Mumbai

Rajdhani

Crawford Market. Thali 70/- , special thali 125/- [12/95].

This restaurant serves the best Gujarati thali and Rajasthani food I have had in Bombay. Clearly a lot of other people also have the same opinion, because there was an enormous crowd of people waiting to get in at 9 pm on Saturday. I am told that it's not very different on weekdays.

The thali came with a choice of dal and karhi, a bundi raita and four vegetables. The day I was there they had a palak, a bhindi, an alu and a chana. There were no rotis, only puris and puranpoli. There were three farsans and papad. You could have a khichdi to round off the meal. For dessert there was a choice of gulab jamun and srikhand.

The service was excellent. A table was found for us rather soon, and, in spite of the crowd waiting outside, there was no attempt to bundle us off quickly. We were plied with puris till we felt as stuffed as the parathas served elsewhere. I genuinely regret not having been to this place earlier.

December ...

Between August and December the place has been renovated and the price of the thali increased marginally. They have added a special thali, priced substantially higher. You get about twice as many things with the special thali as with the ordinary. If quantity does not move you, then take it for the Dal Bati Churma, a Rajasthani speciality, not seen in Bombay very often.

Gujarati: Panchvati Gaurav Purohit Rajdhani Samrat Thali

Rajasthani: Rajdhani