VISHALLA - A THEME RESTAURANT

Sometime back, we had been to Ahemdabad. During one of the days of our stay at Ahemdabad, we visited a theme restaurant called as’ Vishalla’. As a tourist, I was very much impressed with the unique arrangements the restaurant had and the way it introduces the rich ethnic culture of Gujarat.

Museum at Vishalla

This is located at approximately 10 km away from Ahmedabad. As we enter, series of ‘lanterns’ hung all over the area catches our attention. We were received by people wearing traditional Gujarati attire. They welcomed us with greeting as ‘behenji Hare ram’.

There is a museum exclusively for earthen pots (burtan museum) at Vishalla. This museum has a huge collection of various types of earthen pots ranging from 1 cm diameter up to may be 2 m! Various types of lamps, metal utensils, locks, traveler’s water jugs, toys collected from ancient ‘havelis’ were also displayed.

Dinner at Vishalla

Dinner at Vishalla was very nice and unique. There are many huts, exclusively for serving food. We could also see fresh food being cooked, inside some of the huts.

We were made to sit on the floor, on a mattress. Food was served on wooden slab placed at a height of one foot. The server brought a wide tray, in which there were many dishes placed in small bowls made out of leaves (Donne in Kannada). We should serve these items ourselves and pass the bowl to next person.

Like this we received series of ‘donne’ containing sprouts, chutneys, nuts, salads ….of various types. It was a very nice homely environment of an extended family, which is unheard in the modern era.

After serving more than 20 side dishes ourselves like this, on a robin round, it was the turn of main dishes. We were served with Bajra, Roti, kakra, Tepla, Patra, Kichdi, Sukdi, Kadi…….all vegetarian Gujarati dishes.

One person used to serve ‘chas’ (buttermilk), carried in an earthen pot, through out the dinner session. Each and every item was served to us with warmth addressing us as ‘behanji (sister)’ which I found very appealing.

At one corner a folk dance ‘Dandya’ was going on .This is quite similar to our ‘Kolata dance’ of Karnataka region, Some of us sat on hanging cots, made of jute and wires to while watching the dance.

As a part of developing tourism, many theme restaurants have emerged at various parts of the country. No doubt, such restaurants convey the rich culture of the region.