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of the best Bohrl, Khoja andMuslim food in general i cmk-p lnd served.were beyond rryhorizon..8-ut I did at a later stagestartytsrr.ng a ttny Musllm rs-F.Uran!situaredwithin the oldLnurchtate station; kheema forz-annas,a foaf of bread for an-

orner anna. No problemsaboutg:lrl"F chanSe..Some peopteused o say hat the kheemawasmade. rom- cats, meat .. , , lttastedgood.

!:.fin9 food hatwa! a haTitl_?l the Indtanairwiys-:r !g: of p.{vate ateririgo;ii""fii!'';,:tffffinnd.empty. irct-classcompaltent, a tur.banedearcr, ihotta pet of Scotch (not Indlamaoe-foretgn-liquor)In front oyou.lrandons,alsousedo runthererreshmentooms at Mctorlr_ermJnus;.Iat-standswtrhehaf:?r.T9 6[way's runnlng shfftdakl hats or'others), ti g;::?y prht3, the rounds of thcfi|,||r;3,'fr:purrfnsut r h- Tltk was before the rallwavroot(-overand startedwhat lt re-fSrso "s aeparrmenli'car"rnur, at one rtroke, rulnlngsomethlns ikehundred olodn newspapercd magazlnes,'

he iriveteratelsfadednorup. In fact,says is stomachhasbeenupsetthai may bealsodrinkwate/'

o'li((

restaurartt was takenmy life was the purohit. lta novelty then, an excluslverestaurant in thearea,food served nthalis.half-dozen differentAn elderly aunt, whome to the restaurant, ex_,,The Guiaratishave se_dishesand thev eat a littleeach dish.,, t was im-was an exception,of the time t was iaken.went on my own, torestaurants. Drank over-

and over-boiled tea, atecaker (if it was KvanlsatTalao), discussed,aciniNevr york . cotton, mainlymost of the lranis hadput up InstructingCu5-not to discuss hese twosed to go to GeorgeRes-

_fl, . trotters, sittingn the family rooms, eltle anqher that the bestin the world were madepossibly becauseextended rom ColabaBunder.The delights ofRoad. where someeekl ,

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Then im e startedmoving.....Asiaticat Churchgatg with itswaiters n little black waist-coatsand chappals, Gourdons nextdoor,genuineEnglishood,BlueGardenia, little further, Pari-sran Dairy at the corner, nearMr. Nana Chudasama's resentfunny hoardings,BombellisatBreachCandy, Frederick'sandKokwah, wo of the oldest Chi-nese estaurants, onginis,wherelh e present kbarally'sit s ik e ahotch-potch azar, CoffeeClubon the opposite ide of the road,India Coffee Housi near KalaChoda,Chetna, he.other exclu-sive vegetarian estaurant, omeof chess, ne by one all of themhave gone, the premises soldout to nationalisedbanks andArab banks, mini-departmentstores Bombay oes not have agenuinedepartment tcre).

But the pleasures f eatingout have remained. The earlymorning breqkfasts f the in-nardsof goats on MohamedallRoad, he saat handis and thenav handisof the BohriMohalla,the ShalimarRestaurantadver-tisementstheyalternate etdeenpictures f a goatand a chicken,each one invit ing he diner to

"come and eat me at the Shali-mar".)Within a half-mile area ofMohamedaliRoad, think thereis more food than in al l of OldDelhi and Hyderabad, houghnot Lucknowcombined.And theplace is at its best during theRamazan; ood-stallseverywhere,

ment, but the GrantRoadDethiDarbar, where Jafferbhoy con-tinues o prepare food for thecommon man of Bombay. Andthe other famous restaurants fthe area: Coronation Darbar,where till the other day theygaveyou rosewatero washyourhands n, and Grand Oriental,

side Inn at Kala Ghoda,Mangaloreanunch homes wtheir fish curry and moundrice (there s no more satismeal than at a Mangalolunch home), he South InBrahmin iffin lodgesof MaBa, food on plantain leaghee from Coimbatore, radripping down the elbowKutchi restaurants f Kalbasituatedabove hq Gujaratlphis, fresh-friedpuris and vetablesstraight rom the kitca red-hotgailic chutney,FrieUnion JoshiClub and ThacLunch Home, he Lucknow oat Rafiq's at Bhendi BazMaharashtrlan thali, compwith srikhand,on GokhaleRthough, unfortunately, ornuine Maharashtrianoodstill have o Bo to Puneor Khapuror Solapur Mr, Bal Tkeray, o note),pau-bhaji, wming in Amul butter and toed with gratedcashewnutstfriend Dandekar'sCannon PBhajiStallat Eorl Bunder.

It is a strange hlng, butstomachhas never been uwith all the food I have eaThoughthat may be becaualso drink Bombaywater.

"The pleasures f eatingout have remained.The early morning breaklaEts f the innardsofgoatsat MohamedaliRoad,the saathandisand the nav handisofBohriMohalla, he ShalimarRestaurantadvertibements.."freshmeatbeing oasted r grilledin wheel-barrows,he Kashmirisherbet-walla,who occasionallycontinues to advertise hisWheel barrow on the scre6nofSuperCinema.The klng of all the Mughlaifood, of course, is Delhi Dar-bar. Not the ColabaDelhi Dar-bar, crowded with Arabs andboxes illed with Metro Shoesthat they have just bought Inthe shop on the oppositepave-

which continues o survivewith-out air-conditioning, channelmuslc,unlformedwaiters.It is difficult to chooseamong

Bombay's restaurants. Betweenthe kababsat Harvic at DhoblTalao, he porkvindalooand riceat City Kitchen at Fort Market,the curried oystersand dry cha-patis at Sindhudurg n Dadar,the fried crabsat KothachiWadiin Girgaum,khichra at DelhlDarbar, ish and chips at Way-

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