An Idli Afternoon @ Balaji Idli Express, Andheri, Mumbai

Mumbai Food Diaries- An Idli afternoon@Balaji Idli Express, Andheri, Mumbai  

Gastronomic funda:  Veg Food trek – Balaji Idli Express

Address: Andheri-Kurla Road, Chakala, Mumbai, (Click for Google map Coordinates)

Gastronomers: Irish Pereira, Swati Thakarda, Sagar Narkhade, Ganesh Pabale, Vinayak Shenoy, Akshay Bhoir, Nishant Chaudhary, Manisha Rajput, Rajesh Sathe.

Damages: Rs. 3120

Ambience: 3 /5

Food: 3 /5

Service: 3 /5

Prologue: It was a cheerful Friday as well hectic afternoon as our team was about to leave for Exhibitions and busy preparing for the same.... At 12:30 we pack of 9 hoggers set out in search of our game .... Till the main gate there was dilemma as to where should our hungry planes crash-land on .....but we we're sure to avoid our regular friday lunch menus..namely Chicken Nukkad biryani and pizza's Smokin Joe... 

We had two rough options in mind though.. "Subway"  or "Idli Express". On approaching main gate, the balance had tilted with majority vote in favour of 'Idli Express' near Chakala Signal Andheri. Sagar the ardent chicken lover of the pack was not ready for so called "veg lunch". However outvoted Sagar was literally dragged by Ganesh to the venue just like shouting opposition bencher's are marshaled out of Lok Sabha. He had made his mind for non veg chicken burger in Subway. He kept on whining all the way.

Balaji Idli Express as it is named is a small cafe sans coffee type of setup with only 12 - 13 sitting chairs. However the place is known for its long list of varied Idli menus. We reached there to find it partially occupied. Till then we placed our orders and stay put till table are empty. Within next 5 minutes we found ourselves resting our bottoms on seats around the table.

Before our orders came the soft drinks.Then in couple of minutes came our orders. 

First menu was masala coloured 'Peri Peri Idli'. It was fried idlis sates seasoned with masala. Along came the Mayonnaise dip. Together it was a menu to reckon with.

Then was the number of Neer Dosa's. We had ordered for two varieties of Neer dosa- one with veg kurma and other with Chettinadu Veg Masala. Neer Dosa's were soft, however the accompanying vegetables were just ok types. We intermittently washed our food pipes with pepsi.

Neer dosa- one with veg kurma

Neer dosa - Chettinadu Veg Masala

Accompanied came the Idli Spicy Lasooni Cheesy Tosado. It was basically a toasted idli topped by garlic and coated by cheese overcoat. It is idli version of typical garlic bread and was yummy.

Idli Spicy Lasooni Cheesy Tosado

Then came the Idli Indian Spicy Pizza. It appeared like regular thin crust Pizza; however it had the Idli bottom. It was just like regular pizza. 

Idli Indian Spicy Pizza

Then came the Cheese Mayo Idli fries. It consist of 5 small circular fried idlis tucked by a stick purged in thick Cheesy Mayo gravy. It as a dish to reckon with which was repeated on majority demand.

Cheese Mayo Idli 

It was followed by Paneer and Cheese Grilled Idli Sandwich. It consisted of  bread layered with Idli and paneer and cheese making the inner layer. This menu was also ok types category.

Paneer and Cheese Grilled Idli Sandwich

Then came Butter Garlic Idli. It consisted of hexagonal idlis fried in butter with grated garlic. However it was garlic overdose which made it more pungent.

Butter Garlic Idli

We repeated the soft drinks to cool our burning throats.

Myself with that yummy Mayonnaise dip..

Then the Mayo Cheesse Idli was repeated.

And then came the desert part - couple of dishes of Desi KitKat Waffle... It was 'Dish of the Day'. Crusty idli bottom topped with hot chocolate made it a treat to ones taste buds. So much so that we would have repeated it hands down; however given out short lunch time we dropped the repeat.

Desi KitKat Waffle

The Menu Card:

Menu Card

Epilogue:
It was a wonderful afternoon spend tasting variety of 'Idli and south Indian dishes' with cheerful group. However when bill arrived we were left surprised. The bill was more than our regular non veg bills. Then we can hear Sagar still whining in background,....

".... didn't i told u guys, eating veg is more costlier than Non-veg".

And then joyfully pulling his legs we made it our office to get lost in our work.

Disclaimer: The above restaurant in review was personally visited by Irish Pereira wherein he has paid for the full bill & does not believe in featured / sponsored reviews. The reviewer believes in anonymously visiting a hotel to present an honest account of all the factors to you.

Happy Eating, Keep Exploring!!!!