Jumbo King, Andheri East

Along with Bollywood, BSE, Gateway of India, and Dharavi, the Vada pav is probably the thing most Non Mumbaikars would associate with Mumbai. However unjust and untrue that may be given the wonderful cuisine on offer all throughout the city, there is a reason why the Vada Pay can lay claim to being the culinary symbol of the city. That reason is the sheer numbers that are consumed in a day in Mumbai and Thane, figures on the net put the number at 1.8 to 2 million Vada Pavs in a single day. If you ever travel across Mumbai on a weekday, you will see that the figure is entirely believable.
What is the Vada Pav? The pav is the bread - a bun slit three quarter way or completely down the middle holding a large fried mass of flavoured potato - the pav. The vada pav is typically had with some garlic chutney and some green chilli to add the extra spice if you need it. Very simple. Very easy to cook. Very cheap - the life blood snack/ short meal of the Mumbai office goer. There are vada pav shops all across Mumbai serving the snack at prices ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 8 and doing raging business.
Jumbo King is a chain of restaurants serving the regular Vada Pav and some innovations on the dish all across Mumbai. Their basic Vada Pav - the Grilled Jumbo King starts at Rs 10. Why they charge a premium and can get away with it? They offer Consistency. The Jumbo King Vada Pav tastes consistently delightful at all branches. They offer Hygiene. The vada pavs are served not different from the way McDonalds serves burgers. These two value propositions have enabled Jumbo King to scale up from one outlet in 2001 to God knows how many today spread across the city.
Jumbo King does not have seating space - I am sure the economics do not allow it. You have to select your Vada Pav, pay, stand outside the shop and finish the vada pav. Their basic offering is the Grilled Vada Pav - priced at Rs 10, they also have a butter grilled Jumbo King - basically a grilled Jumbo King with a large slice of butter on top. They have a cheese Jumbo King where they cover the top of the Pav with some cheese shreds. They also have szechuan and chhole varieties with the szechuan sauce and chhole topping the basic Vada. I have sampled the cheese and my friends have sampled the chhole and the szechuan but have come to the conclusion that the plain and the butter ones are the best. I guess the variations work for those who are regular Vada Pav eaters. I do not fall into that category.
The last time I was at Jumbo King, I had one Grilled Jumbo King and one Butter Grilled Jumbo King. Both were very good. The slice of Amul butter on the Butter Grilled Jumbo King basically provides enough for two Grilled Jumbo Kings to be nicely flavoured. Very good and hard core junk food Mumbai style.
A meal for two at Jumbo King without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 60/-
How to get there: You have Jumbo King outlets all through the city. The Andheri East outlet is on the Andheri Kurla road. It will fall on the right if you are travelling from the Western Express highway towards Kurla. It if right after the JB Nagar crossing.