Vaidya Upahar Gruha - the oldest Misal in Pune

Disclaimer: I do not endorse or support any particular brand, nor do I claim one is superior to the other. I have no interest in getting into arguments over pav vs bread, Kolhapur vs Pune etc. The review below is strictly my opinion. No conflict of interest.

I eat because I enjoy it, I write because I enjoy it. As simple as that!

Legend has it that Vaidya Upahar Gruha is Pune's oldest misal. (Source: Jayesh Paranjape and his Peth Food Walk😊). Located near Phadke Houd chowk, this April, they successfully completed 111 years of service!

The story thus goes that the Peth areas were the main business hub for Pune during that period in time. A lot of businessmen, farmers, traders would visit in horse or cattle- driven carriages, finish their business of the day and return by dusk. The 'tangewalas' who would accompany these businessmen would carry bhakris from home, but would need something filling to have with their bhakri. That's where the Vaidyas came into the picture. Established by Shri Ragunath Vaidya, the joint was frequent by men and women of all socioeconomic classes.

Now run by the fourth generation, Mr. Deepak Joshi, a software consultant by profession, and the great grandson of Shri Vaidya, the point is to keep the legacy alive.

When it comes to misal, I've found that the tastiest ones are found in the most 'kalkat' of places 😀

An old- style place with a small faded board, one can easily miss it while driving past (enter Google maps for help!)

The interiors have large slanting mirrors with olden- style glass paintings, wooden chairs and tables. Even though kalkat in appearance, the place is very clean. There are no flies hovering, tables are cleaned diligently by their staff, who are polite and eager to serve.

We were the first customers of the day. The staff were amused to see us clicking pictures 😀 of the place and food.

Between the six of us, we tried their legendary misal, pohe, shengdana ladoo, kharvas and batata bhaji.

The distinctive feature of their misal is the usage of green chillies and ginger rather than making a masaaledaar fiery red rassa which burns your intestines! The taste of the tarri is akin to the matar usal we make at home during winters.

The misal contains matki, pohe, shev- chivda (pattal pohe chivda and bhavnagari shev) and tarri. It is served with a couple of fresh bread slices rather than pav, and a bowl of tarri for the table, which gets refilled once it runs out. The tarri is a bit watery than the ones we're used to having. The taste of the tarri is sweetish yet spicy- and by the end of it my nostrils were watering! (Which warranted a plate of shengdana ladoos)

The shengdana ladoos were truffle sized, priced at Rs. 5 a piece. Excellently made- quite like the ones we make at home.

We also ordered a plate of batata bhajis- piping hot deep fried fresh potato fritters. I personally would've preferred a bit more salt in the batter, but it was good.

We also tried their kharvas, served in a small wati, which was decent but not exceptional.

The total bill for the five of us turned out to be Rs. 530/-, which was super reasonable for the filling meal we had. They open at 7:30 am, and serve till 11:30 am, and in the evenings between 3 to 7 pm- again timings set in the 1960s by Mrs. Sushila Vaidya, who also needed to run the house alongwith the business!

Post misal, we walked a couple of shops down to Khomane gulacha chaha, and also a Tamil guy with a hand cart on the corner, freshly frying medu wadas and dal wadas.

 Between us, we tried it all, and the Tamil cart is definitely worth another visit! Non- sweet, homely Tamil sambar, a watered down chutney served with three crisp medu wadas or dal wadas a plate- the cost of two plates of this was just Rs. 50/-!

Overall, a morning well- spent! 😊

Cantonment food walk with The Western Routes

There are some things that you just can't express in words. There are some feelings that fill you up to the brim and overwhelm you. A few events you have to experience to know.

That's exactly how I feel after attending Jayesh's food walk. There's so much inside me that I want to say, so many escapades that I want to share. But somehow I feel no matter how many pages I write, I can NEVER do justice to the experience.

I'll tell you why exactly I'm so overwhelmed today as I try to pen this. There can be nobody as committed as Jayesh Paranjape who is as enthused about each food walk, each experience he curates- for him, it may be a daily occurence, but for the person attending it, it's a first (in some cases seconds or thirds- but the fact that they come back again itself speaks volumes about the quality of the experience!) Never does one feel that he does a 'paatya taakne' wala job. He is just as eager to learn, to share- as he points out balcony grille details, shops, restaurants, signs and chats about the history, the evolution of the Pune we see, we know as it is today. A down- to- earth, cheerful person, Jayesh is indeed a jovial 'khauwale kaka' we all knew as kids- someone who'd always have something yummy up his sleeve, who'd take us out for a drive and feed us simple local treats with a mutual promise of never telling Mom since she'd not approve of all the 'bahercha khana'! He's a person who ensures that everyone has a great time- no matter what educational, professional, social, regional background you hail from.

And so, when you go with Jayesh, you are just a kid, with a mind filled with wonder, eyes filled with greed😁, and tummy filled with food!

The Cantonment Snack Walk we attended with Jayesh (of Western Routes ) yesterday, was a first for us- something we'd been itching to attend ever since Ankita wrote about it! I did know there were a lot of non- vegetarian goodies unlike the Peth food walk that I'd attended with him before, but that did not deter me from joining in.

We assembled at 5 pm near JJ Garden wada pav, and after a brief introductory round, enjoyed some hot wada pavs as Jayesh chatted about the geographical layout of cantonment, and its historical significance.

We then walked along narrow bylanes of sleepy Parsi colonies, enclosed balconies and old homes painted in pastel shades- past Kay's, the suppliers of Nutties to Cadbury's, towards Dorabjee and Sons, one of the oldest restaurants in the city.

We spoke a bit about the history before we entered.

At Dorabjee, the non- vegetarians enjoyed some piping hot chicken and mutton patties with fresh pav, Kheema pav, and on special request from Jayesh, us vegetarians also could enjoy Parsi dhansak with rice. We also had the legendary Ardeshir's sodas (Bendaryl soda and Vim bar soda as Jayesh jokingly called it!) But whatever said and done, these drinks are definitely worth trying out!

We also enjoyed lagan nu Custard, a Parsi dessert, simple- set with egg, without the caramel syrup we're normally used to- but this one had the distinct flavour of coconut and nutmeg.

Jayesh pointed out old menus of the place from the 1940s and 50s, where the Custard was priced at 1 anna!

By the time we came out of the restaurant, it had started drizzling. But unflinching, the group trudged on.

The next stop was supposed to be Cafe Yezdan- which was unfortunately shut on occasion of Navrose, but we compensated for that at the next stops😁

We then went along to Husseiny Bakery- one of the legendary bakeries in Camp, who still use wood- fired ovens! And the quality of their products is exceptional.

We had a tour of the kitchens, were served hot ginger lemon tea and warm Shrewsbury biscuits amongst other goodies. The experience of having those warm Shrewsbury biscuits in the drizzle was something I will never forget in my life!

We also had the coconut cake and jam rolls- things one would've often enjoyed as kids!

We packed some bruns and Shrewsbury biscuits to go, and set off.

The next stop was Mahalaxmi Dhokla- one of my favourite places in Camp. So many times have we eaten the tangy sweet chutney on those fresh dhoklas, laden with shev, coconut and coriander leaves! But this time, Jayesh also fed us kacchi dabeli and papdi chat at Mahalaxmi. The dabeli was very different from the one we're otherwise used to- it isn't fried in butter, it is just the distinct masala with the flavour of cinnamon that makes it stand out.

The papdi chat too, was yummy.

The most heartwarming thing here was that Jayesh and Mayank- his teammate, were both soaked to their bones, since the drizzle had turned into a downpour by now- and yet their only concern was to get us more food! Such commitment and dedication is hard to find- and I'm sure my fellow- food- walkers resonated with the feelings of overwhelming gratitude my heart was filled with!

The last stop was at everyone's favourite Marz-o-rin.

By this time, we were stuffed!

But who can resist their guava juice, cold coffee, veg sandwiches and chicken mayo sandwiches?!

Despite being a Sunday evening, Mayank and Jayesh ensured we all got a place to sit, and filled us up with goodies.

It was so much fun to meet like- minded people, enjoy some delicious food and be a history geek all over again! True, we've all had JJ Garden wada pav, Marz-o-rin goodies, Mahalaxmi Dhokla several times before, but this experience was definitely unique.

For in the words of Giada de Laurentiis,

'Food brings people together on many different levels. It's nourishment of the soul and body; it's truly love.'

Barometer, Kothrud, Pune

#manasiVirenReviews #barometer #kothrudHasFinallyArrived

A free Saturday afternoon saw a bunch of us foodies visit the new much-talked-about destination in the Kothrud dining scene- Yup, Barometer!

Drive ahead of City Pride Kothrud, and as the road curves right, between Siya and Cafe Eastwood, the triangle on the door is unmissable.
Enter in, and you are awed by the decor: the walls are painted black! The lights are very very unique- large spotlights which look like they've come off a war ship! The wall on the right as you enter is done up with beautiful miscellaneous foodstuffs, utensils, cutlery crafted out of wires bent into those shapes.
When we had gone, the wall in the rear had a Charlie Chaplin film projected onto it, snippets of which one could catch in between conversations and giggle! The music was not too loud- you could hear the conversation at your own table without having to raise your voice to be heard, whilst not overhear what the next table was saying!

The wooden tables have this metal chip hammered to their corners stating the table number in Devnagari. With the drinks, the coasters served are unique; each one has a saying, a quote or a famous one-liner, to mull on as you sip your brews!

The Dev-Anand-cap-clad bartender at the open bar is forever busy mixing his drinks, and most of the drinks we ordered were exceptional. We are always partial to Virgin Mojitos, and the one served here was excellent as well, just the right mix of sweet, sour and minty, without too much of ice.

Their cheese fries are to die for!
Never have we tasted such goodness in one plate of junk food and yet craved for more! ;-)

Chicken Cafreal Kababs and Banno Chicken Kababs were the non- vegetarian starters ordered, and both were finger-licking good!

A unique starter we ordered was honey and chilli lotus stem. So far, the closest I had come to lotus stems was in high school, where we had to take the cross section to study the xylem and phloem!:-P Did not know that xylem can actually taste so good!!!

We had two pizzas (can't recollect the names), but both were good, and two pastas- the non- vegetarian one in red sauce and the only veg option they had was pesto, which was average.

Pumpkin and watermelon salad was yummy as well, with feta cheese. 

Garlic bread with cheese arrived late, when the pastas were done, but was good nevertheless!

What I liked the most about this place was the personal touch. The owners themselves could be seen mingling with the guests, going from table to table, asking if everything was alright, helping them choose from the variety available, suggesting specialities from the menu, sometimes even carrying out food from the kitchen and serving it at the tables- something that reminds me of the warm hospitality you can only see at places like Mayur Thali, Chinchwad or Thakker Bhojanalay Mumbai!

Barometer has, indeed, changed the face of what Kothrud stands for by its uniqueness and style.
And is here to stay!
Kothrud has, finally, arrived!