Heritage House is in Khadia locality in Ahmedabad – 10 minutes walking distance from Ahmedabad Railway Station. I stayed in the Heritage House during my Ahmedabad tour.
Pankaj – my friend had Ola and Uber apps on his mobile. So we booked an entire auto via the Uber app for Adalaj Stepwell situated in Adalaj village – approx. 19 km (one-way) distance from Heritage House.
There are two ways to reach Adalaj village. One is – if you are alone, book a motorbike via the Ola app from Heritage House and reach the Geeta mandir bus stand. Bike charges will be 17 rupees. And ride a 22-number bus to reach Adalaj village.
The second option is – to book an Uber auto from the Heritage House for Adalaj village/Adalaj Stepwell and reach within 45 minutes.
We paid an auto Rs. 380 for the to and fro journey to Adalaj Stepwell from Heritage House.
Stepwell is not to be missed if you are touring Ahmedabad because of its history and not to forget, it is a good location for photographers.
Ticket for Indians – Rs. 25 per person and for foreigners – Rs. 300 per person.
Entry is free for children and those below the age of 15 years.
I started walking to Ahmedabad railway station to hire an auto. The ahmedabad railway station is 10 minutes walking distance from Heritage House. If I had Ola or Uber app, I would have hired an auto from Heritage House. Anyway, I ask an autowala – How much for Gandhi Ashram?
He said – 150 rupees. I sense that he is charging more. I keep walking and ask another autowala – How much for Gandhi Ashram?
He said- 70 rupees. I hired him.
Within 15 minutes I reached Gandhi Ashram. After visiting Gandhi Ashram, I question another autowala – How much for the Jail Bhajiya House?
He said – 20 rupees. I hired him.
Jail Bhajiya House near Subhash Circle, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Within 5 minutes I reached the jail bhajiya house. I regret why I hired an auto. Jail Bhajiya House is within 5 to 7 minutes of walking distance from Gandhi Ashram. Anyway, it was my first Ahmedabad visit. These things will happen.
The best way to travel anywhere in Ahmedabad is via Ola or Uber auto. Download Ola or Uber app on your mobile and book your auto. You can even book a motorbike via Ola or Uber app. The best conveyance mode in Ahmedabad.
Jail Bhajiya House is a popular place if you are looking to visit something different place in Ahmedabad. Here prisoners prepare Bhajiya for normal people like us. I purchased bhajiya.
It was given on plain white paper. I walk towards sitting arrangements to have hot bhajiya with kadhi. Kadhi was there in a jug and unlimited for eaters.
The taste of Bhajiya was good. This place is well-maintained and runs by prisoners. Currently, they serve two types of Bhajiyas, Potatoe bhajiya and Methi Bhajiya.
You get the bhajiys by weight – 100 gms, 200 gms. You buy a token for the amount you want, and then you stand in a short queue to get your freshly fried bhajiyas.
The restaurant isn’t in jail. Life-term convicts are given the freedom to come and work here. The idea behind this Jail Bhajiya House is to help inmates to earn money for themselves and their families, and it also helps these inmates to reform themselves and lead a decent social life once released from jail.
Jail Bhajiya House timings: 8 am till 8 pm 24x7x365 days open.
I was happy after visiting the Jail Bhajiya House. Something different I visited.
Now it was time to return to the Heritage House.
An autowala was standing outside Jail Bhajiya House. I ask him – How to go to Khadia?
He said – cross the road and wait for a shared auto. The auto will charge 15 to 20 rupees.
Thank you – said I.
I crossed the road and waited for an auto. A shared auto came, and he dropped me at Ahmedabad Railway Station for just Rs. 15. So cheap. I was happy because I reached the railway station for just Rs. 15.
And now I started walking towards Khadia to reach the Heritage House with the memories of the Jail Bhajiya House.
During the tour of Ahmedabad, I was staying at Heritage House in Khadia locality. Jagdip Mehta is the owner of a heritage house. I question – How far is Lucky Tea Stall? He said – approx. 15 minutes walking distance. And I decided to go. I along with Pankaj my friend took the help of a google navigation map and started walking towards Lucky Tea Stall. Google navigation map was 100% accurate. We reached Lucky Tea Stall nearby Lal Darwaja.
The menu was displayed on the wall.
The menu was displayed on the wall but still, I question the waiter – What is Lucky Tea Stall’s favourite item?
He said – Lucky Special Tea and Mix Fruit Jam Maska Bun.
I requested two Lucky Special Tea and two Mix Fruit Jam Maska Bun.
Within minutes order was served.
The tea was hot and mix fruit jam maska bun was delicious. I noticed we were having tea and bun with the people who have long passed away. There were graves around us. We were dining with the dead. Chai in the company of the dead in Graveyard.
Rs. 20 for special tea and Rs. 28 for bun maska. Paid.
Now we were walking toward the cash counter to know more about the tea stall. I question – How old is this tea stall?
It was established in 1950. It was a 26 graves graveyard.
And what are the timings of the shop?
The shop opens at five in the morning and opens till one at night. 24x7x365 days open.
If you are in Ahmedabad and did not visit Lucky Tea Stall, your tour is incomplete. The popularity of Lucky Tea Stall is well known as the heritage of Ahmedabad.
Interested in art? You will find M.F. Hussain’s painting here hanging on the wall.
One of the oldest tea stalls in Ahmedabad and the world’s only tea stall built around the graveyard. A visit one simply cannot miss.
A tree growing through a restaurant – is another attraction.
One of the unique restaurants in Ahmedabad where the living come to dine amongst the dead.
Thank you – said I for the great information. Thanks a lot.
One must visit Lucky Tea Stall if touring Ahmedabad.
I was on the Amdavad (Ahmedabad) Morning Heritage Walk with a Professional Tour Guide. The Heritage walk started from Swaminarayan temple at 8:10 am and finished at Chandravilas restaurant at 10:10 am.
Because I opted for a luxury package that includes breakfast, that’s why the tour was ending at Chandravilas restaurant.
I enter. Upon request from our tour guide Vishal, I was served a thali full of Fafda, Khaman (dhokla), methi bhajiya, Kadhi, and chatni.
Fafda was very crispy and Jalebi was too good, but the only regret – there was only one jalebi. One was not enough. I wish 3-4 pieces of jalebi were there because it was too good in taste and crispy and hot.
A man was sitting at the cash counter. I enquired him about the timings of the shop. He said – the shop opens up at 8 in the morning and runs till 7:30 in the evening. Sunday the shop is open only till 4 pm.
And what is the kilogram price of Jalebi?
640 rupees a kilo – He said.
That’s the reason I was served only one jalebi in the thali. It is costly.
I decided to revisit the shop to have hot jalebis. The shop is only half a kilometer from the Heritage House where I stayed.
After two days I re-visited the shop with one of my friends – Pankaj. We had two plates of jalebis. Each plate consists of 4 jalebis. And the price – Rs. 50 for each plate. Worth spending because jalebis are too good in taste and very crispy.
I will suggest – if you are visiting Ahmedabad and going for Heritage Walk, select the luxury package because it is with breakfast. Charges for Indians are Rs. 350 per person and for foreigners – 450 rupees per person.
Recently I tour the old city of Ahmedabad and stayed at Heritage House in the Khadia locality. Jagdip Mehta is the owner of the Heritage House. We were chatting and discussed famous food places in Ahmedabad. I was suggested by Jagdip Ji to visit Raipur Bhajiya House situated at Raipur Darwaja approx. 1 km from his heritage house.
Immediately I search for the location on google navigation map but was unable to find it. So I decided to hire an auto and visit Raipur Darwaja. Rs. 20 I paid the auto fare and reached Raipur Darwaja within minutes. Before leaving auto I asked auto wala where is Raipur Bhajiya House?
He smiled and said you want to eat Bhajiya? There is the shop – he showed. Raipur Bhajiya House is situated almost at Raipur Darwaja. They have two shops – one that prepares bhajiya and another shop that sells bhajiya.
There was a queue to purchase bhajiya. I joined the queue but before joining I clicked bhajiyas photo.
After 10 minutes I was in front of the man selling bhajiya. How much for bhajiya – I question. Rs. 20 for 100 grams and Rs. 200 for a kilogram. I paid him 20 rupees to have 100 grams of bhajiya.
He gave me three types of bhajiyas – batatavada, methi bhajiya and bhajiya with a slice of batata.
I question him – how old is the shop?
He said – 70 to 80 years old.
And what are the timings for shop opening and closing?
He said – 9 am is the opening time and late night at 1 am is the closing time.
Thank you – said I and start eating bhajiyas.
Delicious, fresh, and hot served. They don’t serve any chutney or sauce but without chutney or sauce still, it is mouth-watering. Worth with money and quantity and taste. It is said – they serve the same taste since many years.
After finishing hot bhajiyas I clicked one more photo of the shop.
Now I started walking towards Heritage House. After 10 or 15 minutes I reached Heritage House. Everybody in the house asks me – how were the bhajiyas? I said – very good. Jagdip’s Ji father further enhanced my knowledge by saying – Earlier there were 100 mills in Ahmedabad and was called Manchester of India. There were different working shifts for workers. Workers used to visit Raipur Bhajiya House during the day and late at night to have bhajiyas. That makes the shop more famous.
Upon reaching the Mumbai house I searched the internet to know more about Raipur Bhajiya House. I got the following information:
Raipur Bhajiya House was established in 1933 i.e., 87 years old shop. Gujarat’s first chief minister, Jivraj Mehta, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are some of its most famous clientele. No onion-garlic in bhajiyas. Raipur Bhajiya still doesn’t have any branches, home delivery facilities, or online sales. 24x7x365 open.
So, go and try the mouth-watering bhajiya and take those with you who don’t know about it. You will also find KHAMAN (Dhokla) there. Enjoy.
I was searching Google to find “Best Marathi Restaurant in Mumbai” and Aaswad restaurant was one of the Google results. More than seven thousand reviews were enough to convince me to visit Aaswad restaurant. But this time I thought why not invite a few of my Marathi friends to join too so that the menu order is selected by them only.
We were five friends at Prabhadevi West. Two were Marathi. We didn’t know the exact location of the restaurant. We hired two taxis. Luckily, taxi wala was aware of the restaurant’s location. He enhanced our knowledge by saying that Aaswad was earlier near to ShivSena Bhavan in Dadar.
We reached the restaurant within 10 minutes. 30 rupees was each taxi bill. Paid, and we crossed the road to reach Aaswad.
There was a crowd outside the restaurant. People were waiting for their number to enter the restaurant to have their seats. We too approached the man who was writing the queue number. For half an hour we had to wait, and finally, we entered.
The first order was Modak by our Marathi friends. Modak was served with pure ghee. It was awesome.
Pithale Bhaji Bhakari, Bhakari, Masala Rice, Dalimbi Usal – The menu was requested again by our Marathi friends. The taste of the food was too good. Very less spicy with added spices. The aroma of spices was great. It tastes good. I like Marathi food especially because of the spices.
After lunch, I requested gajar halwa, and one of Marathi’s friends requested for gulab jamun.
We all thoroughly enjoyed the lunch. It was time to pay the bill. I requested the bill and was surprised by the total amount when the bill was presented. Only Rs. 916. We were five people, which means Rs. 183.20 per head. Nothing I can say about the total amount. To be honest, I can say the restaurant is one of the cheapest and best in Mumbai. Will visit again for sure to try a different menu, but in short what surprised me was the total bill amount. Very cheap and the best.
You can also visit Aaswad restaurant from Dadar West local train station. It’s 10 minutes walking distance. Reach Dadar West, then walk towards Kabutarkhana and then towards the church. It’s 2 minutes walking distance from the church.
