Meghdoot Gardens

Right outside the Indore Marriott is a lengthy bustling street of the most innovative foods you could find. Taking its name from the huge gardens beside it, Meghdoot is a khau galli set apart

Text: Team UpperCrust   

Photographs: Farzana Contractor

Fresh off a heavy Asian meal at One Asia at Marriott Indore (you will find the review on pg 92), we were certainly not in the mood for a food onslaught, on the street, at midnight, in the Indore heat! Yet, the hype around this chaupati, that stands vibrant and buzzing between two 5-star hotels on Vijaynagar’s main road, opening by evening and running till around 2 am, was not one we could afford to miss. So much so that we even checked it out the following day at noon time before the throngs started to flock. Meghdoot Gardens Chaupati is a km-long stretch of around 350 food stalls, both sides the road, which is more like a fete, with ‘fusion food’ running amok and Indore’s locals – tourists, too – wiping it off. Most active at nighttime, when you want a quick bite with family, friends or your special someone, Meghdoot Gardens is an experience for sure!

First off, the food! From pizzas in kulhad cups to ice-cream off a roller. Kunafa – that Middle Eastern dessert that’s loaded with the ‘good’ stuff – served with your choice of topping – blueberry, Nutella or coconut; bati designed as a pizza with veggies, cheese and more cheese on top; omelettes with a variety of ingredients; wontons with surprise fillings that make you go hmmm; samosas with Maggi and ‘chowmin’ – chowmein, paneer, Manchurian… Meghdoot is a riot of flavours and ingredients served to you with such gusto, at pocket-friendly prices that make it a hotspot for all age groups, especially students studying around the area. And it’s convenient, for you can sit on your bike or in your car and order in if you’d like. You would not be able to do that at Sarafa or Chappan, even if you tried.

However, this flow of vehicles through the street that houses the beautifully laid-out 25-year-old Meghdoot Gardens, of huge and peaceful environs, is a bone of contention for passersby and for the hotels nearby. Much like Sarafa, Meghdoot’s famed khau galliis also likely to face the axe due to encroachment issues and be relocated, at least those that have their permits, as most are illegal stalls, as per reports. All the more reason for you to make a trip to Indore and get a taste of its street food courtesy the famed khaugallis we’ve highlighted for you, asap!

Back to the food and the stalls you can patronise at Meghdoot… As we strolled down the stretch on a blazing hot afternoon, we noticed the names of the stalls, which might be another reason in itself to visit. Mr Bob’s Pizza, 12th Fail Momos (certainly inspired by the 2013 Vikrant Massey film which we could watch again), MBA Pizza (for you do need the MBA stamp for anything you do today, right!), New Ghamandi Lassi (‘coz lassi is a proud statement in India, whether in Punjab or Indore!), G3 Royal Omelette (taking from the three owner’s names, we presume), Rajan Roller Ice-Cream (where you can stand watching the boy roll out ice-cream for a while before you wonder whether you will ever see the finished product), Samosapur Society Café (where those samosas we mentioned above are so animatedly served), Mom & Son’s fare (with the tagline Maa kaa Swaad, Zuba se Dil Tak), Money Bags by Bawarchi (wontons as they are famously known in Thailand), Pizza Bati by Batiwala (to the point), a 7-flavours pani puri stall from Gujarat that goes by the name D.N.B, so on and so forth…

Meghdoot has something from every state consolidated into a food coma galli that we see before us today. Vadapav from Maharashtra – it’s even made ulta, the other way around, by a mother-daughter duo, momos from North East, litti chokha from Bihar, kathi rolls from Bengal, dosas from the South, and of course, waffles from Belgium for an international touch!