Maa Santosh Dhaba — Restaurant in Hyderabad

Wife went to her mom's for a week and I was on my own. While she was worried about how I'd go on a hogging spree outside, which was actually inevitable, I on the other side fretted about the money I'm gonna shell out in the course of finding good food.

Thanks to the explorer in me, I started with an experiment on the first day. Went to a Vegetarian Restaurant in Tolichowki. A Vegetarian Restaurant in Tolichowki is like opening an ice cream parlour in the South Pole. I was a little surprised as to what this restaurant was doing in a locality that would go for non-veg in medicine too, if it were a choice!

With average to low expectations with taste but highly optimistic about hygiene, I stepped into Maa Santoshi Family Dhaba for lunch.

It's a proper fine dining restaurant, something that Tolichowki crowd never gets along with! Fine Dine never works in this part of the city.

Anyway. I was there at proper lunch time and there were just a couple of tables occupied. By now I understood that the restaurant has its own little clientele and it's happy with it.

The menu is so extensive I was spoiled for choice and asked the waiter to get their bestselling curry and Tandoori Rotis.

He first brought a generous plate of Salad seasoned with chat masala. Then came the Vegetable Keema Masala with a plane Tandoori Roti in a beautiful bread basket with a bread tong. I was surprised at the professionalism being maintained given the visibly cold business.

The roti was thin, crisp and had a soothing aroma of freshness. That was the second surprise. My silos of underestimations were falling one after the other.

The sixer came in the form of an exceptionally tasty Veg Keema Masala (single). Besides being more than enough for one person, It was rich, dense and flavourful! I mean it was more than I had asked for.

Just a bite or two before I finish my roti, the next roti was served piping hot. I loved that! I had 3 Rotis with that single portion of veg Keema and some of it was still left.

And the bill was 165 rupees. Are you serious now? 😄 Infact everything on the menu is below 200 bucks!

I ended up eating lunch and dinner at this restaurant for 7 days straight. Trust me. Why? First of all the food is great! It's not out of the world but they did not promise a Tatva either. Second of all, the prices are unbelievable. Third and the my favorite reason, you cannot have lunch or dinner at a fine dining restaurant for 160 bucks anywhere in Tolichowki area. This restaurant is beautiful and centrally air conditioned!

Proud of my new discovery and I highly recommend you give your self a break from the heavy protein and carb fest and try their simple yummy food!

Update Jan 1 2025: My 9 year old daughter was suddenly craving for Zeera Rice. What better place than MSD. We went for dinner and the place was crowded. We ordered a full Kaju Zeera Rice and it was amazing as expected. My daughter was super happy. The bill was 210.

Maa Santoshi Family Dhaba Opposite Skechers Showroom Rahul Colony, Tolichowki

#vegeterianfood...

For: Ambience, nice decor, better than the average Santosh Dhaba Tasty food, neither spicy nor bland, just about to everyone's taste (we were 3 adults and 5 elders and 1 kid) Quick Service Reasonable Pricing Decent portion size per dish

Against: Not much... Parking is slightly a challenge but they do have a basement which can accommodate about 3 cars. There's space in front of the building for about 4 cars. Again, here also, we were assisted well in finding spots for our two long cars Couldn't get a baby seat for our infant.... again, we didn't expect they'll have but that would have been a pleasant surprise Tandoori Roti like Naan, is also Maida based and not wheat

What we ordered: Starters - Gobi Manchurian, Mushroom 65, Paneer Manchurian and Baby Corn Mains - Khaju Paneer, Vegetable Dopyaaza (mixed vegetable curry with oinions), Butter Naan, Rotis and Hyderabad Biryani All were good and no complaints. We had...

We used to go all the way to Santosh Dhaba that is in Abids, One fine day visited this place with lil skepticism but to my dismay it turned out to be on par with the abid's santosh dhaba.... Food is delectable , ambience is awesome and at very affordable prices... For three of us it was just 500 rs only . I like the view we get of the bustling traffic of tolichowki flyover...

One thing I observed is the area near handwash stinks as the washroom is adjacent to it. Hope the mangement takes care of this issue.

Parking is a big problem for cars for two wheelers it is fine...

Otherwise best place to nibble and not heavy on your pocket.... PS: Try baby corn manchurian and Khaju Paneer which...