Are you frustrated with Ashoka’s mess food, but everything else seems equally expensive? Do you want to eat healthy outside the mess, but you’re not sure how best to spend your money? Well, this guide will help you figure out where to get your money’s worth at the various food outlets on campus and keep your stomach going, along with suggestions of what you could eat there too.
The Dhaba is probably your best best; if you want to avoid the crowd, you can go there in the late afternoon. Meals can cost at least 20-30 rupees less there than at the mess. Both outlets have the same cuisine, and while the quantity is limited (unlike the mess buffet), the food is always well-cooked and fresh. The only catch is that the mosquitoes are a nightmare and the dhaba isn’t always open on the weekends. But the dal-roti and the thalis are still great.
There’s a new outlet on campus which is also worth the money and the time you spend to get there. Dosai, located in the sports block, offers large dosas for a good price, which is still cheaper than dinner at the mess. Dosas are filling and healthy at the same time, and you can control some of the variables when you choose what kind of dosa you want – butter, masala, ghee, and so on.They’re rich in carbs and low in calories, and this outlet has also been verified and approved by several South Indians on the Ashoka campus. Warning: the outlet may be crowded because it’s still new, so plan your excursions to the sports block carefully.
Foodies also has some decently priced options, like chole chawal and fried rice, but people with sensitive stomachs may want to be careful how often you eat those, because their food is sometimes heavy on the stomach. The Hunger Cycle, fortunately, has a bunch of safe items like rolls and sandwiches, whose fillings are enough to satisfy your stomach. Unless you take really massive rolls, the price comes just under the mess food range, depending on which filling you choose. Their breakfast options are amazingly cheap too, one as low as 30 rupees. If you wait until mid-morning, when they open, you can get yourself sandwiches, eggs, and maybe even sausages.
One of the best breakfast/snack joints on campus is Nestle, where Anuj Bhaiya stocks rolls, muffins, sandwiches, and more. It ensures that even if you miss breakfast because you overslept or had a class or meeting, you can fill your stomach at a reduced cost. Just avoid going there in between classes, the chances of you getting a meal reduce drastically for those ten minutes.
It’s important to spread out and eat from different outlets and try different items: the stomach ache you get after eating the same meal from one outlet three days in a row may not necessarily be worth the 60 rupees you spent there instead of the 90 bucks in the mess. Then again, the food at the outlets does taste really good…
Edited by Vasudha Malani
All the images are the courtesy of Viraj Malani