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| Undhiyu at Shri Thacker Bhojanalay |
The first time K & I visited Shree Thacker Bhojanalay was more than 15 years ago. How do I know that? That’s because it does not feature on my blog which is 15 years old and back in the beginning I would write about every meal that I had in it!
STB is 63 years older than my blog. It was established in 1945 says Wikipedia. Which makes it 78 years old.
As you know, I do not like to repeat what’s available on the internet. Instead, let me tell you about how underwhelmed we were by that experience. We headed to Shree Thacker Bhojanalay back then after we read about it in the newspapers. There were no blogs or Instagram or Twitter then. What we came across was a rather dingy place. Especially when compared to the other thali places that we frequented then. Primarily Golden Star Thali and occasionally Chetna or Samrat. Neither K nor I was into vegetarian food or thalis and did not find much of a difference in the food among them. We did not go back again. Nor did I go there again; alone or with fellow food lovers. I came across many articles where people I respected praised STB a lot but I remained immune to their words. I was not fond of the thali school of eating and opened up to Gujarati food only after I discovered Soam and its a la carte menu.
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| With Kurush at STB. He was not as Grumpy as he looks |
I returned to Shree Thacker Bhojonalay a few days back. This time with my friend, food maven and raconteur par excellence, Prof Kurush Dalal. While I last went there more than 15 years back, he had last gone there ten years back. The reason for our current trip was not dictated by any love in particular for STB. We were to meet at Kalbhadevi for a show on tea that I am producing, Kurush was to take us through the heritage of the business district of Kalbhadevi and its ‘tea history.’ We were to meet for lunch at 1pm before we met the crew at 2.30pm to shoot. Shree Thacker Bhojonalay seemed to be the best choice.
This is the point at which I must admit to being an hour late. I have an explanation for this. I had hired a driver who happened to be an elderly Sardarji cab driver from Calcutta. He spoke better Bengali than me and drove carefully but knew zilch about Mumbai. I tried to direct him using Google maps, ignoring the route suggested by a cabbie on the way and landed in a quagmire of busy and tiny lanes. They were dotted with shops, alternating between Muslim and Jain stretches. Sardarji navigated the car adroitly through the lanes. He had learnt his ropes in the lanes of Burrabazar and Metiabruz in Kolkata after all. We went in inch by inch into no man’s land. Very All Quiet on the Western Front without the blood and gore. Kurush directed us by phone and that, as his wife Rhea will tell you, usually makes things worse. The addresses flashing on the signboards of the shops made me feel as if I was reading one of those badlands of Bombay books. I was tempted to get down and walk and soak in the atmosphere around me. But there are limits to testing the patience of a friend, no matter how dear you are to him.
I finally reached the unassuming building where STB is located at 2pm. I found Kurush quietly reading his kindle on a bench downstairs. If he was pissed, then his hug gave no indication of it.
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| Shri Thacker Bhojanalay menu |
Once again you were confronted by the sort of busyness that you had just left behind! Waiters crisscrossed the short stretch carrying buckets of food, running from one packed table to another. Once your eyes settled down, you realise that there was a method to the madness. That the waiters were moving around with the synchronised grace of ballet dancers. No one bumped into the other, no diner was hurt in the serving of food, no food was dropped, and no tempers were frayed.
There was a happy satiated smile on the face of each diner. Yes, the waiters did rush to ply you with food as is the custom in a thali joint, which is the one thing I really hate about thali joints. However, if you were two friends who wanted to chat about life and catch up with what was going on with each other, then you could very well gesture so that the waiter to head back and he would. Soon to be replaced by another who would meet the same fate.
The food? There is no point describing it in detail as the menu keeps changing but it’s safe to say that both of us unequivocally felt that STB lived up to the high praise showered on it by the food media. Something Kurush and I tend to be a bit cynical about in general. The food on offer was some of the best Gujarati/ Rajasthani food that I have had and offered a balance of all tastes: sweet, salt, bitter and sour across dishes.
The undhiyu was the best I have had and I have had many. And the khichdi was soooo good. Kurush made it a point to ask for it. It had so much flavour compared to the limp white rice and green moong dal khichdi that I’ve had in thali joints.
Can you eat here if on a diet? Of course, you can, within vegetarian boundaries. There are chhhas, millet rotis, ghees, and dals on offer and vegetable-based dishes that are not sweet…you can regulate the amount you can eat.
Will the gap between my next visit and this be less than 15 years? Yes, definitely. A helicopter service would help!
Any negatives? Nothing that I can think of. Even the toilet was very clean and modern and would give many new-age restaurants a run for their money.
