Asha Dining Hall — Restaurant in Pune

If you want to eat healthy and tasty Maharashtrian vegetarian food in Pune that will not make you sick even if eaten daily this is the place you want to visit. For rs. 150 you get an unlimited spread of about thirteen food items lovingly served to you at the table. These include rice, chapati (Indian bread), a potato preparation (bhaaji), one patal bhaaji (e.g. padwal dalimbya) i.e a vegetable dish, one usal (a lentil preparation), aamti (daal Marathi style), one koshimbir (a salad like preparation) , chutney, roasted Papad, rasam (a South Indian soup like preparation), dahi/buttermilk and lime. Of these, the dahi is limited but everything else can be has in unlimited quantities - one usually has to struggle to make sure that one does not end up overeating! You can also add desserts to your meal by paying extra. Note that the restaurant has a set menu which is something good or bad depending on your point of view. Also it is open only at lunch and dinner times so you cannot go here to satisfy your craving for a snack or tea. It does offer soft drinks however.

One good test of how good a restaurant is is to see long it has been around. Asha has been around for seventy years. It is a very clean place and sports an open kitchen. For Satish Keni the second generation owner of this institution this is a labor of love. It has a regular clientele that has been eating here on a daily basis for many decades. I know one elderly gentleman who is picked up and dropped off from/to his home by the owners of asha daily just as a kind gesture towards an old patron!

My only gripe with this place is that some of the food items (koshimbir and the patal bhaaji)...

Asha Dining Hall is always famous for serving Authentic Maharashtrian Thali for years. This place has that authentic look of old style restaurants with bench style seating. The Thali on weekdays/Saturday costs 150 and 250 on Sunday for per head. The menu has 3 sabji, shengdana chatani, pickle, koshimbir, curd, varan, rassam, papad, white rice, masale bhat with chapatis. The dessert options are basundi, shrikhand, etc. based on the availability. The options in the thali changes too as per each day. The highlight of this thali has to be the rassam. I went on Sunday and the menu was Alucha fadfada, Chhole Masala, Batata Bhaji. Sabjis were good in taste. Varan was too much blant. Overall, it was a good thali. Although I can say I have eaten better thalis before. The service is pretty quick and they keep asking to serve every item repeatedly. On weekends, you might have to wait if you arrive after 1 PM. Also, the coupon must be collected first for the thali...

Asha Dining hall is a paradise for people who love simple but tasty food. The hall has been serving customers for ages and I used to visit it when I was in pune over 24 tears back. Revisited the place and old memories. The food is simple maharashtrian thali for lunch with costs a fraction of what the new age dine-in restaurants would charge. Thr thali has the usual maharshtrian fare of Ritu, rice, slightly sweet amti (dal), curd, 2 curries and mostly a potato bhaji. The food is unlimited and let me warn you, quite addictive. Sweets can be ordered separately and not a part of the thali price but that too is reasonable. A cost of Rs 230 for a thali and Rs 70 for a sweet (shrikhand or rabdi) is very reasonably priced. The food tastes just like home cooked food and has been so since ages. No tension to the tummy or the wallet. Love the place, ambience, people and the food. Ps...be prepared to wait for some in case you can't reach early, it's...