Where to Enjoy the Best Food Near Mahakal Lok

A lot of visitors plan the darshan in real detail and the meal not at all. Then they come out of the temple hungry, in a crowd, in the heat, and eat wherever happens to be closest.

The area around Mahakal Lok has enough options now that you can do considerably better than that with about two minutes of forethought.

What is available around the corridor

Street food is the obvious starting point and the most fun. Poha and jalebi in the morning, kachori and samosa through the day. Cheap, quick, genuinely good, and part of what people remember about Ujjain long after the trip.

Beyond that there are proper sit down places serving North Indian thalis, South Indian breakfast, snacks and cold drinks. Most are vegetarian, which fits the crowd. Some sit inside the parisar itself, which is worth knowing before you walk out to the main road looking for something.

The mix has improved since the corridor opened. Visitors who came five years ago and have not been back since will find the area noticeably better served.

How to choose in practice

Three things usually decide it, and only one of them is the food.

Distance

After two hours in a queue nobody wants a further journey. Anything inside or immediately beside the corridor beats somewhere marginally better a kilometre away. This is more true the larger and older your group is.

Hygiene

Particularly if you are travelling with children or older relatives, or if you have a long journey home the same evening. This is not the trip to gamble on.

Opening hours

People rarely check and frequently regret it. If you are doing Bhasma Aarti you need somewhere open by seven in the morning. If you are staying the night you want somewhere still serving at nine in the evening. Not many places do both.

Where we fit

Rasmantra is inside Mahakal Lok Mandir Parisar, near Triveni Sanghralaya, and covers all three of those. Pure vegetarian, open 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM.

The menu runs from South Indian breakfast through to full thalis, so it works whether you want a dosa at half past seven in the morning or dal and roti at nine at night.

What to order

The mini thali if you cannot decide, which covers most people most of the time. Chole bhature if you are properly hungry after a long queue. Rajma chawal for something simpler and comforting. Dosa, idli, medu vada and uttapam on the South Indian side, all of which sit lighter in the heat.

Papdi chaat if you only want a snack. Poha and jalebi if you have come in early.

Masala chaas if it is hot, which between March and June it reliably will be. Order it before the food, not with it.

Practical notes

Eat before the queue rather than after, if you can manage the timing. Avoid the middle of the day during festival weeks. Drink more than you think you need to in summer, and choose chaas or lassi over another cup of tea in the afternoon.

If you are in a group of more than six, or coming during Shravan or Mahashivratri, call ahead rather than turning up and hoping.

Come and eat with us

Rasmantra is inside Mahakal Lok Mandir Parisar, near Triveni Sanghralaya, on the corridor road. Pure vegetarian, open every day from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM, which covers everything from the Bhasma Aarti crowd at dawn to a late dinner before your train.

Walk in whenever suits you. If you are six or more, or you are coming during a festival week, call ahead on +91 90390 20855 and we will keep a table.

See the full menu or plan your visit at rasmantra.com.