Jai Jawan

I just went to this amazing place set in the midst of the Mumbai buzz - Jai Jawan. The one I am talking about is (what I would call) "the real one" - meaning the one off the side of the street with no chairs, a metal counter with the capacity of maybe (maybe) five people. The thing to get there is the prawns, sold by the kilo, and they are just absolutely stomach numbing. Basically, they make you want to eat them, stuff yourself brainless, then throw up a little to empty out the "ole tummy" just so you can repeat the process. I mean, I thought I wanted more after chowing my tandoori chicken and fried rawas and prawns. But really, what you are getting is a choice of four things on the menu - fried prawns (I would say the second best in Mumbai - first goes to Leopold's butter pepper garlic prawns - but I'll get to that later), fried rawas, tandoori chicken, and chicken tikka. All I would say are top notch - just seeing the huge 2 foot by 2 foot bucket of prawns (with the AMAZING masala-y covering), and then watching the "master fryer" plop those in the deep fry is enough to make you want to eat the guy taking orders at the front. It opens at 6:30, but, like what happened to me, expect to wait for thirty or so minutes, because apparently, "6:30" means "7:00" in the busy world of the shoe market street by KFC and Croma. I would say that Jai Jawan is a great place to stop for a quick bite or a take away order of 10 or so kilos of pure goodness - I know I'm gonna stop by for seconds.