What do ex-Fort employees do for lunch at BKC?

By Suprio Guha Thakurta It was 12:45 pm on a Tuesday and we were at culinary crossroads. Ideal Corner was to our left, Yoko was staring at us, and we could feel Lalit breathing down our neck. With a turn of our heads, we could see Mocambo’s and just beyond, Mahesh. And we could both — PY and I — vividly imagine Apoorva just around the bend. After a few minutes of intense tug and war between sali, idli, beaf steak, pomfret slices, veg thali, prawn butter fry, and calories, we chose pao. [caption id=“attachment_98005” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=" I wouldn’t be dragged away from South Mumbai by hungry wolves. Unlisted Sightings via Flickr"]  [/caption] Ideal it was. I was trying to lose weight, he was on power yoga. What I really like about Ideal is its lack of show. It’s a place to eat. Clean tables, clean chairs, laminated menus, speedy waiters and food on speed dial. The laminated menu simplifies life in a world of too many choices. Neatly printed under each day of the week is what’s on offer. I ordered roti and chicken sali (note: white meat). PY chooses prawn curry rice. I believe if you don’t consume a kilo of rice every day, the true effect of power yoga is not felt. We finished that off with custard. Caramel for PY and Laganu for me. I always have the latter; it’s kind of a well-hidden Parsi secret. Next day, we decided that we must break out of this routine of fried fish and dhansak and experiment a bit. Broaden our stomachs, you may say. So, we strayed a bit towards Kala Ghoda and again we were stumped. A few others had joined in today and we were now fighting between Soul Fry Casa and, just a little down the road, Olympia, Ling’s, Delhi Darbar, Café Churchill and Baghdadi. How does one choose between goan prawn curry, oily mutton curry, Bamboo prawn rice, dum biryani, Californian beef, and a greasy leg of chicken. Biryani carried the day as someone just had to have his quota of you know what. Usually during lunch, a thought runs through my mind about all the companies that have deserted South Mumbai for BKC or elsewhere: what do their employees eat? Here they were having meals of unparalleled variety, starting as low as Rs 50 per head, even lower if you are a idli-sambar lover. Did this factor even come into the decision-making of the shifts from this absolutely gastronomical paradise (oh! that reminds me, tomorrow lunch perhaps). This is my third job stint in the Fort area and I wouldn’t be dragged away from here by hungry wolves. And I haven’t even got to the evenings. [caption id=“attachment_98009” align=“alignleft” width=“150” caption=“Suprio Guha Thakurta “]  [/caption] Suprio Guha Thakurta plays the role of managing director, The Economist, India, during the day. However, he is usually procuppied with some of life’s more important questions: Will Tara like Basa, will Rooney score 50 this season, will there be Ilish at mahim market this weekend and more often than not his mind is filled with the ultimate question: why is the beer taking so long to chill?