This is a small post. I don't have too many recommendations to give out for Dehradun coz I just had 12 hours there, most of which I spent being deeply unhappy about going to a touristy place. So let me please get done with the rant, eh?
We came back to Dehradun from Mussoorie in a share cab. Dumped our luggage in the cloak room at the railway station and took a rik and asked him to take us to FRI Museum. It was highly recommended. Not for food, obviously. This is the forest research institute where IFS and research fellows study forestry, irrigation of forest areas, silviculture and also entomology. The last one is the scientific study of insects. I skipped that part because, I am sorry, I cannot admire anything with more than four legs. But the place was breathtaking on its own, if you ignore how a lot of corridors smell like urinals. Look at the pics. They don't look smelly, no? But they are. Sort of.
There were a lot of other places to see too but we were sleepy and tired from all the walking we did in Mussoorie. So we skipped Sahastradhara (natural spring, believed to be medicinal - no plans to skinny dip in the cold) and Tapkeshwar Maharaj's Mandir (Swayambhu Shiv temple - expectedly crowded) and Rover's Cave (natural cave formations - naah) but you can be my guest and go to all those places, please. I just wanted my lunch. Which I have thankfully not photographed. So coming back to my warning about FRI - weird smells but lovely landscaped, British time construction, and deeply awful food at the canteen. My building cat probably makes better rotis - they were charred. The dal was slimy in an ugly way and the aloo gobhi was so mashed, I could not tell aloo from gobhi. Eat NOTHING in FRI, please. Eat momos outside - they are Doon's pastime.
Thankfully, our Sardarji rik guy was resourceful. He told me about this bakery. Ellora. It is on Rajpur Road, bang opposite McDonald's. There are two Elloras right next to each other. The old one clearly states it is the oldest and original. Right next to it is it's newer version, probably the result of a family feud. The new one looks prettier and everything is shiny and glossy and frankly, nothing looked even remotely tempting. Avoid. The old one, well, is a bit rustic with simple presentation but their chocolate walnut brownies and carrot cakes are pretty awesome. Although yes, the carrot cake is more of a nut cake with carrots. Sample some. They also have savouries etc. but we got out post a brownie, an almond double decker cookie and a carrot cake. Decent.
Sardarji also told us about Naveen Vegetarian. Odd name for a restaurant. And an even more odd approach road. It's very close to the station, 10-15 minutes walk. It is near the Gurudwara and sort of in the little gully opposite the India Post office on that road. The gully breaks into a Y junction. You take the road on the right and walk straight down it and right there on the corner sits this restaurant. It's pretty popular among the local population that stays in this area and no book or reviewer mentions it. Sardarji said the place is amazing but expensive. We were headed there for a quick dinner. Little did we know we were going to stumble into culinary heaven.
The place is pretty regular, and not too populated. Expensive means a paneer subzi and two dripping with butter naans came for 200 bucks. So, well, not expensive to me at least. Nobody gives you any good suggestions here, so if you order Garlic Paneer with naan, nobody will come tell you that Garlic Paneer is Indo-Chinese. But I don't think I have eaten a yummier pairing! So go wild and order anything you can. Don't be like us though. Go with voracious appetites and massive hunger. Practically everything on the menu is recommended, at least by Sardarji. The menu is also versatile because there's a HUGE list of subzis - the usuals and the unusuals. Some unusual combinations are present, such as Mushroom Do Pyaaza, Khoya Paneer, Stuffed Dum Aloo, Aloo Do Pyaaza and Palak Mushroom. Mushroom lovers, you will love the menu!
Sardarji also recommended Kulfi in the evening at Kumar Sweets. We missed those because we were running short on time plus the man had a sore throat. But give that a chance, I'd say. And if you are flying back, get some food from Naveen, please. I don't see myself going back to Doon and I already miss this place. Excruciatingly.
You could have asked Rushina before going, she could have told you a few more :)
ReplyDeleteI probably should have. But didn't know she had folks there. Asked other friends from Dehradun. But thik hai, time kam that, and we found Naveen :)
ReplyDeletesuch a good and honest travelogue.
ReplyDeletesome of our cities are just not food cities and Doon seems quite kitsch...love the way you have written the post. straight from the heart. The pictures seem appealing and then you tell the story behind them which is so differnt
whenever i travel abroad it pains me to think of how in India we have so much potential for tourism and yet do absolutely nothing to capitalise on it...doon seems to be a good example of that
Thank you, Kalyan. Doon was disappointing, yes. It does have potential but with so much plastic pollution, badly regulated traffic, vendors and cab drivers hounding tourists and the haphazard way it has grown, the peaceful and tree shadowed roads, the local momo stalls, the lovely weather are eclipsed.
ReplyDeleteAnd the inherent pressure travellers face from people in general, about being tourists over and above travellers is, well, something we are still learning to not give in to. Every time we have succumbed, we have regretted it.