Gaurav Gupta's Blog

Amritsar is truly a foodie’s delight. Besides the holy visit to the Harmandir Sahib (a.k.a. the Golden Temple), you can spend an entire week exploring all the awesome food options this city has on offer! Here are some of the best eating out places I discovered at Amritsar:

Guru Ka Langar at Golden Temple – The Golden Temple has a large multi-level dining area which serves free “langar” to everyone. You are made to sit on the floor and you are served an unlimited helping of dal, a seasonal vegetable, roti, rice and water. The food is like your everyday meal but is quite well prepared. The plates, bowls and spoons are perfectly clean. After stepping out of the complex, you get to see the huge scale of operations that are required to keep the kitchen running almost 24 hours a day, including used plate disposal, cleaning, cutting, cooking etc. Thanks to the massive inflow of funds, nobody in Amritsar can ever complain of dying of hunger! Remarkable. It’s a must try for everyone visiting Amritsar.

Bharawan da Dhaba at Town Hall – This definitely seemed like the biggest and most popular dhaba in the city. I went there on a weekend night and it was packed right till the last table. However, to my disappointment, it turned out to be a pure vegetarian eating joint. It was actually surprising for me that in a supposedly hard-core chicken loving Punjabi community, a pure vegetarian restaurant is doing such solid business! Nevertheless, I tried out the chole and stuffed kulche, followed by a big glass of lassi and kheer. It was definitely the best chole-kulche-lassi I had ever tasted.

Kesar Da Dhaba (Shastri Market) – If you are willing to wade through the narrow lanes of Shastri Market, you won’t be disappointed with what awaits you at the other end. Kesar Dhaba’s chana, parantha’s, dal, lassi as well as phirni beats Bharawan’s preparations in all aspects hands-down. Pay special attention to the Dal fry – It is so generously topped with desi ghee that it’s hard to find the actual dal inside the bowl.

Beera Da Dhaba – I have heard nice things about this place, especially for it’s non-vegetarian cuisine, but I could not manage to go and check it out personally. I instead landed up in a place called Surjit Food Plaza, which was actually quite ordinary and should be avoided. I also tried out Makhan’s dhaba which is quite popular in that area for fish. The fish and all tandoori preparations (tandoori chicken, fish, paneer) were very good, but the curry dishes (ex. Butter chicken, paneer pasanda, daal makhani etc.) were awful. Come here only for the tandoori. Give everything else a pass.

Badiyan and Papad – Amritsar is known for it’s spicy Badiyan and Papad. Both are available in packed form to carry away at Bharawan da Dhaba. Both are super spicy, but very well prepared. They’re definitely not for the weak-hearted.

Popular Bakery on Queen’s Road – This happens to be quite a popular bakery in Amritsar. I got some “pinni” packed for my way back to Delhi. I was told by the hotel manager that the cakes and pastries are quite good as well. But I was told later that the most popular shop for sweets in Amritsar is Kanha Sweets (on Lawrence Road) and that’s where all the locals go.

Know any other good eating joints in Amritsar that I missed? Add them in the comments below.