The Fourth Seat

Hotel Deluxe is tucked away into a quite corner of Pitha street off Pherozshah Mehta Marg which is off DN Road. I have written about my first time at Deluxe earlier in September. And since then I have made sure that I visit it whenever possible. Of late it has become a regular haunt. Especially for the delectable tea time snacks and the frothy tea that they serve in a big tumbler. Also, it is quite cheap. Inexpensive is a fancy term. Cheap is best. Both literally and otherwise. But this post is not entirely about the economical prices of this place which is run like a not-for-profit organisation. It is about human warmth. I was hungry this evening and low on cash. Typical characteristics of a man with a wiry frame, a scraggy beard, unkempt hair and dull clothes. So that shouldn't surprise anyone. It was 645 and today being Sunday, all places around Fort  are shut because there is no business today. Except for, Deluxe, of course. I hurried to get there before 7, afte...

Okay before you actually think that Fab India, the popular ethnic wear brand has come out with it's own version of Bhurji Pav containing organic spices, vegetables and eggs laid by hens reared on cornfeed, allow me to dispel all such thoughts. I am referring here to the Bhurji Pav wala outside Fabindia, Kala Ghoda. I visited this small table stall that dishes out Omlettes, Bhurji, Egg Pulao, Vegetable Pulao and Masala Pav today. But at a Bhurji Pav stall, you order Bhurji. Made with two eggs, few slices of tomato, chopped onion and a secret masala this was one of the best Bhurjis I had tasted in ages. Over mouthfuls of hot morsels, I spoke to Karan a migrant from Delhi, who runs the stall. He tells me that he has been around even before Fab India set shop with a sense of pride in his voice. He starts his business at 7PM and shuts down by midnight, using up about 3 crates of eggs every evening. My friend Kiran, who is an aspiring solicitor told me how he and his colleagues spent ...

Prologue: Such calls didn't matter to him. He had grown accustomed to them. This one however was eerie. It wasn't a cranky zealot on the other line, it seemed like a man who was sure with his intentions. He stuck his ground and challenged the caller before hanging up. It had started to drizzle. The clock of Rajabhai Tower struck 7PM. He had to get going. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It was a quite evening. Monsoons should have ended by now but the dark clouds were not ready to go yet. There would be an occasional shower presumably an attempt of the clouds to make their presence felt. As if the darkness they brought to the usual bright sky of Bombay wasn't enough. He waited patiently for her. He knew she would come, she had said so. He was standing by the parapet, staring at the waves that licked the plastic laden shore of Marine Drive. He had an urge to walk down the rocks and into the murky waters of the Arabian...

Today was a day of bad moods. Everyone I came across was in a bad mood. Guess that rubbed off on me too, so I packed my bag and headed out on the street. Unsure, hungry and angry for no apparent reason, I started walking towards VT. Passing the numerous booksellers, performance enhancer pill doctors who now stock dildos in all sizes and of course pirated software and porn vendors, I turned towards Pratap Lunch Home on DN Road. My on-the-way-developed mission was to find a certain Hotel Deluxe, famed to serve good malabari food. Since I was not in a hurry to find it I didn't bother asking anyone. I simply moved past Pratap Lunch Home and many other small eateries including one bar. I reached another lane where I turned left and saw a famous fish joint, now a posh place- Mahesh Lunch Home. Walking towards it, I spotted a small lane just before Mahesh, I decided to enter and as luck would have it, Hotel Delux stood right at the end of it, welcoming me. Hurrying up, I entered to f...

Family gatherings are a great time to talk about food. And especially when you have members who are fond of budget friendly eating out places. These places are what I feel like the underdogs of a team. Always overshadowed by the media hyped-shinier places, they continue serving good food in a manner that could be best characterized as unassuming. So when my cousin spoke of a place known as Central Lunch Home, where she regularly ordered from my mind was busy conjuring up images of the dishes she spoke of. However, she had never visited it, it seemed like a good place. Google search revealed it's menu and a couple of photos but no reviews. It didn't matter, I had Shweta's thumbs up and that was sufficient. The kitchen shuts at 1530. We were at Causeway at 1515. We were prepared to be turned down but to our surprise Manoj, welcomed us with a polite smile and made a few recommendations. We were in an experimental mood so didn't opt for the Thali which Shweta had mention...

For folks who are friends with Parsis, their food is just an added benefit of their friendship. But for lesser mortals like me, this is only the stuff one reads about. So when a friend recommended this place, a plan was put in place and here we were. It was a deserted Sunday evening at the usually bustling business district of Horniman Circle when we alighted from the cab opposite the Hermes showroom. A small walk down the circle and we were walking in the first lane passing the about to be opened Bademiyan the Restaurant. Our destination for the evening was Jimmy Boy, one of the few eateries in the city serving authentic Parsi cuisine. Located on a corner of the street as all Irani eateries, this revered place was unusually empty. Excited as we were, we entered and made our way to the mezzanine floor, only to be stopped by the manager. He was quite unapologetic of the fact that they wouldn't switch on the AC for only the two of us. So we settled for a corner table by the windo...