Abdul Lateef Paya Shop

There are many reasons for me to believe that the Sheekh Kebab sold to me outside Russell Market, in one of the many beef stalls outside the abattoir, was in fact grilled turd. Most importantly, it looked like and tasted like it belonged in toilet bowl. As far as turds go, it was a pretty good one. Shapely, firm, textured. Probably even worth a 12-minute discussion on a forum dedicated to turds. But as far sheekhs go, it was disgusting. 

 

It had occurred to me that the vigour with which I was being propositioned to come hither in the direction of the inconspicuous stall and consume said sheekh was tad on the aggressive side, but I brushed aside my doubts in favour of a potential slant that had Anti-Modi slogans written all over it. Earlier in the day, the Ouife had already scared me off a little with a “Modi gon’ shut down all dem beef joints down, boi!” curse, and hence I thought I should make amends for Saffron success and partake in a friendly feast with the gents from Shivajinagar. Kones had mentioned to me that there was a guy outside Russell Market who sold a fantastic phal whose wares ran out in a couple of hours, but I think I got the directions wrong and I paid for it.

After nibbling on a few pieces of the purged sheekh, I needed a walk to get my wits straight and to get that god-awful taste out of my mouth. That’s when I came across “Abdul Lateef Paya Shop” and found myself flush (pun intended) with excitement. Could I have stumbled upon a gem here? I visited them this Sunday to find out.

Abdul Lateef Paya Shop opens at 5:30 AM every morning and closes a little before 9 AM. I reached there at around 7 AM and by then, they were already pretty much running out of Paya. Keeping in mind that the only thing on the menu here is Paya, I think a safe bet is to be here by 630 AM. Maybe the crowds are slightly less at this time. At 7 AM, the place was jam packed and I had to wait for a good 10 minutes to shove my way in and find a place to sit amidst a dozen un-cleared plate of trotter bones. 15 minutes later I was served one roti and a good 10 minutes after that I received my Paya.

Now, I have a confession to make. I’m not a very big fan of trotter soup. The texture and colour of the meat is slightly off-putting and the slime factor can get a little intense. This one however, was really good. The soup was well flavoured and not too spicy with a strong brothy taste that can only be got from simmering over extended periods of time. The roti or idiappam that you can choose is pretty good to sponge up all that delectableness and the trotters themselves are cooked to perfection. A hearty brekka if I may say so myself. Free refills of the soup ensure that you don’t feel the need for another plate of trotters just to stuff up on broth.

It’s strange that no one talks about this place actually. I’ve heard of nice paya guys in Cox Town, Banashankari and even City, but it looks like Abdul Lateef is a well-kept secret. From the outside, it looks like his shop has been around a while and the burgeoning crowds are proof enough of his tasty goat feet.

Either ways, don’t eat the sheekh outside Russell Market without a health faucet.