Fuchkawali; a name that raises eyebrows due to how strange it sounds when you mention it to someone. It is an actual place in Banani 11 which is serving fuchkas named Dhakaiyya, Mumbaiyan, Isaan, Peshwari, and lastly Bolognese. I will admit, when I first came across this name, I wasn’t keen at all to try it out given the price point (around 180-200 BDT) but then I saw the Bolognese fuchka and it piqued my interest. Additionally, since they had a mixed platter available, I decided that there’s no harm in trying as it’s fuchka after all.

To start off, the shop is absolutely tiny. You place and receive your order through a window and there’s about 4-5 seats available at the back. We placed our order for the mixed platter and it took quite some time to arrive. However, I have to say I was pleased with how clean the kitchen looked and that the staffs were all wearing gloves while preparing our order.

As for the food, most of the fuchkas tasted quite alike. The Mumbaiyan and Dhakaiyya tasted almost the same; slightly spicy with a topping and stuffed with potatoes and lentils. Honestly, I couldn’t taste the difference in them. The Isaan was supposed to have a mix of vegetables, peanuts, Thai spice, and served with an extremely hot sauce and in my opinion, it delivered nothing as promised. The Peshwari was sadly unavailable but it is supposed to have a mix of chicken and beef with a special sauce made of herbs. The Bolognese was my favorite though. As unconventional as it sounds, this meaty fuchka was topped with a cheesy sauce. It made me feel like I was having some sort of pasta only within a shell instead of with some noodles. The shells were way too oily and we had to wipe our hand on a tissue rigorously after finishing it. They were all dolloped with yoghurt or cheese (in case of Bolognese) which everyone may not be a fan of.

Fuchkawali tried to do something unique yet local. However, I think they could experiment a lot more and didn’t really live up to the hype.