For Mumbaikar Sudeep Awchat, pav is synonymous with the city. With this love for pav, Sudeep and his brother Acash started Poie and Pao in Mahim in 2023, it was one of the newer yet fewer places to dedicate their menu solely to pavs that came with a variety of fillings.

Their mother Deepa is a true-blue Goan who hails from Mapusa and loves cooking. So, it was her recipes that they wanted to present in a more casual or fast-food format. The family, which is known for giving the city some iconic restaurants like Goa Portuguesa, Diva Maharashtracha and Dakshin Culture Curry, thought the best way to do it is by putting it in pav. 

Some of the favourites are the Chicken Cafreal, Chorizo and Xacuti along with Veg Xacuti and Chettinad, which are liked by the vegetarians. They also have Chettinad Chicken and Kolhapuri Tambda Rassa, among others on their menu. In December, they also added chicken cutlet and mutton cutlet in the pav, and serve it with a delicious mint coleslaw.

Long before Poie and Pao, Rohan Mangalorkar started Pack-A-Pav in 2014 because of his love for street food. Since he always wanted to do something in the food space, the Mumbaikar visited many bakeries and tried the breads but realised how there is nothing like the laadi pav. The menu also has his mom’s recipes. While 60 per cent of it is from home, the other 40 per cent, they had to innovate once the number of outlets increased.

Seeing the popularity of street-side shops like hole-in-the-wall spaces  getting a beeline outside them abroad, he wanted to create something similar here. Avoiding a sandwich shop-like space, he found a 40 sq ft hole-in-wall space in Bandra to cater to people with his unique offering. Today, apart from the Soft-Shell crab pav, the Mutton Shammi Pav, which they have had for 10 years now, is really popular.

They also do a version of the classic Vada Pav. Mangalorkar days they take the potato and stuff it with paneer and cheese inside, and the masala put in the vada. It is like an aloo tikki stuffed with paneer, onion, garlic and garam masala. So, when you bite into it, it is chatpata and is a burst of paneer and cheese inside. It is popular among the vegetarians. While there are some innovations, there are some preparations like the classic Irani Chicken that Mangalorkar still relies on making at home to get the original taste.