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On Benne Dosa and waiting in line at restaurants

By Aakash Karkare


A visit to a viral Instagram restaurant has our writer ruminate on the concept of waiting in restaurants




If you are plugged into the same tiny Instagram algorithm that I am plugged into, your feeds, in the recent weeks, must have been populated by the newest entrant to Mumbai's (Read:Bandra’s) jam-packed restaurant scene: Benne Dosa. More than the aesthetically shot clips of dosa being made on steaming tavas, what might have truly caught your eyes was that people were standing in long lines to get inside. Both Deepika Padukone and Anushka Sharma had already been photographed inside it. Which some used as an explanation for the long lines.


Before we get to the meat of the matter at hand, let’s discuss the restaurant. 


Now, I stay in Matunga (or near it but few people can decide where Dadar ends and Matunga begins so we shall use “in”) where the best dosa in Mumbai can be found. It’s cheaper and the eating establishments are more egalitarian and have no airs about them. Not only does one not have to get into a line to get into Benne Dosa, one has to order on automated machines and pay 3x the Matunga places for the pleasure of squeezing onto tiny benches and chairs with others like yourself to quickly wolf down your orders that are screamed out by the owners standing beside the kitchen. By now I have come across five or six things that could infuriate me and before I dig in my mind has already been made up, only to be pleasantly surprised. The dosa is loaded with ghee but hasn’t become soggy; is a good mix of spongy and crispy; the mysore pak is divine; all in all it's a good meal. I might never return; even a few months later when the crowd becomes thinner, but that's solely because other better options are available in Mumbai that are closer to my own home.


I was recounting the experience to Nisha, who rolled her eyes at a “hipster Darshini” in Bandra with the air of a typical Bangalorean unwilling to believe that there could exist a good dosa place outside of Karnataka, and we wondered how waiting in lines contributed to the restaurant experience. 


It’s not often one gets to wait in line at restaurants. If you are a long enough resident of a city you have a select few restaurants always at the back of your hand. You know the places that require bookings, the overcrowded places to avoid on weekends, the places where they kind of know you so they give you a seat quickly enough, and the popular places that somehow always have seating. This ensures that when you are hungry and looking for a quick bite, or to get a relaxed drink with friends on weekends you know where to go.


There are some times when for one reason or another this rule is broken and that is when waiting in line can occur--but those are rare occasions. The chief cause of line waiting is the first few months of a new restaurant that has gone viral on social media. The event’s ties to social media dampens the enthusiasm somewhat because waiting in line--in this writer’s humble opinion, must be an organic experience--almost like a meet cute; it should come when you least expect it.


There’s still something exciting about waiting in a buzzing line to get to some place. It reminded me of waiting in line to get my discounted copy of the 7th Book at Strand Bookstore in Fort. But there’s something more than nostalgia at play. Waiting adds to the experience. A recurring question I ponder is what an ideal eating out experience should be? Or what are the elements that contribute to making something an ideal experience? 


Of course, good company. Good, even though I can’t stand the word, ambience. Of course the food has to be tasty. But something intangible that I always try to quantify. Maybe the day of the week contributes to it. People are more relaxed on a Friday night as compared to a Sunday. Perhaps the wait staff is more chatty and friendly and is able to give good recommendations. Maybe it's in a neighbourhood where a post meal walk is a possibility--another rarity in Mumbai. Or in a neighbourhood where someone’s home is nearby and a tiring night out can turn into a “home scene” where drinks and conversation and music can flow in someone’s living room. Sometimes you are looking for pure surprise. The idea that you don’t know what you are waiting for. That you will come face to face with an art form, the chef will transform the food into something of the sublime. There’s always the chance that you will go out to the meal and not leave the same person as you were before it. Most of this is hyperbole but there’s always the hope that it might not be. Waiting in line contributes to this X-factor. 


Working at home I’ve realised one needs to ritualise certain aspects of life. Clothes contribute to this at home when you are trying to separate the work day from the rest of the day. For instance changing in and out of clothes in the mornings and evenings. Putting on gym clothes even if the workout is happening at home. This lends a sense of occasion to everyday events. Waiting in line imparts a similar quality to the night out. The 10-20 minute wait causes the excitement of your fellow customers to rub off on you. Even if you are a jaded millennial you partake in the sense of anticipation. What’s so bad about a hipster dosa you begin to feel? Someone stops in the middle of the road to take a photo of people waiting in line for dosa in Mumbai. On a weekday! At 11pm!


The real meal can never live up to the promise. But maybe the promise is the best part. Waiting outside wondering how good the meal could be was the experience.







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