Feb 3rd 11:30 a.m - I had finished visiting couple of clients and was hungry. I hadn’t eaten since morning and my enzymes started knocking. I thought I was on lean diet for long, So, why not indulge in some sinful south Indian Dosas at MTR (main near lalbhag). I drove around. And it was closed! Timing board said - breakfast close at 11 and lunch opens at 12:30. Now what? My enzymes said "we wait". So I went and visited another of my client. And promptly back to MTR at 12:30, door was open. Some foreigners sitting on the bench.
I asked if lunch is served upstairs, the cashier said - "buy coupon". Two people were ahead of me.
I stood in line and bought a ticket. Rs 125!!! wow that’s steep for my budget, Since recession, I think its a sin to spend more than rs 50 for one square meal.
Well, I hadn’t eaten in the morning, that is around 30 rs saved.This was my first time at MTR for lunch, well my enzymes had better of me. I climbed stairs and went upstairs. The person at the door said, please wait for 10 mins. I said no problem.
(Side note: I always like to go places to eat closer to 12:30 for couple of reasons, one is they won’t be crowded at that time. And the place will be clean.)
People started trickling in one by one to the waiting room. When he let us in, there were about just 8 to 10 people. I went inside, got myself a table. Waiters and servers were busy carrying stuffs and organizing the place. Finally they started giving empty plates and collecting tickets/coupons. First thing they served was some juice in a glass (Was it rose petal drink? mmmm not sure) it was so yummy! and my hungry stomach relished. Yes it liked.
Next they served salad (kosumbari type) corn, grated coconut plus some seasonings. It was so good, I hadn’t tasted anything like this before. Next came curd vada. Then bell pepper (capsicum) masala.
Then roti (roti was more like roomali roti) it was awesome with bell pepper masala.
The way they were serving was like any indian function style .i.e each waiter comes with one item and goes around serving. Thoughts started running in my mind. So how can we get a second helping? Are we limited to the way and how they serve? Hmmm - and I do think they send people as batches - makes it easy for them to serve en masse.
Two sweets were served - one dhal kheer and another mysore pak (wow it was so yummy) I soon forgot about the price of the meal (125! Bad bad for my budget) and started enjoying the lunch. The food was rich, ghee (clarified butter) in everything. Sweet was so nice. The plate was relatively small for the items flowing in. So I made sure I made space for the next serving. They also served another vegetable bhaji (beans). Another serving of roti, nice.Then vegetable fried rice (palao) was served, rich in ghee (clarified butter) and cashew nuts. I almost forgot the pickle (vegetable spicy pickle - me like it).Then rice sambhar - was good - I declined their offer to pour more ghee over steamed rice. Rice and rasam - then curd rice - curd rice was good - it had cashew nuts and was not dry.
Some one at the far table - asked for another helping of mysore pak - every one in the room - went - me too, me too. Well so did I. So second helping for the dare does happen - and other take advantage of it.
Ice cream was served with fruit salad - (apple, chikoo, grapes, pine apple) nice vanilla ice cream.
I declined their pan (beetle leaf and nut). My mind had forgotten about the price. I was guilty of eating such rich and heavy serving. But I thought it was worth it, I had skipped breakfast. my night plan was to drink some tender coconut, and I should be back in game in couple of days.
I have read couple of other negative reviews about MTR in this site, most of them complain about the crowd, attitude etc. Excuse me! This is India - taste is the king here, not customers, not service. I go to MTR for the taste, not to be treated royally. If I want that I can go to some five star and eat some crappy food for 2 grand!
If you are like me - who hates crowd and don’t want anybody rubbing next to you - pick odd days (not weekends) and time - and you will be fine. Go to MTR for lunch at 12:30 and you will enjoy it. The food is truly traditional, rich and enjoyable.
Not a regular lunch spot, but to visit once couple of months is not bad. Not bad for your abs, heart, soul or purse.
Now don’t be shy - go and indulge