Dining by the wayside

Tasty corner

It is said that a city is known by its food. It’s not just the plush and posh restaurants that one is looking at, even the smaller wayside eateries serve tasty food that work out quite cheap on the pocket. These tiny eateries offer a cup of tea for Rs 3 or a plate of snacks for Rs 10 and they have their loyalists who swear by the food. These places indirectly add a lot of flavour to any City.

Some skeptics may dub wayside eateries as unhygienic but they serve among the tastiest food. Says Sarah, a student, “Of course, the cleanliness matters a lot. But we can’t be pretentious and say that we will never eat from such stalls. There are many vendors who take care about the hygiene. They use disposable plates and also make food with gloves on.”  This is the best bet for most of the college students. Adds Sarah, “You have a variety of options and you can find them almost everywhere. These make up for the small joys, which the big restaurants don’t offer.”

These eating joints give one the opportunity to have fun with friends while not having to worry too much about maintaining a certain decorum, which most of the restaurants expect diners to have. Even Hemanth agrees, “It is the taste that matters. The best part about eating at such places is that you get to enjoy a certain level of freedom which you can’t do at these big posh places.”

The big IT companies have food bays right inside their office premises. But a few working professionals do not mind forgoing these luxurious options for a cup of tea or a quick bite of snack from small chai stalls. Says Vineeth, who works in an IT firm, “We have these stalls right outside our office and we go there every time we get a smoke break. They sell very good snacks. And we can benefit from the walk and the fresh air too.”

The City has many of these stalls and carts selling chaats, corn, fruits and what not. But with the cost factor comes the hygiene that’s just as important. Says Amanda, “I don’t regularly go to these places unless I’m in the mood for chaats or pani puri. More importantly, if I find a place which is clean, I don’t mind. Otherwise it’s a big ‘no’.”

However there are others who just do not want to try out the food at these places for various reasons. As Crystle, a financial analyst says, “I am not much of a chaat lover. So these places are just not my choice.”