What do ‘Volvo’, ‘Bheeman’, ‘Paper egg butter’, ‘Navanandana’, ‘Duck Lasoon’ and ‘Ruby Pai’ have in common ? Seemingly unrelated? Not until you visit the famed ‘Pai Brothers Thattukada’ in Cochin (Kochi or Ernakulam). These all different dosas among the fast food joint’s 36 varieties of dosas. The only place in the world one can get such varied types of dosas.
Spending the New Year night away from home meant more travels for us in 2010. Without planning for it, in 2011 New Year also we were not at our home. Hopefully this year also, we will be footloose.
The first dinner of 2011 was in a ‘Thattukada’. The word roughly translates into ‘roadside eatery’. The word ‘Thattukada’ apparently has found its way to the Oxford dictionary as well.
Pai’s thattukada is something we have been hearing for the past 20 odd years or so but never got the chance to check out the place during our visits to Kochi. Year 2011 was when we finally got to go there.
With 36 varieties of dosas, it will take many visits to taste at least some of them. Pai community is traditionally vegetarian but the joint offers egg dosas including duck and quail. Some of the items in the menu have funny names: thattil kutty dosa, volvo, bheeman roast, etc. For our New Year dinner, we relished navadhanya (nine grains) roast, egg dosa and ruby Pai dosa.
What started as a small roadside eatery has become a crowded fast food joint tucked away in Pai Brothers Lane in MG Road. Open from 10 am to 1 am, Pai Brothers Fast Food is reasonably neat and moderately priced.
I agree with PNS. Even I saw that board but for tasting all those varieties will take ages. And I generally go for my standard choices.
Anyhow, the place looks good for roadside eating joint. 🙂
Quite interesting. 36 varieties did you say.
Makes me want to plan a trip there. The Pais are not totally vegetarian. They belong to the fish-eating otherwise vegetarian clan! Wonder what the volvo dosa is all about – marked as a special item, must have some special ingredients too.
good pics
food looks tasty
Interesting. Incidentally in between Centre One and Navi Mumbai Railway Station I came across a restaurant offering more than 100 varieties of Dosas! There was a signage to that effect. I did not venture to taste them as my belly was full.