Veg Lorry

As said that i am the one who would find the wickedly named item in the menu and then order it....me, my sister and her friend went to Shiv Sagar at Juhu Beach just opposite Ramada Inn (pre party fueling up). As i was waiting for them browsing through their menu glanced upon a name called Veg Lorry (who would come up with such a name) and when my sister arrived ordered one of those...

What is Veg Lorry?

Base of Tomato gravy and koftas made of Mutter (peas) and potato (Aloo). As it got to the table looked really good and surprisingly it was well made. Completed all the koftas but did not finish off the gravy. If you go to Shiv Sagar do try out their Veg Lorry!!!!

Breakfast

Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Jack and Dinner like a Pauper

But we living such an hectic life working almost 10 hours and traveling approximately 2 hours a day. We tend to do it the other way round,

Breakfast like a Pauper, Lunch like a Jack and Dinner like a King

I also would fall in latter category if my Mom would not make something for me during breakfast.

I always like things to keep on changing and my mom knows that....what i have for breakfast

POHA - This is a maharasthrian favorite, rice with onions and turmeric makes it a perfect breakfast

UPMA - I think this dish originated in South (please correct me if wrong), if hot it is my favorite and add a red chilli paste over it makes it even better

Sandwich - Common man breakfast, add anything what you like and you are ready to go.

Cereals - Used to have it long time back but got bored of it.

Village - Place for Large Group

I had always suggested my friends to go to Village as they have awesome appetite and they went 4 times before i went for the first time with my cousins. All kids were happy and chirping and they say they would enjoy the big place and play around.

We all drove to Kandivali Raghuleela Mall, and then walking through hoards of peoples and shops into a zig zag path reaching Village. As soon as you enter you feel like you have come to small small village with trees and brownish colour everywhere, which i think does not exist anywhere in India but we were here to have fun.

There were clothes and bags for display wuhich one could buy from and also there was a guy making pots, which i later came to know that you pay him and they will also teach you to make pot.

Enter the main restaurant you are greeted with hostess and host checking in your coupon and letting you in.

You find yourself a big Charpai (village style sitting) and settle in. First task is to go around and check whats on the menu which is almost the same most of the time. After roaming around which almost takes 5 - 7 mins and deciding on what you want to eat and in which order. Grab a plate and go to the counter and fill your plate.

Suggestion: Make sure you dont eat one thing alot coz you might miss out on few things.

So the menu card goes like this
1. Dosa
2. Bhel Puri
3. Idlis
4. Corn
5. Pav Bhaji
6. Golas.
7. Sugar Cane Juice
8. Punjabi Dishes
9. Gujju Dishes
10. Marwadi Dishes
11. Hell lots of sweets.

And then there are puppet performance where you can just leave your kid and you enjoy the food (thats what my cousins did). And live orchestra will play with dandiya and garba adding to the mix which makes it delightful to watch and play.

So if you are a couple make sure you dont go and if a big group of 10+ then give it a shot.

Again for Rs. 300+ VFM for fun and food.

Kerala House - Lunch

After the dinner experience me and K always wanted to check out the lunch. As in their hotel there was a photo which displayed that food were served in Banana Leaves and we always like south indian food that way.

We reach Kerala House during lunch time and we had to buy coupons when asked how much for 3 people...he calculated in his mind and said Rs. 120 (that becomes Rs. 40 for each person), and we added Chicken Fry to it which Rs. 60 for 2 pieces per plate.

We entered looking at peoples plate as we search for a place to sit. As we sit down the plates come in and after some waiting the rice starts its way towards us (though i am not fond of plain rice that much but i kind of made an exception for this). Few moments later see a bucket with Sambar in it and I gleefully let him pour the sambar in my plate. Then came our favorite part Chicken Fry so my combination was Rice, sambar and chicken.

After having double serving of rice...we almost fell sleepy....and with Rs. 100 for the whole meal it was just worth it.

Kerala House - Dinner

My first hand experience of Keralite food was in Udaya Restaurant a hotel in Chembur just near the station. That place also had chinese and other cuisines served with beer so all in all a typical Mumbai Restaurant but with Keralite Dishes also.

My second experience was in Kerala House - Vashi next to Raghuleela Mall. (not next but down the road towards Vashi Gaon) a blue tiled building with 3 floors. We were first introduced to that place by our colleague R who is from Kerala and at times after leaving office he used to go there for dinner. We got curious and interested about what the food is like and what's the cost. So we joined R for my second experience of Keralite Food. (here it goes)

This place serves Chicken Curry, Fish Curry, Veg Curry, Appam, Parotha, Rice, Chicken Fry, Fish Fry and Kappa (a tapioca based vegetable). Thats it for the menu....when you enter the building you would have to ask the guard where they have set up the hotel you enter a big room with massive tables and chairs waiting for you. A young guy well dresses in shirt and pant (i was sad that..they should come with lungi and kurta, would have made it more authentic) and when we asked what they serve pat came the reply with the stuffs which I have written above. So instantly we ordered Chicken curry, fish curry, appams and parotha, everyone says that Keralite food is spicy and I am the one who does not like spicy food much but I dared. Food was served in minutes as they have it already prepared and we started eating like people who did not have food for a very long time and it was spicy (but the spiciness meter changes from day to day), and as R says the food also taste like home to which we were happy that we are getting authentic food.

After first round of Curries we ordered another round but added Chicken Fry to it, and do our surprise Chicken fry was nice freshly made and hot. Eating and clearing up each bowl we were stuffed to the limit and now waiting for the bill which made us think it would come around Rs. 600+ but to our surprise 2 Fish Curry, 1 chicken curry, 8 appams, 2 parotha, 1 chicken fry and 1 plate of rice costed us only Rs. 240 which when we saw had to recheck whether they did a mistake and after that point this has being our favorite place for cheap food.

Thanks R for such a wonderful discovery.

Truly value for money and also beware of the warm water they serve (take a bottle of bisleri with you to enjoy the food at its max)

Hotel timing - 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm

Konkan Swad

This restaurant is being for long in Goregaon (precisely 6 years), it is run by a South Indian but serves really delicious Konkan fares.

When it first opened up my heart said that lets go and check it out but as I did not know what to order and what not to order. Luckily friends used to come to my place and one was a Konkani and we decided to try it out.

First experience was that food is way too hot and I could not handle it...almost had 4 glasses of cold water that time.

Even after 6 years the taste is still the same and had my favorite Chicken Masala Fry with 4 chappatis. Ended with half plate rice and chicken rasa....the bill cost was Rs. 105/- which I find a fare deal if my stomach is full.

Where: Right at the junction of M.G. Road and Link Road (Goregaon)
When to go: Make sure you go during weekdays as weekends I always find hordes of people just waiting for a bite.
Ambiance: It is ok if not many people around you would be in peace and enjoy the meal.
Food: Typically Konkani food with variety of fishes, chicken, prawns, mutton and vade included. During weekends they also have crabs (which i have not yet tasted)
Value for money: It sure is worth it...not as expensive as Mahesh Lunch Home and would not hurt your wallet much.

Verdict: 4/5

Location:

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FOND OF FOOD

Have being thinking of doing this for a very very long time but could not make my lazy ass and mid to start working on it.

Well as the blog name suggests it is that I am "FOND OF FOOD" and can enjoy it anywhere (my mum can vouch for it). If the place looks decent enough I might go in and have some of it if very hungry. Sometimes I do take care of my wallet so you would not find a hi-fi ultra expensive restaurant in my list but some will be bit expensive to the cheapest one which I go regularly.

I have a taste of both veg and non-veg but kinda avoid eating beef and pork (my limitations till now) but who knows I might even start that.

I also don't like to take photographs of what I eat (coz i don't carry a camera everywhere) so at times references might be copied.

Enjoy....