Hunt for Breakfast: Chinese Style

We had learned from a TV food show and later from friends in the city about the great Chinese breakfast bazaar near the Poddar Court area. The only catch, they are available only on Sundays and that too very early in the morning between 6 and 7 o'clock. That translates as leaving our home in the suburbs by 5:30 am to be able to successfully have breakfast. So after a long wait - of over two years - and finally shrugging off our quilts we started off last Sunday to have a taste of the breakfast firsthand.

The TV show gave us a vision of a misty early morning place where people were busy having Chinese soups and momo's and many other delicacies for breakfast. There were many food stalls on both sides of the street. People were sitting on small stools in front and enjoying their food. One little trivia I picked up from the TV show that it was rude and offensive to blow on a hot bowl of soup to cool it down! With all these images running in our minds we parked near Poddar Court.

Our friend cum guide was there about seven or eight years ago. He was surprised to not find anyone on the street that he remembered as the place of the bazaar. We asked around a bit and were soon in front of the food stalls. But what we met was a disappointing show. There were just a handful of food stalls and interestingly there was one with the humble  puri sabji or so we thought. But later we realized that a puri stall was on the other side of the road and this particular one was puri like but with a prawn in the center!

prawn puris...eh?

The ambiance was a major dampener, right next to the momo stall there was a wholesale fish vendor with her load of prawns and bhetki fish. On her side was again a frail Chinese man selling something in packets, I didn't feel like finding out what that was. It was an all out market area with its share of dirt and grime, not a place I would happily go and eat at. But there was quite a crowd for that food notwithstanding the place and its hygiene level.

rice pudding...from a distance!

We started off the food run with a plate of rice pudding, served with a sweet sauce. Hot and crisp on the outside and wobbly soft on the inside, this pudding promised good food. However the next plate of chicken momo thawed the momentum gained with the pudding. We had tasted much better momos at "authentic Indian Chinese places" - or maybe I missed the Indian touch to the Chinese cuisine that we are now so used to.

momos

That's the bun with chicken

Next up was a weird kind of chicken bun. A white steamed bread with a filling of chicken, eggs and onions. This felt totally weird on my taste buds. Just then around the corner I spotted the soup stand - near a wholesale flower shop! But me and hubby were too full already with so much rice items so early in the day. Our friend though got hold of a pork roll and with that we called off the expedition and headed back home.

Chicken buns being steamed

Hoping next Sunday we encounter better breakfast. Signing off with a few more images of the morning breakfast bazaar, pics courtesy hubby and our friend.