Shree Thaker Bhojanalaya - my tribute

Lets get the difficult things about Shree Thaker Bhojanalay out of the way first.

I visited it only twice in my life, and will admit that its difficult to find even the second time.  In Old Mumbai in an area near Bhuleshwar (called because you’ll forget where you are - its a maze of confusing criss-crossing, non-linear lanes). So, I will explain how I go about locating it shortly.

The second difficulty is… you can pay only in cash. I visited Thaker’s before demonitisation so maybe they have changed.  But when I visited them it used to be a pain to have a great meal and then discover that you had to pay in cash and they wouldn't take any electronic money. So for my family’s bill I had to go down (accompanied by one of their staff) withdraw cash from an ATM in the building and then come up and pay.  Maybe this has changed, but its better to go with cash in hand (each meal was around 10-12 USD so you need to have that kind of cash when you go there).

But in spite of all of this its worth every bit of the difficulty. 

Thaker’s has earned all the acclaim well deserved and people love it.  My tribute is more personal and based on my experience.  I have talked about my love for Gujarati Thaalis before, but Thaker’s was more personal.

To begin with - every visit to Thaker’s is combined with a trip to the Mumba Devi temple. This is the deity on which the city Mumbai got its name.

The area is one of the earliest city centre of Mumbai.  The city had one of its first large markets built in the 19th century, and is one of the most crowded places with narrow lanes, and parking is possible only in a small area near the Mumba Devi temple, or at least a kilometer away.

This area also represents what I love about Mumbai.  Its a commercial market with nearly everything under the sun available here (lots of treasures here - you should try and go for one of the walks organized by tour groups, and might find some hidden heirlooms, old books etc. for a steal).  But its also dominated by Muslims - and close to the fabulous Mohd ali road which is where you get the best food during Ramazan and even vegetarians like me can feast on the sweets, not to be missed. (admission - I haven't been there during Ramazan but had tried the foods through my friends, well someday!).

Which is why Mumba Devi is a real treasure.  Its been preserved through the ages and there’s a lot of mutual respect among the communities in doing this.  In spite of all the communal tensions people talk about - here’s where the cosmopolitan-ness of Mumbai comes in.

So I visit Mumba Devi - which has about 10 different shrines to various deities within it.  And then I ask for directions to Thaker’s - its about a five minute walk from there, if you can locate it from the first directions you get - normally its good to check once again otherwise you’ll get lost.

Once you locate it (its on the top floors of an old building and not on the ground floor, which makes it harder) - its worth just sitting back and relaxing and know you’ve earned one hell of a great meal.  Thaker’s takes care of the rest.

My family and I sit there, and we are one of the earliest customer’s in the evening and miss the queue and rush later. Though when we come in we are asked to sit in one of the few remaining empty tables.

How is Thaker’s different from other Gujarati Thaalis.  You need to eat all of them (recommended) to know.  I loved the other Gujarati thaalis too, but with Thaker’s its both the experience as well as the food.  The food itself while being tasty is far far more lighter (IMHO) than the other thaali meals which can be quite rich and heavy.   Thaker’s manages to be light, simpler and tastier. 

(from @ShreeThaker's Twitter DP)

Simplicity is something you will notice - its more in line with the surroundings. For me thats one of the charms.  Most of my initial experiences in Mumbai were more towards the south around the areas of Dadar, Matunga, Sion etc. around the chawls, and areas where there’s a certain simplicity of life which has its own unique flavors.  For me Thaker’s captures that essence as best as a vegetarian meal can.

Unlike the other Thaali restaurants while Thaker’s has embraced modernism, its minus glamour and artifice and the staff serving it testify to that.  

I didn't notice it and I usually don't care - but after any visit to the temple I am all messed up. And in Thaker’s its only when I went down to the ATM that I realized how I looked. I had been all sweaty, hair frizzled out, and then there was vermillion and ash and sandal paste etc. applied to my forehead that had trickled down with the sweat.  I still don't care much about how I look, and ignore the looks people give me if I were in another part of town.

But here in Thaker’s its as normal as it gets. My family and I were treated no differently from other guests - a lot of them international tourists.  The hosts keep coming and checking with us if we want more without being intrusive or excessively persuasive.

The food to me represents as close to a home cooked meal as a restaurant can make without going overboard. The phulka/ chapatis are light and we lose count as we eat them with every kind of curry in our katoris/ bowls.  there are bhakris and puris too, and I think we eat nearly two-three times what we normally do in other thaali restaurants.

And thats when it hits us.  We actually had kind of lost our appetite after that walk from the temple to this place, and were also tired even before that as it was at the end of a long day. (also evident in our disheveled appearance)

But then thats what Thaker’s does best-  it revives your appetite like few restaurants can.

We wolf it down - we get to the rice portion and the khichdi is amazing. I cant recall the desserts but they were plentiful too and I enjoyed every bit of it.   

When the meals ended each time you almost regret telling them that you’ve had enough and want to stop. You take a pause and then go ahead to pay your bill at the counter.

My regrets are not visiting the place enough but understandable - as its more of a pilgrimage to me. And perhaps thats what is the best way to describe Thaker’s - its truly equal to a pilgrimage if food is what you love and worship…