Thursday, April 22, 2010

Mast Kalandar (Bannerghatta Main Road)

I am not sure why so many people have been raving and ranting so much about this place. Not just on Burrp, but pretty much everyone I know. The food is strictly ghar ka, which is OK because this city does have way too many people living away from home. The concept of Halka Phulka meals is interesting and practical. That said, it's quite overpriced. I remember I used to get nicer tasting thaalis for cheaper than Mast Kalandar during my Pune and Bombay days. Times changed, prices soared, but 100 bucks for 2 chapatis, pretty bad quality of rice, absolutely non spicy sabji with no salt at all, excessively thick, overdone daal is still a little too much especially after you see their service. The food won't cost more than 40 bucks in places that don't belong to a chain made famous by the "IT fraternity". It's decent ghar waala khana, no doubt though. They have salt shakers on the table :-)

And the staff! Unbelievable. Fake, creepy smiles. Slurred speech. And one of them in this outlet actually looks like he'll cry any minute! There's a huge frown on his face, constantly. The staff here makes me wish there was no service at all! Leave me alone at my table with all my food, please!

And today I was there for lunch and it was quite a scene. With the chef running out to the dining area to angrily say something to one of his waiters. Very angrily. Fist in the air and all. He was quite the angry young man, straight out of the Dharam Paaji and Agneepath genre. It definitely wasn't the kind of scene you would want to see on an evening out.

Go to Mast Kalandar on a famished evening after a long day at work. Better still, order in.

2 comments:

Varun Yagain said...

Mast Kalandar is one concept that's gone horribly wrong. I suspect an unfairly balanced franchisee model that they must've got themselves locked into and this is very evident in not just from the expression that the service staff wear but the passion with which the managements run the show. I have a simple test. Visit Mast Kalandars' washrooms each time and put in a polite feedback on what's not right. And over a few visits (I wouldn't dare to keep doing it), I have only seen things getting worse! If the standards of the washrooms are any indication, you wouldn't even want your pet eating there.

Varun

Tamanna said...

Varun, I never went to their restrooms. Now that you say it, thank God I didn't!

And true, the concept is brilliant but pretty badly executed.