Where Do You Get the Best Vada Pav in Mumbai?

Which is the best place for vada pav in Mumbai?

Probably the answer you will hear the most is the vada pav outside Kirti College.

Let me also assure you that for every person who says Kirti, there will be at least three who will pooh pooh it and say “oh that’s over-rated” just as people would do for Karim’s in Delhi, Tunday in Lucknow and MTR in Bangalore and I do for Bademiya in Mumbai.

Everyone, after all, is an expert in food.

And why shouldn’t they be? Tastes are individual. The trick is to find people whose taste palates match yours and go by their recommendations.

So how would you choose a good vada pav place when there is no agreement on where one should go to?

I have a simple yardstick.

Look for a stall where the vadas are being fried fresh and where there is a huge crowd of people waiting to eat.

I can assure you, you will never go wrong with this.

This formula is what led me to some great vada pavs outside the LIC building at Nariman Point when I used to walk to Churchgate to catch a train. And later outside the Voltas building at Byculla where I used to work earlier.

Sometime back a fellow blogger had pointed me to the vada pavs at Shree Samarth near the Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar. They took my vada pav stall test and the stuff there is pretty good.

Recently I discovered Shree Krishna Sweets at Bandra East near Guru Nanak hospital. Huge crowds through the day. Freshly fried vada pavs.

Great stuff.

So what’s your favourite vada pav joint in Mumbai?

Photo credit: Kalyan Karmakar

Follow him@Finelychopped

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