Posts

Showing posts from May 21, 2007

Pav Bhaji

Image
A long, long time ago, before the construction of the architectural eyesore that is the Z bridge that links Junglee Maharaj Road to Narayan Peth, there used to be a cute little cause way. It may have been 12 feet in width, open only to two-wheelers and if you were lucky, not underwater. At the J M Road side of the cause way was the rear end of another extinct Pune landmark, Natraj Talkies (Cinema Theatre). Just outside the gate were two nameless sheds that made the most awesome Pav Bhaji I have ever eaten. It was as close as it gets to a drive-in in Pune. It was all pretty simple. You ride your vehicle as close to the stall as possible. The man behind the 'Tawa' would look at you. You would make eye contact and with a show of fingers suggest the quantity of your order. There were also some unmentionable ways to indicate how spicy you wanted your food to be— and it involved fingers. But let's not get into that. Soon the order would arrive via a waiter, usually an over-conf