Eat Like Ushi

Looking for coffee in Udaipur was always going to be difficult. Surprisingly there are 3 places that are meant to live up to Australian standard - Jheel's, Cafe Edelweiss (the German bakery with perpetual tourists) and another near Queen Cafe of which I forget the name.

Jheel's was the most convenient and the nicest waterside setting.

- Mango Smoothie - wanted litchi but it wasn't available. As far as I'm aware the mango wasn't from fresh and the smoothie didn't taste fruity;
- Iced Latte - slightly watery coffee, not very strong or thick;
- Caramel Walnut Pie - room temperature, sweet, adequate.

Unfortunately the food and drinks weren't particularly good. Adding that it took 30mins (there were 5 other people none of whom were expecting any food or drinks) to get a smoothie and an iced latte I would try somewhere else next time. Having said that, the lake setting watching the bridge, people wash and bathe and the occasional boat go past is quite nice and something the other places don't have.

On a lazy day walking around town with nothing planned, the western area around Ambrai ghat had everything from water to random cows, streets, local stores and families. It was hungry work. Lunch options included the very local home known as Queen Cafe, the highly advertised Millets of Mewar (organic, vegan) or TA #1 Cafe Satori (Italian, pizza).

The decision was made to support the local Indian family and so Queen it was. The seating area upstairs happened to be where the family's children were watching TV. They challenged me to some games of chess whilst waiting for the food to arrive and the interaction made this a memorable meal in itself.

- Kesar Lassi (saffron) - sweet lassi with dried fruit and desiccated coconut. Couldn't detect saffron but I don't know if I ever have in any dish;
- Coffee Lassi
- Pumpkin Curry - the famous dish that people come here for. The pumpkin is soft and well cooked with very mild flavour;
- Hyderbadi Biryani (with spinach & coconut) - similarly mild flavoured;
- Chocolate Ball - this was a delicious dense ball of soft chocolate coated in coconut. When it gets offered to you, just have one each.

The food was served with a small container of homemade special masala mix using 40 or so spices. It combines mainly savoury and spicy and adds a big kick to the food which I'd have to admit was slightly plain otherwise. It seems like everyday home cooking and a different taste and environment to the day-after-day of Indian restaurants.

JMB is a sweet shop near the train station. I wouldn't advise walking there once you move into the lake region (due to distance and general traffic) so plan it for day with a driver. The sweets are available fresh and also boxed to take away. My preference isn't for sweets so I can't really advise on them other than the ones with pistachio were honeyed over and too sweet for me. I think I prefer my pistachio dessert in gelato or Turkish baclava.

However they are possibly even more known for kachori, particularly the pyaaz kind. I'm not sure what pyaaz is, but the kachori was sensational. Crispy hot pastry with a filling rich in crunchy cumin and coriander seeds and an unusual hint of tangy sweetness lingering at the end. Perhaps it is caramelised onion? I'm not sure but it's great. 

If I'm ever back in Udaipur I'll swing through between arriving at the train station and getting an auto-tuktuk to the accommodation.

As soon as I showed the driver Harmindra the first page printout of this article (http://udaipurtimes.com/9-best-places-to-have-your-breakfast/), he instantly knew where to go. In fact he regularly takes his daytrip clients there for a nice filling breakfast.

I remember my first (and probably only other) experience with aloo paratha. Union House in Melbourne Uni has/had a ground floor curry place that served these huge aloo parathas - naan filled with big chunks of boiled potato. Back when I had them as lunch or a late afternoon snack in 2000-2002, I think I could get one for $1.50 (or even 2 for the price of 1 in the late afternoon). Those were the days. But those memories quickly faded as I tried the best aloo paratha in Udaipur. There is no comparison for quality or taste - Melbourne Uni paratha tastes like potato, Udaipur paratha tastes like flavour and satisfaction.

Upon arrival the surrounding mob of locals looked impressed that tourists were approaching. Harmindra gave the page printout to the owner, he showed it to the crowd and everyone cheered.

There are 3 parathas to pick from - aloo (potato), cauliflower and radish. You get 2 parathas, a massive slab of ghee or butter and a bowl of dal for Rs. 50. Wow.

- Aloo Paratha – a smooth potato blend served hot wedged between crispy wheat discs;
- Cauliflower Paratha - a different texture to potato with more crumble and a very mild flavour;
- Dal - incredibly good full flavoured dal. Look at the colour to see how different it is to the typical. As good as the paratha was, it was the vessel to transport the dal to my mouth.

Next time I would order either two aloo paratha or try one with radish. I'd ask for less (or even no) butter. I'd attempt to dedicate a day to getting to the other 8 places listed on that page but most of them aren't that convenient to walk to.

During the daytrip around Udaipur on the auto-tuktuk, the driver Harmindra stopped off at a very local looking place for lunch. I'm very doubtful that any tourist would be wandering in the area, let alone pick this as the place to try. It's possible the staff may have even been surprised to see non-Indians coming in, or maybe I just imagined that.

In any case the prices are cheap and the food is nice and I didn't get sick. What more can you ask for?

- Vegetarian Biryani - it must have been a Kashmiri version topped with cashews and shredded cheese. The intensely red-coloured rice was a little oily and was dotted with vegetables and paneer;
- Shiv Shakti Special - I'm not entirely sure what the special was. It seemed to be a green pea curry and a tomato-based paneer curry. The pea was more my type and a little hotter;
- Garlic Naan - this was a visual delight with the burnt diced garlic and herbs unlike any I'd seen previously. As expected it tasted well garlicky, just like garlic naan should;
- Kashmiri Naan - I've previously had Kashmiri Naan and I think the description of dried fruit and nuts appealed to me more than the actual product. This was fine but it reinforced that idea. I prefer garlic (or plain);
- Special Lassi - a very rich sweet thick lassi filled with dried fruit and nuts (Kashmiri again?). The only disappointment was crunching palpable sugar crystals which I think the drink can do without.

I wouldn't go out of my way to find this place, but if a driver takes you here I wouldn't be disappointed.

In the heart of the Pink City, LMB is a well known institution. It is reasonably close to the tourist sites of the City Palace, Jantar Mantar and the Palace of Winds making it a convenient lunch place.

LMB is known for two things - a thali that has the largest number of components (16!!) and a sweet shop foyer before the restaurant that is known for paneer, tikkis and kulfa.

The dishes were fine without anything being particularly outstanding. It did allow me to try the Rajasthani combination of dal-bati-churma with allows a combination of a fried wheat ball, sugary dip and savoury dal. I will admit the main reason I ate here was for the impressively large variety of things and the meal was satisfactory enough.

After filling up there was only enough stomach room to try one thing from the sweet shop, so it had to be the paneer ghewar (honeycomb cake soaked in treacle). It was a room temperature crispy lattice soaked in syrup. They offered me a whole one (which is huge) but I'm happy they allowed me to purchase a weight-based small piece. The intense sugar meant that I was happy just to have two spoonfuls and leave the rest.

I didn't really find many good options online for eating in the Pink City. The only other on my list was Samrat Sweets which specialised in kachori and samosas. Given that you are generally there around lunch time, I think I would try there next time (as the reputation is extremely good) and just snack up.

Udaipur is India's most romantic city. Within it, the Lake Palace is probably the most romantic place to stay and eat. However for anyone that doesn't want to pay the $800 per night minimum for the privilege of visiting the island, Ambrai would be the most lovely setting to enjoy. The atmosphere is a combination of things - you can see the City Fort and Lake Palace surrounded by the peaceful waters. People bathe in Ambrai ghat as the sun sets.

Turning up unannounced at 6pm ended up well with the last table next to the water available. The colours of the view change throughout the meal - the sunlight disappearing over the city, the dusk hue that welcomes in the night, then the bright lights illuminating the Fort and Lake Palace. On this night Jagmandir Island was hosting a wedding so there were additional lights filling the view and the skies. The food is very good too and no complaints there either. The prices are more expensive than the typical but you're paying for the view, the setting and the location in a tourist hotel.

- Lal Maans (Rajasthani delicacy of mutton with bone cooked in thick Indian spicy gravy garnished with chopped coriander leaves) – supposedly the "perfect" laal mass per reviews and recommendations. It was a very simple, minimally spicy version with some tender meat but also some not so. I think the version at Handi was better and more authentic (although that one was too spicy);
- Ambrai Special Fish (boneless fish in special Indian gravy) – delicious, sweet from some lovely cherries, with the fish heavily cooked but not dry. Best dish of the lot;
- Baigan Bharta (eggplant roasted & cooked with tomatoes, onion, dry spices) – very smokey flavour;
- Garlic Naan (white flour bread stuffed with fresh garlic & topped with butter) & Lachha Naan (multi-layered flour bread baked in clay oven) - as most places in India these were delicious. Not the best I had, but no complaints.

What did disappoint was the service. There wasn't a smile to be had nor any friendly attitude. Service isn't something that I generally rate restaurants upon, but given the prices and clientele it is something that should be better. This was exemplified when paying the bill. For a Rs. 2000 bill I tipped Rs. 200 (which is very generous given the service we had and the guides suggesting 5-10%) - upon seeing this, the waiter looked unimpressedly down and said "is that the tip?" When I said yes, he said nothing, took it and walked off.

I'll happily go back for the food and setting. There's a corner table right on the edge of the dining area where the water edges meet and I'd book that for 2-4 people next time in advance. If the service hasn't improved then I'd be tempted to tip nothing.

This place is not in Agra or Jaipur, but the only reason you will stop here is because your driver takes you to eat, toilet and possibly buy things from the tourist gift shop. Walking into the dining room and seeing 5 different tables of 2-4 tourists each reaffirmed this. There are also much larger tables and a buffet cart (empty on this quiet day in January) so I assume it caters for the buses also.

The first thing that struck me about the menu was the prices. Rs. 130 for a plain naan, Rs. 60 for a tea... those are some extreme Indian prices especially for a roadside place in the middle of nowhere.

- Vegetable Kofta - surprisingly excellent little balls in a great curry. I'm unsure what vegetables they used but I never thought a meatball without meat could taste like this;
- Non-Vegetarian Thali (salad, curd, papad, pulses, seasonal vegetable, mutton curry served with rice & chapati) - laal mass curry lacked the real heat it's meant to have but was still nicely flavoured as were the pickles. It was a good mix albeit for Rs. 550.

I would plan accordingly next time and find somewhere else to eat. The real reason for this is that the prices are remarkably high for India and reflect the large tourist eating hall, the buffet option (most likely when it is busier) and the attached gift shop. It would also factor in the commission to the driver who brings you there. Having said that the food was actually very nice, so if you do end up here and the price doesn't bother you, you'll eat well.

Joney's Place seems to be best known for the early morning breakfast you can have before the Taj Mahal opens at 6-7am (depending upon season) or immediately after. It currently sits at #6 on TA for Agra and is mentioned in both LP and Rough Guide.

What took me by unexpected surprise was the 15 or so Korean tourists on this morning squeezed into this tiny place of 4 tables. It could have been an anomaly, however given the walls are covered with Korean and Japanese menus promoting (assumably) packet ramen, it's probably a place to visit for Koreans akin to some European restaurants where every single American visits.

I have to admit the son of the owner who greeted us there was very friendly. On an unusual day of torrential rain, he sent out one of his staff members to purchase us a reasonable quality umbrella for Rs. 200 whereas he said the shops would charge tourists probably 400-500 for the same.

- Mutton biryani – slightly oily, very intensely flavoured and salted;
- Cheese jaffle – pepper, tomato, simple cheese wedged between white bread.

These were washed down with some standard hot chai. The food was adequate as a breakfast. The lassi is supposed to be good but it was too cold and wet that day to be appealing. If anything else is open early morning I'd try that preferentially next time just to see but part of me doubts there would be anything better in the area for the morning.

The mainly pedestrian streets to the south of the Taj Mahal leaves luxury far behind. Given that most people only stay one night in Agra, I thought it would be fine. Needless to say the extremely basic accommodation is... extremely basic. Similarly the food options around the West Gate entrance (the East Gate is a nicer area apparently) are limited and known more for the rooftops that give a very overstated view of the Taj Mahal than the flavours themselves.

Of these options, Shankara seemed to be the best reputed using a combination of Lonely Planet, Tripadvisor (#8 in Agra) and various other websites. I must admit that in the darkness of 7pm, I couldn't be sure where in the distance the Taj Mahal was. If all the rooftop views are similar, I'm unsure why people talk about it so much. Anyway at least the food at Shakara is good and known for cheap thali.

- Shankara New Special Thali – best parts were the Zeera fried rice (spiced like biryani), a simple paneer and delicious mixed vegetable curry;
- Special Thali - a simpler version but with plain rice and without the vegetable curry;
- Spiced chai – more like black tea and sugar than any spices.