The Famous Eateries of Lower Bazar, Shimla

While in Shimla, it is a must for many local and suburban people to make a daily visit to the Mall and move about alone or in groups especially in the evenings, as this also serves as an opportunity to bump into or meet people without an appointment. Having done this to one’s fill, it is customary to round off the trip by taking a turn from Sher-e Punjab – the Naaz restaurant of yore- and follow the road down to the Lower Bazar , do some shopping , be it vegetables, grocery or even ready-mades , cloth and other miscellaneous items , and walk down to the local bus stand to take a bus home, in whatever direction, East or West . This had been my routine in the young age, except having to catch a bus to reach home, as I lived within walking distance, when I had an unbroken stay in Shimla. For shopping and eating purposes, Lower Bazar was and still seems to be the better choice, for the reason that many a thing comes for a negotiable price, compared to the Mall , where, rates are fixed and perceptibly somewhat on the higher side.

As we move from Sher-e Punjab’s direction to the Lower Bazaar,there is a famous- more than a century old- halwai shop called Mehru’s where you get a variety of eatables. Besides, the traditional sweets and doodh- jalebi , what the shop once famous for, they have Tikkis, Kachoris and other delicacies also.The sweets are prepared in desi ghee. The only drawback is that you cannot sit to enjoy the preparations, and there are only wooden slabs to put the plates and glasses , while you eat in standing position. There are many other halwai shops , dishing out the routine stuff but having a roaring business all the same. A few hundred yards short of the other end that terminates at the CTO and the DC office, in opposite directions, there is another old halwai shop , Nathu halwai for short , where you get sweets prepared in desi ghee besides, aloo poori , tikki, vada paav etc etc. The advantage of this shop is that the shop has a sitting place where you can feel comfortable while enjoying the good stuff. It is quite an experience to take a deep breath while crossing the shop to inhale and enjoy the aroma, and sometimes one is irresistibly drawn towards the shop.
These two shops are Landmarks of Lower Bazar.

Like