“Where will we go when you have your next heartbreak?” asked my friend of 22 years as we trooped into Pao Chien, a Chinese restaurant tucked away in the bylanes of Hindustan Park, for what was to be our last meal there.
No, we weren’t leaving the city; Pao Chien was leaving us.
For anyone who has grown up in the Gariahat-Hindustan Park area in the last four decades there were certain things that were an integral part of life, especially when it came to food. While we are sure to get into a debate over which phuchkawala was better or who made the better aloo dum — the one next to Basanti Devi College or the one near Diagnostics or the one on the corner of Panditiya Road (Vivekananda Park was always for outsiders) — or if Maharani was overrated and Maharaja was the real thing, we would all have agreed wholeheartedly about some of the small restaurants that were our go-to. And Pao Chien was one of them.
The tables are still white and the chairs still red and you still have to pay with cash
The spartan white tables and red chairs are part of Pao Chien’s charm
At seven, Pao Chien was my first restaurant experience. I still remember walking to Pao Chien and pulling tables together so the 10 of us could sit. It was dimly lit, there was no air conditioning, the tables were white, the chairs were red and the elders paid with cash. Three decades later the interiors are still somewhat dimly lit, the tables are still white and the chairs still red and you still have to pay with cash. But we say it has become posh because now it has air conditioning and you can no longer smoke at your table.
Gravy Pork Chow and Dry Chilli Pork
I don’t remember what we used to order when we were young, but ever since I had money in my pocket and could pay for my own meal, which was in college, I have been ordering the same dishes — Gravy Pork Chow and Dry Chilli Pork. And I, along with many Pao Chien loyalists, will take on the hordes of new-gen cafe and restaurant goers, that is the best I have ever had. Just like we will fight to defend the momos of Bliss, or the coffee of what used to be South India Club, we will fight anyone who says otherwise about the Gravy Pork Chow and Dry Chilli Pork of Pao Chien.
Gravy Pork Chow and Dry Chilli Pork
My favourite meal combo costs Rs 570
But it is not just the people from the area who wax eloquent about this restaurant in the lane next to the Standard Chartered Bank ATM and the new Kookie Jar outlet (for us, anything less than 15 years old is new). Ask any shopper in Gariahat, be it during the Chaitra sale or before the Pujas, and they will have something good to say about Pao Chien. There is a reason why this restaurant thrived, despite not accepting cards. Especially because it is easy on the pocket. My favourite meal combo, and usually one plate is enough for two people (no one was brave enough to tackle one plate alone), costs Rs 570. Which munches down to Rs 285 per person.
The price point meant it was the go-to place to soak up excess alcohol after a night of partying, or ordering in for a party. It also meant weeping into gravy chow after a heartbreak or crowing with delight about a particular triumph over chilli pork. Sometimes it also meant intense rebuke at home because you cannot eat a second dinner.
A Pao Chien packing box
Montu-da is not sure what the future holds for Pao Chien
But all this will soon just be memories because Pao Chien is shutting down after 40 years to make way for yet another multi-storeyed building.
Montu-da, who has been sitting at the Pao Chien counter for the last 25 years and knows his customers by face, is not sure what the future of the restaurant is. “We have been told that we will get a place here after a year-and-a-half. Other than that we have no idea,” said Montu-da. Some of the staff may get absorbed into the Hong Kong restaurant in Kankurgachi, which is owned by the same guys, but whether they will come back if Pao Chien at all reopens is anyone’s guess. And even if it does reopen in two years time it will hardly be familiar in new settings, with new people and maybe even new decor.
Montu-da sits behind the counter that proudly says ‘only cash’
Here’s hoping I don’t have a heartbreak any time soon
So here I am having to close yet another chapter of my childhood. I felt the loss of the South India Club and the early morning breakfast nearly as keenly, no matter how posh and happening Roastery Coffee House is.
So, as I bid a fond farewell to Pao Chien, with a plate of Gravy Pork Chow, Dry Chilli Pork and a glass of Thums Up, I am left pondering about my friend’s question. Here’s hoping I don’t have a heartbreak any time soon.