Maharaja Bhog

A couple of days back, some of us in the office ordered a lunchbox from Maharaja Bhog. At first, they were not ready to deliver. Even when they were told that 6 boxes are to be delivered, they insisted on charging the round-trip rickshaw fare.

The boxes arrived on time and all of us opened them with great expectation. We were in for a bitter disappointment. The vegetable in the box was a never-before-heard-of combination of okra, paneer and corn. I have a strong suspicion that the cook had forgotten to add any spices except for salt to it, with the result that the dish was fit for consumption by someone recuperating from a major operation. The daal was bland but okay as far as taste goes. The third gravy dish was prepared as if to compensate for the lack of spices in the other two. Though the gravy in it was tasty, it was more suitable for a meat preparation and did little justice to the boulder-size chunks of potatoes in it. :-(

The box contained 5 chapatis, drenched in ghee. But they were well-cooked and soft. There was a bowl of rice which was not undercooked (thank God!). There were 2 pieces of farsan - one, a sort of dhokala made from besan and steamed, and the other a stuffed kachori - along with a small container of pudina (mint) chutney.

2 large slivers of cucumber served as salad. A pouch contained pieces of fried papad. They must have forgotten to add pickle. A Gulab Jamun was added by way of a sweet dish. Oh, and there was a small pouch of mukhwas (mouth freshner) and a tooth pick.

We Indians are generally brought up with the teaching that one should never criticize any food preparation. But this lunch was definitely not worth Rs 145 + round-trip rickshaw fare.

Needless to say, I will never order food from or eat at this place again!