Do's and Dont's in restaurants in India

bronx

can anyone tell me of any good restaurants here, any website addresses?

is it easy enough to order in a restaurant? are the menu's in english at all, do you normally just take a seat and wait for a waiter or is there any differences i should know about?

also, what are the food markets there like, do they sell good stuff and is there alot of chai sold, sounds like a nice drink (spicy tea??)!!

thanx!!

Darmabum

plenty of good places ot eat in Varanasi . . . many menus will be in English, the best places probably don't have menus in English, let alone menus at all. Let me throw this out - The Kerala Cafe . . . GREAT south Indian food . . . talk to people where you're staying . . . ask the people who run your hotel . . . I've lived in Varanasi for over a year, six months at a time, over my last two trips to India . . . never had a problem finding food . . .

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wonderwomanusa

Most places have some sort of menu in English, though it may be mis-spelled. You'll figure it out. In Delhi, of course, you can also get lots of food that isn't Indian, if you need a rest from it.

Yes, in most cases, a waiter will come, or the guy stirring pots will turn around and ask you what you want.

There are chai stalls everywhere, but it's not often served with meals. You can buy bottled water and carry it with you if the restaurant doesn't sell it.

Baba

For a quiet "time out" when you've had enough of the madness by the river I liked La-Ra India. It's on Dasaswamedh Road on the left hand side as you come up from the river and it's on the first floor. Good choice and tasty food.

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kidsan

it's good to hear this dharmabum as i've always found varanasi to be not so great on the food front, but maybe i've just not been there long enough to track down the good eateries.

I stayed at Assi Ghat the last two times and loved the food (if not the ambience!) at the Haima. It used to be much more atmospheric when it was a garden cafe but is now a new and rather soulless hotel...

machadinha

Not particularly in Varanasi,

Yes, however it doesn't hurt to become acquainted with Indian food and some names of common dishes at home before you leave. Regional variations you can pick up on by simply being observant. It's handy to have some basic food vocabulary at the ready so you can dive right in, most guidebooks will feature some vocabulary list. As noted, esp. in the simpler eateries the chance of there being menus around or English spoken (or English that you can easily understand) will diminish. You'll be missing out on some good food if you don't know how to recognize or order it (what's handy with the predominance of vegetarianism is it's pretty safe to just order anything and see what comes up, no matter what your diet. Note that you typically have veg and non-veg restaurants to help you along in this. The first will usually also be no-smoking and no-drinking. Well, I understand no-smoking is pretty universal there now anyway. In any case, if you like a beer with your meal non-veg is the better -- if never a sure -- bet.)

Let's see, in my days of youthful folly here I did some rambling along on this handy thread, see what you make of it: food vocabulary .

Usually, yes (well, you might want to enquire if there's a table available first ). At a regular restaurant it will be no different than you are used to (or rather more posh, perhaps, or freezing because the airco's at full blast). At the simpler places, it's an eat-and-leave kind of thing, this is where families and lower office personnel and the likes come for a quick bite. People will normally accept if you hang around, they just won't understand though, so you may end up with a stack of bills for every cup of coffee you ordered afterwards, as it is assumed you'll leave after that. If the place is very busy, of course it's polite to leave indeed as they need the business and turnover. btw By the same token you can expect staff in these places to be rather brisk and expect you to know what you want to order straightaway. If in a group, try and collectively make up your minds what you all want before ordering; and you may have to make it clear if one person is having something that's not necessarily what you all want, to stop the waiter from dashing off assuming just that whilst thinking can't these *&% foreigners make themselves understood.

One downside to this all is I found it can be hard to find a simple place to just kick back for a bit like you might at home.

Markets are fun to visit; if it's food you're after though, remember it needs to be peeled and/or washed and/or cooked, so apart from peelable fruits and nuts and stuff you'd probably want a kitchen to go along with it. You can feast your eyes in this site's Shops and Businesses photo forum

Chai will be sold all around you, from stalls and street vendors and whatnot. Since it's (over-) boiled by definition, I never had any qualms about drinking it.

I was also unimpressed with food in Varanasi btw, but it's been a while and I have the feeling I must have overlooked something. I'd go by the other's tips here any day. btw Did you check Varanasi - Off the Beaten Track yet? Interesting thread.

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Darmabum

you're right, the Haifa used to be much more atmospheric, with the palm roof . . . monkeys running across it in the morning. When I stayed in '99-'00 it was so nice, then last year I found they'd torn it down, left the old place to rot. A shame.

The Haifa still has some good food. The Thali - both Indian and Middle Eastern are very nice. Just so hard to sit in that new/sterile place.

There's also a thali place just up the road past the small post office and cinema just west up the road/alley from the Asi crossing. Has outside seating (it's on the right), red plastic tables and chairs. Very nice thali.

The Kerala Cafe is good too; great south Indian food. A bit of a ride from Asi but worth it.

When thali started getting old I liked the pasta at the Vaatika, right down above the river at Asi Ghat. Nice veg lasagna, nice ravioli stuffed with spinch and cheese, better than average (for India) marinara sauce. The pizza is worth trying too. Expensive, in the Rs 80 - 100 range, but a nice treat.

There was last year a new pasta place that had opened; just up the stairs past the Vaatika and the bookstore. On the left. Hard to see, looks like another house, but again, pretty good pasta.

Also went once to a place called The Parador. Near the train station. Expensive, but very good food. And the guy who cooks/owns it, is a trip. Old Indian hippie, stories of Kathmandu in the 70's.

After a month or so there I started finding little thali places all over. Places I'd walk past at first then someone would take me in and found it was very good.

Baba

Ha, you seem to be a serious foodie! But then I've been known to schedule certain trips to Paris solely for eating purposes...
In Delhi I always go to Saravana Bhavan (I go to CP branch for convenience) to feed my dosa addiction - they are absolutely the best in Delhi!

jyotirmoy

For Dosa addicts I recommend Dashprakash in Lodhi Hotel.

ryan1983

Hello all,

First time poster, long time reader. This site is amazing.

Here is a question I've not seen answered yet. I'd have loved to post it in 'India for beginners', but can't (and I fully understand why I can't), so I've put it here in the hopes it'll be moved. I understand it may be removed.

I'm curious about how restaurants work in India - Are menus (or parts of menus) commonly in English? Are menus commonly used? Is it common to enter a restaurant and find that the waiters don't speak any English? This certainly doesn't worry me if it's the case - Food tends to be a universal language.

I realize these may seem like silly questions, but I've been curious about the logistics of eating in Indian restaurants for some time now. I adore trying all sorts of different foods, and it's something I really look foreward to doing a lot of during an upcoming trip to Southern India and the Andamans.

One more auxillaray question, if I may: Is it common practice for spicy dishes to be prepared slightly less spicy for westerners' unaccustomed palates? Is there an easy way around this (I like spicy food)?

Thanks very much for any clarification,

-Ryan

Nick-H

Hello and welcome to the site

Your thread probably should be somewhere else, but it is past my bed-time! Perhaps another passing moderator might do the honours...

I can only speak for my city, and a little for some of the other places in Kerala and Tamil Nadu that I have been.

If you are seaking to eat with ordinary people, which i gather is your intention, you will find places of all budgets, and you must decide what level of cost and hygiene is OK for you.

You will very probably have menus available in English, even the board on the wall may be in Eglish. The waiter, on the other hand may not speak it, so do not rely on him describing dishes to you, or understanding your pronunciation. You may have to point at stuff on the menu. You'll get by, and have fun!

It is not uncommon to find people working here who are not even fluent in the local language tamil, although that would be strange in a typical Tamil eatery, we were in a cafe in Mamallapuram yesterday where, rather than relying on my wife's Tamil, we both relied on our friend's Hindi!

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desertrose

I'm curious about how restaurants work in India - Are menus (or parts of menus) commonly in English?

*Most of the resturant have menus available or something like menu on the wall next to the reception/counter. But the menu in english can be little pricier looking at the importance of it.

Are menus commonly used?

*Yes if not the waiter taking your order will explain you what is available in his english.

Is it common to enter a restaurant and find that the waiters don't speak any English?

* atleast one person in resturant should know a little english.

This certainly doesn't worry me if it's the case - Food tends to be a universal language.

* dont forget to learn the hand and head gestures. some time no can mean yes and ok can mean no.

One more auxillaray question, if I may: Is it common practice for spicy dishes to be prepared slightly less spicy for westerners' unaccustomed palates? Is there an easy way around this (I like spicy food)?

* please request the person grabbing your order of how spicy you would like your meal to be, if not ask for pickles or chutnies on the side.
Dont forget that if you have no belle problem you are not in India, you got to have it running once.

Happy Eating!!!!

brownboy66

thread moved as requested - and welcome to IM.

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zoltan

Hi,

I've been around most of India and here are my thoughts/observations:

> Are menus (or parts of menus) commonly in English?
Yes.

> Are menus commonly used?

The only times I've been anywhere and there were no menus were in Hyderabad & Madurai, at a couple of local thali restaurants. It took me a little while to comprehend how to order & then someone pointed to me & said "thali". From that point, the food kept coming.

> Is it common to enter a restaurant and find that the waiters don't speak any English?

I've encountered this when I go way off the beaten track. If you go somewhere that tourists don't go, there may be some degree of language barrier.

In this case, it helps to learn the Tamil (since you'll be in that region), name of some food items, so you can order without a menu or at least indicate something of what you are after.

> Is it common practice for spicy dishes to be prepared slightly
> less spicy for westerners' unaccustomed palates?

I haven't encountered this anywhere (other than tourist restaurants). If you eat at local outlets, where the locals are congregating, you'll find the food (and accompaniments) will be sufficiently spicey for your palate.

Cheers
Zoltan

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PeakXV

I find the North Indian restaurants to be alot less spicy than restaurants at home in Toronto. Don't know why that is - perhaps because in Canada 'Indian restaurants' have a reputation for 'hot & spicy' so they try to appease and live up to this 'reputation'.

But regardless, Indian chefs are most accommodating and it won't take you long to find your 'food-heat comfort zone' when travelling the subcontinent.

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