Zaika @ It’s Best – Hotel New Zaiqa, Bhopal

The rule of thumb for selecting a place to eat around a railway station is to find the busiest one. Such places make a statement – We serve great and fresh food.

However, I ignored this cardinal rule totally while selecting Hotel New Zaiqa located right outside Bhopal Junction Railway Station (basically a Dhaba) for lunch on the way back from Bhopal.

You’ll find it to your right as you exit out of Platform No. 1 of the Bhopal Railway Station. I didn’t remember it from the past, maybe it was a new addition.

The paint on the exterior was new and loud; the menu was printed on the front glass screen and also announced that they sold Rotis for a mere Rs. 3 (while Al Rasheed Gurgaon sells them at Rs.99).

The biggest warning was that it was empty. However, it kept inviting me and I dragged three of my co-travellers right into it.

Surprisingly, the place was neat and clean. The interiors again were a garish combination of colours. The furniture was decent which perhaps qualified it for a semi-restaurant rather than an outright Dhaba.

The walls of Hotel New Zaiqa Bhopal had names of their flagship dishes running on a central black strip alternated with the statutory warning of “No Drinking” pasted in loud red characters. This was reassuring for a peaceful eating experience.

The “Seth’s” (owner’s) counter was located right at the entrance at an elevation. Hanging behind the counter were two of Seth’s photographs with Mr P. Chidambaram, the past Finance Minister of India but not taken at the eatery.

Obviously, he had connections, that’s what the photo established.

We parked ourselves and immediately a lanky lad appeared with the menu and so did the pompous Seth who propped himself up on the high chair.

Though we didn’t need the menu, it was already plastered on the walls, we took it and browsed thorough it.

Their menu is bilingual extensive and almost all items have a full and a half serving; it was also published in both English & Hindi. This was very unlike dhabas in Gurgaon both qualitatively and linguistically.

As I wrote, interestingly and appropriately the menu was printed in both English and Hindi that means a mixed crowd enjoyed their patronage or the owner was farsighted and wanted to cater to various strata of the society.

We requested for a bottle of water (Rs. 15) and after much deliberation zeroed down our food order to Yellow Dal Fry (Rs. 60), Tamatar (tomato) Masala (Rs. 100), half portion of Tawa Mutton (Rs. 145), Tandoori Rotis (Rs. 3 each) and a plate of Green Salad (Rs. 30).

The food took a while to come and we got a bit apprehensive – we were hungry and there wasn’t much time left for the train to depart.

One of us took a bird eye view into their kitchen and announced competently that everything was being prepared fresh. This was reassuring and our patience recovered some ground.

The service began with the green salad and soon other items started appearing. Two of my friends had a minor coronary by just looking at the ghee floating on top of tamatar masala and tawa mutton.

Though, when we dug into the food with crisp rotis, the entire lunch experience went through a metamorphosis.

The tomatoes in the masala were stuffed with a very delicate paneer filling and every bite was a delight. The tawa mutton had one of my companions literally swooning over it. It was extremely well done. Maybe I was swooning too.

The Yellow Daal had its own distinct identity and has me as one of its fans now. We ended up ordering another two rounds of rotis and almost licked our plates clean.

Settling the princely bill of Rs. 390 and totally full in our bellies, we lazily dragged ourselves and the luggage over to the station to catch the afternoon Shatabadi Express to New Delhi.

The journey eventually got over, but the flavours of this hidden gem in Bhopal are still lingering on my palate. Hotel New Zaiqa is a must-visit if you are ever in Bhopal.

If you like this article, you can let us know in the comments below or on social media using #gosumitup and tag @gosumitup.

I am always happy to read your feedback and if you liked the dish or if you made the dish. :)

Better still, take a picture and post it on Instagram and tag it as #gosumitup

Connect direct – You can also connect with me directly on my Twitter, Instagram and Facebook or on Pinterest.

And, keep visiting us for more of such awesomeness. Do bookmark gosumitup.com into your web browser now or simply subscribe to our browser notifications.