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Eating in Pune |
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Appa's
Canteen or Deccan Gymkhana Tea Stall
On Laxmi Puja Day, most popular restaurants in Pune are
closed. And surprisingly Appa's Canteen is closed too! When
the Pune Life Style team went to meet the management of
the Appa Canteen, the Bhat family was busy preparing for
the Laxmi Puja in the evening.
Yes they are all fine and the place remains EXACTLY the
way it was when we had featured the Appa Canteen on this
very site in the year 2000! Nothing surprising actually
beause the place has been that way for almost 60 years now!
We
reproduce the same story here ... simply because NOTHING
has changed. And sometimes when things remain the same we
can do little but thank the Gods for it! So here we go to
Appa Canteen!
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Ramchandra
Nagesh Bhat
or Appa.
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"Annadatta"
is what the late Pu La Deshpande called Ramchandra Nagesh
Bhat or as he is known to all - Appa !
"I am 81 years old and my memory plays tricks with me
these days!" says he, "I have spent my entire life
here, I can remember when I initially came to the Deccan Gymkhana
canteen, there were no lights here and even Lakdi Pool had
lanterns at 4.00 a.m. that was in 1945." |
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For a spartan and extraordinarily simple joint to get such
an awesome reputation appears contradictory; especially
in times when a plethora
of new restaurants keep offering new cuisine and fiddle
with their decor and theme only to taste the same!
Actually, Puneites were not really the ones to eat out for
decades ! Till things and lifestyles changed some time in
the 1970s. For more than half a century this man Appa used
to reach his canteen at 4.00 in the morning and then cycle
off to Mandai to buy vegetables, back to the canteen to
keep steaming hot idlis or a sabudana khichdi ready for
breakfast.
Many of my regulars are now NRIs in the USA who often write
in and also send me their photographs" reminesces Appa.
For a small restaurant, to hold its own against such winds
of change is no mean feat and somewhere the self effacing
Bhat family deserves the credit.
|
Appa
with sons Shrikant & Shashikant. |
For
many a generation of Puneites this place has been a regular
favourite! In times, when it is getting difficult to get a
taste of authentic Indian food few and far are establishments
like Appa which manage to maintain a tradition with taste.
"The 1961 Panshet flood is a horrifying memory"
he recalls, "everything got washed off and I had to literally
begin from scratch !" |
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And
he did rebuild everything "Many people helped me here
and it is because of such support that I continued."
His canteen is probably the only place in the world that
refuses to change. "I have retained everything, from
the furniture to the menu ... nothing has changed."
Appa smiles!
It is indeed anachronistic in so many ways; for genuine
Punekars it is also an elevating feeling that in this mad
world of change, some good old things remain the same, like
the Khichdi Kakdi in Appa's
canteen!
|
The
Interiors of Appa Canteen,
Functional as it can be! |
The
Coke sign! |
Appa's
canteen and Coca Cola share a long relationship. A sticker
that dates back to 1954. Another placard from 1974 just
before Coke had to wind up operations in India. " I
have sold Coke for One Rupee in 1974, in fact, for 90 paise
... loose change was a problem. Today, I sell it for Rs.12
!" adds Shrikant Bhat, the elder second generation
Appa!
|
| Appa's
Canteen Menu Card |
| Day |
Time |
Menu |
| Monday |
Morning |
Sabudana
Khichadi + Kakadi, Dosa, Shira. |
| Evening |
Dahi
Wada, Batata Wada, Masale Wada, Dosa, Tomato Omelette,
Bhaji, Kachori (stopped since 1992 but available against
orders).The evening menu has remained unchanged for
each and EVERY DAY for just about 60 years !
And is the same every evening to date. |
| Tuesday |
Morning |
Upeet,
Wada Sambar, Dosa, Sheera. |
| Wednesday |
Morning |
Idli
Sambar with Shev, Kanda Pohe, Shira. |
| Thursday |
Morning |
Sabudana
Khichdi Kakdi, Dosa, Sheera |
| Friday |
Morning |
Idli
Sambar (started in 1957 by demand)
+ Upeet. |
| Saturday |
Morning |
Sabudana
Khichdi Kakdi, Sheera, Dosa. |
| Sunday |
Morning |
Idli
Sambar, Kanda Pohe. |
| Matar
Usal with slice is available round the year. |
|
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Appa's
patrons ... over the years.
The late Shakuntala Paranjpye & her father Wrangler
Paranjpye.
Collector Gharpure, ICS Godbole, ICS Dhavale, Dr.Modak,
Dr. Lonkar, L.D.Bhave, Dnyaneshwar Agashe ... and many other
prominent Puneites.
Cultural icons like the legendary Balgandharva, Hirabai
Badodekar, Raja Paranjape, ...
Prominent sports personalities like Ramanathan Krishnan,
his son Ramesh Krishnan, Sashi Menon, Nandan Bal, Sujay
Ghorpade and of course the original billiards champion Wilson
Jones.
Cricketers
visiting Appa is the done thing ... when he has fixed Sabudana
Khichdis, for a list of famous patrons like : the scion
of cricket in Pune the late D.B.Deodhar & Nana Joshi.
In
the early eighties when Sunil Gavaskar was brushing up his
technique with the now late Kamal Bhandarkar he was a regular
visitor too ! Not to mention the entire current crop of
young Maharashtra cricketers.
If you are a Puneite and familiar with Appa's Canteen
- you need no invitation. For neo Punekars and good old
visitors - a visit here is always
a must!
Do
check it out ...
Appa's Canteen Or Deccan Gymkhana Tea Stall
Next to the Billiards Department, Deccan Gymkhana,
PUNE 411 004.
Timings :
Mornings 8 a.m. to 11.p.m. Evenings 4 p.m.
to 7.30 p.m.
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Simla Office !!!
ExpressionS