I’m gonna blow this story wide open!

Sorry. I had always wanted to start a news story with these words! Well, trying out something new.

In my circles, I am known as “The Man with a stomach of steel”. Alright, I just made that up. But I like to explore eating joints that are, to put it mildly, not so kosher! Nonetheless, my adventures continue, some bearing fruit, others ending in disappointment.

I invite you to derive some vicarious pleasure from reading about some of the notorious food destinations I have haunted and describe below!

I’ll start with a recent one. Kurla Station, Mumbai.

Some of you have walked past the joints outside Kurla station, selling kebabs and an assortment of non-vegetarian delicacies. That’s right, walked past, without a glance. Well, if you would’ve looked close enough, you could spot me, looking out of place in my office formals, the day I stepped in for an early dinner there.

After a few suspicious stares from the bearded gentleman at the counter, I was asked for my order. The menu was an in-your-face flex banner on the wall. I chose the seekh kebab and a Mix Tawa Fry. The waiter reconfirmed, “Kebab pakka?” and I became jittery. An employee not confident of the food cannot be a good sign! Or it might have contained beef, and he was trying to ascertain if I was open-minded enough!

(Note: there are plenty of establishments in Kurla that do not serve beef, it’s specifically mentioned on their signage.)

Anyway, my accompaniment was paraantha. Actually, it was a deep fried slab of flour, more like a crispy, flattened poori! Did not go well with the rest, would have preferred a Roomali Roti.

Anyway, the kebab was soft alright. The Mix Tawa Fry turned out to be an assortment of animal parts (liver, brain, kidney) all tossed up with ample amounts of spices. It was delightful, because I enjoy this stuff.

What was a revelation to me, was the sprigs of pudina leaves that were sent to my table . I stared at them, then peeked over to my adjacent table. As if in answer to my glance, the man took a bite of the kebab, then of some mint leaves. The freshness of the mint is a worthy compliment to the succulent kebabs.

All in all, a day well spent. At Rs 110 (50 for the Tawa Fry, 40 for four kebabs, and 10 bucks each for two paraanthas) it was a frugal meal.

I sign off with this. This may have been a disappointment for vegetarian readers, so I will try to write something to please them too! In the meantime, if you know of any such food joints, where you are too scared to go , leave me a message! I will try them out and let you know how it goes!

(Wow, I feel like a part of the Ghostbusters!)