Aharveda - Vegan & Beyond — Restaurant in Mumbai

The last time, I had entered a vegetarian restaurant was a couple of years ago. The venue was the iconic Radhakrishna of Andheri West. I was there with my vegetarian Canadian friend and his mother who wanted to celebrate the results of her CT scan just done with.

It must be stroke of fate that I landed exactly behind for a pre meeting lunch, decided impromptu on a Thursday afternoon.

I was surprised to know that Aharveda was created three years ago by the same owner and claims to be the first vegan restaurant of the city or maybe even in the country! We walked into a cool and pleasant ambiance and a décor which reflected the ancient Ayurveda feel.

I have been a dedicated carnivore through out my life and was very sceptical of a vegan diet being as tasty as regular veg food. My host for the afternoon was the calm and affable Suraj Shetty and upon asked for my fare of choice, I replied that I am a chapati bhaji guy for working afternoons. He smiled and walked away while I focused upon ending the phone call conversation.

The food arrived in a beautiful butterfly shaped metal thali. I remember my staple diet as a typical office goer in Churchgate and the ubiquitous thali of the city.

Small cavities beginning with the dal on the extreme left, three to four recipes of the day, steamed dhokla and the gajar halwa sprinkled with dry fruits on the extreme right. Two chapatis and a carved-out bowl of colourful rice in the middle, completing the presentation. I was sure that I would not be able to finish the entire thali.

The food looked absolutely normal to me and as if used to this kind of a look, Suraj smiled again and spoke. And the surprises began.

I have been a wheat guy and a complete non rice eater since childhood. I learnt that the chapatis that I devoured and then asked for a repeat was not made of wheat as they also adhered to a gluten free diet.

The next revelation was startling. The entire menu is cooked without oil. We ate in silence as I polished off the entire thali and before I could indulge in the sweet dish, a glass of butter milk arrived. Of course, being vegan where milk or any of its products is abstained from, it consisted of pure coconut milk and appropriate spices.

I walked out with renewed energy and past a good two-hour productive meeting realised that I hadn’t burped, not even once.

I guess that says it all for Aharveda. Rarely have I tasted food which is supposed to be healthy and...

I eat non-veg food four times a week at minimum and vegan food was the last thing I would've ever tried had it not been for my Mom.

My ma had read about Aaharveda long back in some newspaper and was really keen to try it out. After giving up on me she finally convinced my friends and we were there for a brunch last Sunday!

It's inside the famous Golden chariot restaurant on Andheri West SV road and operated by the same management itself. The ambiance has good-decent classic family restaurant vibe.

The menu on the other is poles apart from your usual golden chariot menu.

We ordered a lot of food from non bread pizza Sandwiches Garlic (non) bread sticks pulao To vegan Dahi Vada 🧐

Must say, I was impressed with Non-Bread bread made of Rajgira (Desi quinoa) to vegan Dahi made out of almond milk(!?)

It all tasted nice and delicious for first couple of bites but nah I couldn't finish or gorge on any of the dishes. Although between four of us we managed to finish it all.

Giving it 4 stars cuz if I was a vegan I would've truly loved it I must say. Also at the given price point how many Vegan restaurants do we have in this side of the bay is something which is unknown to an uninitiated like me.

All in all good experience, will definitely visit next time I'm out with my Vegan friends (I barely know 3 people who are True vegans so umm I don't know when tbh ;))

My only complain is the staff although very polite, patient and professional lacks knowledge about these...

A small vegan eatery behind Radha Krishna restaurant just opposite to Shoppers Stop, Andheri West, Mumbai.

It was not a good experience at Aaharveda when we first visited it in the last week.

Looking to the previous reviews we had great expectations from this vegan restaurant, but in vain !

We ordered for Sabudana Vada as a starter. We were expecting the roasted/baked version. It was baked ... its outer cover was somewhat crispy n ok ... however the sago stuffing inside was sweet. How can any Vada be sweet ? Three Vadas were served in a plate. In one of those three we found a hair inside which was returned. It was nice on their part that they replaced it with two fresh Vadas in a new plate but again those Vadas were sweet in taste. They must see that the sago stuffing should not be sweet and use right amount of crushed green chillies in it.

As a part of the main course, we ordered Khow Sey which was not at all up to the mark. The curry wasn't worth. Another dish Paratha made from the amaranth (Rajgira) flour too did not taste nice. Having disappointed we didn't further order for any dessert on their menu card.

Overall the experience was not at all worth the...