There is a saying, “Be a learner first, a master second, and a student always”. We took this quite seriously. Professionals for almost a decade now, we went back to our student life. Only this time no actual classroom but a vertical one, no bunking lectures but taking time out, sacrificing weekends to attend them and juggling between hectic work schedules and studies. Everything was going fine till the exam dates were not out, but one fine day in January the deadly mail appeared in our inbox and we both knew, now it is time to get ready!
Our exam centre was in Borivali and after giving two consecutive tests we were starving for food. We are not the ones who settle for a normal restaurant. There must be something unique. Not in terms of its lavishness always, we are perfectly fine with a hole-in-the-wall kind of joints, but the food has to be good, that’s our criteria. We thought, this is the opportunity to explore restaurants in Borivali, which otherwise we would not do. And so, the search started. While searching across platforms, we finally found one gem. For a long time, we have been craving for some Andhra food , so when we found one, we were more than happy to try the delicious food it had to offer.
Aavakay-The Andhra Kitchen, situated in the heart of the famous Thakur Complex. Aavakay means pickle in Andhra, a perfect name for a place which offers unexplored authentic Andhra delicacies, going beyond the very famous biryani. The waiting area outside the casual dining restaurant had a cool vibe with comfy swing chairs and sofas, the red brick walls decorated with artefacts and paintings gave a feel of south to the interiors. The entire ambience made the waiting time soothing.
The menu explains every local dish in detail, helping to choose the best ones. Browsing through the menu we found a lot of interesting dishes and were thoroughly confused what to order. The attendant helped us, giving preparation details and suggesting some must tries. Finally, we settled on Royyalu Vepudu (prawn fry) and Aratikaya baji (raw banana bhajiya) as starters. It was served with a variety of chutneys, tickling all our taste buds.
For mains, my husband went for an authentic Andhra thali. He knew what to order the moment we decided to visit this restaurant. I am not much of a thali fan but wanted to have a true taste of Andhra. Chicken chukka biryani seemed like a perfect pick.
Thali was served with a lot of accompaniments such as Guntur fried chillies, pickle (Aavakay), papad, sweet. It looked so tempting that I tried a spoonful of everything. The biryani was heavenly! Not too spicy but flavorful, deliciousness filled in every bite. A perfect meal on a Sunday afternoon made us happy and satiated. A meal after which an afternoon siesta was necessary, but we had to study for next week’s exam. We promised ourselves to study all evening, after a quick power nap and went home with this happy thought.
Spoonful of Stories 