An insider guide of food places to visit in Amritsar
A perfect combination of history, food and shopping, Amritsar will take you to a different realm; one which is best experienced during the chills of winter. If I am to give my verdict upfront, the city is a must visit for any traveler, Indian or foreigner. And to make your efforts minimal, here is my recommendation list of time and places to visit.
What’s the best time to go to Amritsar?
I have heard people say that Amritsar is extremely cold in the winters but for me, frankly, that’s the best time to visit the city. The sights of the various monuments in the winter fog and the food will make up for the discomfort felt on a chilly morning. So my recommendation: Visit between November and March. Summers (April to June) are said to be a bit too hot and personally, I am not a big fan of monsoons to try out what defines most of my travel plans i.e. FOOD!!
Places to visit?
So I travelled to Amritsar with Priyanka, my co-founder @ Authenticook and wife, to be read in no particular order ;) in beautiful November weather. The reason for the visit was a mix of business (for launching Authenticook in Amritsar) and a short vacation. We were lucky enough to have a guide in Vivek, one of our hosts on Authenticook. We were looking for a mix of places that most travel platforms like TripAdvisor would suggest as well as some that only the locals frequent. From food joints to shopping places to even an in-home dining experience (what do you expect!); we did them all.
The sights:
While there are numerous places to visit in Amritsar, I have mentioned only a couple of them since I have wanted to focus this blog on food; but a blog on Amritsar is just not complete without the 2 sights mentioned below.
Golden Temple:
One can go to Amritsar solely to visit the Golden Temple or Sri Harmandir Sahib. One of the most awe inspiring sights, here is a temple which is visited by around 1 lakh devotees on a weekday and around 1.5–2 lakh devotees on a weekend. Once in the Golden Temple, all you need to do is listen to the rhythmic chants on the loud speakers and close your mind to all your worries. There is a lot that can be said about the Golden Temple and I would need a separate blog post for that, so I will just leave it at this… You don’t visit Amritsar and not visit the Golden Temple!
Jallianwala Bagh:
13th April 1919 was the day when Reginald Dyer led his troop of soldiers leading to the massacre of countless unarmed men and women, along with children. Situated a couple of minutes’ walk from the Golden Temple, you will walk into the Jallianwala Bagh through a narrow pathway. Inside the garden, you will see sections of walls with visible bullet marks from the massacre as well as the Martyrs’ Well, into which people jumped in a desperate bid to avoid the bullets.
Places to eat:
Munim di Hatti
This was one of the gems that was suggested by Vivek. A simple dairy shop, but serving maybe the best Lassi I have had. We ended up going to this place thrice during our stay of 3 days in Amritsar. Note: There are 2 shops with the name Munim di Hatti side by side (the other one being New Munim di Hatti).
Do try out the Gur ka Halwa at New Munim di Hatti. It is nothing less than divine!
Address: Lawrence Rd, opp. BBK DAV College for Women and Bijli Pehlwan Mandir | https://goo.gl/maps/B5F8WUinvCF2
Bittu Kulchian Wala
Another one suggested by Vivek; this one is a hole in the wall at Ranjit Avenue. One that you are sure to miss if you are not looking out for it but one you should surely NOT miss! As the name suggests it’s a stall which serves Amritsari chhole with Kulchas. And boy these were the best Kulchas that we had on our entire trip. The one that we ordered had pudina (mint) masala garnish. While the chhole were okay, the accompanying onion tamarind chutney did the trick for me.
Address: A-Block, Ranjit Avenue, near Basant La Patisserie) | https://goo.gl/maps/GzBQWKqeLpL2
Ram Lubhaya & Sons
Looking for something to take back from Amritsar for family and friends? This is where you need to go to get the best aam papad (mango sweet) or as they spell it in Amritsar ‘aam papar’. They keep the best assortment of aam papads ranging from the sweet (candied) varieties to the masala varieties to the original sheet varieties. In addition, you will have anardana churan (pomegranate seed digestive) and much more. How good is it? You can take a cue from the fact that we had a separate bag weighing 9 kgs of aam papads form Ram Lubhaya & Sons.
Address: Shop No A1, Arya Samaj Building, Near BBK DAV College, Lawrence Road, diagonally opposite Munim di Hatti | https://goo.gl/maps/DZ8AYQnXFnM2
Makhan Fish and Chicken Corner
One of the better known places to try out the Amritsari fish, this one will be on every ‘must-do’ list worth its salt. Given that it was late afternoon (and we had had a decently heavy lunch) we were not that hungry but yet enjoyed their fried fish. It was perfectly fried; crispy on the outside and moist from the inside. And boy did it go well with the accompanying green chutney and beer :)
Address: 21A, Near Madaan Hospital, Majitha Road, Amritsar, Sehaj Avenue | https://goo.gl/maps/8HEa2EziuDB2
Beera Chicken
Now this one surprised us. I was expecting this place to be an over-hyped place but my only regret in going to this place was that I had hogged on chhole kulche the entire day and then by the time we reached here I was way too full. But we weren’t gonna leave Amritsar without ticking the box on this one. And the hero over here is the roast chicken; by far the best non-veg we had on the trip. We also had the butter chicken with roti (no kulchas here unfortunately), which was also very nice. The thing I liked about the chicken was that it was still moist from the inside and another positive to this place is the quick service.
Address: Majitha Rd, Sehaj Avenue, just a short walk away from Makhan fish | https://goo.gl/maps/KPfvAwra8XK2
Sundar Meat Shop
A small little shop in White Avenue. This one actually confused me when Vivek suggested the place. In Mumbai, I am accustomed to hearing of a meat shop in reference to a butchery. But I am really glad that we went here. We had only 2 things; the mutton chaap and the chicken tikka gravy. While the chicken tikka gravy was nice and flavourful, I wouldn’t recommend going to Sundar purely for it. But the mutton chaap was quite a different story, the meat was perfectly cooked and the way the owner’s son (who also doubles up as the cook) cooks the meat is a spectacle in itself; continuously slashing into the meat on the tawa (griddle). Surely worth a visit, if you are a red meat fan. Don’t be expecting a comfortable ambience but that’s anyways not something you go looking for at the best food joints in Amritsar.
Address: Maqbool Rd, White Avenue | https://goo.gl/maps/UnwNgmd35h42
Sanjha Chulha
Again went here on Vivek’s recommendation. We were to leave for Mcleodganj directly from here and hence were looking for a big bang end to our Amritsar food journey. And this one almost delivered. The kulchas again were the hero of the chhole kulche that we ordered. The chhole was nice but the stuffed kulchas almost made me cry at the thought of leaving Amritsar. Again, the onion tamarind chutney accompanying the chhole kulche were a perfect match. Personally, I wouldn’t even mind gorging on kulchas with the chutney alone. It’s a slightly dim place, so again not much to take back from an ambience perspective but a wonderful place to have breakfast.
Address: Lawrence Road, Joshi Colony | https://goo.gl/maps/BxqTBbXEGzD2
Authenticook in-home dining experience hosted by Vivek and Sangita
Now, you can’t go on a food trip and not experience one of Authenticook’s home dining experiences. While Amritsar is known for its awesome food which gets served at all the places I have mentioned above and more, there is still something which is missing; a fun interaction with a local family, learning about their way of life, the local culture & history and of course learning a bit more about the food that you are eating (and you could even add in a home-based cooking class). Sangita (Vivek’s wife) cooked a beautiful Amritsari meal for us; the fact that we traveled in winter, only made it even more special, with fresh saag to be had with makke di roti (quintessential Punjabi roti made of corn), khatte aloo ki sabji (dry vegetable) to be had with lacchha paratha, kali dal and some accompaniments.
The meal ended with what I would adjudge as the best dish of our trip (and I don’t say that because it was prepared by an Authenticook host!); shakkar ka paratha. The paratha was a lacchha paratha (paratha in a layered form) which was topped with generous amount of ghee (clarified butter) and brown sugar made from jaggery. This one took my breath away and to think that Sangita actually thought that this was a very simple dish, a little too simple to serve guests (she only served it on Vivek’s insistence)!!
You can check out all details of the meal on https://www.authenticook.com/meal/amritsar-da-swaad/242/;
Address: Chand Avenue | https://goo.gl/maps/tS8Z3FEjEdn
Now the question beckons; which of the kulchas did we enjoy the most amongst all the food joints in Amritsar. The answer to that is quite straight forward. All of them were awesome. And the reason I say that, is that each place we went to prepared the kulcha differently. While some served with a garnish of some masala, others served it stuffed while some served it plain. Irrespective of the preparation, the magic seems to be in the water of Amritsar, as is claimed by the locals.
As you would see above, we didn’t go to many of the highly frequented food joints like Kulchaland, Kesar da Dhaba, Kanhaiya Sweets etc.; partly because 3 days is just not enough to do a food trip of Amritsar (at least not if you spend 3 hours at the airport if your flight misplaces your luggage!). In our case, we were interested in trying out a mix of the well-known (featuring in most TripAdvisor, travel blog kind of lists) as well as some of the best local-recommended places.
Just to make things easier from a scheduling perspective, here is how I would schedule it (purely from a food perspective; keeping in mind the distance between the food joints and not being repetitive in the food being tasted):
Day 1:
Breakfast @ Sanjha Chulhaa
Followed by lassi at Munim di Hatti and then Ram Lubhaya and Sons for the aam papar
Lunch at Kesar da Dhaba
Dinner at Beera Chicken (for non-vegetarians) / Kulchaland or Brijwasi Chaat at Ranjit Avenue Block C (for vegetarians)
Day 2:
Breakfast @ Bittu Kulchian Wala
Lunch at Makhan Fish (for non-vegetarians) / Kanhaiya Sweets (for vegetarians)
Dinner at Sundar Meat Shop (for non-vegetarians) / Tare di Paneer Bhurji (for vegetarians)
Day 3:
Lunch at Vivek and Sangita’s home with Authenticook
Hope this helps in planning your trip to Amritsar! Let us know how it was and do share your recommendations, we can add them to our list! ;)
- Food of Amritsar
- What to eat in Amritsar
- Where to eat in Amritsar
- Beera Chicken
- Makhan Fish
- Amritsar Chole Kulche
- Authentic food in Amritsar
Originally published at www.authenticook.com.
