Food is my weakness and I am always on the lookout for new restaurants to try out something different from them. Last week we decided to have lunch outside for the simple reason that I saw a restaurant an evening before while returning home from office.
The restaurant was Dhaba Express, as Punjabi restaurant, which is located at Sripuram Junction on the first floor of Dutt Island Building.
As we entered the restaurant we found the look inside a bit strange. We were guided to a vacant table by the waiter, who was neatly dressed. I looked around to check what was it that looked so strange to us when we entered & found lanterns with bulbs inside hanging from the roof instead of those fancy looking lights, which we all find in most of the famous restaurants. The partition between tables and wash room was made of bamboos knitted with manila rope. It took me sometime to realize that the interior was purposely designed to give the restaurant the look of a dhaba.
The furniture though was good. Spacious table & comfortable sofa. No complaints.
The waiter came and kept 3 stainless steel lotas (small metal pots) on our table for drinking water. Lota in place of glass was again a shock to me but by then I was prepared to accept anything to enjoy the food in the dhaba atmosphere.
Along with the lotas he gave us three menus, which had the look of a newspaper. It was about 9 inches wide and 15 inches in length. We decided to order the food first before we can concentrate on the newspaper oh! sorry, menu. In the last few days I struggled to eat mutton & didn’t want to miss the chance today, even though my daughter ordered her favorite dal makhani & my wife was delighted to go for paneer butter masala. What else do you expect from Punjabis?
We were told that the order will be served in 20 minutes & that’s exactly what we wanted. The menu, which consists on 4 pages is something unique that I have seen so far. The front page had in bold letters written on top, next to the restaurant’s name Jee Aayaan Nu, in Punjabi it means welcome.
We smiled at the warm welcome. The front page had a brief history of Punjab & Punjabis, which was a delight to read. 2nd, 3rd & 4th page of the menu has list of items available to eat. Everything is very reasonably priced, no rip off.
Can Punjabis be without laughter? NO. And Dhaba Express has paid attention to this reality as each page of their menu has few rib tickling jokes on the fictional yet immortal Punjabi characters Santa Singh & Banta Singh. The menu is so designed that you can easily wait for your order as it contains enough material to read & smile.
The waiter came & gave us three stainless steel plates, so it was not over yet. I lifted the plate to find it was very thick in appearance & had scratches on the surface, which is caused by rubbing the metal with some metal wires. Purposely done & used instead of the expensive crockery so that it can go well with the atmosphere. This completed the entire dhaba look.
Now we were now waiting for the order to be served, which arrived within few minutes. The first bite that I took confirmed that we didn’t make a mistake by coming to this restaurant & to say that the food was delicious would be an understatement. This is the kind of food that I look for, which is not only delicious but it satisfies also.
No wonder the place was more then 70% occupied by families and college students even at 2.30 PM. So this restaurant has found place in my list of favorite restaurants, which I’ll be visiting at regular intervals.
Anybody looking for good food, here is a place to visit.