Handi restaurant jaipur — Restaurant in Jaipur Municipal Corporation

I've been going to this restaurant every single time I visit Jaipur. I've seen various 'iterations' of this restaurant over the past 2 decades. If you are fond of typical Rajasthani non-vegatarian cuisines, then this is the place to go. The prices are pocket friendly and justify the quantity that they serve.

Over the years, the interior decor and ambience have undergone a transformation. It's still quite comforting and warm and welcoming, though I personally feel that the ambience was warmer and cozier years earlier. Lighting is soft and doesn't hurt eyes or sensibilities and it's a nice place to have a good conversation over a sumptuous meal with no obtrusive music to disturb even 'whispers'. The restaurant is pretty clean, with clean and hygienic sanitary facilities.

Handi is bang on MI Road, just a little way down from Government Hostel traffic crossing, with traffic unidirectional on the road towards the west. Parking, though, is a bit difficult to find and there is no dedicated parking lot nearby. One parks on the road on the opposite side of the restaurant and parking 'attendants' can be a little sly.

Now the main thing for which one would visit this restaurant. The food. Do not waste time going to Handi if you are a vegetarian though it has nothing to do with vegetarianism. One goes to Handi for its mouth watering nonveg cuisines, very typical of Rajasthan. Super highly recommended - Junglee Maans...a unique dish I have never had anywhere else. You can have it as a starter, or as a main course dish with Bajra rotis (yummmm) and their super delectable, smooth, thick and creamy pineapple raita. Believe me, I've never had such wonderful pineapple raita anywhere else. Also recommended - Handi maans/ Laal Maans, and their mutton biryani. Too good. The mutton is perfectly cooked and tender and the cuts are not stiff or stringy. The spices just fire away the taste buds and you are elevated to another level of culinary delight. The cutlery sort of reminds of an earthy connection to Rajasthan soils. Handi, for me, is synonymous with great Rajasthani mutton dishes. Even then, I did try their 'fish fingers' and was stumped by the quantity they served and was pleasantly delighted by the presentation and the taste of the dish. The accompanying dip too was something I really delighted in.

An overall highly satisfying dining experience.

Service is prompt and good, though I would not rate it as exceptional; but no complaints here at all, and I would not fault it. The servers are courteous and quite forthcoming in offering suggestions as per diners' choice.

And everytime I leave the city I make sure to take back their super popular Junglee Maans for a gustatory delightful dinner at home some 300kms...

We were group of three friends visiting Jaipur over the weekend. We had huge expectations from this restaurant about the Speciality dish : Laal Maas but sadly we were disappointed not just because of the Laal Maas but also the hospitality of this overhyped Restaurant. I felt Jaipur is heaven for Vegetarian dishes which we loved but non veg probably we went to wrong place like this.

Hospitality Matters: We had tried to reserve table using Dineout, and then we took a cab to the restaurant. After reaching at this place, first we went to the lower floor of the restaurant and it was sort of gloomy and empty so we asked about the rooftop section. I enquired about the reservation, the staff said the rooftop people will assist us with it.

We moved on to the rooftop, it was beautiful. We enquired about the table reservation and the staff at the counter was like there aren't any reservations and there is some payment issue so please go to the lower floor although 70% of the tables were empty.

I insisted we want to sit here, so he was like there is some payment issue. I was like what payment issue, we haven't even ordered anything. Not sure what was going on. Later there was another staff who assisted us to a table of our choice.

Food:

The main reason we visited this place was for Laal Maas.

We ordered Laal Maas, bajra Roti, Tandoori Roti, and Fried Rice

It was the first time I was having Laal Maas so I'm not really sure what the hype was all about Laal Maas. It wasn't anything extraordinary. Moreover, there were only two tiny pieces of mutton with bones, meat was very little.

The Bajra Roti was Ok-ish and the tandoori Roti was good.

Chicken Fried Rice wasn't great. We've had better ones.

Cost:

Bajra Roti was 65/- per piece. It's not at all worth the price. Laal Maas was okay for the price. Chicken fired rice was waste of money. Tandoori Roti was definitely worth it.

Overall, this place is overpriced considering the hospitality, location & food quantity and taste.

Service & Ambiance:

I'll be posting pics of the place, so we loved the ambiance.

The service staff need better training as they appeared lethargic and seemed disinterested.

The spoons and one of the plate wasn't clean we had to ask to replace them. It was done.

Verdict: This place isn't worth the hype, the waiters and staff need proper...

Handi is extremely popular amongst bloggers who have posted reviews, videos and blogs about it's Laal Maas.

On my recent visit to the city, we decided to give it a try and the hype that has been created, kept us on our feet!

Handi has multiple seating options but there's something that need to be mentioned. ⭐Zomato Gold doesn't apply if you opt for terrace seating and is applicable if you get a table downstairs.

Although restaurants are free to practice whatever pleases them but this practice is not healthy.

Ambience -

The terrace is spacious and looks beautiful at night but it's not very captivating!

I have been to hundreds of restaurants boasting of an amazing rooftop with a killer view of the city but this one is average in my opinion.

There's a bar at one end which looks pretty as well. The USP is that the restaurant organises puppet show in the evenings.

Food -

We were extremely excited to try the famous Jaipuri Laal Maas but before even ordering it, we were disappointed by their first recommendation which also happens to be one of their specialities - Junglee Maas

⭐Started our evening with the Junglee Maas which is served as a starter at Handi.

The presentation was good and it looked appetising but the taste was very disappointing and failed to please all three of us at the table! There was absolutely no flavour and it just felt like chewing on dry mutton!

⭐Second item of the day was the Galaouti Kebab served with a Parantha which saved the meal for us. Extremely delectable kebabs, so soft and tender that they were almost melting in the mouth. The Parantha was very soft and well cooked as well.

However, we didn't take chances with the Laal Maas and decided not to order it.

Overall, it's just an over hyped restaurant...