Come along for a bite to this restaurant that is home to the humble Indian slider with a superstar makeover, says Ipshita Sharma. Hello O’ Pao!

You may have hamburgers and BTS meals, but all us Indians want is a genuine #vadapao and we’re happy bunnies. This slider is the go-to breakfast for a million Mumbaikars with a fried potato dumpling being the most popular option available on every street corner famously called a Vada Pao.

Tell a Bombay girl to review a restaurant called O’Pao and you can be assured that she will go slightly nuts with excitement. Add in the pandemic factor of her not having had access to the ‘real’ vada pao for more than two years and it’s going to be a miracle the girl survives till review day comes along!

O’Pao is a small restaurant tucked in one of the bylanes of #Karama that does incredible delivery business. They are now however offering some incredible dine-in options as well. One of the options that jumped out at me at the entrance was an offer of 6 AED for butter Maggi! If that isn’t the way to a homesick girl’s heart, I don’t know what is.

But we were there for the paos and we went all in. We tried the paneer makhni pao, the butter chicken pao, the triple schezuan chicken pao, the mutton khicha pao, the vada pao and the cheeseburst vada pao. We also had to try the mutton keema fries because we have always coveted the chili fries that beef-eaters can have. We also tried the okra and kanda bhajjis on the recommendation of the server. We washed all this down with masala chai and masala ThumsUp.

Now for the details.

The makhni pavs, paneer and chicken had the exact same sauce, which we suppose is not too surprising, but they were delicious. The not-desi members of the review committee loved the lower spice levels.

The Mutton khicha pao and the mutton keema fries were sublime and definitely worth a visit.

The Triple schezuan chicken pao just didn’t feel schezuan-y at all. The spice levels here definitely need some amp-ing up.

The chai was a bit overboiled for our taste but the masala ThumsUP was nothing short of magic!

The cheeseburst vada pao was a bit of a let down. While we are BIG cheese lovers, there just wasn’t enough of the potato in the pao. So the plain vada pao was actually so much soulful and the perfect bite.

We have to make special mention of the chutney and masalas that were very yummy. The okra bhajjis were also a total standout.

Overall, we would definitely go back, especially with their fantastic AED 49 all-you-can-eat promo. Looks like they might need to expand soon!

Good – great prices and great tastes right out of India

Bad – cheeseburst pao and masala chai missed the mark

Trendy – Sliders that brings all the different desi flavours to life are just the thing when you’re bored of the usual burgers with nothing but mayonnaise and ketchup.

Say Hello to Ipshita on @ipshieyesdubai