"Only Veg" - Normally such a phrase just below any restaurant's name would be a complete turn off for me and the restaurant would be deemed unfit to go at that moment and some times forever. The pure love for chicken, fish, mutton, pepperoni (or almost anything which walks) and maybe the fact that non-veg food is not prepared at home compels me to eat only non-veg food outside as much as possible. BUT there are very few hand picked eating joints which are an exception to this. The ones coming straight to mind are Vaishali, Bedekar, Sweekar(Kothrud) .... thats it. Still I wouldn't call them dinner places as its not applicable to Bedekar, Sweekar and the waiting period for Vaishali is too much for my stomach to bear.
The only "Only Veg" restaurant where I would happily go forgoing non-veg is Darshan!!!
Darshan has been one of my favorite eating places ever since I was a small boy when eating out was an occasion and not a run of the mill activity as it is now a days. However I have definitely started appreciating Darshan more after I had the self realization that it ranks very high in my list of favorite restaurants despite it not serving non-veg. It's also become a favorite lunch place for my team in office and among my friends there's a sense of nostalgia associated with it. A new "couple" is normally introduced to everyone at Darshan and any person who is returning abroad and wants to do a customary "meet-everyone-before-I-go" visit is taken to Darshan :)
Coming to the main point - FOOD - Darshan is synonymous with Cheese. If you love cheese (and who doesn't) then a visit to Darshan would be like visiting the kingdom of cheese. All the baked dishes in Darshan along with each and every other item which has cheese in it is simply awesome. Starting with Cheese Balls and Cheese Onion Capsicum Grilled Sandwich to Baked Veg and Macaroni and Baked Beans on Toast, it's the cheese which steals the show completely. If you're in a bad minority and don't like cheese at all you don't need to fret. The Chhole Bhature are the best in the world. And to top it off, no meal at Darshan is complete without taking at least one of Traffic Jam, Sizzling Brownie, Chocolate Soufflé or Jelly with Cream. There're also some juices and milk shakes but I never seem to go for them :P. I present my huge list of favorite items at Darshan -
Must Haves:-
- Cheese Balls
- Mushroom Fetters in Mustard Sauce
- Baked Veg and Macaroni
- Traffic Jam
These are some of my most frequently ordered items in Darshan and each and every one of them is a winner. If at all you want to substitute something then it can be the Baked Veg. Others are quite untouchable :P
Other equally great ones:-
- Baked Beans on Toast
- Open Cheese Chilli Toast
- Cheese, Onion, Capsicum grilled sandwich
- Vegetable Au Gratin
- Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna
- Chhole Bhature
- Chikoo Milkshake
- Jelly with cream
There's nothing much to not like in Darshan's menu but I don't like the Darshan Snack Dish that much and there's a "Chinese" section which I haven't tried ever! If at all I am missing something really good please put it in your comment :)
Wow what an awesome blog mate...Darshan is my favourite place too.. Missing fresh mango with cream with ice cream... kya yaad dilai yaar...
ReplyDeleteNice gen on Pune scene. Thought I would add my two bits about Mumbai food joints!
ReplyDeleteYou have to check out 'Rajdhani", 'Chetna", 'Lailash Parbat' in Mumbai.
Not only the are 'only veg' but also offer Rajasthani, Maharashtrian, Gujarati Thhalis - they are also willing to accommodate my peculiar requests like "Potato, Onions Yes, Garlic No" (unlike Pure Jain versions of their cuisine. In fact the Puran Poli at Chetana and the chaat and Gulab Jamuns at Kailash Parbat are on par with best anywhere. Yet another place in Mumbai is GOVINDA’S RESTAURANT at ISCON, Juhu. Since the food is "Bhog", there is no onion and Garlic - but it still tops in Veg Food. Also, the "Roshogullas" there are on par with the best in Kolkata. (PLease don't ask how, being a chronic diabetic, do I know this! Its a secret). Last, but not the least, all these places are reasonably priced - if you have the capacity to eat, you get more than your money's worth. For carnivores like you, for sea-food, I would suggest, Mahesh Lunch Home, Highway Gomantak and Gajalee. Being a pure veg, I refuse to enter these, but I have seen fish foodies drool at the very mention of these!
Anil
hey...food blog are always welcomed by me and this is no exception...darshan been one of our fav joints since school days...and unless they do something drastic, i dont think it will change :)
ReplyDelete@Rushya - Thanks a lot! Hope you come back in the summer season to have Mango with cream and ice cream :)
ReplyDelete@Anil kaka - Thanks a lot for the info on Mumbai places. I've not tried any of them though I'm more than happy to have lunch at Renaissance or ITC like always :D I've heard a lot about Gajalee from my friends. Hopefully I'll be able to visit all of these some places you mentioned some time ...
@Shaunak - I doubt Darshan will change so lets look forward to many such visits whenever you come back!!
Now we have to go again to Darshan soon.
ReplyDeleteDarshan was Mammu and Dada's favourite too..They liked the cheese pizza and Chole Bhature resply. Janoo now wants to try it especially the cheese dishes and the sizzling brownie
ReplyDelete