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The 'best Indian food'

Bourdain thought vada-pao was so good that all other Indian food could be dismissed. He was not wrong

Vada pao
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The fact that the vada-pao has become as popular as it has in such a short period speaks to its quality. Photo: Reuters

Aakar Patel
The chef and writer and television personality Anthony Bourdain once visited Mumbai and tasted a vada-pao on the street. The camera caught his response, and he said the words, after a couple of bites, if I remember them right, “In all humility, this is probably the best Indian food I have eaten.”
 
I am not sure what he meant by the qualifying phrase “in all humility”. Did he mean that he was being humble before sending down judgement on such a grand subject as Indian food? Or was he dismissing all the other Indian food he had experienced, but