THE COOKIE JAR
EPC brings you the latest from Pilani’s very own. A section by you, for you. Not necessarily about you however.
WE ARE
RECRUITING!
Date: 30th Jan
Time: 5 PM
Venue: 2204
them looked at me pityingly and said, ‘No, the point is
that this is a chicken place. We don’t really cater to
vegetarians.’
Any person in their right mind approaches chicken with
the reverence this godly food deserves. And when a group
of such people meet, an institution of the highest order is
formed. The newest of these, only a hop, skip and jump
away from Ganga Gate but separated from the main gates
by miles of tarmac interspersed with drainage, is
Cruncheez. As one traverses the terrain, perhaps builds an
appetite and finally reaches the place, the smell of crispy
chicken floods one’s olfactory senses.
Pilani finally has its own KFC rip-off! Many of this
reporter’s friends have declared that she tends to overplay
its brilliance, but Fine Print takes a firm stand on the glory
of Cruncheez. You will not realize it while munching at
the limp (but beautiful) French fries. You might not
realize it while eating the chicken wrap, for there is far too
little stuffing and you might find the wrapping too sweet.
But, lord, it will hit you when you bite into a piece of fried
chicken, your teeth cutting through the flaky golden fried
batter to sink through the juicy meat, your senses going
into overdrive. I do not exaggerate. Full fried chicken at
GD, we do believe your reign is over.
Fine Print doesn’t stoop so low as to order vegetarian
food at a temple to chicken, but friends who have usually
sing praises of the best-veg-burger-in-Pilani. The veg pops
though, everyone agrees, are absolutely abhorrent. We
asked the gentlemen at the counter whether Cruncheez
was planning to add to its heavily handicapped vegetarian
menu (for the sake of our less fortunate peers) and one of
Now, the only major issue with the place is that the quality
seems very inconsistent. Upon the second visit there was a
noticeable drop in deliciousness, probably due to the large
crowd. A third visit was necessary to reaffirm the fact that
the chicken was, in fact, as delicious as we thought. The
garlic mayonnaise was insanely delicious the first time we
tried it, but had too mild a hint of the root the second
time and was so loaded with garlic that it stung the third
time. But it’s worth a try. The Chick Pops were absolutely
KFC-Chicken-Popcorn-like on our first visit but very
disappointing the second time, because they were chopped
-up chicken strips (which some of us found decent and
which others adored) masquerading as Pops. But quirks
like this give a place charm, yes?
Let’s quickly mention everything other than the glorious
chicken that is the root of all gluttony. Prices are
reasonable. The food gives surprisingly fair competition to
KFC’s, at much lower rates. The ambience is pleasant if
you like purple walls and turquoise dustbins, and can
always be swapped for the homeliness of your hostel
room if you don’t, with home delivery until eleven p.m..
The gentlemen who run it are full of enthusiasm, with
plans for a party-hall in the pipeline. They tell us with
pride that the aim of this sister restaurant of Chikki’s in
Jaipur is to cater tasty and hygienic food to BITSians