Chandravilas Restaurant

Chandravilas Restaurant is a heritage restaurant on Gandhi Road at Manek Chowk in the Old City of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It dates to about 1900 and began as a tea cart before growing into a full restaurant, and it is now a well-known breakfast stop in the Walled City. It is the breakfast stop on the AMC Heritage Walk breakfast option, which runs through the pols of the old quarter, so many visitors come here as part of an organised walk as well as independently.

The cuisine is Gujarati, with particular emphasis on the traditional morning combination of fafda and jalebi. Dishes associated with the restaurant include fafda served with papaya chutney (a crisp, gram-flour strip snack), ghee jalebi (a coiled, syrup-soaked sweet fried in ghee), a Gujarati thali and masala chai. The fafda-jalebi pairing of savoury and sweet is a classic Gujarati weekend and festival breakfast. Prices are low, at roughly INR 100-350 per person, so a full breakfast costs little.

The dining room character is that of a long-established, busy local restaurant: basic seating, a constant flow of customers, quick service and a noise level that reflects the street outside. It is a traditional rather than a fashionable place, and the appeal is its history and its role in the Old City routine. Dress is casual. There is no alcohol, as Gujarat is a dry state, and tea is the standard drink.

It operates on a walk-in basis, and approximate hours are 7AM-11PM; these should be confirmed before visiting. The busiest period is the morning, especially at weekends and on festival days, and arriving early is advisable for fresh fafda and jalebi. Visitors who take the AMC heritage walk should note that the breakfast option is a separate part of the tour. Its location on Gandhi Road puts it close to Manek Chowk, the Jama Masjid and Teen Darwaja, so it fits naturally into a morning of Old City sightseeing before the heat of the day.