Ripon Club, Last Bastion of Carnivores

As of this month, I have been inducted as a member of the Ripon Club, of whose 135 year old
history precious little is known, except that it has very good food, cheaply priced, and
its whole purpose is the consumption of said very good food.

Its membership is restricted to only Parsees...previously only to Parsi gents. But later they caught up with the times and said Parsi women could be members too (with some complicated conditions thrown in).

The busiest day of the week is Wednesday, which is Dhansak day. Dhansak, for those of you who dont know is a Parsi delicacy of such richness and flavor that after eating it, you have to go lie down.

So the Ripon club provides you comfy armchairs with leg rests where you can go take a post-prandial nap after eating Dhansak. I saw quite a few members taking advantage of this neat facility when I went for lunch the other day. You can also read the newspapers or play billiards or watch TV. But I say, get right down to eating and napping!

Furthermore, the menu is entirely non-veg..as you can see from the attached photo.

Demanding any vegetarian food sends the staff and fellow members into a tizzy with much hooting of sirens, calls to action, and disapproving looks.

The other day, Dad and me were sitting down to a hearty lunch of Sali Ghosh (meat with potato slivers in a rich tomato based sauce). Suddenly Mum smsed to say she was joining us..so could we please order either fish or some veg food for her. Oh the confusion! Oh the anguish on the face of the serving staff. They were running helter skelter wondering what to do. I could see one chap hovering with his fingers above the alarm button. Finally, a compromise was reached when they fried up some fish and served it with chips. Thus was disaster averted.

On questioning the manager, he sheepishly admitted that veg food was on the menu, but since no-one EVER ordered it, it wasnt prominently displayed. After much searching, I found the veg food menu displayed on a forlorn stand near the entrance of the club.

The advantage of the Ripon club is that it's a 5 min walk from my office. The disadvantage is that I will become fat, and my wife will use my stomach as a drum.

Any of you near the Fort area are welcome to join me there for lunch. Any takers?