It was a little depressing that on the 2nd night (of 4) I didn't have anywhere specific in mind for dinner. Night 3 ended up staying in the hotel room eating room and night 4 in the hotel restaurant of Jaiwana Haveli. For night 2 I thought it would be easy enough to walk around and find something good. I didn't particularly want to eat at any of the rooftop restaurants as night 4 would be enough for that, the premium associated with a rooftop didn't appeal to me and given it is nighttime the view has mostly passed.
In the end I was trying to find Charcoal by Pratap Bhawan which had some early TA reviews and was nearby. Incredibly after about 30mins of walking in circles I couldn't find it. I should've pre-empted this by marking it on a map or my phone but I didn't and I paid the price of indignance.
In the end a very local looking place filled with all Indians was the walk-in choice.
- Mixed fruit lassi – mainly pineapple with lots of sugar crystals evident;
- Orange juice – apparently freshly squeezed but very thin. I wonder if they added water and sugar;
- Vegetable Pulao – very nice rice dish peppered with intermittent sweetness from pineapple and minimal oil;
- Anna 92 Special – vegetable kofta in a green spinach and red tomato curry;
- Bhindi Fried - delicious dish of fried okra, onions and spices. Very flavoursome;
- pickles - first place I'd found the complimentary chilli pickles on the table and I was happy. A new addition to my Indian eating repertoire from Udaipur;
- Vegetable Biryani – wet rice mix with vegetables. The pulao was much better.
I wondered after this meal if I prefer pulao or biryani. My favourite biryanis have not been heavy or wet so maybe that is the issue. In any case the food here is cheap, satisfying and tailored to locals. I like how they use some ingredients that I hadn't come across in previous places (or maybe I had but just hadn't ordered them).