One
Sunday morning, my husband and I decided to have a walk in Lalbagh and then
have breakfast at MTR near Lalbagh. My mother-in-law was visiting us at that
time and she too joined.
We
reached there at around 7.00am and strolled around for half-an-hour. My
mother-in-law is a sugar patient so she couldn't walk further. We then went to
MTR.
I had
heard a lot of people making it a routine to go to MTR after going to Lalbagh,
be it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It sounded like a must-visit place in
Bengaluru and I wasn't new here. Hence, I had a strong urge to go there. We
reached there by 8 o' clock. As we ascend the steps, we can see black-and-white
pictures of eminent people in the 50's/60's who visited there. Gives an
authentic feel to it, right? But, but. All the glory stops here. At the
entrance we are told to wait as no table is available and one of our names is
entered in the waiting list. Well, waiting for a few minutes is no big a deal.
After all, it is a popular hang-out and we had experienced the same at
Vidyarthi Bhavan, Gandhi Bazaar.
There are
2 waiting areas and both were half occupied when we entered. We waited for 15
minutes as told, our name wasn't called. Twenty minutes passed, thirty. We
passed our time by chatting about mundane things. We also joked that it would
have been better if we'd enlisted before going to Lalbagh. At 8.45, my
mother-in-law started cribbing about the delay and suggested that if we had
left for home, we could've had made some dish quickly. I don't mind a late
breakfast, but I was hungry after walking. I could understand that being a
diabetic, she couldn't control any longer. My husband was standing at the
entrance while we were seated in a corner, so that he could enquire every now
and then. Meanwhile, an entourage of about 10-15 people came and we heard one
of them telling another in their group that they had reserved seats for 7.30am.
This called for another comment by my mother-in-law. We were called around 9.15
and I was so relieved that I wouldn't have to hear any more of her nagging and
all my hunger died away.
The
surprise doesn't end here. As we entered, we noticed that quite a few tables
were empty and yet we were ushered to an inner room which had an entrance to
another adjoining room. We were seated at a table that could seat around 10 or
more people and yet we were the only ones there, albeit, 4 more joined our
table after 15-20 minutes. Why did they make us wait for so long when there
were so many empty seats? Anyway, we ordered. Those who ordered Masala Dosa had
to wait for another half-an-hour. Further, there were only a few waiters to
serve. After such a long wait, we expected that at least, the food would be
special. The only good thing was the pure ghee that was served in abundance
along with almost every dish. The prices were not too high, not even as much as
Adiga's.
Well, it
was a unique experience. It was like waiting in the queue for a darshan of the
Lords at Tirupathi and/or Dharmasthala.
But even such waits end in satisfaction of having a divine darshan. I wouldn't
want to suffer such waiting at the cost of a simple breakfast. However, based
on the fact that a few people didn't show any frustration at the long waiting
time, it can be an ideal place to have food if you have all the time in the
world.
