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With Andhra Bhawan mess taking over the INS canteen, the happy days are back for the gourmets in the vicinity, says Rahul Verma

ANDHRA FLAVOUR The famous Andhra Bhawan thali is now available at INS canteen as well Photo: R.V. Moorthy

When I was a gangly young man in (green-and-yellow striped) bell-bottoms, I used to live on Rafi Marg. It was a good place to be in. I could walk down to Connaught Place or even up to Chandni Chowk for a bite.

The UNI canteen was right there for hot idlis and South Indian filter coffee. And across the road from where I lived was the INS canteen.

Way back in the seventies, the INS building (or the IENS, as it was then known) had a gourmet canteen.

Run by a Sardarji, the canteen had all kinds of good non-vegetarian food including meat curries and keema kaleji. We used to go there often and have a satisfying meal.

Frequent changes

But the INS canteen soon changed hands and became all vegetarian. Somebody would run it for a while. We'd get some indifferent food, and then the place would shut down again and a new contractor would take it up only to serve food that was eminently forgettable - oily kulchey chholey, hard idlis and stale vadas and so on. And I gave up eating at the INS canteen.

Then, just a few days ago, my friends at The Hindu gave me some great news. I was told the Andhra Bhawan mess - which serves some of the best food in town - had taken over the INS canteen.

The moment I heard this I went and did a quick survey. The food was vegetarian, but the delicious thali that AP Bhawan is famous for was there. And, of course, the idlis, vadas and masala dosas were all there, too.

Nice and crisp

I went and ordered some vadas, which were nice and crisp, and came with excellent chutney made of ginger, jaggery and tamarind.

The next day I ordered a thali - which consisted of special rice, rotis, steamed rice, rasam, dal, two kinds of vegetables, curds, pickles and a papad.

The vegetables - a palak paneer and an aloo gobhi - were out of this world, and the sweet was a sublime pineapple halwa. And all this was for Rs.30 or Rs.35 if you wanted it packed. But make a careful inventory of the food if you are getting it packed, for I had to make a second trip to the canteen to reclaim some of the missing dishes.

Masala dosas are for Rs.12, and a paneer dosa comes for Rs.15. Pesarettus are for Rs.20 and a plate of lemon rice is for Rs.15. You can - though I can't understand why anybody would wish to - buy a plate of vegetable biryani for Rs.20.

The managers tell me that soon they are going to add some of their non-vegetarian specials - such as the famous Andhra dry mutton and chicken, and the spicy fish curry - to the menu.

I can't wait for that day. And I am sure that Sardarji, wherever he may be, would be happy too.

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