Snackosaurus: This is a combination of the words, snack and Saurus, meaning reptile-like in names of Dinosaurs. There used to a company by that time, but like dinosaurs, it is extinct now!
Last week, I shopped for snacks at Rambhia Foods at Manpada after more than three months. The store had shrunk its area as they probably have lesser stock now due to the lockdown. There were other shoppers purchasing snacks at this store, and likely resuming their regular trips to what is Thane’s largest snack shop.
Pre-lockdown we would visit Rambhia Foods weekly and return with a bag full of different snacks.
During the lockdown, the store was closed, and its regular customers must have missed it. Among few pleasures of life in lockdown were munching on snacks and Rambhia’s fans would have had to make do with home-made snacks or other available brands. So, fans of Rambhia would have missed it during the lockdown and now again have the opportunity to choose from that store’s wide variety again. If as a resident of Urbania, you don’t know Rambhia, then read on and plan a visit there soon.
We have been shopping at Rambhia for several years and found the place transform over that period. When we first saw their store, it spanned the whole length of its area. Inside, the store was full of racks of snacks, and you got a feeling of shopping at a supermarket as the store had many aisles.
Our friends at Tulsidham who are long term residents of Thane told us Rambhia started as a small snack shop at the place where they are now. They have been in business since 1998 and are on their way to complete twenty-five years in 2023. As the business grew, the company owning Rambhia started a factory behind where they have their store now. That in-location production unit keeps stocking the shelves of Rambhia Foods and which eager shoppers find a great place to visit for buying snacks.
Rambhia’s speciality is their wide variety across categories and within each type of snack. They mostly have fried snacks, so their range is not for the ultra-healthy conscious among you. They do sell some sweets, but their savouries are what seem to be in demand and occupy most of their shelves. They also have baked foods, party supplies, pickles, spice mixtures and even health foods.
But their speciality is fresh snacks made right behind their store-front at their factory. They also have low prices, another draw and their staff are polite and helpful to customers and ensure great service. All in all, Rambhia is the most popular store of its kind at Thane with no competition as no similar store is as large as them.
To know their range know about one of their products, banana chips a popular snack in South India and states of India’s western coast. They have a range of banana chips which I found varied and interesting. They have regular banana chips which are yellow and made from plantain or raw bananas. Rambhia has round raw banana chips that are yellow, white garnished with black pepper and reddish chips garnished with chilly powder. They have long sliced banana chips too. And that’s not all. I was surprised to find that Rambhia even has banana chips made from ripe bananas and taste sweet. Such variety is what draws shoppers to Rambhia and helps them find snacks not available elsewhere at Thane.
I first noticed the range of Rambhia at their shelves for mixtures, a common Indian snack. They had variants including the regular, one named Pune, another Mangalorean and even a Madras one. I guess each of the varieties has spices and ingredients that are favoured by people from different regions which give their names to the product.
Rambhia is a good place to shop for home and also for travel and visits outside Thane. They have some unique products that make good souvenirs to carry for people outside Thane. There is a dry pan wrapped in candy-like paper and has the flavour of wet paan and also mostly the same things that go into making paan. I have also bought unique chikkies from Rambhia, including a malai-one that has a layer of cream on it. My friends at Bangalore for whom I took it, liked this malai-chikki.
Any snack you can think of, and Rambhia likely carries it. Besides, they have a range of extruded snacks. They also sell ingredients to make your snacks at home. So, you can buy materials for making panipuri and bhelpuri at home. Oh yes, to help you eat and easily digest all the snacks you buy from them, they thoughtfully stock a variety of digestives.
Rambhia is one more Thane retailer who does not issue plastic shopping bags to customers. They have inexpensive cloth bags at the check out counter you can buy and use if you are not carrying your shopping bags. Their staff are very efficient and quickly scan the items you purchase and make the bill. You can also stop over at their fresh food stall next door to pick up samosas, kachoris, fafda, jalebi, khandvi and dhokla, offered for consumption or takeaway.
About a year ago, Rambhia started a street food counter adjacent to their snack shop. This eatery has takeaways and also dine-in options though they only have tables and no seating. They serve chaats, farsan, north-Indian snacks and also south-Indian snacks. This counter is usually not very busy and offers popular street food in a hygienic ambience at prices that are much higher than at street-side kiosks. They take orders for boxed snacks for events and allow you to customise the contents.
Their restaurant since last year on the first floor is another recent addition to Rambhia Foods. I have not been to this place and only seen pictures and reviews of it online. Their restaurant seems a functional one with the tableware in brass coating. They have thalis, and an ala carte menu and the reviews of their servings seem mixed.
Rambhia Foods store is at Manpada close to the Happy Valley Circle at the end of a long row of furniture shops. You can easily find parking when you shop at Rambhia, more so, if you go there on weekends. The street-food outlet next door and the restaurant upstairs is additional draws from Rambhia, Thane’s largest snack store.
So, if you are looking for a supermarket like a snack shop head to Rambhia.
Happy snacking!
