Sardar Pav Bhaji

Not every good food experience comes planned, does it? Some of the best tastes are so unplanned that they just strike at your belly,right out of the pan and leave a very delightful taste on your taste buds. at the slight mention of Sardar, I eagerly pounced on the opportunity, without actually being invited and ended up travelling all the way to Tardeo in a bus with Gaurav Agrawal ( who is on his way to become a LEGEND ).

Date: July 4, 2010
Time: 8.00 PM to 10.15 PM
Occasion: Aiwehi!!!
Place: Sardar
Location: Tardeo
Ratings: ****
Courses Tried: Indian (on being asked for the Menu, the waiter promptly replied - Pav Bhaji ONLY )
Moolah: Moderately Expensive ( Considering Cannon or any other Pav Bhaji Joint )
Pricing: Around 60-80 per dish
Quantity: 1 dish = 1 person
Address: 66A, Tardeo Road Junction, Tardeo, Mumbai
Telly: 022-23530208
Closest Station: Bombay Central
Buses: 63, 67, 85, 89, 91, 92, 93,124, 125, 132, 133, 166, 305,351, 357, 385 et al

A Sardar deal is always a yummy one. However painstaking the wait is, the eventual reward - the utterly butterly delicious Pav Bhaji more than makes up for it!!! Luckily, this time, I didn't have to stand in the queue for too long, the honours went to Amit and Anuj.

The moment we found place for ourselves, we began shooting orders. 'Menu Card laana', 'Table saaf kardena', 'Empty Glasses laana', etc. Till the waiter actually found time to visit our table, we were already decided as to what to order - 2 Amul Pav Bhajis and two cheese Pav Bhajis ( the cheese ones going to the less healthier ones ). The Pav Bhajis arrived soon as they make it in heaps. The gorgeous sight of the delectable Pav Bhaji, layered with white cheese and laden with a rectangled cube of amul butter. What more can a hungry person ask for? The Pav Bhaji is less spicy and full of butter. The vegetables contain more of potatoes and less of tomatoes which gives it a yellow ocherish colour. The Pav Bhaji is laced with freshly chopped coriander and the Pav is lightly dipped in butter seemingly. The taste comes more from the copious amounts of butter though.

The masala Pav is very expensive with one single peice priced at Rs. 25. But the amount of butter soaked in the Masala Pav is certainly higher. The onions, finely chopped, with chaat masala and nimbu, are a good side dish of sorts. The cheese Pav Bhaji is quite expensive at Rs. 80 when you compare it to the one at Cannon (CST). But all in all, it's certainly a worth visit!

Prices as on the abovementioned date -
Amul Butter Pav Bhaji - Rs. 60

Cheese Pav Bhaji - Rs. 80

Single piece Extra Pav - rs. 7

Single piece Masala Pav - Rs. 25

It surely is highly recommended for the eternal foodie and also for all those who would mind tucking in a few scoops of butter and not bother about its results on their waistline. Makes for a nice food joint to be with friends and family alike. If you can manage the half-an hour or more waiting time, then you will certainly relish the place more.

Disclaimer: The publisher, writer, blogger, or otherwise of this blog accepts no responsibility of whatsoever is written hereinabove. No claims or suits in any court of law will be entertained. Any similarity with living or non-living beings and/or things is purely co-incidental.

Is this the famous Crystal?

Date: March 31, 2010
Time: 12.30 PM
Occasion: Returning home dejected from ICAI
Place: Crystal
Location: Girgaum Chowpatty
Ratings: ****
Courses Tried: Punjabi, Sweets
Moolah: Cheap
Pricing: Rs. 100
Quantity: 1 dish = 2-3 persons
Transport - Closest Station - Charni Road

We were supposed to go to the Ca Institute and the the CS Institute to get things over 112 sorted out, but before we even went there, we had decided where we were going to have lunch! I was told Crystal was this awesome place at Charni Road famous for Punjabi Food. I thought it would be this fine-dine restaurant which will cost me around 300-400 bucks a head. After getting the expected dejection at ICAI we left for this place.


As we kept walking along the opposite side of Girgaum Chowpatty, suddenly Hardik pointed at this shabby Looking, Old-hotels type, small entranced, 'eatery'. And I need to call it an eatery as it was a billion times crash from what I expected Crystal to be like. Just as we entered, the owner, wearing a plain white shirt, much like the quaint Parsis, yelled at us saying it will take 15 minutes more for food and we should be sitting only if we wanted to wait. We couldn't care less, but yes my stomach did as I was immensely hungry. The waiter was more caring though as he climbed up after us and switched on the fans for us and also took our order. So we did order finally - Paneer Kurma, Dal Makhani, Butter Rotis, Aamras and Mineral Water. And not sooner did 5 minutes pass, the food was already in front of us. The Paneer Kurma was more like Paneer Bhurji, faint yellow in colour, less spicy, and full of Paneer. I mean for 40 bucks they had this plate full of only Paneer. All things I later found out hardly had any salt content in them so we had to be very liberal with that. the Dal Makhani was just awesome, with copious amounts of Makkhan, brown in colour and much like the awesome one you get at NH-4! The rotis were hot, little thick, with dollops of ghee but small in size. I had to have 5 1/2 to satiate my hunger. The aamras was okayish as it was more like milk shake with milk added to it and was served chilled. That certainly did not stop me from having two servings. Later, we ordered the Matter Paneer, which had tomato gravy, less spicy again, with average quantity of Paneer. I would rate it as OK. We signed off with a 2 royal servings of Kheer. and what a Kheer it was! More like Phirni, thick, condensed milk, little burnt flavour like basundi, with boiled rice, chilled. It was the best we had till date but couldn't do much justice as out tummies were already full. The bill was a jaw-dropping Rs. 314 with us having ordered 13 butter rotis, 4 aamras, 2 kheers, 1 paneer kurma, dal makhani, mutter paneer and 2 auqafinas!



Prices as on the abovementioned date -
Dal Makhani - Rs. 35
Paneer Kurma - Rs. 40
Mutter Paneer - Rs. 35
Aamras - Rs. 30
Kheer - Rs. 22
Butter Roti (Chapati) - Rs. 4


I seriously recommend it to anyone and everyone - whether a vegetarian or a hardcore non-vegetarian like me. It's the best place for cheap yet superbly delicious food and of course the desserts. DO NOT MISS THE KHEER!!! and the BUTTER ROTIS!!! It's more like a hangout for people working or staying in hostels nearby and as per information there is bound to be a QUEUE. So go early like we did!!!


Disclaimer: The publisher, writer, blogger, or otherwise of this blog accepts no responsibility of whatsoever is written hereinabove. No claims or suits in any court of law will be entertained. Any similarity with living or non-living beings and/or things is purely co-incidental.