Its hard to imagine that in a city like Mumbai which boasts of restaurants claiming to serve authentic international cuisines, its a rarity to find a place serving authentic or close to authentic Maharasthrian specialities. Yes, there are small hidden gems scattered across, but none serve Kolhapuri food even close to the real fire starters from Kolhapur. That changed when we tried out Gavkari, in Prabhadevi. Apparently having branches in Nagpur and other cities in Maharashtra, this little outlet, located in a very busy Prabhadevi market lane, served up some really tasty fare! I had heard a lot about their black mutton curry, and had that in mind while ordering. We were 4 of us, and decided to try various thalis to make sure we get a taste of as much of their menu items as possible. First we ordered the paya soup, which we split among all of us. Very different from any other variety of paya soups, this one was a bit spicy and the chunks of bone and cartilege meat added to the meaty flavour of it. Gamey and spicy, this one is only for those who prefer this kind of a flavour. Not for everyone, but definitely a must try! We went for one black mutton curry thali, one kharda mutton thali, one surmai thali and one gavkari chicken thali, along with the mutton dry fry and prawns fry as starters. The mutton dry fry was outstanding! Fantastic seasoning, the mutton was tender and falling off the bone! Superb! The prawns fry was good, nothing outstanding. Their thalis come with unlimited tambda and pandhra rassas, which are a Kolhapuri essential. These two 'gravies' are much like soup, wherein you can drink or gulp them down in between bites or even after the meal. The tambda (red) rassa is fiery, while the pandhra (white) rassa can be deceivingly peppery, and has a nice meaty broth flavour...just as it should be. The surmai thali comes with a cup of solkadi. Now, the black mutton was quite a different preparation, had a nice kick to it! The black masalas used are quite strong, but nothing to make it pungent. It is tasty. The kharda mutton though is not for the faint hearted! It is (as was exlplained to us by the guy taking our order) a mutton semi dry type of dish, which is made with loads of green chillies! Much like the Kolhapuri thecha in taste, this one was something else! I enjoyed it, but no one else on the table dared to share it! There is a little cup of kheema which is also served in the thali, which is packed with flavour, but too little to make anything out in a way. We had all opted for bhakris in our thali. The surmai thali has one slice of fried surmai, along with surmai gravy....which turned out to be only the rassa, with no piece in it. The surmai though was nice and fresh and well seasoned. What i liked about their fried fish, also their fried prawns, is that sprinkle of crispy fried onions on top...literal sprinkles, they look like sev, but are onions. Good twist to a fried fish. The gavkari chicken thali was however a very weak link. In the mutton meat fest, chicken turned out to be the drabbest. The thali includes a chicken curry, an egg curry and chicken biryani, in place of the pulao rice that they serve with the other thalis. The biryani too was a bit strange, and we all unanimously preferred our pulao rice over it. Was a lot more aromatic than the biryani. My takeaway from this place is that their mutton dishes score waaay higher than other meat dishes, and rightly so...with the tenderness of the meat and the spices the meat is cooked in. The place is quite small, and gets full quickly, so get there early. DO NOT DRIVE, thats a mistake we made! Parking in this lane is next to impossible. Cab it up. My biggest annoyance that day was their air conditioning. There are 2 units, none worked fine. One appeared to be on, but im sure it wasnt blowing any air. We requested them to look into it, and so did the other tables. I would suggest installing ceiling fans there....do away with the air conditioning if it doesnt work...at least the fans would. But i think the food, the flavours and the spices made our day, and we saw ourselves exiting the place really satisfied. Definitely recommended!
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