Jaliyan, Ahmedabad

Jaliyan,
412 A & B, 4th Floor,
Sheetal Varsha Mall,
Satellite,
Ahmedabad
079 40029004, 079 40029003

I've finally found a good Gujarati Thali restaurant close to home, for the days that we don't want to drive all the way to Agashiye. The reasonable prices don't hurt either.

Jaliyan is located at Sivranjini Crossroads in Sheetal Varsha Mall. Their biggest problem is their location. The mall is completely empty, except for a couple of shops and the mall is in very bad condition - broken floors, semi functioning lifts, a bad smell, badly constructed floors, perpetual noise etc.

But if you are willing to brave these inconveniences, the food served at Jaliyan is definitely worth it.

Jaliyan offers 2 types of Gujarati thalis. One for 200/- and one for 325/-.

The 200/- thali came with 2 sweets - kesar pista basundi (not a patch on Agashiye's basundi) and puranpolis (my favourite dish of this meal). 2 farsaans - Mix pakodas/bhajiyas (potato, onion, methi gotha, stuffed chillies, onion, batata wada) and Chinese Wontons (just in shape, it was a thick maida batter, with a tasty filling though) with sweet chutney and green chutney. Bundi Raita and a corn kakdi Capsicum salad. Both the raita and the salad were excellent.

For the main course, we had Baingan bharta (spicy smoke brinjal pate), Undhiyu (baked winter vegetables), Rasawala Bataka (curried potatoes), Mixed Kathol (beans of various kinds), Gujarathi kadhi (curd based gravy), Gujarati dhal (lentils) and phulkas and bajra rotlas (with ghee and gud).

The meal was rounded up with plain rice, khichdi (average), lasun ki chutney (garlic chutney), papad, chaas (buttermilk - very good) and mineral water.

The other thali has all of this and also pineapple juice, an extra sweet, mix utthapams as an extra farsaan, theplas and bhakris, Rajasthani Dhal bati, something called rai marcha and ice cream too.

Even though we had the simpler thali, it was extremely satisfying and filling. I would rank Jaliyan second (after Agashiye) amongst the Gujarati thalis that we have had in Ahmedabad. Definitely worth visiting. They also have a takeaway lunch for 130/- if you need to carry a packed lunch away (but this would be limited quantities)

The ambiance is much nicer than Govardhan and it wasn't overcrowded either, so service was very attentive and at a very comfortable pace. The interiors are quite fancy for a restaurant that only serves thalis, even thought the place mats were fabric covered in plastic, the place still has a slightly classier feel to it, once inside.

Rating : 4 / 5