To The land of Vada Pav and back

February 2010 saw us travelling to mumbai for my first ever all india university tournament, the premier BCCI recognised tournament for universities all over india. The matches turned out to be disappointing there with our first round exit coming as a shocker(we were south zone winners and all india runners the previous year). But that has already been covered in another blog of mine.

Getting to the food.

Day 1: DELHI DURBAR

Description: a small but attractive restaurant located near Churchgate. The food there was a little bit expensive but the taste sort of made up for the small quantity. the chicken kabab roll(i don't exactly remember the name, was something like this) was out of the world. if ever you visit the place, do try it out.

Day 2: HOTEL VIHAR

Description: Located near Marine Drive, very close to the CRICKET CLUB OF INDIA premises is Mumbai's version of Chennai's very own RATNA CAFE. The idlis, dosas and sambhar they served there were typical ratna cafe stuff, simple, spicy and extremely delicious.

as i said, due to our shock first round exit, we didn't really have time to explore the restaurants in and around mumbai, well marine drive actually. but we did manage to sneak in a few quickies, an ice cream, a chaat, a quick sandwich, and of course, pani puri. ;)

Quickie 1: NATURALS Ice cream parlour

A small quiet parlour located off Marine Line is NATURALS, a place that serves freshly made and absolutely natural(well, that's what they promise) ice creams and milkshakes. The flavours available there were in short, baffling. I was tempted to try the tender coconut ice cream, but in the end ended up buying my favourite, watermelon!(i haven't really tried the water melon ice cream before but when it came to fresh juices, this was definitely my first choice). I do try to avoid icecreams but this was a really tempting offer, and i actually ended up really enjoying the ice cream.

Quickie 2: masala chaat, marine drive!!! :D

Out of sheer curiosity, i decided to try out the masala chats prepared in a jiffy by the vendors patrolling marine drive, near THE INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL. Something that resembled corn flakes formed the main ingredient. a generous sprinkle of masalas, a dash of lime, a handful of chopped mint leaves and a quick toss later, the masala chat was ready and boy were they delicious.

Quickie 3: Veg Sandwich, outside Churchgate railway station

This small portable sandwich stall caught my eye on my very first day in mumbai. Located right across the railway station, this sandwich wallah served some delicious desi grilled sandwiches with a generous dose of mashed masala potatoes, beetroot and mint chutney. and the good thing was, it was really hygenic. at rs. 15, they were real value for money.

Quickie 4: pani puri stall, off fashion street

How can my tour to a city be complete without a plate of pani puri. surprisingly, i managed to find a pani puri stall only on my last day there. But better late than never. And what better way to round off things than with a plate of absolutely delicious pani puri.

My only disappointment, not able to have mumbi's staple street food, the vada pav. Probably during my next trip to mumbai, i'll definitely have one.

keep watching this space for more of my gastronomic adventures.

until my next post,

adios!!!!!!!

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