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BhikHaram
Where: DC Block, next to City Centre
Timings: 7am to 10.30am. Till 11.30am on Sundays.
On the menu: Kachori, sandwiches, idli and dosa.
Pop picks: Club kachori, samosa, dhokla, jalebi.
Price pinch: Club kachori for Rs 30, samosa for Rs 10, jalebi for Rs 12.
Customerspeak: “I come here often as this place has a lot of variety, from hing kachoris to idli-dosa and sandwiches. I live in New Town, where there are no breakfast options available so we have to drive down. Even the delis in City Centre 2, that have breakfast menus, open at brunch time,” said Neha Baid, a pregnant lady who has to eat as soon as she feels pangs of hunger. “Even my parents, who live in Salt Lake’s BE Block, order breakfast from here on most days. Breakfast is hardly cooked at home as we are more comfortable taking parcels home.”
Ownerspeak: “We don’t do home deliveries but most of our customers come and get their orders packed. We send 50 to 70 parcels every morning. Early morning is one of our busiest times,” said Parmeshwar Parekh, an employee of the three-year-old store.
Sharma
Where: CF 209
Timings: 6am onwards.
On the menu: Kachori, jalebi, piyaj kachori, rabri.
Pop pick: Club kachori,
Price pinch: Rs 20 for club kachori, kesar tea at Rs 25.
Customerspeak: “We come to eat here after swimming in the mornings,” said friends Kamal Kishore, Satish Chandra and Ankit Jaiswal, residents of Sector V. “It’s a tastier and simpler option than cooking breakfast at home.”
Ownerspeak: “Our workers sleep here at night so they can wake up early and serve breakfast,” said owner Vinay Kumar Sharma. “Often we get the disco-going crowd too, coming for a snack late at night. Most of our customers are morning walkers.”
Bon Apetit
Where: AD 34
Timings: 9am onwards.
On the menu: Under parathas, they have seven different stuffings every day of the week, with Thai chili corn paratha on Saturday being the most popular. Under eggs they have Lovers Eggs, which is two eggs, sunny side up, topped with cheese, baked and served with toast. They also have Hawaiian Egg Salad and Egg Pizza, which is pizza toppings but on an omelette instead of a pizza base.
They also have muffins, cakes, milk shakes and American-style fluffy pancakes made of cheese batter, home-made chocolate sauce, honey and fruit sauce.
Pop pick: Corn on toast.
Price pinch: Corn on toast costs Rs 60, Lovers Eggs are priced Rs 65.
Customerspeak: “I felt hungry after the parent-teacher meeting at my daughter’s school Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan today so came by for Lovers Eggs,” smiled Sriparna Dey of Kestopur on Saturday.
Ownerspeak: “Since this locality has a lot of pre-schools we get many young mothers who come for a bite after dropping off their kids at school,” said Rahul Arora, chef and owner.
Taraknath Sweets
Where: AE 350. The shop on a corner plot on First Avenue does not bear a placard with its name but is conspicuous by the action in the huge kadhai up front.
Timings: 7am to 11.30am; on Sundays till 12noon.
On the menu: Kachuri-alur torkari, jibhegoja, malpoa and jalebi.
Pop pick: Kachuri-alur torkari.
Price pinch: A plate of four pieces of kachuri with alur torkari costs Rs 15, jibhegoja and malpoa are priced Rs 5, jalebi costs Rs 3.
Customerspeak: “We are having kachuri from this shop for 15 years now. Never have we had health problems. What tops the taste is the nice conduct of the owner,” said Pramod Saraf, a resident of BC Block, after packing three plates. “We have this for breakfast twice or thrice a week before heading for office.” Saikat Chowdhury parked his car and got singara packed on his way to reach his daughter to a BJ Block school. “This is her tiffin,” he said.
Ownerspeak: “My employees stay in the shop overnight. So we are never late with our morning’s offerings,” said Kashinath Pal, who takes the 6.45am train from his native Sodepur. “Our kachuri-torkari is available every morning round the year.”
Gangotri
Where: CF 334
Timings: 7.30am to 11am.
On the menu: Kachori, samosa, jalebi, south Indian, seasonal fruit juices. At the moment mausambi, pineapple and grapes are juice favourites.
Pop pick: Club kachori.
Price pinch: Rs 20 for club kachori, Rs 8 per jalebi and Rs 35 for mixed juice.
Customerspeak: “We are hungry after a swim,” smiled Mousumi Bhattacharya of HB Block, as the family of five dug into the fare. “We prefer this place as it is hygienic, air-conditioned and a better option than roadside stalls.”
Ownerspeak: “Ours is a 20-year-old shop. We are serving breakfast long before any of the malls opened here,” said vendor Ajay Singh. “We mostly get office-going crowd who drop by for a bite before going to work.”
Murli Dhar Farsan House
Where: BD 445. Inside the block, behind Dew Drops playschool. Though one can follow the car route, a short cut exists next to the school for pedestrians from First Avenue which takes one almost diagonally opposite the shop. It has a small branch in CE Market (shop no. 18) where the factory is located.
Timings: 7am to 11am.
On the menu: Fritters, dry phuchka, dhokla, samosa and khasta kachuri.
Pop picks: Dhokla and fritters.
Price pinch: Dhokla costs Rs 8 per piece while samosa and kachuri go for Rs 6 each.
Customerspeak: “We trust the quality of the shop. We regularly buy chanachur and phuchka from here,” said Jibak Barua, who lives right across the road. “Their dhoklas are great even for diabetics,” said block resident Samita Dutta, packing some for guests.
Ownerspeak: “Farsan means namkeen in Gujarati. I set up this shop soon after settling in Kestopur in 1983. Other than block residents, my clients are guardians of kids of the nearby montessori school and students of Salt Lake Point School,” said owner Ashwin Desai.
Mamar Dokan
Where: A stall outside BD Market.
Timings: 8.30am to 2pm.
Pop pick: Paratha and alur dom/ ghugni.
Pocket pinch: Rs 2 per paratha. The side dish is free.
Customerspeak: “This is the only good shop to grab a bite in the locality at this hour,” said Argho Ghosh, an employee in a software firm in the same block.
Ownerspeak: “I am running this shop for close to 30 years now. Other shopkeepers eat here, so do shoppers who pack some for home,” said Sankar Majumdar who started being called “mama” as he had a nephew working in BD Market.
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