The Ganga Cafe Experience for An Authentic Taste Of India @ Taman Bukit Pantai Bangsar

My food review sessions have brought me to many places I would have never thought of going, like meeting new people and trying out new food. Just like doing a review for this purely vegetarian restaurant, I had the opportunity to meet up with a friendly and hospitable couple from Gujarat. 

The Ganga Cafe is a purely vegetarian restaurant managed by North Indian couple. Both are passionate people solely interested in serving authentic, nutritious and delicious dishes made from the freshest ingredients. 

Located in a humble corner of Taman Bukit Pantai, Bangsar is a popular cafe frequented by many for its traditional vegetarian dishes. Having been around for only 10 months, The Ganga Cafe has gained a steady flow of customers since their takeover of business operation in Nov last year. 

This cafe is of the 1970's era and located in a quiet residential area in the midst of a bustling and lively up market Bangsar city. The Ganga Cafe's set up is plain, simple and clean. A no-frills cafe with an array of northern and southern Indian dishes to choose from. 

Meet Mr Prabodh K Sheth, co-owner of The Ganga Cafe. He is truly a humble man, warm and friendly, ever ready to welcome patrons to his cafe. He also makes sure that they are happy with the food served and enjoys chatting up a nice conversation with them too. 

Introducing Mrs Meeta Sheth, 'Executive Chef of Ganga Cafe' ~ the lady owner herself who believes in providing tasty and quality food with no MSG, less salt & sugar and no artificial flavouring at an affordable and homely environment. She has brought in her 20 odd years of her culinary skills into the kitchen of Ganga Cafe, serving only real authentic and value for money Indian dishes. 

She takes pride in the food she serves, stressing that she only uses fresh ingredients and makes her spice blends from scratch where possible. In fact, she prepares her own in-house cottage cheese even though is a long and tedious process. I was very impressed with her and really appreciate the food served to us that night.

We started off for the night with an offering of 4 Glorious Ganga Gulps as they are called, namely 

 Ganga Tea Crush ~ refreshing mix of mint, lemon, lime in ice tea

Pranic Juice ~ concoction of detox juice made from mix of herbs, spices and mint leaves.

The Lassi Family ~ Good old plain Lassi with a choice of Mango or Green Apple.

Lemonade ~ Zesty mix of Lemon & Lime with Fizzy Soda   

The Fresh Juices Menu

Ganga Tea Crush

RM 7.00

This is my chosen drink for the night, a light and refreshing juice that brings relief from the heat of the body and sun. It has a rich and strong minty flavour. The prefect thirst-quencher cocktail with a hint of zest. I would mind having this super healthy juice to start my morning. Highly recommended for anyone wants a kick to start the day!   

Stuff Chilli Fried

RM3.50 

For starter, we had Stuff Chilli Fried. A first for me, I must admit that it's quite an interesting starter. As I'm used to eating the stuff fish paste chilli in 'Yong Tau Foo', I was curious to find out how does it taste. Mashed spiced potatoes are used as fillings for the green chillies, which was deep fried after coated with chick-pea powder. Garnish with chopped coriander and served with some fresh home made yoghurt and coriander chutney for taste. Look good and taste good, the coriander chutney goes well with it.     

Aloo Tikki

RM2.00

For pegedil or croquette lovers, the Aloo Tikki is a sure winner for many. A North Indian snack food where "Aloo" means potato, and the word "Tikki" means a small cutlet. Made of boiled potatoes together with various spices, some chilli padi and coriander, this potatoes cake is first coated with bread crumbs before being deep fried in high heat just to get the crust crispy on the outside but yet soft on the inside. Never knew a vegetarian pegedil can taste so good even without the meat filling! Thumbs up for this 'Hello Kitty Potato' .....

Masala Papad

RM2.00

This is one starter you should try and not miss out. Crispy Masala Papad topped with spicy salad makes a very refreshing appetizer. Crunchy and tasty, full of flavour from the pickle mixed of chopped onions, tomatoes, red capsicum and coriander, this makes a great appetiser for someone wanting a light meal.

Papad is a round, flat, dry cracker made with a variety of lentils. It's super healthy as the home-made papad is not deep fried but instead dry-roast till crisp in the oven. A must-try and very tempting snack that can be eaten any time of the day!    

Chana Bhatura Set

RM8.00

Chana Bhatura is one of the most popular Punjabi dish and gained popularity as a street food in India with many street vendors frying up piping hot, large Bhatura served with Chana Masala, raw onions and lemon wedge.

I had my taste of Punjab here in Ganga Cafe when Mrs Meeta served us this delicious set. Their Bhatura are served with onions and fresh home made yoghurt and eaten with chana (chickpeas). The Chana curry is a hearty, saucy and spicy chickpea and tomato dish with a sour citrus note. On the other hand, Bhatura are fried leavened flat bread. They are tasty, so good that you can eat it on its own but not so good for health.

This combination of Chana Bhatura is tasty, filling and a heavy dish and you might feel like having a short nap after eating it. So, I think this makes a good breakfast for those lazy mornings especially on the weekends.

 Vada Pav 

RM5.00

Vada Pav stands for Potato Bun, Ganga's very own burger. Vada Pav has iconic status in India as a vegetarian fast food. I read somewhere that this used to be "poor man's food", but these days even the rich and famous can be spotted eating it at Mumbai's roadside stalls.

The vada is made of a spicy potato filling deep fried in gram flour batter. Served along with hot and spicy coriander chutney and chilli chutney spread on the pav (bun).

Pav Bhaji Set

Rm8.00

Pav Bhaji is another fast food dish that originated in Mumbai cuisine. Bhaji is a traditional Indian name for vegetable dish whereby Pav or Pau was a Portuguese word for bread (small rolls).

I enjoy eating the wholesome vegetarian dish of Bhaji as it's a mixture of vegetables with generous dose of tomatoes, cauliflower, capsicum, green peas and potatoes too. It's savoury and nice to eat with the crispy fried warm bread and freshly chopped onions.

Radish Paratha Set

RM6

Radish Paratha or Mooli Paratha is stuffed flat bread recipe from the Punjab. It's a whole wheat Indian bread stuffed with grated or shredded radish sauteed with Indian spices. I think it is a deliciously healthy bread and perfect dish for non-vegetable eating kids as the goodness of radish is hidden in between the bread. As I have say that there's no better way than this to provide goodness of radish to kids. Potatoes stew and fresh yoghurt are wonderful accompaniment to this paratha dish making it a wholesome and complete meal.    

Ayurvedic Chapatti

RM2.00 each

Last but not least, Ayurvedic Chapatti is highly recommended for health conscious people looking for special wholesome chapatti made from a various grains. A mixture of top 6 super grains of wheat, oats, maize, ragi, chana dhal and barley are use to make this which makes it special and healthy. 

Preparation of the Wholesome Ayurvedic Chapatti on hot plate

Ganga's Speciality Sets - Chana Bhatura, Radish Paratha & Pav Bhaji 
( clockwise from the top )

Payasam ~ On-the-House Dessert

To end our evening, we are presented with Payasam, a sweet milk pudding with vermicelli. A distinctly South Indian dessert made with cashew nut, almond, semolina, chana dhal, raisins, fresh milk and some condensed milk to sweeten it up. It is an easy, delicious, comfort food as it gives a taste of some rich and creamy sweet finish to our vegetarian meal that night.

But take note that this tasty and nutritious dessert is complimentary and served 'On-The-House' on all Fridays to Ganga Cafe's patrons only. So fret not if you can't get this from menu, just remember to come by on Fridays to savour this yummy free dessert.

Ganga Cafe Sumptuous Ala Carte Menu

The Ganga Cafe runs an ala-carte menu on weekdays and Saturday. But comes Sunday, from 10am to 3pm, The Ganga offers an All-You-Can-Eat Sunday Brunch for ONLY RM16. Featuring a wide array of vegetarian Gujarati food starting with 5 starters, 6 mains, 3 vegetable dishes, 5 chapattis, rice, 1 salad & soup plus drinks of masala tea/bru coffee among others. 

According to Mr Prabodh, the menu changes all the time for every week, so you got to check their Facebook page to get the latest update on the coming Sunday buffet list which is usually posted by Thursday.

Overall, what I like about the cafe and the dishes they served are their pure simplicity, original flavours and family recipes of Mrs Meeta. She conveys a lifelong passion in serving the freshest and finest Indian food, and something I believe she is truly proud of.    

So if you're looking forward to her home cooked style Indian cuisine, round up your family and friends to savour the great variety of hearty, nutritious and wholesome good food at The Ganga Cafe!  

You can watch our Video Review of The Ganga Cafe on YouTube

The Ganga Cafe Sdn Bhd
19 Lorong Kurau
Off Jalan Riong
Taman Bukit Pantai
Bangsar 
59100 Kuala Lumpur 
Tel: 2284 2119 / 012 303 5310 (Meeta)

Opening Hours
Tuesday to Saturday 8:30 AM – 9:30 PM 
Sunday 10:00 to 3:00 PM 
Closed on Mondays

Website : theganga.com.my
FaceBook : thegangacafe

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