Making profits not customers anymore. Review on Hotel Rishikesh, Vasai, Palghar

This is one really old place maybe even more than 20 years  and just 2 minutes from Vasai west railway station, touching the ST bus depot .

While coming back from Big bazaar vasai west, I felt famished as 1,   it was past 9:30pm  and we brothers(me and Rohit) had spend a good 4  hours shopping and felt tired .

While he was  happy to hold his hunger a little longer to reach home and eat I was drained and needed to "cool my heels " and hence we decided to hit hotel Rishikesh because of  its past reputation .

This place was  only half full which came as a little bit of a surprise to me . When I took the menu in my hands,  I noticed a substantial price hike, I understood why it's not bustling as it used to once.

I asked my brother Rohit to share the dinner thali somewhat with me  and we agreed  to order just 1 single dinner thali . While waiting for it, I noticed  the ambiance was neat but nothing extraordinary and  the furniture was  very ordinary, neither the ground floor or the first floor was air-conditioned . Nevertheless the place wasn't congested and waiters  had  enough room to walk in the 2 aisles  between the 3  rows of the furniture .

The water served before  the food arrived was filtered and cool but looked hazy and didn't taste right, thus  and I ordered some mineral water instead .

Both Rohit and I got up to wash our hands before  the thali arrived and I noticed  2  wash basins adjacent to each other which  looked clean, colorful, wide  and big enough with swan neck faucets .

The Thali arrived within minutes of ordering it and the food served was quite hot .  There were 3  veggies including rasam, 1  dal, 5 or 6  puris, very thick full cream curd and a sweet dish(kheer) all contained in miniature sized katoris along with some cheap looking mango pickle with odd mega sized raw mango chunks .

Since I don't take a lot of sweet stuff but Rohit has a sweet tooth I asked him to finish the kheer . He remarked after eating it  that the sweetness was  very high .

The waiter arrived as soon as the puris finished to check if I wanted puris again in lieu of rice, I didn't agree as I had  already broken a rule while asking for puris instead of  rotis, knowing fully well they would be deep fried in some rancid oil .

The rice plate which was so small arrived immediately thereafter but the rice contained within  was not more than a few table spoons and I wish I had  re-ordered  the puris  . The rice was very ordinary with big round white grains that can  be brought really cheap . Ideally the rice  grains should be long, a little off-white, non-sticky and smell nice to confirm a high grade low  glycemic, nutritious rice, this was just the opposite, cheap, small grains, white and round, with supposedly high GI  The thali was just about enough for 1  person .  The rasam and curd  were  quite acceptable in terms of  taste and feel,  the rest  was as average as it gets . The rice plate is enough to show  the mindset of  the management who just want to make money not popularity anymore.

The food was  nothing extraordinary and  tasted  average . The overall experience was quite average as well . As we  tipped  the waiter and moved out after paying a paltry 130 Rupees or so . I realized  this place  is  now only making profits  not customers anymore.

What they could have done better?- If I were  in the management of  this hotel, the first change I would bring is  change the grade of  the rice served, throw out all the old furniture and get in better and more comfortable tables and sofas, serve better drinking regular water and roll out bigger better puris with the dinner thali . I would also include some salad/ chutneys   and a better quality mixed pickle instead of the cheaper mango pickle  . I would price  the thali between 150-175 INR and instead of serving just curd would serve some boondi/ pineapple riata .

Instead  of  the very ordinary kheer I would bring in some non -sweetened  aam-rass or stevia sweetened thick lassi with dry fruits in kullads/ fruit salad with ice cream / dry fruit rich Kulfi  . My plates and cutlery would also be premium and not as ordinary .

I am confident the public will pay a little more for a lot more quality and quantity  and go back content .

In a nutshell:

1. Ambience - Neither shabby nor glamorous

   
   




2. Service- Neither impressive nor a put-off

   
   




3. Items on the menu- many and all vegetarian .

   
   




4. Portions served- on the lesser side

   
   




5. Cleanliness- maintained though regular water isn't sparkling clean .

   
   




6. Furniture- needs to change .

   
   




7. Overall experience - quite average .

   
   




8. Will I visit again? -  Unlikely .