Saturday 2 June 2012

chaat hunting in bandra

WHEN it comes to chaat eating in Bandra west people quickly respond with Elco Pani Puri, Karachi Sweets but if you look beyond these places there are a few local joints which are not popular among the visitors to bandra but a hit with the locals. Every corner of bandra has a nice chaatwala which allows residents of bandra not to crave about the two most famous joints but to overlook the praises showered on them.
If your on hill road then you can visit a small stall opp the jain temple off Hill road the place is run by a north indian with a huge pony from the centre of his head. In mumbai language its run by a bhaiyya. Earlier it was the only chaat shop in the area but now there is a competetior next to it but you will realise the quality diffrence even before eating as the crowd only visits this stall. How to reach---entre the lane adjoining the Vodafone store, go straight you reach jain temple, the stall is on the left.
At bazaar road, there is a chaat owner who runs his shop on a cart know as Gupta chaat wala. He houses his cart outside baba nagar. He has been putting up the stall since i was a child and that means it has been over 25 years now. The thing to try there is ragda pattice. How to reach---baba nagar is in the lane adjoining hotel Balaji on the hill road.
When your at Pali Hill in the evening there is an old chap who comes with his cart and parks it near the zig zag slope on pali hill. The man is old but he doles out a good chaat and the way you know it when you bite the puris..they are crisp and fresh.
So guys if you think of chaat the next time in Bandra to try the local ones. As Mumbai chaat is essentialy about more of kothambir and not layers and layers of sev... That goes well with Dhokla...  

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