Being big thali food freaks, we decided to visit Maharaja Bhog in Goregaon. At all its five outlets (in Goregaon, Malad, Juhu, and Lower Parel), Maharaja Bhog’s thali is a sell-out for the unlimited, healthy, and hygienic platter that it puts forth and it is my favorite thali place too. Our recent visit to the restaurant at Oberoi Mall lived up to our expectations of a fantastic lunch. The menu is a rotating one and you can safely eat here for many days successively without the skepticism of dishes being repeated.
Though devoid of fancy interiors, the place is bright, spacious and convivial. As soon as we were seated, gleaming thalis with several katoris (cups) were placed and following the Indian tradition of ‘Athithi Devo Bhava’, which means the guest is God, a basin with water jug was held to wash our hands. Get indulged, I would say. This was followed by a refreshing chandan and kesari welcome drink (we kept asking for refills) after which a battery of servers lined up to serve various dishes. We noticed three cute little bharnis (jars) on the table held pickles in them – garlic, green chilli thecha and a mixed achar.
We dug into the breads and khichdi – rotlas, bajri ke roti and phulka with oodles of desi ghee, much to the chagrin of our diet regime. We tried with relish subzis like the mildly spiced Bikaneri papad methi nu shaak, paneer veg achari, ringna no ollo (Gujarati version of baingan bharta) and the standard aloo tamatar rassawala. In between, we washed down each course with chaas (cumin-spiced buttermilk), the ideal drink to cool down during the sweltering season.
We hogged the sweets first and loved the rich and creamy basundi and the pure ghee aroma of Mohanthal Halwa.
Hats off to Maheshwari Foods and Hospitality Pvt. Ltd., under the able and experienced management team of Founder and Director Ashish Maheshwari, the dishes at Maharaja Bhog are prepared with thought and care for its guests.
We highly recommend this restaurant for thali food lovers; in all of 20-30 minutes, the royal thali at Maharaja Bhog was polished off with relish and our repast ended with ‘meetha paan’!
Donate for a good cause: If you enjoy reading this magazine, as a support for the magazine’s founder, please donate any small amount you wish to towards her endeavours to raise funds for a good cause and a world without heart diseases: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/helpingagoodcause
