whenever i am super hungry, i head to chetana restaurant in kala ghoda (near rhythm house, oppposite jehangir art gallery) for a delicious vegetarian thali. my parents and i have been frequent customers since we moved to bombay in the late 80s. we love both the gujarati thali and the rajasthani thali. i usually get the latter when i am in more of a mood to indulge!
we have a friend visiting from new york and he was desperate for some good vegetarian food so we took him to chetana a few days back for lunch as i considerate it one of the best places in south bombay for thalis. i hadn't gone in over a year and was pleased to see that the restaurant hadn't changed much - it still wore its unpretentious, no-nonsense look and minimum decorative fuss. all the focus is on serving high quality food really quickly so you don't have to think too much about what to order and don't have to wait too long for the food to arrive. before you know it, the plates are filled with farsan and you're ready to start your meal.
the service was warm and personal as ever and the food totally delectable. h and our friend, j, opted for dal-bati-churma which is a part of the rajasthani thali. i chose the gujarati meal as my favourite undhiya is in season. my thali also came with farsan, chole, aloo sabji, a sweet tuvar dal and khadi to be eaten with either baajri ki roti, bhakri or phulka which are all varieties of indian bread. they also offered khichdi but i was too full to try it. i did have a glass of jaljeera as well as one of fresh buttermilk. dessert was puran poli and jalebis. needless to say, i was comatose all afternoon!
chetana veg restaurant
open 365 days a year.
lunch: 12.30 – 3.30 pm.
afternoon tea and snacks: 4.00 – 7.00 pm.
dinner: 7.30 – 11.30 pm.
8 comments:
Lulu,
Hey, i had a very disappointing experience at Chetna which i wrote about http://eatingoutinbombay.blogspot.com/2005/12/chetna.html
haven't been back since then. there are just too many options for a good thali and none of the mainstream places actually even do a decent job.
hello lulu:
chetana is one of my favourite 'eating holes'. i like the option of gujerati or rajasthani food and i choose either depending on my mood or shall we say what the stomach craves for at that time. the service is par excellence,the ambience appropriate and the food homely. and the rates not over the board.on the whole it makes a pleasant experience.
hi gaurav
you may well be a more discerning thali eater than i am! sometimes you just get programmed to think that a place serves yummy food and you don't question it unless the food is really bad. my dad has mentioned that panchvati and rajdhani are better so i should try those out as well. i like samrat also but somehow i always go to chetana by default!
Yum yum yum yum...My mouth was watering reading about this gujju thali...I am so partial to them and a trip to bbay and a visit to one of these thali joints is always on my agenda....you feel soo full and about to burst cuz you tend to over eat at such places......
There is another place some where I reckon near Charni Road??? which called Golden Star....They serve a good rajashtani thali...though the food is way to rich in masalas and ghee and oil.....
Now let me hunt for some gujju receipes which I can try at home...your post has made me super hungry....
Sonja
Bangalore
hi lulu iam bharat from kenya kisumu. today i read about ur blog in 2weeks old times of india. iam food lover. thanks to wonderful people like u im getting connected to mumbai after span of 15yrs.thanks keep it up
hi sonja,
i haven't heard of golden star but will find out about it now..
hi bharat,
thanks! you should also check out gaurav's blog - eating out in bombay - which was also featured in the same article - as he has more content on bombay per se. i am sure you have fond memories of this lovely city. what do you remember the most?
lulu
we have been to golden star at charni road near the rly station.it is an excellent place.there is thackers near phanaswadi balaji temple and friend's lodge at kalbadevi. i must take you to these restaurants.they both serve good and wholesome gujju food and you get value for money.
Hi lulu,
there was one more thali place near crawford market where they served chaas in old beer bottles....very simple place but the food was amazing...will try and rem the name..
cheers
sonia
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