Highway restaurants and joints add that extra zing to a road trip. Meals at these joints are known for their local flavours and are often a treat to the taste buds. We bring you a list of ten of the best highway joints in the country.
While we want this article to inspire your future travels, it’s essential to follow the latest coronavirus travel advice from your local government bodies to ensure it’s safe for you to visit these top 10 highway joints in India.
1. Hotel Ummiya Annapurna Kathiyawad, Anand, NH 8, Gujarat
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Gujarati food is known for the sweetness that tinges all dishes. However, at Ummiya Annapurna Kathiyawad, you can expect spicy Kathiyawadi cuisine to attack your senses. Try the earthy bhakris, a type of local bread with some lassan aloo, potatoes mildly flavored with garlic. So the next time you’re driving by on the NH-8 near Anand, do look out for this one.
2. Hotel Kamat Lokaruchi, Bangalore-Mysore Highway
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If you’re travelling to Mysore from Bangalore, make sure you stop at this quintessential Karnataka restaurant less than 100 kilometers from Bangalore. If it’s a breakfast stop, the variety will stun you. Try the kadubu, which is a cylindrical idli wrapped in coconut leaves, with some steaming sambhar. The _dosas _never disappoint either. Wash it down with some piping hot filter coffee. Lunch and dinner spreads are good too. The North Karnataka meal is a must-try.
3. Cheetal Grand, Khatauli, Delhi-Dehradun Highway
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Despite numerous chains opening outlets on this highway, Cheetal Grand has managed to retain its charm. It offers different cuisine options, and the variety of snacks is quite good. Try the paneer pakodas with some hot chai or delicious cold coffee when on your way to Dehradun or Lansdowne from Delhi.
4. Adyar Ananda Bhavan (A2B), Krishnagiri, Bangalore-Chennai Highway
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The extremely popular chain of restaurants originally from Chennai has managed to win a lot of patronage in South India. If you’re driving along the Bangalore-Chennai highway, this is a good place to stop for lunch or a snack. While A2B offers cuisines other than South Indian, its USP remains those dosas sinfully dripping with ghee, pongal and superb filter coffee.
5. Chilika Dhaba, Barkul, NH-5, Orissa
If you’re a seafood lover, you can be sure this place will be one of your all-time favourites. Chilika Dhaba, located a stone’s throw from the Chilika Lake in Orissa, serves delicious crab and prawn preparations with a multitude of spices. Vegetarians, don’t fret, they do have pretty tasty vegetarian fare as well. Make sure you try some of their paneer dishes, the cottage cheese is usually very fresh.
6. Nirula’s, NH-8, Manesar
This much loved chain of restaurants that started off with one outlet in 1934 in Delhi’s Connaught Place is now just short of a hundred outlets all over Northern India. The fast food and ice creams are consistently good at Nirula’s. Try the delicious channa kulcha, and wash it down with a chocolate ice cream shake.
7. Shree Datta Snacks, Mumbai-Pune Highway
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Originally started at Palaspe Phata, near the point where the Mumbai-Pune and Mumbai-Goa roads separate, this little snack shop is a legend for frequent travelers on this route. There is one outlet on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway now as well. For some simple, lip-smacking, delicious Maharashtrian snacks like vada pav, kothumbeer wadi, and misal pav, Shree Datta is a great stop. The sabudana khichadi served here is a hot favorite, and you can wash it down with some kokum sherbet.
8. Manipuzha Vysali Family Restaurant, Kottayam, Kerala
If you’re travelling through Kottayam, get your fix of ethnic Kerala cuisine at Manipuzha Vysali Family Restaurant. Give the other cuisines on offer here a miss and go in straight for the Kerala Nadan dishes – rich aviyal, and sambhar among a host of others. Wash it down with some buttermilk that makes for a perfect finish to a great meal.
9. Sharma Dhaba, NH-11, Jaipur
For delicious naans cooked in fresh milk with paneer and dal makhani, stop at this tiny restaurant on the way to Sikar from Jaipur. The masala papad and lachha parathas are must-try dishes.
10. Maddur Tiffanys, Maddur, Bangalore-Mysore Highway
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Yet another gem on the Bangalore-Mysore Highway, in the hometown of the eponymous Maddur vade is the Maddur Tiffanys restaurant. Stop here for a snack of these piping hot, delicious vades with chutney, and a cup of coffee.
This article was originally published in May 2014 and refreshed in May 2020.
