My search for a quality and tasty food never ends and by every experiment it goes on increasing. I had been to many restaurants and hotels in Pune and my main target is South Indian food. There are many hotels around the city that offer various dishes like Dosas, Idlis, Uttappas etc and they all vary in their taste, quality and presentation.
The review is related to "Hotel Vaishali" on Fergusson College Road and it holds its head high when it comes to offering typical and authentic South Indian dishes ...day after day. As soon as you enter the lobby, you feel the place is full of people. There are waiters running around delivering orders, taking orders and there are one who cater to the incoming traffic of new customers! Yes, it will be a lucky thing if you enter the hotel and you get a seat directly. The hotel is just bombarded with so many people that the staff shall ask you the number of people accompanying you and would give you an adequate time for your turn. Again, if the number of people is very high, they shall record your last name and number of people with you and shall call you when the table is ready.
The crowd at the hotels is somewhat disturbing, since we all want peace and calmness when we are eating outside especially when with family. But the other side of the same issue is that the crowd at the hotel (indirectly) suggests that the quality of the food served is good and that is why people keep reverting at the same venue - Again and again. One very bizarre thing that I noticed here is the waiters write down your order on their Aluminum plates with their pencils! I have seldom seen them with paper pads and pens.
Some of the prominent of "Hotel Vaishali"
Menu: Other than having very good quality of South Indian dishes, you can have many Punjabi dishes too. They have a wide variety of juices, shakes, ice creams, teas/coffees etc. It’s a complete restaurant with main focus on Dosa and Uttappa.
Ambience: The place though crowded is well maintained. I believe it can place around 100-200 people at a time (ground level) and can place around 50-100 on its top floor. (I am not sure whether its top floor is still operational. It’s a been a year that I have been to its upper floor.) You would notice that the cleaning staff is always round the corner to clean the floor every now and then. In summer season, you would notice that in the adjoining garden (extension of the hotel) there are water showers which blew up in the day time to keep the temperature cool. This is a fantastic feature of this hotel. No doubt the overhead is covered with green nets, and there are ceiling fans too, but these showers which operate at few intervals truly cools down things a bit more. Next, there is some soothing music always on a low volume. All the features as regards a place make it a "Visit again" type of a hotel.
Quality: Now that is the prime reason that we try trust the eateries for! In this department, this place scores a ton. The quality and the taste of the food is just awesome. The presentation is great and a high standard of hygiene is maintained. Heavy crowd again stands as a testimony to the quality of food being served here. I had been there with my Dad once, and whenever he comes to Pune he insists me taking him there, because he likes the food quality and taste as well.
Waiting period: Now comes the flip side! As I said the place has some good customer following. The location of the hotel also plays as a catalyst to increase its numbers. It’s on FC road that is very near to a college! So the natural and more than half of the customers belong to college category. You would see many youngsters/couples/newly weds at this place. Again, after the "Neck" road of Pune the famous MG road.... FC road is the most sought out place in Pune. The adjoining Junglee Maharaj Road constitutes Deccan of Pune. So this makes this place the most happening place to hang around. So a normal waiting of around 15-20 minutes is sure on weekdays and 30+ minutes on weekends.
Overall the place is nice to have a nice little meal with family or friends. The staff is very cordial and quick. Only of you can withstand some waiting you can have some great time and shall really enjoy the visit. I have tried my level best to bring out some best and some flip sides of this place. But be sure that if you make it to the place I am sure you won’t regret.
Let me know your thoughts and opinions on the review.