Visawa Restaurant — Restaurant in Mumbai

Visawa has been in business for about 50 years. I say this because their founder was a friend of my grandfather.

It's located on N C Kelkar Road, opposite the Gol Mandir in the midst of a very busy Dadar market, hence always teeming with customers.

I dropped in here for breakfast. Ordered for a Idli-Wada combo to begin.

Idli was hard, as if it prepared ages back and kept outside the boiler or the Idli stand. Same was the case with the Wada but the saving grace was that the Wada had managed to retain some crispness.

Sambar was overtly tangy, a bit too much for my palate. The tangy flavour can be understood if this would have been a Tamilian restaurant, who love their food with a heavy dose of tamarind paste. They had generously used mustard seeds and vegetables as well. Chutney was the likeable item in the combo placed before me.

Next I ordered a Mysore Sada Dosa. The remarkable thing about it was that it had no hint of oil. Even my fingers had a nominal residue of oil on them, loved this part. The chutney used to coat the inside of the Dosa was also tangy but no hint of spiciness.

I guess their chef has a thing for tangy flavour.

Service is at jet speed. No sooner you place your order and have a sip of water, your order is placed on the table. By the time I finished the last morsel of Wada, the waiter was carrying the Dosa towards my table.

Tab for the above came to Rs. 105, VFM I say.

The rating of 3 is for the chutney and non-oily Dosa.

Food Quality - 2.5/5 Food Quantity - 3/5 Ambience - 3/5 Service -...

I was aware of this place by word of mouth. But, I ended up here finally on the evening before diwali all tired and hungry from the constant running around in the name of diwali shopping. Ya you know it! So, since I was frustrated and famished, I went ahead and ordered two dishes. One was the Cheese Pav bhaji and other was Dahi Vada. You must know that, this restaurant is located in a crowded area and considering it's reputation, you might have to wait for some time before you get a table. I had to wait for about ten minutes before we could sit. Coming to the ambience, the place has a very 1990s look to it with the typical Udupi hotel kinda tables and glasses and stuff. You get the bombay feel sitting inside there. The service is fast....pretty fast. I was impressed. I assumed that they may take a while to serve the food since it was so crowded, but they took just about 5 mins. Taste? Awesome! Now you can say that I was hungry so I loved it! Maybe....but still, the food was fresh and hot and tasty. That's good enough for me. And really economical. The dahi vada was the yummier one, because I love sweet dahi. I was worried that the vada might be dry or stale inside, but it was fresh and I enjoyed every bite of it. It's a simple place and has great food, if you like the traditional snacks. Don't expect continental stuff. Wrong place. Apart from the waiting time during the peak hours, I loved the place. Definitely will visit again when I...

My visit to Visawa Restaurant was a mixed experience, ultimately leading me to rate it 2 out of 5 stars. The primary issue I encountered was the demeanor of the staff, which I found to be quite rude. This aspect alone significantly impacted the overall dining experience, making it less enjoyable than anticipated.

Additionally, the restaurant's layout did not help matters, as the space felt cramped and not particularly welcoming. A more spacious environment might have mitigated some of the discomfort caused by the staff's behavior, but unfortunately, this was not the case.

On a somewhat brighter note, the food served at Visawa Restaurant was average, meriting a 3 out of 5 rating. While there were glimpses of potential in the dishes, they were not enough to overshadow the negative aspects of service and ambiance.

The management's attitude further compounded the issues, coming across as arrogant and unresponsive to customer feedback. This approach does little to encourage repeat business or positive word-of-mouth.

In summary, while the food at Visawa Restaurant shows some promise, the overall experience is marred by poor service, a lack of space, and an unwelcoming attitude from the management. There are areas of improvement that could potentially turn things around, but as it stands, my experience leaves much...