We continue our reader-driven series on great restaurants and eating places across the country.
Harpreet Bhatia from Delhi recommends a roadside kiosk with a difference.
T
here are few few of Delhi's 5,000 plus food joints that I haven't been to. To start with, I shall recommend Ashok Meat Wala. As the name suggests, this place does not serve vegetarian food.It is a small eating joint, a standing only place, behind Madan Lal Sweet Shop on Main Sadar Thana Road, Sadar Bazaar, Delhi.
The best way to get there is to take the Metro, get off at the Pul Bangash Station and take a cycle rickshaw. Depending on how congested the roads are, it could then take you about 30 minutes to reach to Ashok Meat Wala.
The place serves delicious chicken curry (daily, except Tuesdays) and mutton curry (only on Wednesdays and Saturdays). It also serves chicken and mutton biryani.
The food is cooked in the traditional manner, where about 30 different spices are added to the curry to make it grainy and distinctive.
The best part about the meat pieces is that they are small and fresh.
The portions, though small, are enough for a person. One plate has two pieces of chicken/ mutton with thick, masala curry. With each dish, you can have as many rotis as you please. These small tandoori rotis have little pieces of green pepper in them, making them amazingly crisp and spicy.
But you get no extra curry so, if you want more, you have to order for another plate.
The curry, chicken or mutton, is priced at Rs 70 per plate. I don't remember the exact price of the biryani, but I guess it is around the same as the chciken/ mutton curry, that is Rs 70 to Rs 80 per plate.
Though Ashok Meat Wala is strictly a roadside joint, it gives a lot of importance to food quality, taste and cleanliness; these factors differentiate it from other roadside places. Eating here is like having a spicy, homecooked lunch, served in the middle of a busy market place.
The place has some tables where you can eat standing, and a couple of wooden benches where you can sit and eat. However, I would advise against the latter option; you cannot tuck in enough with your stomach cramped, it's better to stand and get your fill.
USP: Roadside joint with a difference. You can only understand what I am saying once you have sampled a meal here.
Harpreet Bhatia manages his own business and is a self-confessed foodie.
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