Lunch Thali

We are going out for lunch at a thali restaurant. They serve everyone an unlimited supply of their daily dishes in small bowls.

Each thali restaurant specializes in dishes from a region of India. We are seeking one making good local-style dishes.

In making the decision on which thali restaurant to go to, I learned that the selection criteria is:

1. Authentic dishes representing this region
2. Excellent quality
3. Clean facility - they are worried about me
4. Today's menu

The list was narrowed down to four restaunts. After calling each restaurant to discuss today's menu, the results were ranked by today's dessert selection.

First place: Panchavati Gaurav

I noticed that it is at least double or triple the cost of a thali place we were discussing yesterday, Durwankur. I think it lost out on criteria #3, above.

The sorted list of finalists was routed to the general manager for confirmation.

The response was to go to Hotel Shreyas (not on the list of four) as their Maharashtrian thali is authentic Pune-style, and not generically of the greater Maharashtra state. This is equivelent to comparing San Francisco cuisine versus California cuisine. Basically, condition #1 was refined to the point that this place prevailed.

The group noted they have not been to this local-style restaurant in years since this is exactly what they get at home. They enjoyed introducing the foods to me. For my part, I am starting to grasp eating with one hand. I was doing extremely well single-handed until the rice came.

Some items get placed in a specific location while others have a general region.

Staff roam the restaurant refilling plates.

For dessert, I picked a grilled bread with bean filling dipped into mildly sweet coconut milk. Delicious.