This diner in Bandra is just perfect for Parsi baos

The bao box that will be on offer

It's a catchy name - Bao Wah - and serves as a pun to boot. The reason is that the person who started the brand, Shahriyar Atai, is of Parsi descent, or a bawa (easy to get, that one). That's why the fillings he puts in between the baos he serves are inspired by the community's cuisine. So, you have Irani chicken keema and salli murg bao for example, which - despite a growing number of places serving steamed buns with sundry fillings - make for rare treats in the city.

But patrons who now drop by New York City Diner (NYCD) in Bandra stand a chance of laying their hands on one since Atai has teamed up with Meldan D'Cunha, NYCD's owner, to start a permanent live counter there. The baos that will be whipped up include more than just the white variety made using flour and yeast. There's a yellow one made of turmeric and desiccated coconut. A green one's made with spinach. And beetroot forms the basis for a red one. "But there's a classic white version as well," Atai tells us, which is presumably for patrons who are relatively less adventurous.

Meldan D'cunha and Shahriyar Atai

He adds that he is probably the first person in the world who's made Parsi-filling baos. "Steamed buns are a concept that started in China, when they didn't have ovens to bake their bread in. We've taken that same idea and given it a Parsi twist. So, there is the Irani chicken keema one, garnished with boiled onions. Then there's a bao filled with Parsi-style chicken vindaloo and served with chips. The salli murgi bao has salli boti [a classic Parsi dish]. And I have also added a chicken peri peri one since people tend to like that, apart from a Chinese Szechwan version," Atai says.

The collaboration, he adds, came about after his wife put up a video on social media that featured a Bao Wah stall that was part of Chembur Food Festival, held about three weeks earlier. D'cunha saw the post and approached Atai with the idea of joining hands. And that phone call has now led to people getting easy access to a dish that - despite its Chinese origins - is emblematic of this city, too. For, think about it. What we have here is essentially a piece of sliced bread with Parsi fillings.
Doesn't that capture the essence of Mumbai in one bite?

At New York City Diner, ONGC Colony, Reclamation, Bandra West.
Time 12 pm to 11 pm
Call 9820282522
Cost Rs 195 for a box of four veg or non-veg baos

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