‘Mumbai is synonymous with pav': How Mumbai haunts are adding gourmet fillings

Updated On: 18 January, 2024 10:30 AM IST | Mumbai | Nascimento Pinto

Mumbaikars love their pav and there is nothing that can replace it. Over the years, this very essence of the pav has evolved from being stuffed with vadas, samosas and bhajiyas to gourmet fillings like soft shell crab, Kolhapuri Tambda Rassa and Chicken Xacuti too beyond the choris pao

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With pav being synonymous with Mumbai, Pack-A-Pav and Poie and Pao have experimented with a variety of Indian and international flavours in their pavs. Photo Courtesy: Pack-A-Pav/Poie and Pao

For Mumbaikar Sudeep Awchat, pav is synonymous with the city. “Mumbai and pav go hand in hand like bread and butter,” he says, continuing, “People have been eating it right from the 60s in the city, and then vada pav got famous and then omelette came in and people liked it. It has a great deep connection.” The 37-year-old is one of many Mumbaikars, who have a close affinity to pavs and a rich history with the city. However, that has slowly been changing as more and more Mumbai cafes and restaurants, and hole-in-the-wall food joints have been catering to an audience that is going beyond the classic vada pav and samosa to enjoy gourmet pavs, or simply put gourmet fillings in pavs.

With this love for pav, Sudeep and his brother Acash started Poie and Pao in Mahim in 2023, it was one of the newer yet fewer places to dedicate their menu solely to pavs that came with a variety of fillings. These are not the staples but also include the familiar choris pav, along with evolved flavours. Sudeep explains, “My mother Deepa is a true-blue Goan who hails from Mapusa and loves cooking. So, it was her recipes that we wanted to present in a more casual or fast-food format and what better way to do it than with a poee or a pav? It is synonymous with Goan and Mumbai cooking.” The Awchats wanted the fillings in the poees to be semi-dry so that people don’t get their hands messy but get the absolute flavours of Goa. Besides Goan, the café, which comes from the family that has given the city some of its most beloved restaurants including Goa Portuguesa, Diva Maharashtracha and Dakshin Culture Curry, also has some other flavours including Chettinad Chicken and Kolhapuri Tambda Rassa, among others on their menu.

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