This is one really old place maybe even more than 20 years and just 2 minutes from Vasai west railway station, touching the ST bus depot .
While coming back from Big bazaar vasai west, I felt famished as 1, it was past 9:30pm and we brothers(me and Rohit) had spend a good 4 hours shopping and felt tired .
While he was happy to hold his hunger a little longer to reach home and eat I was drained and needed to "cool my heels " and hence we decided to hit hotel Rishikesh because of its past reputation .
This place was only half full which came as a little bit of a surprise to me . When I took the menu in my hands, I noticed a substantial price hike, I understood why it’s not bustling as it used to once.
I asked my brother Rohit to share the dinner thali somewhat with me and we agreed to order just 1 single dinner thali . While waiting for it, I noticed the ambiance was neat but nothing extraordinary and the furniture was very ordinary, neither the ground floor or the first floor was air-conditioned . Nevertheless the place wasn’t congested and waiters had enough room to walk in the 2 aisles between the 3 rows of the furniture .
The water served before the food arrived was filtered and cool but looked hazy and didn’t taste right, thus and I ordered some mineral water instead .
Both Rohit and I got up to wash our hands before the thali arrived and I noticed 2 wash basins adjacent to each other which looked clean, colorful, wide and big enough with swan neck faucets .
The Thali arrived within minutes of ordering it and the food served was quite hot . There were 3 veggies including rasam, 1 dal, 5 or 6 puris, very thick full cream curd and a sweet dish(kheer) all contained in miniature sized katoris along with some cheap looking mango pickle with odd mega sized raw mango chunks .
Since I don’t take a lot of sweet stuff but Rohit has a sweet tooth I asked him to finish the kheer . He remarked after eating it that the sweetness was very high .
The waiter arrived as soon as the puris finished to check if I wanted puris again in lieu of rice, I didn’t agree as I had already broken a rule while asking for puris instead of rotis, knowing fully well they would be deep fried in some rancid oil .
The rice plate which was so small arrived immediately thereafter but the rice contained within was not more than a few table spoons and I wish I had re-ordered the puris . The rice was very ordinary with big round white grains that can be brought really cheap . Ideally the rice grains should be long, a little off-white, non-sticky and smell nice to confirm a high grade low glycemic, nutritious rice, this was just the opposite, cheap, small grains, white and round, with supposedly high GI The thali was just about enough for 1 person . The rasam and curd were quite acceptable in terms of taste and feel, the rest was as average as it gets . The rice plate is enough to show the mindset of the management who just want to make money not popularity anymore.
The food was nothing extraordinary and tasted average . The overall experience was quite average as well . As we tipped the waiter and moved out after paying a paltry 130 Rupees or so . I realized this place is now only making profits not customers anymore.
What they could have done better?- If I were in the management of this hotel, the first change I would bring is change the grade of the rice served, throw out all the old furniture and get in better and more comfortable tables and sofas, serve better drinking regular water and roll out bigger better puris with the dinner thali . I would also include some salad/ chutneys and a better quality mixed pickle instead of the cheaper mango pickle . I would price the thali between 150-175 INR and instead of serving just curd would serve some boondi/ pineapple riata .
Instead of the very ordinary kheer I would bring in some non -sweetened aam-rass or stevia sweetened thick lassi with dry fruits in kullads/ fruit salad with ice cream / dry fruit rich Kulfi . My plates and cutlery would also be premium and not as ordinary .
I am confident the public will pay a little more for a lot more quality and quantity and go back content .
In a nutshell:
Ambience - Neither shabby nor glamorous
Service- Neither impressive nor a put-off
Items on the menu- many and all vegetarian .
Portions served- on the lesser side
Cleanliness- maintained though regular water isn’t sparkling clean .
Furniture- needs to change .
Overall experience - quite average .
Will I visit again? - Unlikely .