Mumbai Chowk

Get this hankering for good street food from Bombay every once in a while. There is a solution to the problem now - sort of. A couple from Mumbapuri trained in the fine art of butchering and skewering and mixing and frying set up shop in a burb in Silicon Valley. Place is called Mumbai Chowk - meaning the town square from Bombay - an unassuming location in an even more unassuming stretch of strip mall like those that invade all of suburban America. This one is on the once edge of the bay where the marshes met land. It is in a town called Newark..yeah we got one on the left coast too. It too is populated by a lot of creatures from the Indian subcontinent and esp those that get that hankering once in a while. So we researched, we mapped, we came. The familia that is - for lunch. We sampled a bunch of things from kababs to Pav Bhaji to Hakka Noodles. Pot Pourri of the street foods and it was meager to sumptuous depending on what you ordered and tasted from titilating to party in the mouth good. Shrimp Koliwada was literally eight pieces of shrimp covered in a batter that tasted like powdered chakli flour. Curious taste I thought and not much to loiter on...the kid actually called it - she indicated it tasted like one of those squiggly foods from India not having memorized the term Chakli. But that was good to see her memorize a foreign taste through a shape association. Then we moved on to Pav Bhaji which by far was the best of all the foods we sampled. Truly tangy and spicy all at the same time - with that crispy buttery Pav (piece of bread that resmebles a bun except more crisp on the outside and fluffy and oily on the inside. A true heart attack diet. After slurping this we then stepped out and strolled to what we discovered next door was an authentic mercado. Right there in the heart of Si Valley - largish supermarket catering to the folks south of our borders. Complete with a eat in food court serving the likes of Menudo (pig intestine soup) to Ceviche (sea food salsa) to fresh grilled Tilapia and a host of tacos and condiments. Then there was a huge bakery to crank out all kinds of cookies and pies and scone like goodies also on site and we helped ourselves to some really amazing pineapple and coconut cakes as well as some fish tacos for later. All in all it was a worthwhile endeavor which was wrapped up by getting some paneer wraps in Fremont at a local grocery store that has recently started selling these rolls (apparently by a Kolkata trained chef) along with the usual grocer like items. Tucking away treats from India and Mexico in the tummy in an afternoon while cruising the sun drenched valley in the USA - not bad at all.