A Koli woman carries a basket of fish on her head, a podgy man, dressed in a striped shirt, gapes in horror at the fat bill, even as the woman looks on with glee; a bunch of middle-aged men sit at a distance enjoying their beer and banter, oblivious to the infamous rains and flooded streets.
Monsoon is the best time to be in Mumbai, but it is even better to be in Mumbai while savouring the lip-smacking street food in the pouring rain.
Despite a lack of space, everything is big in Mumbai — hopes, aspirations, dreams, ambitions, and also food. While in most cities street food is confined to variations of local cuisine, here it refuses to be bound by any category. From local to regional, Indian to international, everything can be found on the streets of this city. You just need to know where to get it.
Vasant Sagar is one such place. Nestled in the bustling Nariman Point area, the place is covered with thick sheets of asbestos, hidden behind big old trees and washed with rains. Vasant Sagar is not an in-your-face street food joint, but a treasure that you have to hunt for. Your hard work of uncovering this treasure is rewarded generously with delicious food, quirky art, and a dollop of gossip. A regular haunt for office-goers, friends, couples, and families, the place is small on space but big on character. Wooden benches and stools offer you comfortable seating, while bamboo lamps provide a warm glow. The murals on the wall lend it a certain character and Vasant Sagar is a far cry from the makeshift tuck shops one is otherwise used to.
“For a street food shack, the menu here is quite exhaustive, but in Mumbai you cannot not have options. I love the pav bhaji here; my husband’s favourite is the tawa pulav ; our kids, however, gorge on the cheese pizzas and chocolate muffins. We have been coming here for years, but only on Sundays; on weekdays there is no space to even stand,” says Aditi, a regular at the joint.
The pav bhaji comes dripping with butter, a wedge of lime, and onion on the side; the tawa pulav is aromatic and is served with salad, papad and raita . The pizzas, on the other hand, are loaded with cheese, while the muffins are sufficiently gooey — if austerity is a synonym of street food, it does not show here. In that sense, Vasant Sagar is just like Mumbai — small on space, but huge on experience.
