Zampa Bazaar

One of the areas around Zampa Bazaar is Khaudra Gali. It is more like a food alley of Surat! If you ever visit here, you will see colourful sheds bowing to you and your nose brimming up with continuous overlapping smells.

Mahesh Dosa Centre
Hanumante Ice Cream Shop
Sarasiya
Shah Jamnadas Ghariwala
Mohammadi Bakery
Sagar Restaurant
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Surat can always fill your stomach but never your heart! You’ll always want more and Surat will always be there to serve you.

One of the areas around Zampa Bazaar is Khaudra Gali. It is more like a food alley of Surat! If you ever visit here, you will see colourful sheds bowing to you and your nose brimming up with continuous overlapping smells.

Let’s dive into it!

Mysore Dosa at Mahesh Dosa Centre- One of the not so appreciated combinations, Mysore Dosa with the view of rain, never upsets anyone. This one particular Dosa here, is like a thin brittle sheet, it tends to get chewy towards the centre. On the inside of it, a mixture of garlic paste, masalas and chopped spring onions is applied. It is very safe to say that it is going to be your loss if you don’t try it!

Fun Fact- Mysore Dosa can be made differently by different chefs but the mark of this one is that it is going to give you a cracking sound when you put it in your mouth. It is just the right amount of high on crunch!

Price- INR 120 per plate.

Badam Shake at Hanumante Ice Cream Shop- It is very aesthetically pleasing to look at four ice cream scoops stacked on top of each other. It’s not just about the pastel coloured scoops but also about the flavours like Mawa Mali, American Nut, etcetera which melt the most gorgeous taste ever! Like an Iceberg, the biggest punch lies at the root, which is, the badam (almond) milk. Only ‘yummy’ is the word that could describe it.

What better to bribe a kid (within us) with!

Price- INR 60 for a glass.

Khaja at Sarasiya- Khaja is a dense, crumbly snack. It is bigger than a biscuit and smaller than a standard size round patty. The word ‘Sarasiya’ here, comes from the word ‘Sarson’ which means Mustard. This munchy is fried in Mustard oil hence the name. It is a savoury snack but because ‘Gujaratis’ love meetha (sweet), there have been versions created for the same. There is a mango pulp one, a sugar coated one and what all!

Tip- Squeeze a lemon over the savoury Khaja as a relish to enjoy it at its best! It is also a must try with Indian tea.

Price- INR 180 for 200-300 grams.

Ghari at Shah Jamnadas Ghariwala- To do justice to ‘Ghari’, even the word ‘heavenly’ is an understatement. It is an earthen sweet and looks like it relates a lot to rural Gujarat because of the richness with which it's made! It has ‘Ghee’ poured all over it, sticking to the tegument. The inside of it has a lavish filling of ‘Khoya’, dry fruits and milk powder. Suratis might compromise on anything but this, period.

We saw the future, you were carrying boxes loaded with Ghari.

Price- INR 600- 800 per kg.

Tunki at Mohammadi Bakery- Tunki looks a lot like a Mathri. It is a round brittle bread which has sesame seeds dusted over it. You will also feel a pinch of pepper in it. Popularly, it is eaten with mutton tikka to add the crispness to it. Otherwise, it is also eaten with Chai (Tea). Fairly, it is a light, go-to snack.

Information- It is only available at this particular shop.

Price- INR 60 for 250 grams.

Chicken Machchi Masala at Sagar Restaurant- Sagar Restaurant is known for its fusion and this dish is a result of it! They marinate chicken with Fish ‘Masala’ and then cook it in Fish Gravy. To enhance its taste, one can pour lemon juice over it and cherish it with onion rings and tandoori roti. It has strong flavours of freshly ground spices and you can taste both fish and chicken from it, as the name itself suggests.

They say, listen to the locals. Locals say, “It is the best”.

Price- INR 100 per plate.

Naan Chaap at M.G. Chaap Wale- No, you are not getting a better meaty sandwich than this! We can’t emphasize how much we mean this. It is a melting wonder in the mouth. Keema (minced meat) and Nalli (bone marrow) are shallow fried and then stuffed in a bun. It has a very thick consistency and looks granular. Pyaaz (sounds better than onion here) and Kokum and Tamarind are its companions. It gives a tangy punch to it and takes it to another level.

Just the Truth- Not kidding, your first sound will be ‘Mmm’ after eating it. The ‘Mmm’ is going to last for a few minutes.

Price- INR 70- 100 per plate.

Kachi Lahori at Bhai Bhai Omelette- It is interesting to see the setup of this shop. The tawas here have hanging cans of cooking oil on top of them. It is a very active shop catering to a lot of customers at one point of time.

The Kachi Lahori they serve has a base and a topping. The base has a richness of eggs, butter, garlic and spices. The texture of it is similar to that of a ‘Bheju’ (Brain curry) and it has a running yolk in it which makes it cohesive. The topping has butter, red chilly powder and boiled eggs cut into pieces. It looks like the Indian flag with saffron gravy at the top and green solid-fluid at the bottom. It is lip-smacking!

Fun Fact- They serve 150 dishes of egg! You might as well learn some entrepreneurial skills if you fortunately meet the owner of Bhai Bhai Omelette.

Price- INR 150 per plate.

With this, we have hit the bottom of our food trail in and around Zampa Bazaar. But, Zampa Bazaar is only an area in Surat. There’s undoubtedly more to discover! So, we shall stay here for longer and keep discovering the very mind-blowing foods of this place.


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