Ok, so we have a clear winner here. There’’s very rarely a place found in Bombay which serves a CRAB Thali. Woohoo!. I was apprehensive before calling for this, but what the heck, today I was allowed to indulge. So the braveheart ordered it, silently bowing to the invisible applause. And when the thali arrived, it had a large, yes, definitely a large crab, pincers, claws and all - served in an orange coconutty gravy. And of course, they brought in a nutcracker as well, presuming that I possessed the art of defanging and declawing and deshelling the monster. Which I did of course. The thali also had three pieces of soft-shelled crab toffees. Like you could crack them in one bite. Two jumbo chapattis, one platter of white rice, unlimited solkadi, one fish gravy, one veggie of the day, . Drool. It was a messy affair, sleeves rolled up, both hands negotiating with the crustacean, but the soft meat inside was like a reward after the struggle. As Jim Carey would say -BEAutiful.
The wife called for a veg Thali, which was mighty in its own right - usal, dal, kheer, dahi, cauliflower veggie et al. And the daughter made the wise choice of Surmai Thali. This again had a huge steak of the princely machchhi along with the other accompaniments. This place definitely doesn’’t believe in penny-pinching.
The other two items, ukadiche modak and kokam sarbat, both are avoidable. But that’’s small collateral damage to the otherwise exotic affair. Definitely a yes for next time. Prawns thali, here I come.