B. Merwaan and Co., Grant Road, Mumbai

The Iranis are the "other" Zoroastrians who have made Mumbai their home along with the Parsis. The Parsis visibly have a greater share of the Mumbaiya wallet, mindshare and the history of the city but the Irani's do have a greater share of the citys facade with numerous corner shop Irani cafe's. The number of cafe's may be dwindling ( a result of rising real estate and business feasibility) and the set ups may mostly be in town rather than suburbs, but the Irani cafe will always be inextricable linked to the Mumbaikar's day to day life and the city's truly cosmopolitan character.
The most obvious reason to like Irani Cafe's, is obviously the food, for the non cholesterol conscious the Brun Maska alone is a reason to preserve such café’s as world heritage sites, add the mawa cakes, samosas, the vegetarian patties and the wondrous egg preparations and we are basically talking wonders of the gastronomical world. The main reason I like the café’s is its dedication to serve the wallets of the common man and the intention to keep the margins wafer thin so that the common Mumbaikar can retain his favorite haunt. Rising real estate prices is obviously the major modern obstacle to the business model and I hope that more café’s can do what Merwaan B. is trying to do and double us as a Kirana store to sustain a long cherished and much lover business. Which brings us to another interesting thought as to how the café’s started in the first place as the prices were always cheaper even on a comparative basis? The answer lies in simple economics, demand and supply. In the Mumbai of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, corner plots were considered unlucky for business by the Gujarati and the Sindhi. The entrepreneurial Irani stepped in and created the ubiquitous corner Irani café to make a living and give Mumbai its unmistakable cosmopolitan character. Unfortunately for the sustainability of the café’s and in an ironical tribute to the Irani’s entrepreneurial competence such false notions no longer exist.
B. Merwaan and Co. has been around since 1914 and has been supplying countless sumptuous meals to weary travelers entering and exiting Grant road station. I was introduced to the café by my cousin Shirsha Guha Thakurta and her friends Delnaaz and Mithun. The three of them, specially Shirsha are responsible for one of the tastiest and definitely one of the largest and filling breakfasts I have had in the city of Mumbai.
The breakfast we had started with a round of vegetable patties, the vegetable patties were filled with primarily carrots and it almost stuns me even when I write that I rate the patty better than any patty that I have tasted in Kolkata’s Nahoum or Flurys. The vegetable patty was followed up by Brun Maska which is nothing but hot Pav with oodles of butter. I have had well buttered pavs and bread earlier but for sheer decadence bordering on obscenity nothing beats the amount of butter on an authentic Brun Maska. Delnaaz, who accompanied us for the meal is the daughter of the proprietor and I think they were being slightly over generous in an effort to impress the bosses daughter, but the description still stands as we were reduced to scraping some of the butter off the pav using knives in an effort to commit lesser sin.
The follow up to the Brun Maska were the Mawa Cakes and the Mawa Samosas, the taste is difficult to describe but I loved them more than any Mawa sweet I have ever had before. The cakes and samosas were just the right temperature to aid the melting of the morsel as it enters your mouth and the sweetness of the Mawa was beyond perfect. This was followed by a double egg half fry with some more brun maska, there was about as much butter on the egg as on the pav. We literally had to beg the mind and the stomach to ask the tongue to stop ordering for more goodies and rounded off the marathon err…. meal with some authentic Irani tea, milky and just with the right amount of kick. A truly brilliant breakfast but with a major downside, driving home after a meal like that can be a real pain! A side note: The mawa cakes and samosas are made at 5:30 AM, so if you go after 7:00 and are even lucky enough to get a few before they are all devoured, they will taste only half as good as they taste when they are really fresh. I agree good food can sometimes be a “labour” of love, but then there is no greater love than the love of eating!
A meal for two at B. Merwaan and Co. will cost you approximately Rs 80/- even if you really gorge.
How to get there: B. Merwaan and Co. is bang outside the East gate of Grant Road station. There is no way you can miss it as it is right opposite the main exit.

Haryana Sweets, Kankurgachi, Kolkata

Kolkata is a Bengali city. Without doubt. But the Bengaliness of Kolkata does not mean in any way that the city does not welcome people from all across the country. The city welcomes hordes of people all over the country with arms wide open and imparts in all its residents certain values and characteristics which make them and the city inextricable Bengali in nature, and also largely in language spoken. There is no MNS equivalent enforcing the diktat in Kolkata but the people from the other states inevitably learn and start conversing in the language of the state. Kolkata belongs as much to the Marwaris, Biharis and Tamilians as it does to the Bengali, and the cosmopolitan nature is seen not only in the constitution of the population but also in the food habits of the residents.
If the roll and the 'phuchka' are Kolkata's most popular snack through the day, the morning belongs to the Kachori and the Aloo Subzi. Aloo Subzi called Aloo Tarkari, and the Kachori, pronounced Kach'oo'ri is easily the most popular breakfast in the city of Kolkata. The food is available at most street corners in Kolkata. The menu : Hot Kachoris, Aloo Subzi, some Samosas rounded off by Jalebi and a cup of tea. Positively brilliant and a great way to start the day.
Haryana Sweets in Kankurgachi is one of the more famous shops serving the Kachori - Aloo breakfast in North Kolkata. The claim to fame, the obvious quality and the effort to create the smallest Kachoris you will ever see, yet each piece cooked with better care and precision than the larger variety at most street corners. Haryana Sweets is a treat for the regular Kolkatan for the smaller variety of Kachori and to the visitor to begin the Kolkata day in trademark fashion. A great breakfast, if slightly unhealthy, but what the hell, when in Kolkata, you just cannot worry about health when it comes to food. Also, do please remember to have a Jalebi to end the meal. Food in Kolkata is never complete without a sweet to round of the meal. It is part of being Bengali!
A meal for two at Haryana sweets will cost you approximately Rs 40/-. The Kachoris come for Rs 2/- each
How to get there: Haryana Sweets is on the main road from Kankurgachi Mod towards Phul Bagan, it is a 50 m walk from the cross road. It will fall to your left.

Flurys, Park Street, Kolkata

Kolkata was a city founded by an Englishman and served at the capital of British India for a significant period of time and it is only apt therefore that one of the finest English Coffee houses outside of the British Isles be based there. If the Cricket fields of India served to be "a corner of a foreign field that would be forever England", then it is not reasonably daft to suppose that Flurys, founded by Mr and Mrs J. Flurys in 1928 was envisaged to be "a cafe in a foreign city that would be forever England".
Flurys in the middle of Kolkata's business district is easily one of the most popular all day cafes and break fast joints in Kolkata. In my childhood days, the get up, and the service was very grand and
fashionable slow. The prevailing colour was white and the waiters well decked up in bleached white clothes and head gear. The highlight used to be the trolley full of pastries they used to take from table to table asking guests to choose very similar to crabs and lobsters are paraded in todays sea food restaurants.
Flurys a few years ago has decided to go Pink. Fortunately however the quality of the food remains impeccably brilliant. The service has become more modern, the service levels are better although the bleached white has been replaced with contemporary black. The one miss is that the trolley laden with pastries has been replaced by a bar where one can go and choose, but if the owners are reading this, do please revert to the trolley. It was a one of a kind experience and you will definitely sell more of those beautiful pastries.
The last time I was at Flurys, I ordered the Chicken Mustard Sandwiches and Beans on Toast, both are truly must haves. The Beans on Toast is a Flurys speciality and is served with finely chopped onions and chilli. One has to sprinkle the onion and chilli on the serving of beans on toast as per ones taste, and eat away to glory. I particularly love the Chicken Mustard Sandwich and would recommend you order the Non Grilled version. The diced chicken, mustard and soft white bread are an unbeatable combination. Of course the meal was washed down with a glass of cold coffee. Other delights of Flurys are the Club Sandwich and Mushroom, the Chicken Ommelette and Chicken on Toast, all three are highly recommended from past experiences. Alas one is limited in appetite and cannot keep on eating. Sigh!
A meal for two at Flurys without drinks, will cost you approximately Rs 400/-
How to get there: Flurys is on Park Street right next to the Music World.

Ambica Dalwada Centre, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad

Gujarati's love their food. Gujju food, is famous across the length and breadth of the country through the revered Gujarati Thali - Kadi, Rice, Khichdi, Subzis, and a whole variety of rotis and puris. All served up, mostly unlimited, round after round, unless one asks for mercy. All, please not that the food is typically sweet and almost drips with ghee, so please exercise, and get enough good cholesterol to negate the inevitable buckets of bad cholesterol that is a necessary bi-product. The thali almost immediately springs to mind when one talks about Gujju food, but it is the next frame entering my mind when discussing Gujju food that really makes my mouth water. The delicious world of Gujju snacks (or 'snakes' as they like to pronounce.)

Gujju snacks is I believe the greatest contribution to the Indian food landscape by the land of Gandhi. The offerings are almost as numerous as the offerings on a standard thali, I particularly love the Gathia, the Dhokla and the Khandvi. The last time I was in Ahmedabad, I was introduced and fell in love with a 4th. The Dal Wada.

The Dal Wada is as the name suggests, a vada made of Dal, the Dal is soaked overnight in a secret spice and is packed in to little balls which are then deep fried. The other visible condiment in the mix is coriander which adds its unique flavor. The result is an incredibly tasty offering which makes for a fantastic break fast or mid day snack. I had the Dal Wada at Ambica Dalwada Centre which is a food landmark in Ahmedabad.

It is a small shop with just a few tables for seating, their primary business is however take away, they are renowned for their Dal Wadas so much so that they actually sell the Dal Wada mix in packets which you can take home and fry and eat in the comfort of your home. A pointer obviously to the quality that they produce. We had our Dal Wada at the store however. They sell by weight and two of us ordered 250 gm. We absolutely devoured our plate of Dal Wada that was served, piping hot and absolutely delicious. The Dal Wadas were served with a few Onions and Chillis/ Hari Mirch, the mirch was marinated in salt and sugar and not very spicy at all - went extremely well with the Dal Wadas. It is interesting to note that Ambica serves nothing apart from the Dal Wada, nothing at all, no other snacks and not even a cup of tea, not even water actually. A completely mono liner Dal Wada centre, nothing else. I would think that it made business sense to serve some tea to go with the Wada, but I guess it just shows you what a focused approach can do, I guess.

A meal for two at Ambica Dal Wada centre will cost you approximately Rs 60/-

How to get there: Ambica Dal Wada centre is just off Commerce 6 Road, in Navrangpura, in Ahmedabad. It is a very famous joint and you will not have any problems getting there.

Cafe Infantaria, Calangute, Goa

If there is any place in Goa that really encapsulates all that makes Goa the place that you yearn to return year on year, it is Cafe Infantaria. I make that really controversial statement for the following three reasons:

1. Cafe Infantaria is renowned for its breakfast. Breakfast in usually the first meal that one has in Goa if one is travelling by rail, bus or air. Land in Goa, hit Cafe Infantaria and let Goa hit you with all of what it has to offer.

2. Cafe Infantaria is located in North Goa. There are takers of the 5 - stars of the South, there are lovers of the romance of Panjim, there are those who swear by the quaint Goan houses by the river in the interiors. I am sure all are very nice, but to me, because of the crowd, the drink and the food, North Goa is THE place to be and drink and eat.

3. 6 Pints of Beer for Rs 100 (the condition is that the food bill must be Rs 300/-). Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to Goa! Welcome to Cafe Infantaria!

Cafe Infantaria serves as an all day dining option and specialises in Breakfast. The breakfast options are a-la-carte and set meals. Among the set meal options they serve a Cafe Infantaria special and a Mini Breakfast. The menu described the Cafe Infantaria special to be a magnified version of the Mini Breakfast which options on what kind of egg preparations and some other options on meat. As I wanted to sample some of the a-la-carte options also I decided to go for the Mini Breakfast, the 'Mini' Breakfast serves buttered toast, two fried eggs sunny side up, some baked beans, around two decent sized bacon strips, one quite large fried sausage, tea/ coffee as per taste and orange juice. I managed to get through the 'Mini' breakfast and also found the energy to taste some Mushroom on Toast. It might have been the ambience and the fact that I was already a couple of beers down but I really though that the Mushroom on toast was the best that I have tasted in my life. Cooked with Garlic and a decent helping of oil, the Mushroom on toast was the highlight of the meal and given the competition it had to beat in the Mini Breakfast, that is quite an achievement. Welcome to Goa! Welcome to Cafe Infantaria!!

Of course our meal was washed down by the offer of 6 Pints or 3 Draft Cans for Rs 100/-. Apparently the offer is standard which makes Cafe Infantaria rise even higher in my eyes.

A meal for two at Cafe Infantaria without drinks should cost you approximately Rs 500/-

How to get there: Cafe Infantaria is on the main Calangute - Baga Beach Road. It is an institution in Goa and is impossible to miss.