My wife and I were in Udaipur during the Republic Day weekend. On our first day of sightseeing, we asked our Driver, if he would like to recommend an eatery for ‘local rajasthani’ cuisine. His prompt reply was ‘Krishna Dal Bati Restro’ for a ‘Dal Bati Churma Thali’. There are two reasons why he would have said that, 1) that the place is genuinely famous for its local cuisine or 2) that the restaurant management has good professional relationships with these Tour and Taxi operators in the city. Nevertheless, we were game for some good food in Udaipur. After we winded up our sightseeing near the Fateh Sagar lake, the driver brought us to what looked like a quiet building away from the noise of city traffic.
As you climb up the stairs, there are photos hung on the wall, a poster warns you to mind your head and on the first floor you make your way inside the restaurant. There are basic tables and chairs and if you are two people in a group, the young lads (stewards) will discourage you from occupying a table for 4 or 6. There are smaller tables for 2 near the entrance corner and the end wall where you will be firmly guided to take a seat (fairly understandable considering if 2 guests occupy a table for 4/6, it will increase waiting time for families and may result in revenue loss for the Restro). The Stewards are all young 20 something boys who are busy guiding guests to their tables (later a young man who looked like a manager also served guests) and giving them firm instructions. Twice I observed, the Stewards were warning guests that we do not allow sharing from a Thali, which in other words meant two people are not allowed to eat from the same plate, oops! [(another revenue loss checkpoint ;)]
We entered around 8pm when guests had just started to roll-in for their dinner. We were given a table near the entrance and having understood their viewpoint, we happily complied. A large thali (plate) with multiple bowls was placed before us. One by one the bowls were filled with Churma [sweet dish made from wheat flour (aata), sugar (cheeni) and clarified butter (ghee)], Dal (thick lentil soup), Gatte ki subzi (curry made from Gram flour) and Cucumber/Carrot salad. A spoon each of Green Chutney (Coriander leaves paste with lemon juice) and Red Chutney (a paste of chilli and garlic) was also put on the plate. A plate of Papad (Lentil based snack) was kept at the side. One Steward crushed the Bati (wheat flour balls) in the middle of the plate and poured a spoonful of clarified butter (ghee) on it. He also advised us to mix Dal/Subzi in it before enjoying the concoction.
At the end, we were served a glass of fresh Salted Buttermilk (chhachh) to complete the meal. While it was not dazzling, it was a good experience for me as I was fairly new to the Dal Bati Churma experience in Rajasthan. Guests can ask for as many portions of the Dal, bati, churma, curry, salad and Chhachh as possible. I was wary of too much ghee in my meal so I asked for Salad and Chhachh to keep my meal balanced.
I felt there was too much ghee in the churma to the point of it being greasy, the dal was almost dull and without a spicy flavour, the bati was crushed beyond recognition or texture so much that it appeared you were dealing with another churma, this time a salted one. Guests should be allowed to eat the bati as they desire, but the stewards insisted on eating it the way it is locally eaten [(damn ;)]. Gatte ki subzi was another disappointment as it was as dull as the dal, devoid of a salty/spicy flavour so common in indian curries. The Green chutney was fun because of the lemon juice in it and the red chutney remotely resembled the Schezwan sauce served with Momos and chinese food in the cities except that this one also had very little salt in it.
The only 4 items that I enjoyed in the thali were Papad, Salad, Green Chutney and Chhachh [lol :)].
I would go with a rating of 3 out of 5 for Krishna Dal Bati as it was an underwhelming experience for me. I hope you and your family have a good experience if and when you choose to visit this place. Happy eating out!
P.S. The restaurant is clean, all the food items are fresh and the young staff is a little less friendly but they serve you to your heart’s content. Last but not the least and a good indicator of hygiene in a restaurant, the loos are clean (you never know when you would need one)! :P
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