Re: Dispatches from Lahore
This wave of Islamicness makes me reluctant to go.
Re: Dispatches from Lahore
That post was funny. Atleast there is a buzzing economic activity there by the sounds of it. Consumer expenditure is key to eco growth. Although $550 for a phone is a lot more then I’d ever pay.
Re: Dispatches from Lahore
Faisal
interesting to read................:)
Re: Dispatches from Lahore
Faisal, I'm sure you know there are people in Dubai. Anyway, check your pm sarkar.
Re: Dispatches from Lahore
Guarantee-less khana
Lately, you often hear people that a visit to Lahore is incomplete if you don’t visit the ‘Food Street’. I am here to tell you that this is absolutely correct.
Food Street is not merely an address, its a phenomenon. We now have copy-cat food streets that have sprung up in different parts of Lahore, and some other cities are also experimenting with this concept, but the original remains the original - i.e. the Food Street at Gawalmandi.
For those who are unfamiliar, some years ago, an enterprising Deputy Commissioner of Lahore envisioned a street where different local vendors set up shops and sell their food. They selected a famous, though run-down part of Lahore’s Gawalmandi (‘Gawala’ stands of milk-man, so this place was known for milk shops). A project was awarded to Lahore’s famous National College of Arts (NCA) to renovate the place and make it fit for show-casing Lahore rich cultural heritage. The street was lined up with older buildings, and students of NCA painted the buildings in nice colors, fixed broken windows and provided interesting lighting solutions to make the street glamorous. City government invited famous food shops from all over Lahore to set up a branch at this food street and at the same time cordoned off the street for vehicular traffic at the peak hours of the evenings. End result is a big sort of food court where you can sit at one place and have your waiter bring your food from which ever shop you want. Prices are not as cheap as, may be, some of the really run down shops in rest of androon-sheher, but are still significantly cheaper than trying the same stuff at other fancy restaurants.
This was not my first visit to Food Street. Though, in the intervening four years, I had no idea how the street is maintained and what to expect in terms of hygiene, food quality or lafantra-pann of the crowd. In any event we set off for the food street during one weekday night. Like most places in Lahore, car parking is not easy but is decently organized by way of parking contractors who for ten rupees will ensure your car is parked properly and will also help you back out when you are leaving. There was a very short walk from where we parked our car to the actual food street. The place was not jam packed, but was fairly populated with many families. The first thing we did was to take a walk for the entire length to size up what is there to eat. Then we selected a fairly central place to sit and asked our waiter to bring the menu.
Now this part is interesting. The wait staff generally belongs to a particular shop. Keeping in view the inherent expectation of the street, they will bring food from any shop on the street for you, but like all loyal employees they will try to convince you to order as much as possible from the shop that has employed them. During our walk we had eyed several items from other shops which we wanted to try.
“Can you bring us Nihari from that shop?” I pointed to Doctor Nihari, a curiously named though compelling choice for Nihari.
The waiter nodded.
“And I want malabari paratha kabab from that shop over there”, another person in our group chimed in.
“And get us fried fish from that shop there”, another voice joined the order parade.
After a few such instructions, the waiter was getting befuddled that we may not be ordering anything from his own employer.
“Sir, please also look at our menu. We have very good tikka and kababs here”, the waiter finally pointed out to us.
“Yeah, we are sure, but we want tikkas from that shop over there”, my brother pointed to yet another shop a few feet away.
“Sir, I will definitely bring you food from there, if you want, but we can’t offer any guarantee from the food we bring from other shops”, the waiter informed us.
Guarantee?
What a novel concept, especially in the context of sitting at a road side food outlet at Gawalmandi. I could hardly resist a laugh.
“Ok, so what sort of guarantee do you offer for your food?”, I asked him with a broad grin.
“Sir, our quality is solid. But we can’t guarantee the quality of food by other vendors”, the waiter tried to maintain his ground.
“I see. So if tomorrow we have stomach pains from your food, we can come back and you will refund us the money, right?”, I asked him.
“Hain ji…?”, now the waiter was also grinning.
“Oh, never mind”.
We finally ordered some tikkas from his own shop, so the waiter can keep his face with his employers. Most of the food we ate there was “guarantee less”, and food quality was surprisingly good. Although any time you order from multiple vendors, chances are there will be some hits and misses, and there certainly were some misses, including the aforementioned malabari paratha, but over all the quality and taste of food was finger-licking good. Considering some visitors may be apprehensive about the whole ambiance and environment of the street, the place is a surprise package. Its very easy to find a space to sit, even if you are a large group. The atmosphere is very ethnic, hygienic conditions are not perfect, but they are not in-your-face bad either. The night we went, the weather was very nice as well, so it was like icing on the cake.
Above all, the best part of the experience is to stroll around after your proper meal, and try small bits of dessert, cold drinks and paan from various street side vendors.
The next day, we all were curious about any after effects of our “guarantee-less” food, but as luck would have it, every one’s stomach held firm. No problems reported.
Fingers crossed.
============
View of the street. Middle of the week crowd. I am sure weekends are much more crowded.
A view of the renovated buildings at night.
Some snaps of a few famous food shops at the Food Street are as follows:
Re: Dispatches from Lahore
Excellent posts Faisal, especially the last one :k:
I’m hungry now.
LOL @ “guarantee” :~D
Re: Dispatches from Lahore
faisal bhai your dispatches from Lahore are awesome…have been reading each and everyone of them with a lot of interest :k:
Re: Dispatches from Lahore
Faisal....your post are very interesting :)
im eagerly waiting for the next one :)
Re: Dispatches from Lahore
Oh mannn, this time, when I make it there, I am going there for sure...!!!