A Slice Of Patiala

A whole set of literally way-out alternatives for the wallet-conscious havebeen spawned by the increasing costs of dining out. Dhabas that dotted the majorhighways leading out of the city—and catered to truck drivers—have foundincreasing acceptance with the middle and upper-middle sections of Bangalore inthe last couple of years. While a little more than half-a-dozen dhabas are doingbusiness on the national highway leading to Pune, nearly 20 of them crowd theHyderabad highwayside. Run by locals and with interesting names like MalligeDhaba or Shiva’s Inn,the dhabas offer a simple menu: roti and nan, about sixchicken and vegetable dishes and the usual varieties of fried rice. Whilealcohol is not served and customers bring their own booze, come dusk and thefreezers open to arrays of illegally stocked beer bottles. And at two rupees fora roti and about Rs 25 for a chicken dish, the extra 10 km drive out of towndoesn’t seem to be too much of a burden despite the city’s chaotic traffic."

The dhabas are in the open and provide the kind of freedom that restaurantsdon’t. Though we aren’t sure how authentic the food is, it’s fine as longas it tastes good and is clean," says K. Kumar who owns an electricalbusiness in Domlur. Kumar meets his friends at a dhaba once a month, where theyspend long hours. So also Minu Kumar, 23, a pharmacy college graduate who visitsa dhaba every weekend with friends and juniors. Says he: "The settingisn’t sophisticated and the food has a crude, agrarian quality to it. But wecan stretch our legs and do whatever we want." "

It’s mostly a lot of north Indians, students and the middle-class that formmy clientele," says T. Ravishankar, owner of Guru Punjabi Dhaba, arestaurant on the Hyderabad highway. This popular dhaba has the capacity to seat100 at a time and has five cooks and eight waiters to cater to clients.According to Ravishankar, he makes about Rs 8,000 on a good weekend. Beingoutside town and in the open, the dhabas also offer enough opportunity fordrunken louts to get into fights and create scenes. Ramalinga, 26, who ownsGarden Bar and Restaurant, also on the Hyderabad highway, exhibits the knifemarks earned while intervening in fights. Says he: "Fights are normal here.But then, those who drink and lose control can create a scene anywhere, even ina five star hotel."