Tomatos, CG Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad

This blog is about one of my favourite restaurants in India. This blog is going to be a biased one. Tomatos was the scene of many a joyous celebration during my time at IIM Ahmedabad from 2001 to 2003, it was pretty much the non vegetarian oasis in a largely vegetarian city that Ahmedabad was then. Tomatos served great food in a posh, upmarket ambience. The vegetarian food was also decent which made the restaurant a default option for dorm lunches and dinners. The dessert was exceptional - it still is!. They also gave us a 10% special discussion if we produced the IIMA ID Card. If you ask people who have passed out of IIMA, my batch and, 2 to 3 years either way as to which restaurant was the most frequented for celebrations, during their time in B - School, 90% of the answers would be Tomatos. Great food, great place and great memories of two of the best years of my life.

Tomatos is an American style restaurant and has typical decor. Pictures of Elvis, Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson adorn the walls making the walls very busy and cluttered. A bar-type set up serving mocktails in the dry state of Gujarat. Good background music and comfortable seating. The menu is varied and has the standard Indian and Continental dishes, alongwith the Tex Mex servings from Enchiladas to Nachos. Decent grub and quite tasty. The vegetarians used to particularly freak out on the Cheese Nachos. The service however is definitely on the slower side. The last time we were there, we had to wait almost half an hour for the food to arrive and we did not order anything that typically should take a lot of time.

Last time I was at Tomatos (and to be honest every time I go to Tomatos), I ordered the Chicken and Mushroom Stroganoff. The Stroganoff is a simple dish of buttered rice and chicken and mushrooms in a light sauce. The Stroganoff at Tomatos has a spicier brown sauce instead of the lighter one I have seen more often at restaurants and tastes absolutely amazing. They are also very generous with the mushroom and chicken and the dish is just right for a hearty and delicious lunch.

I followed up the Stroganoff with the highlight of the restaurant, and no trip to Tomatos will be complete without tasting this, the Chocolate Delight. The chocolate delight is basically pieces of Black Forest cake, interspersed with scoops of Vanilla. There is then a very, very generous helping of slightly warmed up Chocolate sauce and peanuts that is layered on top to make the dish, pure gluttonous heaven and a must have for all black forest cake, ice cream and chocolate sauce fans (basically the whole human world). My mouth waters even when I think of it. Only warning, it is a lot of dessert, so make sure you save space or have someone to share it with. Tomatos is a great place to go for a meal and is a must stop in any visit of mine to Ahmedabad.

A meal for two at Tomatos without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 600/-

How to get there: Tomatos is on CG Road, Navrangpura. It is near Mudra House. It should be identifiable by a large Tomato sign on the main road. You have to walk 10 m from the main CG Road to get to the restaurant.

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.