Puran Singh Ka Dhaba Ambala – A Decimated Icon

A perfect example of a decimated icon is Puran Singh Ka Mashoor Vishal Dhaba. It looks visibly ugly from the outside and is quite dirty on the inside but it still is a pedestrians’ delight. You have been warned, so you now go at your own risk.

Since you are interested, let’s demystify the location, however, if you notice the multiple signage, they say it all.

It is adjacent to the Ambala Cantonment bus stand’s entry gate. So you have to be careful about this one, out of the 7 dhabas with similar names. One of them is called Puran Singh Ka New Dhaba.

We will come to Puran Singh Ka New Dhaba Ambala as a played inning too as you read on.

For now, the Puran Singh Ka Mashoor Vishal Dhaba is damaging the already drowning legacy of Late Shri Puran Singh ji.

At one point in time when the microscope existed and before the flyover was built on the highway, the Dhaba was a travellers’ landmark for Ambala. It was renowned for its delicious non-vegetarian dishes. 

This eatery specialises in Punjabi cuisine offering dishes such as mutton and chicken curry rice, keema kaleji, palak paneer and chana.

The main dishes that patrons swear about from its initiation have been Keema Kaleji, Mutton Curry, and Chicken Curry. The non-vegetarians may find their curries slightly spicy, but that’s what this was all about. 

In those days a trip via Ambala was considered incomplete without a meal at Puran Singh Dhaba. However, this dream is the best undreamt of now. No one would like to enjoy a major disappointment for lunch.

Story of the First Innings – Puran Singh had established this dhaba in 1949 at Sadar Bazar, Ambala Cantt and was iconic owning to its delicious.

That was in the foregone time when you visited the dhaba in Ambala on any day of the week, the flavourful dishes tasted the same and were truly delicious.

After a few years due to road expansion, the Dhaba was relocated near the Ambala Cantt railway station, where it established and held its reputation of having the best chicken and mutton curries in town.

In 1994 due to health and personal issues, Puran Singh had to sell this shop to to their meat supplier, Vijender Nagar.

This dhaba that was sold is now known as “Puran Singh Ka Mashoor Vishal Dhaba”. As luck would have it, the place is now run without any regard of its heritage or even cleanliness.

Story of the Second Innings – After a few years it seems, Puran Singh rented a new property near his previous one and began operating the dhaba, now known as “Puran Singh Ka New Dhaba Ambala.”

He ran this new dhaba successfully till he passed away on August 28, 2001. His wife Savitri Devi, son Vishal Atri & nephew Subhash have successfully run the “Puran Singh Ka New Dhaba” since his death.

Unfortunately, Savitri Devi passed away in 2018, leaving Puran Singh’s legacy to Vishal Atri, his wife and the  nephew Subhash.

But, this story is about Puran Singh Ka Vishal Mashoor Dhaba. I’ll write about Puran Singh Ka New Dhaba after my next visit to Ambala.

Story of the Third Innings – Puran Singh Ka Mashoor Vishal Dhaba was acquired by Big Bang Food Tech in Y2022.

Bought for an undisclosed sum, the company BBFT plans to open 100 Puran Singh outlets by the end of March 2023 which I doubt will happen. Till now, they haven’t been able to fix the hygiene part.

However, by the look of it nothing has changed out there till now that’ll make a difference and bring back the glory of its heritage.

Story of the Current Live Innings – Today, things at Puran Singh Ka Vishal Mashoor Dhaba are very different from from its inherited legacy.

The ambience, cleanliness, and their food all has gone to dogs. Even their furniture is rickety and is in doldrums.

Notwithstanding this, images of Chef Sanjeev Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan welcoming you are still standing tall with other celebrities hanging on their dilapidated signages.

Perhaps this is the only thing the current owners are proud of, rest everything is nothing to write home about by anyone.

So the food was ordered via the Senior Executive who vanished as soon as he had appeared. Almost fifteen minutes later and a yell, food started appearing. There were no plates except for the roti and the paratha.

The curries and the chana were served in serving plates that were fit to the size. We were supposed to tear off the roti and then dip them into shared plates of curries & eat.

The way curries were served and had to be eaten in a format that was not exclusively yours.

The curries were oily & spicy. The mutton curry was spicier than the chicken one. Both the meats were underdone hence chewy – mutton was more than the chicken.

Chana Masala was underboiled & tasteless since there was no masala.

Being kind-hearted I can only attribute all this to a faulty pressure cooker & tender fingers that failed to make everything less spicy & cooked softer.

The breads, both aloo paratha and the roti, were hot and crisp having arrived straight from the tandoor. I ate one and wanted another roti to follow it up and the Senior Executive was nowhere to be found.

However, someone did hear me yelling a few times and the roti flew in from somewhere again.

The experience has been like “Unchi Dukan, Fikka Pakwan” till now.

The check was presented immediately when asked for without any further sound effects from my end. They may have kept it ready or they desperately wanted our table to be cleared since it was closest to the entrance.