Caffé Pascucci - Un bel posto per il cibo Italiano

That, in Italian, means “A nice place for Italian food”! Talk about Italian Food and the first thing that comes to mind, at least for the average person, is “Pizza’s”! So when my wife dragged me of to Bangalore’s MG Road saying she knew of a place serving decent Italian food, I had resigned myself to another version of the local Pizza Hut menu! You see, while I do like Pizza’s, it’s relationship with my stomach is pretty strained at the best of times! My daughter, however, loves it and so I had to tag along, perforce. Under the circumstances, I  must confess I was pleasantly surprised at what transpired eventually!

The place itself, Caffé Pescucci, is an international Italian coffee brand which has set up many such coffee retail outlets in India, in alliance with Madhura Beverages India Pvt Ltd, the master franchisee for India. When the first outlet was launched a year ago, it promised to have a vast offering of more than 50 choices in hot and cold coffee and also promised many special Italian delicacies for the vegetarian. So, the prognosis, at least, was good! This outlet, being bang on MG Road, right next to the Cauvery Crafts Emporium, parking space is at a premium. While this time I managed somewhere nearby, the only safe place, anywhere nearby, could only be the paid parking on Brigade Road, which is just around the corner.

Vada Pav – The Poor Man’s Veg-Burger

They may call it the financial capital of India. It may be better known for a myriad other things, but the one thing that comes to my mind when I think of Mumbai is it’s street food. It is quite unlike the street food that can be found in almost any city. Unusual, because of the sheer innovation displayed in the creation, be it Pani-Puri, Pav-Bhaji, Misal, Dhabeli or Bhelpuri. 

The uncrowned king of this culinary hotch- potch, at least in my book, is the quintessential Vada-pav. For those not in the know, a Vada-Pav is purely and simply, a potato Vada (or Batata Vada in Marathi) rammed between the two halves of a split bun, or Pav, as it is locally called. The Pav, incidentally, is the reason the local Christians are called Pavwalla’s, since the Goan's used to monopolise the bakery business in Mumbai  a long ago. The zing is provided by a chutney made of chilly powder and garlic. For the hardier souls a whole green chilly, fried and sprinkled with a little salt can also be alternately chewed along with each bite of the Vada-pav!