Mar 15, 2004 08:09 PM
19817 Views
(Updated Apr 20, 2005 01:49 AM)
Finally got to eat at this place last summer, must have driven past it hundreds of times in the past. More or less every time I had driven past the Havelli the car park was usually full or approaching full, Can't be that bad if the place is so full one would think.
Decided to have breakfast one Sunday after I?d been to the Radisson Hotels Wellness Centre (or health club as we know them here) in Jalandhar, where I would normally have breakfast. When you approach the car park a rather pompous looking car park attendant who acts as if he was the chief of traffic police meets you, with a few bursts on his whistle and a few furious hand gestures he gets you parked up.
At the time when I visited there was building work going on to extend the place and offer other services beer, spirits and non veg food I think.
There?s an open area where you can sit and eat alfresco if your in the mood for it or go inside to a large hall where not much though has gone into the decoration there?s also a tata truck in one of the corners of the hall I suppose it there to try to create the Dhaba feeling but if it?s the Dhaba feeling you want go to the Lucky Dhaba just a few metres down the road which still does brisk business despite of the Havelli?s popularity. Both areas are very clean and cleaners walk around making sure the place in kept nice.
The waiting staff where quick attentive if a bit scruffy looking We purchased our food from the outside kiosks where you pay for your food get a till receipt then collect your food from the guys dishing it out. With it being the morning we had channa and purées / petroras, which I have to say, tasted absolutely disgusting. My cousin who was with me said that the food was ok but considering the all the good comments this place gets I would have expected the standard of the food to be better, this may have been a one off regarding the food but my wife took the kids and a few relatives for dinner one evening and her comments about the food weren?t very complementary either.
The place does folk dances etc on Sunday evenings for entertainment but no matter how good the entertainment the food will soon bring you back down. The only other place, which is hyped so much and disappointed so much when visited, was Chonki Dani near Jaipur where the food was only fit for the pig trough but that?s another review!
The problem I feel with this place is that it falls between two stools it tries to offer you the authentic Punjabi Dhaba experience and at the same time tries to be an up marketish restaurant and it fails to do either - If it?s the Dhaba feeling you want to experience go to the Lucky Dhaba a few metres up the road and if it?s the up marketish experience you want go about 1KM the other way to dine at the Lilley 5 star hotel/restaurant or another 10 odd KMs in to Jalandhar where there?s a host of top restaurants.
Just to clear up the point about the location of the place, its about 5 odd KM outside of Jalandhar on the GT road heading towards Phagwara.
