Come Saturday and the one place I want to head off to for breakfast is Pune’s very own Bipin’s!! I won’t be surprised if you haven’t ever heard of it. It’s literally a hole-in-the-wall place, but the food it doles out is simply mind blowing! It specializes in Indian breakfast items such as Poha, Sabudana, Batata Wada, Pattice etc and fresh, piping hot ones at that! I am an out-and-out English breakfast person normally, but this place has changed my mind.
The most popular dish here would probably be the Sabudana Khichdi. I am not a lover of Sabudana Khichdi especially because most places disappoint, with the almost-gluey-elastic Sabudana giving my jaws a hard time! But not here. The Khichdi itself is just perfectly cooked to be super soft. But what’s different here, is the accompaniment it gets. The dish is actually “Kakdi Khichdi”. So they serve Kakdi Raita with the Khichdi. And they are just perfect for each other! The cold slightly-sweet Kakdi wonderfully complements the HOT mildly-spicy Khichdi. It’s a Jodi made in heaven, trust me!
If you’ve had the Indori Poha ever, you would agree that Poha in Pune falls short of its counterpart. But once again, this place surprises me. The Poha is soft & delicious, served with a garnish of grated coconut and a green chutney of chillies. The chutney again is probably a dish EVERY eatery in Pune has, and yet, the balance this guy manages to give it is found lacking in most other places.
We also went in for the Bata Wada-Sample combo, and although superlicious, go for it with a brave heart!! It is HOT and SPICY, staying true to the Puneri Sample standards!
Lastly, we had the Bread Pattice, which is basically bread stuffed with a potato mix, dipped in besan and then deep fried. Again, with a stylish twist one wouldn’t expect from such a small place, it is garnished with onions, green chutney and coconut that elegantly manages to elevate the taste of this simple dish.
Although we didn’t have it this time, they also have Sooji Sheera. I found it a little too sweet with a little too much ghee for my taste. But I would recommend you give it a try! They also have sandwiches, juice, tea, coffee, idli sambar.
Service here is super fast, but don’t get too late heading out as they run out of the dishes pretty soon cz of the huge crowd. Reaching around 8 would I think be perfect, and definitely not later than 10:30. Also, do note the place is closed on Sundays. The one negative about this place would just be that there’s no place to eat as such. You have to stand on the footpath and the place is so popular that there’s generally no place. We eat in the car but finding parking space too is a bit of a fuss as the place is on the side of a busy main road. So just think it through or if you can, get it packed to enjoy the delicious food in the comfort of your home!
And if by some chance the food doesn’t appeal to you, there are places next door serving yummy dosas and cold sugarcane juice, so you won’t come back disappointed! Do try this place, especially in the rains. Nothing beats the feel of piping hot yummy food in the beautiful monsoons of Pune..Ahh..La Dolce Vita!
My Ratings:
Ambience : 1/5 ; Service : 5/5 ; Food : 4/5 ; Pocket Friendly : 5/5
Very well written!
Thanks a lot Shukla! Do leave your comments for my other posts as well, would love to know how I can improve 🙂