The 'Grand' Thali

Tip Top Plaza, known for its Indian sweets and has 10 branches across the city of Thane, started the Grand Thali in 2003 in their hotel. Alongside is also a all you can eat buffet including only live counters serving items from pav bhaji to pasta, from piping hot pizzas to hygienic street food. 

A couple of bloggers were invited for the thali one Friday afternoon. As soon as I walked in the restaurant, one word came into mind - grandeur. The hotel, has a royal look to it. No wonder this place has witnessed so many weddings! 

According to the owners, there are a lot of places serving the regular Rajasthani/Gujarati thali. They wanted to come up with something unique and hence, he came up with the fusion thali, which benefits kids as well as breaks the monotony. They include a few Chinese and Italian dishes in this scrumptious thali consisting of 30 different items.

The picture does not include a few items - jaljeera, 4 types of rice and a Chinese dish.

The thali can be divided into 8 types, ie, starters, Indian breads, sides (vegetables), fusion mantra, rice, dal, extras, and last but not least the sweets.

We started our meal with some soft drinks and jaljeera doing the rounds.

Starters - 

Starters comprised of corn pattice, malai dhokla with mirchi ka thecha and dahi bhalla. Our favorite among these would be the dahi bhalla. Two types of wadas, covered with rich, perfectly sweetened dahi, topped off with some chutneys for the added zing. The thecha too was commendable and loved by everyone. 

Indian breads - 

They served us three types of breads to accompany our sides - a chapati, palak puri and cheese garlic naan. The naan was the hero of these three as the garlic was neither overpowering nor undermining the side elements. 

Sides - 

Our favorite here would definitely be the valoor muthia. A Gujarati dish, this one was a really winner. It was cooked perfectly and went well with all the three breads. Another one which tingled our taste buds would be the paneer mastani kofta. Absolutely delish!

Fusion mantra -

3 fusion items were served to us, namely veg stir fried rice with cottage cheese gravy, paneer in schezwan sauce and alfredo pasta. It was a nice break from all the items and added that surprise element. The pasta and the paneer in schezwan rice were your typical dishes, nothing extraordinary there. The rice, however, was disappointing. The gravy was very bland and needed a tangy element.

Rice & dal -

There were 4 types of rice for every kind of palette - darbari pulav, steam rice, mogar khichdi and masala khichdi which were accompanied by dal fry, and gujarati dal & kadhi. The gujarati dal and kadhi were a bit too sweet for my taste, and the mogar khichdi was something to be served to patients. The dal fry, on the other hand was delicious; well blended dal with a good spicy quotient. The masala khichdi was one dish that absolutely stood out. It wasn't just some rice stir fried with vegetables. The spices were mixed into the batter and resulted into the delicate outcome.

Sweets -

The sweets were my favorite part of the thali, they being the best too. We devoured 5 types of these sinful plats du jour - rabdi, dry jamun, akhrot halwa, cream roll and angoor basundi. Oh my, I'm salivating just thinking of these delights. The dry jamun, akhrot halwa, cream roll and angoor basundi were spot on and were gobbled down within moments. Every bite left us wanting for more of these flawless delicacies. The only glitch here would be the undercooked rabdi. Well, everyone's allowed one mistake!

We also had buttermilk to wipe off all the food we gorged upon.

The service was brilliant. They literally believed in the phrase, 'Atithi Devo Bhava,' and were given utmost importance and special care was taken of all our needs. The place was jam packed with a few patrons waiting outside for a table on a Friday afternoon. Well, I guess that speaks a lot about the reputation, hospitality and the food of the place. 

We would like to thank Arvind and Nisha of Guiltless Foodies for organizing this wonderful meet. You can follow them here -  Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Zomato | 

The damage for one thali is Rs. 475. It's a bit expensive, but well, its worth it.

Would I go back? If I'm ever in the vicinity, then definitely!