Punjabi is cool
If I were asked to categorize things in Punjabi, I would try this way-
(A) Punjabi Food: Sarso da saag, Makke di roti, Chikken- Shikken, Dal tadka, Charpai(integral part of Punjabi food), Lassi-pissi(not the MS member), anything Makkhan marke.
(B) Punjabi Music: Daler Mehendi, Dhol, Balle Balle! Bhangra, Sukhbir, Mika, Chak de Phatte, Daru-sharu(again, part of music)
(C) Punjabi Intellect: Manmohan Singh, Siddhu, Khushwant Singh, Amrita Singh, soni- kudi(who says beauty & brain can’t co-exist?)
In Daras Dhaba I found A & B in abundance.
Since leaving Delhi, we missed the authentic dhaba food. We used to frequent Rajinder da Dhaba, which I believe is extinct now. Alternnative was Kake da Hotel. Then there’s the ubiquitous Sher-e-Punjab in Kolkata suburbs- where we get Bengali-Punjabi fusion foods.
In Mumbai there’s Dara da Dhaba- on W E highway it’s on the LHS, a km after Dahisar check naka. A colorful place to hang out with family & friends!
Ki gal Hai, Koi nahin
There was ample parking space available as we reached the place fore-noon. Am sure there would be mara-mari for parking in the evenings. The theme of the entrance gate is like a Lorry with a “PB” number plate fixed atop the huge Iron Gate.
Immediately after the entrance there’s a well-equipped tarot card reader with his maina & all, eagerly waiting to tell out future. I wanted to have some fun with my future, but my children did not allow me. Next was a pan shop. A large welcome sign, “Take care of your belongings, management is not responsible” greeted us to a large lounge separating the eating area with potted plants & shrubs.
As it was in the month of March it was not so hot and we decided to settle on the semi-indoor area. It is basically a factory shed with a very very high ceiling(but lower than Hard Rock Café). There’s an indoor AC restaurant as well, which probably is more popular in summer heat.
The seating is dhaba style with tables, charpois on either side with takias. The aish in takia was as good as Ayesha Takia! However I believe the management uses my theory of “ comparative cleanliness” for the takia covers. So, that’s their takia-kalam! There’s hookah, lantern’s hanging from the ceiling, staff wearing turban & lungi making it look like a mini-punjab!
Daras Dhaba explained in one Mumbaiya word is Bindaas. No hang ups, no rules, no table manners. Simply good food with good music. Everything else to be chak de phatte.
*Oye Pappe, khana shana laga de yaar!
*They have an interesting looking menu card with loads of choices from juice-shuice, starter-warter, roti-shoti, kabab-shabab(alas, no shabab, only sharab), curry-shurry, desert-wesert. In short there’s a huge list to choose from. Interesting pictures of sardars in various posture increased our appetite.
Reshmi kebab & Fish Finger as starters with beer, mocktails Jungle cooler(I dunno what it meant) and Pu*sy foot(huh! MS doe’snt even allow to name mocktails, these days) ordered to start with.
There was a swing and few sliders, rockers placed in a kids play area to take care of the perpetual Brownian motion of the kids. I listened to the music played while waiting for the beer. Beer came after 3 songs. They mostly play Hindi & Punjabi fily songs and Indi-pop of Sukhbir, Daler, Mika genre.
After around a dozen songs, I realized the people who are serving us can’t be termed as waiters. In reality we were the waiters. We listened to the songs, slept on Ayesha Takiya, played with kids, drank beer, played again, yawned, drank beer….and waited like theres no end !
When they were playing “ Oye kake, mainu pyar karke pashtaya” the starters arrived. I had gulped three beers by then and was planning to take a siesta on the charpoi.
Rotis does not take much time. One can monitor the progress as roti’s are prepared openly in a kiosk in the same area. It’s the dishes those can make Rip Van Winkle blush in shyness.
We were scared that the main food might reach us by evening and desert by dinnertime. So we quickly settled for Murg makkhanwala, some more kebabs with some naan-shaan & Rabdi(devi-less).
The associated ghas-phus items like salad, nimbu, chutney, achar and other paraphernalia were served on the house.
*Ki fark painda?
*Tasting the food made us forgot the time we spent on waiting. Its real-time Punjabi from all sense. I had never tasted so good Punjabi dish after Rajinder da dhaba.
In Delhi people used to tell me butter chicken is the national bird of Punjab. The murg makhkhanwala was so delicious that I am forced to dedicate the video to it.
*Balle Balle!
So people who are bored with strict monotony of fine diners, love Punjabi food, have kids, plenty of time to kill for a meal in extremely leisurely pace, Dara’s Dhaba is the place. Khao, piyo, aish karo- *bindaas!
I have heard the place throngs with people in the evenings and the waiting time is more than 45 mins during weekends. I am not sure whether there’s any place equivalent Daras in Mumbai in terms of ambience, food quality & kid friendliness. The good thing is it’s near to my place and good food make us happy!
*Caution
*1. I have no idea how the veg food taste there. So ghas-phus eaters please venture at your own risk. But those mocktails were too good!
- The flavored hookah, Ayesha takia in charpoi after few beers can make you feel like a King. What the heck, it’s good to be a King(as sung by Tom Petty), once in a while. So be ready to pay like a King too.
~#*~
ps: Don’t get scared from the title, theres no khatmal.