Ideation of the trip
As usual we were sitting in our office thinking about the clients, balance sheets, salary pay slips and all other things which worries entrepreneurs.
Suddenly out of nowhere someone said its getting very boring and lets go out somewhere and get some refreshments. Hence the search operation started. Someone suggested lets go out and eat Parathas. Now being perfectionists we thought which would be the best place to go out and eat parathas.
The Options
There were names considered like Parathe wali Gali in Chandni Chowk, few other local joints near our Office. We finally decided on Murthal as a location. And we picked the famous joint Amreek Sukhdev da Dhabha. We decided to go on a fine Sunday early morning to ensure we got seat and come back on time.
The Road Trip
We were group of around 8 or something. We picked up our cars and started for a 3 hour long trip from Ghaziabad to Murthal via Delhi. We planned to start at 5.00 A.M in morning and we almost made it to 5.30 and it was an achievement.
Visuals and the Hype
I was surprised to hear that people go there to have Parathas at midnight. I personally thought it will be literally a small dhabha with some sardarji making Parathas and the visuals like his paunch touching the table on which he will be rolling the Parathas and then with his Hands dripping wet with Butter and his sweat placing those parathas on Tandoor.
But to my surprise i had never seen a dhaba like that. It was a five star Dhaba with seating capacity close to 500 people. And they were not just selling their so called parathas but everything from Parathas to kulchas to chaas to tikki to noodles to what not. My expectations were raised sky high. And till now experience was worth it. And i was quite sure that my waking up early will be compensated well.
Myths Busted
Then came the moment of the truth. We ordered the assorted Parathas with Lassis and butter and achaar and raita and everything they recommended. We could order many things as were a large group of 8 people. The presentation was nice and there were oceans in our mouth especially after a long drive without breakfast to enable us to eat more.
We started tasting the parathas, one by one we tasted all. I personally thought the next one would be better.. But to my disappointment all of them were ordinary and not at all matching the hype that is created for them. My wife and local joints make better parathas then this dhabha. It was completely worthless and I was richer in experience and by taste buds were deprived of what they were promised. My sleep was also talking to me, for this parathas you came so far and left me for such pathetic parathas.
The Final Verdict
If you want to really eat good parathas go to other joints which are not that big. They serve great parathas which do justice to your taste buds. If you just want the ambience you can go to the famous Amreek Dhabha. The saying perfectly fits this dhaba.
Oonchi Dukaan Fike Pakwaan
Meaning Fancier the Shop less tasty food