stay away from the Peyaz Kachoris.

Only Paratha, R-City Mall, Ghatkopar

Only Paratha is probably the second entry of a pure vegetarian restaurant in this blog, that fact complimented by my going there more than once and my intent to do so again as testament to the quality of the fare served up by the outlet. If you are vegetarian and even if you are not you must go there pretty soon and its my word that you will not be disappointed.

Only Paratha serves its Parathas with two servings of Daal, some onions and some Boondi Raita. This time luckily for me they gave me the option of taking some Rajma instead of the yellow daal. There is no guarantee that they will do this for you too, but go ahead and ask... If there is any milk at all to be had... it will go to the baby that cries! I am not very adventurous at ordering veg food and therefore stuck to a Aloo and Gobi Parathas. Only Paratha serves more than 50 varieties so all you veggies can really freak out. You will not be disappointed, more than the Parathas I think what they really do well is the combination they serve. The rajma and the kaali daal were both very very good. Must do when in the mood for some really good vegetarian Punjabi food.

A meal for two at Only Paratha will cost you approximately Rs 300/-

How to get there: Only Paratha is in the food court in R-City Mall

Madras Cafe, Kings Circle, Dadar

Indisputably one of the cult "southie" joints in Mumbai. This is where i landed up to satisfy afternoon hunger today.

The place is small, full of South Indians and is always full - if you get a place on Sunday afternoon you must be incredibly lucky. Neeraj was with me (we had a meeting at Wadala with Apna Paisa) and as Neeraj is mostly veggie (on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday) this was where we decided to go.

We ordered the Combined Lunch (which i had heard a lot about), a Mysore rawa dosa and Butter Poodi Idli - which I had loved on my previous visit. The combined lunch was half curd rice, half Bisi Bele Rice (this sometimes changes according to the rice of the day). The curd rice was the best i have had, slightly sweet and tasting a bit like raita - it had some cucumber pieces in it. The Bisi Bele Rice was a bit like a good khichudi though it had a distinct South India flavour and was very tasty.

The Dosa was good although i am not an expert and will not comment. The Idli was as good as it was the first time - surpassing the high expectations a second visit always brings. The dish is served with 2 idlis, sprinkled with butter and Poodi and with chutney spread over it. The best i have had in Mumbai - Absolutely wonderful, though not a match for Murugan in Chennai.

All this for a 100 Bucks. Super in true Southern style!

How to get there: Madras Cafe is just off Kings Circle. It is on the exit just bordering the Reliance Communications showroom on the left.