Good addresses for Meetha paan

dillichaat

Greetings to all Dilliwallas/wallis!

I recently started taking meetha paan after the occasional heavy meal and am always looking for good addresses as quality varies dramatically (had a couple of truly excellent ones and also a couple that were inedible).

Good experiences:
- the paan wallah in front of moti mahal restaurant at malcha marg market, Chanakyapuri...delicious at 15 Rs.
- the one at Jor Bagh market also does a very good job imho, same price.

Have to add that at other places I also had a couple atrocious ones with betel nut pieces hard as stone and virtually no flavor although these were generally cheaper (7 Rs).

I'd be very interested in finding out other addresses where according to your discerning palates, paan is truly excellent. Perferably in south delhi but I'm willing to trek to old delhi to get my fix if it's worth it. If prices are significantly higher than 15 Rs, please say so, I don't want to look like a fool by starting an argument there.

Technical question: are you supposed to start chewing right away? I usually lodge the packet between my cheek and teeth and let the flavor leah out for the first half hour or so.

Also, I have some visitors coming in next weekend (1st time in India), would it be safe for them to try?

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delhiwala

Yamu's Panchayat at Out Circle, Connaught Place is a clean and high end place for Paan.....

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suricate

Let me beg your pardon at the outset, because what I'm going to
suggest may not be useful right now, ... may be someday!

Since you seem to be crazy enough for paan, why limit yourself to
old Delhi? Why not trek down all the way to Kolkata, to try the
famous paan shop "Kalpataru" at College Square . Dignitaries
from all over India are known to have patronized the shop,
including at least one President! There are many photos hanging
on the wall as proof. There costliest paan "Badshahi" ("fit for
an Emperor") was some 20 times as costly as a basic paan.

About the safety aspect of paan chewing, you probably don't need
to worry about the visitors because it is likely to be an one off
event. But paan chewing is definitely linked to oral cancer.
"The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) regards
betel nut to be a known human carcinogen". One could also choke
on the betel nut juice (I did). "Children have also been known to
choke to death on betel nut". Here is a link that you may find useful.

http://www.eatoutzone.in/Betel_Nut.htm

brishti

i have no idea of the exact location - but its was around midnight - somewhere in CP - huge lit up paan shop.
the embellished paan was the size of mutton chops.

and if in calcutta - the paan shop adjoining 'kwality's' on park street.



nothing quite like a good meetha paan with a wills after a meal!
:brishti

delhiwala

Most probably it was Yamu's......

shashank.aggarwal

The concept of Yamu is good, but its not that popular.

And Brishti says it was midnight, so it cannot be Yamu's.

This is the shop on the connecting roads between Inner and outer circle. I guess near erstwhile Odeon Cinema.

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delhiwala

May be you are right... I am not much into Paan....

tilak2909

in daryaganj there is one shop "Prince Pan Shop" it is also very famous

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delhiSIX

The Pan wallah's next to Odeon(Big Adlabs) are good,I would recomend Gupta Pan shop.You can try both fresh and raedy made ones.
The pan shop behind Claridges is also good and famous.
Prince Pan shop has now many shops,but personaly I dont like his pans.Yamu's pan shop is also not that good.
I would sugegst you to try Sada pan on either Banarsi or desi patta,with wet supari,lacha,chutney,cardamom and black supari,it's betetr than meetha pan.You can also ask your pan wallah to add baba saffron chutney inlieu os teh regular chutneys,flavour is good...but pan wallah's generaly charge premium for Baba chutney.

delhiwala

Og DelhiSIX,

You seem to be a Paan Afficinado....

shashank.aggarwal

Even I love my occasional pan. Sada paan from a paan Shop in east Patel Nagar. I do not like anyone elses paan.

There is a shop selling chocolate paans near Libeerty Cinema, and unlike many other chocolate pan rip off, this is the real deal, where choco chips go in the paan, then its dipped in Molten chocolate and frozen after than.

capt_mahajan

Apologies to everybody, but I always feel like a cow chewing cud when I eat paan.

Now getting out of here, quick.

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Outside the machine

jyotirmoy

This year at a stall in the Minto Bridge Puja Pandal I found dried meetha Pan being sold in pouches, I remember having seen these at a store in some part of London, I don't remember in which locality.
During my childhood I had seen the ladies in our joint family sit down and make paan for the day. In those days the menfolk used to carry a metal box which looked like a book. Inside it had compartments to house various ingredients like betel nuts, lime, katha, cardamoms, zarda etc. and the centre compartment was bigger where paan leaves used to be stored wrapped in wet cloth.

Now can anyone tell me why most of the paan shops in Delhi are owned by Chourasias?

rsk11584

Then you come to Aurangabd and visit the famous TARA PAN CENTRE, having PAN ranging from 10 to 35000 rs.

jyotirmoy

Rs.35000 for a paan??????? What does it contain? In early 60's certain pan shops in Kolkata sold pans containing Cocaine at exhorbiant price but Rs.35000!!!!!!