BFH 6: Uncle’s Point

This semester, I became friends with Nakul, and like me, Nakul loves his chai.
So after he read my chai post, he took me to Uncle’s Point.

Now I knew where Uncle’s Point was, on the way to high point, the small shop with the typical plastic chairs, serving hungover people breakfast, but I’d never actually stopped there. That day I had tea there, and it blew my mind. Since then, I’ve been there with quite a few people, (Aarushi, Manasi, Nakul, Nishtha and all my chai peeps) and everytime I go there, It feels really good.

It feels good, because It’s the sort of place where you sit with your friends and just talk, where you have a cup of tea in peace, where silences aren’t awkward, where you don’t keep track of time. The kind of place where you can just take a book and sit for an hour, sipping on your tea, or sit and talk to the patrons, who are really nice. I remember this one time, when i went there wearing formals, and they asked me about the interview and the company, they make you feel at home, and here in Manipal,  sometimes that’s what we need, to feel at home.

Now since this is a food blog, we shall talk about the food and tea there. To begin with , they mostly have breakfast fare, and if you do manage to go all the way there for breakfast, their cheese omelette rivals Vikrams and for Manipal, the nutella pancakes are pretty good too (Sultans FTW tho). The cheese omelette is the perfect thing to have on a sunday morning, with a hot cup of tea or coffee, without the side serving of rude that you get at Vikram’s. You can also opt for the juices if you’re a fruit. Sorry, I meant if you like fruits. Are sacchhi. You can try the chicken cheese omelette for your daily dose of protein, or have just the omelette if you don’t like cheese (You animal!), and polish it off with a shake probably.

Cheese toasts and Nutella sandwiches are pretty Generic, the variety of things you can get with Maggi is pretty good, too. You have veggie Maggi, Egg Maggi, Chicken Maggi (Pieces of chicken sausage), Cheese Maggi, Egg Cheese Maggi, and a couple of more combinations. Now all of this is incomplete without their chai, and they have AMAZING chai. You can get a cup of amazinglymindbogglingcrazysuperachchibahutpyaarimaakehaathki chai for just 20 rupees, and trust me,  this chai is worth every penny you spend on it. You can get your regular chai, masala chai with loads of elaichi, or even proper ginger tea, the kind you love if you’re the kinda person who catches a cold easily. You can ask them to make it sugarless if you like your chai with that gritty tea flavor, or load it up with sugar if you are the Khade Chammach ki Chai person.

It’s pretty cheap too, Chai and Breakfast for 2 can be covered in 200, sometimes even less.

Final Review : Don’t go Uncle’s point if you like your ambiance fancy and your chai firangi, go to this place if you want cheap breakfast and good chai, and definitely go to this place if you want to find yourself a quiet, quaint place to sit and talk. Or just introspect. And have chai, definitely have chai.

PS: If you like to pour your soul on paper and scribble your darkest thoughts on paper napkins and have a black diary full of poems that haven’t seen the light of day, I think you’ll find this a nice place to write.

BFH 5 : Chai

‘Chai is the reason India got independence in 1947 : Mahatma Albus Dumbledore’

You can go to Starbucks and order your fancy lattes and iced americanos served by smelly Indianos, but I’d take a hot cup of thick, sweet chai at a roadside tapri anyday over that overpriced venti.

Being brought up by chai-addicted parents, I, like them, can’t make it through a day without a nice cuppa. I come from house where we keep 7 different types of tea leaves are kept in the kitchen, and thus, Manipal for me, was a nightmare. I’ll be honest, the tea here sucks. The flavor is off, it isn’t strong enough, it’s horrible to look at, and the deal breaker, it smells nothing like tea. I mean bro, do you even elaichi?

Enough ranting.
So Chai, I really need chai to survive Manipal, and you know what they say about wanting something bad enough, right? So today’s post is about the 3-4 places i deem worthy of my patronage.

Let’s see, I’ll start with egg factory:

Egg factory is a good option if you want to sit and chat and be surrounded by Manipal’s rich and hungry. Surrounded by ridiculously expensive oven baked thin crust pizzas and mushroom pasta, the joy of spending only 20 rupees for a nice cup of tea appeals to my perpetually broke self. The tea is good, but isn’t exactly remarkable. It’s strong, but there is no masala, and the ambience is it’s only saving grace.

ProTip : Makes for a very nice, but cheap date. Egg factory for chai.

Pandey ji : Every 10-10:30 break, or the 3-3:30 break, you’ll find a bunch of people, animatedly talking to each other beside Hotel Ashlesh’s seedy entrance, smoking away their BTs and eating chaat. (Read about pandeyji here) But the one thing that makes it different is the flavor and texture of their chai. Warm, thick and most importantly, infused with ginger, this tea is THE SHIZ if you’re sick and want a break between your classes.
Price : 10 Bucks.

ProTip : Chai and Samosa Chat don’t really go together, unless you’re at Pandeyji.

 

TC, @6 in the morning : Now this is undoubtedly the best chai I’ve had in Manipal and i say this for two reasons; Firstly, this is the strongest cup of tea I’ve purchased in Manipal for 10 bucks, and secondly, this little blue shanty is open only between 4-8 in the morning. Originally meant for truck and cab drivers, this was soon discovered by the insomniacs and the post-party zombies of Manipal..

This one is my favorite because for me, it’s full of memories. I’ve sat here with intelligent friends and had conversations about life, tennis and things that inspire me. (Avneesh, remember this?) . I’ve come here after some parties where we got bored of watching YouTube videos and finishing the leftover booze, (Pavithra gang, where are you?) I’ve even spent time here with some amazing people who’ve made me a better person.
I can sit here with my cup of hot, ginger tea (10 rupees), piping hot samosas, (10 rupees a pop, and pretty good) and even get Idly-chutney, but the most magical thing about this place is the the sunrise, and how the darkness of the night is engulfed by a new day.
That, and it’s just that the chai is just the right amount of sweet.

ProTip : Ask for regular tea when made to choose between sweet and regular, because sweet chai is basically sugar syrup.

Bonus : HiPoint 301, Mandavi Emrald 602, or Ideal C205.
TBH, there is no substitute to brewing a hot of cup of tea made by yourself or someone who you gets your chai fascination.  So find your own Aman, Aaru or Nakul, and boil away.

Broke, Fat and Hungry #1

As the title suggests, I’m fat, hungry and perpetually broke, hence I’m always looking for new, and cheap places to eat.
So cutting to the chase,today I found a new dosa place.
Called Mumbai Dosa Camp, It’s basically a couple of guys, two stoves , a few jars of batter and other foodstuff, and a counter, so yeah, not quite the gourmet chef you’re used to.
It’s right next to the swanky Kamath Cafe.you know, the one which is basically KC canteen with better furniture?

Coming back to the point, if you get tired of the vada paos or the bread pakodas, and feel like having weirdly tasty food, just take 10 steps from your trusty vada pao vendor and ask the dosa guy to make you a tomato omelette noodle dosa.

Intrigued?
So was I when took a look at the menu. Noodle Dosa , Spring Dosa, Cheese Dosa, Palak Paneer Tikka Dosa and other weird looking names adorned the yellow banner. The prices looked enticing, the smell of the dosa seductive, and I found myself wanting her, umm, It.

I gazed at the banner-menu and looked for the weirdest name there, and yes, you guessed it, it was tomato omelette noodle dosa. I was feeling adventurous and it was less than 50 rupees, so I decided on trying my luck. The man who makes the dosas, (Rakesh, was it?) grinned at me and said, ‘5 minute me banta hai, ekdum super, aap wait kro.’

So i waited, and it turned out to be the most interesting 5 minutes of my life.
He spread this yellow tomato batter, grabbed a handfull of faluda looking noodles and dropped it smack in the centre of the dosa, some schezwan sauce, buter,  garlic paste and a lot of other spicy looking things were dropped unceremoniously on the ever growing pile. I was waiting for the omelette, but that never came.  He used a press to spread the whole thing, let it be for a minute, and placed it on a plate. Two chutneys, and this brilliant dosa cut in three pieces.

Took the first bite, and I was pleasantly surprised! In a MasterChef-esque sort of a way, There was an explosion of flavors in my mouth.Crispy dosa flavored with tangy tomato, filled with spicy schezwan sauce coated noodles, with sweet-sour tomato chutney and thick, textured coconut chutney . It was a delight. Took me about 10 minutes to finish the whole thing, and it was so filling. Had to wash it down with a lime though, it was spicy.

However, after i had the dosa, this realization dawned upon me that there was no omelette involved, anywhere. When asked about it, the guy making the dosas told me very matter-of-factly, ‘Boss, omelette to jaise mix banate hai masala daal ke , islie bolte hain, baaki yahan jain customer log ata hai, non veg nahi bana skte’ . I felt cheated.

In conclusion, if I had the rate the food :
Taste : (4/5) Brilliant taste, variety of flavors
Quality and Hygiene : (3.5/5) Clean, fresh food , made in front of you. They even make it on a coal stove.
Ambience : (1/5) Standing in the sun with a plate in your hand, not exactly nice.
Price : (4.5/5) At the risk of sounding like a 19 year old girl , price game was on point!
Overall Rating : (3/5) Solid and affordable, this tasty place won’t disappoint you when you’re hungry and broke.

Chalo, I’m off. Need to look for another cheap place for today.
Cheers.

PS  : Picture of the menu