Restuarant Review: Anant Ashram

I managed to retrieve some of my old restuarant reviews from the blog www.sigfood.org. Nobody seems to be keeping house there, so I don't know when it will go to seed.

Here's the first one.

Summary: If you haven't been to Anant Ashram, you have no right to call yourself a Mumbai foodie!
Getting there: Ask the cabbie to drop you at Gaiwadi, Girgaon. Anant Ashram is tucked away in a quaint cottage in Khotachi Wadi, a small lane.
Don't Miss: Surmai Fry, Surmai Curry, Teesrya (Mussels), Mutton Kaleji, Chicken curry, Prawns curry... and yes, the tangy chutney.
Food Cost: 100-200
Description:
Khotachi Wadi is one of the few places tucked away in south Mumbai that takes you back in time. It is a pedestrian only lane, narrow, and has a small christian shrine in a cul-de-sac. The candle is always lit. Old fashioned houses, closely packed, snuggle into each other. If you are lucky, you will see an old gentleman strumming a guitar and humming a tune. And some kids calling out to each other from the balconies. You almost expect a bullock cart to pass by.

Anant Ashram is a place which reinforces the old world charm of Khotachi Wadi. Walk a few steps into this quaint little lane and you will see a old signboard on the top of a two-storey building. Anant Ashram was established more than 50 years ago, as a mess for young Maharastrian bachelors from rural/coastal Maharashtra and it is a veritable culinary heritage site.

Make sure you are on time (Lunch 12 noon to 2 pm, Dinner 7 to 9 pm, Sunday holiday). Otherwise the grizzled old waiter will ask you to get lost, in no uncertain terms. In Marathi.

During lunch hour on most days, you will have to spend some good minutes waiting in the queue.

Having made it in, you will have to fit yourself between a wooden chair and a marble-topped table, both from the last century. The waiter will come and look at you. Tell him what you want (Hindi would do, English also works a bit). I would recommend fish fry and fish curry (Rs 40 each). Along with the "specials" you will get three chapatis, a katori of tangy solkadi (spicy kokum + coconut milk), green mint chutney, some onion, a pinch of salt and one "unit" of rice. This is charged, but well below Rs 10 each. If you still have space inside you, order Prawns curry with one more unit of rice. (I order one more fish curry when I am really hungry - I just love it).

The food here is cooked the old-fashioned way, on slow wooden fires. Curries have a coconut base, typical of the Konkan-Goan-Malabar belt. There is not much variety, but the type of fish depends on the day of the week. From my visits I gather that Fridays and Tuesdays, it generally is Surmai, on Mondays it is pomfret. Besides Fish, you get mussels, crab and prawns, Goan style. Mutton, Mutton Liver and Chicken (all Goan style curry preparation) is available if you aren't a sea food freak (I've never tried these dishes).

This place is well-known in culinary circles, but shuns publicity and has never been photographed. Apparently, they shoo-ed away Rashmi Uday Singh when she tried to interview the owner.

You won't get a finger bowl. No napkins either and no table-cloths and all that first-world finery. Just plain good food served by sour old waiters in pajamas and banians.

Try it. I'll bet my bottom dollar that you'll enjoy the experience.