Vada pav @ Bundobust
First Floor, 17–19 Bold St, Liverpool, L1 4DN
The first branch of Bundobust, a small chain of casual veggie / vegan Indian street food restaurants, opened in Leeds. But, like most things, it’s better in Liverpool.
Located on the first floor above a couple of busy shopfronts on Bold Street, Bundobust Liverpool is a popular spot with visitors, students and locals alike. It’s also so vast inside that you can almost always get a seat at one of its bench tables even if you have five or six other people in tow.
On tap are a selection of beers from Bundobust’s own craft brewery as well as pints and cans from local producers. As a no-class lager drinker most of this goes over my head, but I can say their Dhania coriander pilsner is a lovely drop and a great match for anything on the menu.
And that menu? A selection of chaat, bhajis and other snacks almost all of which are faultlessly delicious. Highlights include the masala filled paratha served with a cosmically tangy achar pickle, the paneer tikka kebab and the Gobi Manchurian (an Indo-Chinese dish of cauliflower and mushroom pakoras in a bracingly hot and sour sauce) — all fantastic.
Get as much of it to share as you think you and your dining party can manage (this is the art of social eating, this is small plates supremacy) but make sure to get one thing all to yourself; the Vada Pav.
The Vada Pav — a deep-fried, spiced mashed potato ball in a bun — is by now pretty ubiquitous on Indian street food pop-up menus, but this is the best version I’ve tried. The fried potato is as round and as big as a cricket ball and perfectly crisp on the outside; the red and green chutneys are sweet and hot respectively. I don’t know that the glazed brioche-like bun is strictly ‘authentic’, but it really works. Excellent.
