Chandni Paan Shop

Chandni Paan Shop
Location: Next to Sagar Plaza, Bundgarden Road
Specialty: Maggai meetha

Chandni Paan Shop has been catering to the tastes of Puneites for the past 25 years and even now around 1,000 people flock to this famous shop every day. Open till midnight, the shop offers 10 to 12 varieties of paan, ranging from saada, tobacco to phulchand, with prices between Rs 5 and 50. “Paans were made famous by rajdarbars, they were a favourite with the nawabs,” says Anil Kumar Jha, owner of the shop, about the popularity of paan in India. Commenting on the rich and famous who visit the shop, Jha says, “A lot of actors who stay in Sagar Plaza come and visit our shop.” But he refuses to divulge their names.

Poonam Pan Shop

Poonam Pan Shop

Location: Deccan Gymkhana
Specialty: Chocolate paan and Fire paan

Poonam Pan Shop has been around for 43 years now and Manoj Suratwala today proudly boasts of the fact that his was the first paan shop to be set up in that area. With an assortment of 60 to 70 kinds of paans on the platter, this shop witnesses around 1,000 to 1,500 people every day gathering at its counter to savour the interesting combinations. While meetha paan is its USP, the shop recently introduced Chocolate paan to cater to the diverse tastes of youngsters. Priced at a mere Rs 8, the sinful paan contains chocolate syrup, chocolate pieces and nuts. Another interesting paan that the shop serves is Fire paan, which was introduced in the winter to aid people suffering from cough and cold. “Containing kesar and extract made by burning cloves, this paan soothens the throat,” says Suratwala. The Shop has seen famous personalities tasting its paans over the years. “Pandit Bhimsen Joshi used to visit us, also one time actors like Sachin Pilgaonkar and Ashok Saraf used to come here as well,” he claims. Also when the monthly meeting of Bajaj is held in the city, the paans are ordered from this shop. “Rahul Bajaj prefers the saada paan and paan leaves for him are specially washed in mineral water,” he adds.

Pappu Paan Shop

Pappu Paan Shop
Location: Bibewadi-Kondhwa Road

Specialty: Maggai special meetha and Kalkatta special

This is yet another air-conditioned paan shop, the idea of which hit owner Nagendra Pratap Singh, when he saw similar concepts in Surat, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. He talks about the popular classifications of betel leaves, “There is maggai, kalkatta and benarasi. Maggai leaves literally melt in your mouth and besides kalkatta leaves, they are the best suited for meetha paan.” The specialties of the shop- maggai special meetha and Kalkatta special are priced at Rs 10, while the more expensive ones like Diamond Phulchand are priced at Rs 35.

Shaukeen Paan Shop

Betel mania

Paan is known for its taste and its digestive qualities , and it is also a passion for some. This is specially true of Puneites, luckily for whom the city is full of paan shops with a difference

A lucious paan dripping with sweet gulkand, stuffed with aromatic cloves, coconut flakes, cardamom and assorted pastes is a joy to behold! Ask any die-hard paan lover, and he will surely have a shop picked out in the city which makes the betel leaf just as per his taste. During a paan trail in the city this week, we discovered some interesting combinations like Chocolate paan and Fire paan that can be made with the tender betel leaf.

This is why i thought of listing out some famous paan shops here in pune

Shaukeen

Location: Nal Stop

Specialty: Kesar flavoured paan

It was the first air-conditioned paan shop in the city. Sharad More had the concept in mind when he was managing his other paan outlet near Hotel Sweekar. The combination which sells like hot cakes here is the kesar flavoured paan, which is priced at Rs 15 and contains saffron, chutney and chandi ka vark. The more expensive ones cost between Rs 40 and 45 and are primarily tobacco paans. “On an average we get a crowd of 700 to 800 people, which usually increases on Sundays.” says More. Shaukeen too gets its share of visitors from the Marathi film industry. “Nana Patekar too has come here a couple of times,” he claims