See http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=2&articleid=10142005148412031014200514752515
Mumbai Mirror | City MUMBAI, Friday, October 14, 2005 Writers’bloc The whole hog Prashant Rajkhowa goes searching for the quintessentially Goan pork sorpotel and beef vindaloo in Bandra Ever heard the saying, “If you throw a stone in Bandra, you’re likely to hit a Pereira, a pig or a priest?” I can safely say that if this was true, it was well before my time. It doesn’t take a genius sociologist to declare that it’s probably not true anymore. If you stone a pig today, you’re likely to get PETA knocking down your door so it’s really not worth it. I’m not old enough to bother complaining about outsiders settling in Bandra but I will complain about those who come to eat in Bandra because they are to blame for the menus being so sanitised. Read chicken-centric. How can you claim to be a Goan place and not have pork sorpotel or beef vindaloo on your menu! Hang your head in shame, people! You’ve taken the yummiest food culture in the country and cleansed it of everything good and belt-looseningly holy about it. The fact that I can hear dandiya music outside (something that I don’t remember happening around here earlier) is almost a neon sign pointing out the culprits. So I took it upon myself to have pork sorpotel and beef vindaloo for dinner – without having to head to Colaba. After making my displeasure extremely obvious to two phone order-taker guys, I realised that if they advertise Goan food, they should be shot for treason. For putting pieces of chicken into two of the most sacred curries in the world. The track had to be altered. Away from the starched chef hats and the penguins serving you to the most unlikely and yet perfectly obvious. A sweet old lady sitting on the foot path outside her chawl. A chalk board menu, a tarpaulin-bamboo shelter and one of those mini gas cylinder thingies. The juiciest fried bombil and the richest prawn chops you’ll ever find, made fresh every evening. And the best part… wait for it… Goa sausage, pork sorpotel and beef vindaloo! Her eyes have that saintly gleam that comes from serving the needy. From giving to those who really just want a little happiness. She doesn’t deliver but take a look at the prices and you’ll willingly cab it all the way from Martin’s. And when she says home-cooked, she means it. You have to place your order at 7.30 am and she goes shopping for it. On your way back from work, you pick up your order. It’s that simple! So come from wherever you do and eat at your pseudo chicken-loving Goan restaurants with their bright lights, shocked phone order-taker guys and free home delivery. I have tasted a little piece of Goan heaven… just down the road.
