one of my ex-colleagues brought a bag of samosas with us on our flight to mumbai. I suggested surely the samosas would be better in Mumba but he thought the stores around iselin were making excellent samosa.
Iselin stores now make food adapted to NJ indian diaspora palates. Eating samosas in Mumbai at the moment, there’s really no comparison 
But… maybe he really wanted samosas on the flight 
That was probably it, he had a bag on the flight home too! We had a couple of great restaurant samosas in Mumbai but he really missed going to the street vendors.
We’ve probably spoken about this, his body lost the ability to digest street food. Still, every couple of trips he suffers through getting sick. I was tempted to join him once but he said I’d die 
I’ve had the samosas a couple of times from the doaba deli, pretty good!
Street food is a broad term, and a lot of stuff gets included that isn’t actually only available from street carts. For eg I’ve eaten more samosas from from a sweet shop which also makes fried savories, from a snack shop, and so on.
Tbh I’ve never really eaten samosas off a street cart, or even seen them sold that way in Mumbai — usually there’s a guy sitting with a giant kadhai/wok outside sweet shops or dairies (milk / tea shop).
Batatawadas (spiced potato balls coated in chickpea batter) however, are quintessential Mumbai street food, and non-street versions don’t often come close.
Re not being able to digest, I don’t eat anything with liquid (like chutney) outside, nor anything raw (fruit, salad, condiments). Other than that, it’s fine, especially when cooked. But I am fast and loose with digestive enzyme supplements when I eat anything I think might put me over!
when I traveled in India with my daughter, who just finishing up a second long stay in Calcutta (Jr Year Abroad, then Fulbright), she wouldnt take me anywhere for pani puri until the last day and we did not go to Paranthe Wali Gali in Delhi til the last week because of her caution with street food for my sake. I was sorry not to see more fresh stuff (chutneys etc) served in restaurants on the trip but I understood why. I hope this has become more possible since that time (2007)
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As time has passed, the Hawker Market has become far less busy. I think it intimidates a lot of people with unfamiliar food. I’ve been dropping in every couple of weeks and have noticed the early crowds are gone. The tourists I see often seem confused about what to try.
Went for lunch today. Got the fish and chips. The fish was an entire filet. Huge. Really well fried. Crispy but moist on the inside. The chips were some battered type and tasted okay but the fry job wasn’t great as many of them were stuck together. There was a weird coleslaw that had a very sweet flavor that I think came from what I think were sliced grapes. The tartar sauce was amazing. Overall excellent fish, the rest was ok but hold the coleslaw.
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Is that Jakarta Munch vendor open at all? I’d like to wax nostalgic with the owners, but I’m not always in town.
Thanks
They do seem finally to have opened since my most recent, November, visit to the food hall.
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