Budget bites

November 20, 2010

Mumbai | Govinda's: A visit to Govinda's earns you, not just a good meal, but some karmic brownie points. As the restaurant is run by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), the food is, in a sense, prasad. But what tasty prasad it is. Unlike its more prosaic counterpart at the ISKCON temple in Juhu, this Govinda's has a rather experimental menu. Ever had pizza as prasad? Some of the restaurant's most talked about dishes are its thin, wheat-crust pizzas fired in an Italian brick oven. We ordered Gopal's garden pizza, which turned out to be bland but healthy with an ample topping of olives and zucchini. The Mexican fajita sizzler was not the best but was not bad either. The paneer chilli was unbelievably tasty even though it was made without onion and garlic, but the Amexi salad was a disappointment as it had smelly broccoli and too much bell pepper. Govinda's also chaat, Punjabi and south Indian food and Indian Chinese. On a previous visit, we ordered paani puri, veg kolhapuri, paneer tikka masala, a veg shashlik sizzler and rotis. The paani puri was capable of bringing dead taste-buds alive. The sizzler was delectable and the paneer melted in the mouth. We were left with a pleasant aftertaste when the bill totted up to a grand total of Rs 500. All this was served by waiters wearing kurta-pyjamas and U-shaped tilaks on their foreheads who serenely moved about to a background score of Krishna bhajans. SMITA KOTHARI Govinda's, 7 K M Munshi Road, Chowpatty, Girgaum (022-2366-5567 ). Daily 11. 30 am-10. 30 pm. Meal for two approx Rs 500.

Budget bites

November 20, 2010

Budget bites

November 20, 2010

Budget bites

November 20, 2010

Chennai | Gujarati Mandal canteen: In the 30 years of its existence, the Gujarati Mandal canteen has changed little. It's still a 300-sqfoot 28-seater and continues to be the place for authentic Gujarati food in the city. "But we have changed the menu a little, " says Manoj V Shukla, the current owner. Shukla took over from his father Vishnu Prasad K Shukla, who started the restaurant. "We include a Punjabi vegetable dish and a south Indian sambhar and rasam in our lunch thali. It's because the young clientele wants it. But we make sure the sambhar and rasam has the Gujarati sweet touch in it. " The Gujarati Mandal is completely no nonsense, in terms of dêcor, price and service. "We believe in fast service, " says Shukla, who is fluent in Hindi, Tamil and Gujarati. You had better believe it. Once you're in, you're not allowed to waste time. You're hurried along to find a seat - any seat, next to anyone - eat and leave. Don't even bother reserving a seat for a friend. If they don't show up within five minutes, the seat is taken. Still, the food is worth the rush once you tuck in to the sweet spicy sabzis, paper thin rotis, mouth-watering aam ras and a vast array of pickles. Don't forget to try the canteen's khakra, dhokla, thepla and fafda. "We have 200 people walking in for lunch everyday, " says Shukla. "We have to be quick and so do our customers. " KAMINI MATHAI Gujarati Mandal, 116 Prakashpuram Road, Broadway, near Madras High Court (044-2539-2030 ). Daily 11 am-3 pm, 7 pm-10 pm. Meal for two approx Rs 110.