A legendary place for breakfast!

Rating – 4/5

Well to set the expectations straight, this is a legendary place that has stood the taste….err the test of time by all means.
They offer good quality sweets along with some exquisite authentic snacks that can only be prepared the way it’s done in Agra/NCR and which I so dearly miss having shifted to Pune more than a decade ago ): Anyway atleast twice a year we give a visit to my birth place and ensure that we have the breakfast packed from this place for the majority of our stay if not on all days.

From being a fairly modest place in the late 80s they have now expanded their footprint in the city of Agra with three outlets.

As the name suggests they are predominantly a sweets shop and people throng to their outlets on festive occasions like diwali/holi and otherwise as well. This is basically “the goto place” for pure Desi ghee preparation sweets for majority of folks in the city of Agra.

Coming to their snacks following are my ratings over the last two decades (as long as I can remember)

Bedhai with Aloo subzi – 4/5, not sure where else this is prepared. The subzi is extra spicy (read laced with more than a few chillies) but goes well with a kachauri stuffed with masaala. There is an extremely inferior version of this preparation available in Tasty Tongues, Pune that doesn’t do any justice to the authentic preparation. My better half cooks it pretty close to the original taste and I just had it today at home which prompted me to write this piece 🙂

Samosas – 5/5, again very generous on the spice front, rich in garam masaala, these Samosas pack a punch and go really well with their green chutney. I remember making frequent trips to this place riding on my bicycle whenever guests used to come unannounced. A quick bite consisting of these Samosas accompanied by the green chutney and ginger tea used to make for a heavenly breakfast/evening snack and a combination which one could proudly present to their guests 🙂 These were ofcourse the days of early/mid 90s that I am talking about, the price would have been 50 paise per piece if I remember correctly and they were an awesome deal at that time as is today (now rs 7). Though it’s not prepared in Desi ghee but vegetable oil, the stuffing is quite unique and haven’t found this taste anywhere else.

The other delicacies that you don’t want to miss are the sweet lassi and Rabdi, both are delicious and if you’re not calorie conscious a Shahi breakfast comprising of all these four items would simply be unforgettable and beyond comparison so go for it whenever you get a chance. I am getting mine in November 🙂

Now comes a word of caution and the reason for a rating of 4 and not 5 is because of the utter chaos that you will have to go through at this outlet since all of the above items except sweets are prepared and served pretty much next to a busy road. There is no organized way to fetch these items in a civilized manner. During the peak breakfast/evening snacks time I have seen the queues (not exactly q’s but people coming from all directions) so long that they have sometimes contributed to traffic jams and it’s an absolute circus these days.

I see no efforts to rectify the bottlenecks and this is perhaps the most irritating factor while you’re at it. You’re basically on your own and may have to wait for a good 20 minutes before you can hope to get a bite.

However this is a must must visit place if you’re in Agra for a short while or a localite and is strictly not to be missed!