Cornershop
10.00 a.m.
Just Around The Corner
Bandra/Mumbai
Breakfast for two: Rs 150-200

Breakfast has never been a priority for this correspondent as far as meals go. But then when you are politely told (in other words ordered) by your boss to find a decent breakfast joint in the city, it makes sense putting in the effort into finding a place that makes the sacrifice of my deep slumber seem worthwhile.

So I found myself heading to a bylane in Bandra, looking for St. Theresa's Boys High School. Why the school? Because it is right opposite Just Around The Corner (JATC), and I had been told that this is where I would find breakfast paradise in this megapolis.

The eatery, with white and aqua walls, boasts being one of the first to introduce an 'American Style' breakfast to the city, and hints of Americana can be seen everywhere that you look, with posters of Hollywood greats gazing down on you from the walls.

Once inside, it's easy to forget where you are. They say that if the food is good, the ambience shouldn't matter, but in this case it is the ambience that makes one go back for more. The huge arches and the all-glass walls make you forget that you are still in a busy, traffic-infested suburb of Mumbai. Despite it being the perfect place to grab a quick bite, JATC also doubles up as an eatery where one can spend hours nursing a coffee and catching up on one's reading.

But the ostensible reason I have been sent here is the food, and the food is what makes JATC really great. There are various combo meals on offer, but the best option is the one that has sausages, bacon, hash browns, toast and eggs to order. The stuffed omelette is enough to send you to foodie heaven, even as the other items on the menu live up to the reputation of being part of the best American breakfast in the city. And best of all, for late risers like yours truly, the breakfast carries on till 11 in the morning.

If that doesn't work for you, the pancakes, dripping with melted butter and maple syrup, are enough to make one drool. The only disappointment is that there was no 'all-you-can-eat' option, but then again, after reading what my colleague had to say at the end of his culinary excursion, maybe that is a good thing after all.

-Priyanka Ssangani

Delhi Yankee
9.30 a.m.
All American Diner
India Habitat Centre/Lodhi Road
Breakfast for two: Rs 400-500

I was told that to be a decent food writer, I must commune with the food. Bellyflop with arms wide open into a sea of maple syrup. Hmm, that would be quite a sticky situation. I would rather have done a bellyflop into the Laphroaig distillery. But I'll try nonetheless.

Breakfast is not a meal that I usually take very seriously; I like communing with my pillow. A lot. Still, food is something that I do like, maybe even more than sleeping. If gluttony is a sin, I'll use the Nuremberg defence, "I was ordered to be a glutton." Well, at least in this case.

One of the first things I learnt when I went into a kitchen was how to make eggs. My best efforts at frying an egg sunny-side up led to abject failure, which in this case meant scrambled eggs. I have no hesitation in saying that I love eggs. It is a relationship that has blossomed over the years, cholesterol be damned.

That in itself is a good reason to wake up early and head to the All American Diner. The Betty Boop and Popeye posters on the wall might be a bad throwback to pre-World War II animation, but a plate full of eggs, sausages, bacon, pancakes and potato hash is a good salve to make your mind forget.

You forget the downsides of the place that you are eating in, like the fantastically clear tables, a lack of fat jovial men working the skillet and sitting next to a bunch of old retired men discussing politics. They might call it the All American Diner, but no matter how much I tried, the memory of a truck stop on the I-85 from New York to Boston played back in my head. Somehow, sitting next to big tattooed truck drivers eating greasy eggs and sausages in a dirty diner, seems more American to me.

That said, the food was great. Good food should not be ruined by conversation with others. Switch off your mobile phone and dig in, don't be gentle; the best thing about etiquette is the ability to forget it at times. Watching the maple syrup drip off the pancake as you pick it up with your fork is a sight to marvel at. Just don't do it for too long, else you might get a large dry-cleaning bill. And it was a damn good pancake too. Unfortunately, the sausages were a big let down; instead of getting big wholesome lumps of flesh, the little things I got did not qualify even as bite-sized.

Oh well, no wonder they have the 'Glutton Special'; it's an all-you-can-eat option on the menu and it runs from 7-11 in the morning. And God knows how much I ate. Forgive me Lord, for I have sinned. I should really go to confession; this love affair with eggs seems a bit peculiar.

-Kushan Mitra

Crowd Management
9.00 a.m.
MTR, Off Lal Bagh Road/Bangalore
Breakfast for two: Rs 50-100

The pell-mell on the bustling Lal Bagh Road pales in contrast to the bedlam inside the 80-year-old MTR anytime between 7.30 a.m. and 9 a.m. The crowd at this eatery, a legend in itself, is a revelation. While there's a foursome who've been eating their masala dosas and by-two coffee for the last 25 years, they jostle for space with an assortment of morning walkers, office goers, college students, pensioners and housewives in the race to get seated at this amazingly popular joint.

At MTR's rush hour, getting breakfast can often seem harder than running a full marathon. A waiter will make you wait in a crowded waiting room and let people in only when there are vacancies. Tables will, of course, be shared with complete strangers if you're alone or if it's just two of you and, of course, no menu cards are handed out. While there's a basic wooden board with everything listed, it's more likely that a waiter will give you high-speed recitation of the day's menu. It is not as if the menu is spectacular; its genius lies in its simplicity. It is simple and standard South Indian fare: idlis, dosas and vadas, and a couple of sweets like chandrahara and the inevitable coffee. If you are feeling adventurous, you could try the fresh fruit juice.

But when at MTR, do what people have done for generations-order the masala dosa. The key to the mtr masala dosa is its even spread, with just that right amount of masala and potato curry, along with another MTR oddity, the thimbleful of ghee. The friendly waiter, in a shirt and crumpled dhoti, will start shuffling around your table once you're done, lest you snooze and delay other waiting customers. Just before you're hustled out, quietly of course, no one will point a gun to your head to get you to leave, you must imbibe the mandatory coffee. Like all good South Indian joints, there's no instant cappuccino or mocha at hand here, just good ol' filter coffee. And to ensure that the feeling of nostalgia is complete, it is still served in silver tumblers.

-Rahul Sachitanand

A Bite Of The Dragon
6.00 a.m. to 8.00 a.m.
Sun-Yat-Sen Street/Kolkata's Old Chinatown
Breakfast for two: Rs 50-60

It's not your regular ritzy, glitzy food joint. In fact, it doesn't even have a name or an address... just a location and an identity. Welcome to Sun- Yat-Sen Street-named after the late Chinese nationalist leader-in Kolkata's Old Chinatown, behind Poddar Court. The sights and sounds are unique to this part of town... makeshift Chinese food stalls vie for space with local subziwallahs... the smell of pork, chicken and fish dumplings mixes with the scent of freshly-cut vegetables to create a heady aroma... the overall impression is vaguely reminiscent of the famous Bangkok flower market.

Rita Wong, a fourth generation Chinese-Indian, has the biggest of half-a-dozen open-air stalls. "Business is down," she complains in a sing-song accent. "Most of the Chinese have migrated to the West. Nowadays, a majority of my customers are Indians or foreigners (read: backpacking Westerners)," she says. The menu reflects this change-chicken and fish have replaced pork as the non-vegetarian staples. Wong serves a variety of home-cooked (fried and steamed) dumplings, wantons and momos, but the bestseller on her menu is the chicken pao-chunks of chicken stuffed into wheat flour dough and steamed. "The original, stuffed with pork, is a traditional Chinese breakfast snack," she explains, pointing to the smaller of her two steamers where she is preparing pork paos for those who might want a bite of the authentic Chinese version. The chunky bread is sticky, piping hot and is served on plastic plates with a homemade chilly-sweet jaggery sauce. "You should have a bowl of tangy soup with the pao," she guides us, pointing to the soup stall next to hers. "They complement each other." She's right. Slurp!

-Arnab Mitra