Standard or variety?

What is better? Standardisation or variety? Think about how standard is a burger or an aloo tiki in a McDonalds . You know that any McD outlet will have stuff that tastes exactly the same.

Now think about how different is a vada pav or a bhelpuri that you get in one stall from the vada pav/bhelpuri you get in another stall. Whats better?

Personally, I prefer variety. It is great to know that I will get good vada pav at say Chandan Vada Pav, great bhelpuri at Guptas, great pav bhaji at Sardar rather than knowing that I will get the same food in all Mc outlets. (Again, lets not confuse hygiene with standardisation.That is out of this discussion)

True, standardisation reduces the risk associated with getting into an eatery and finding that the stuff I ordered is not great. It also lets us feel comfortable by virtue of the same or similar interiors in each of these outlets and ensures that there are no surprises in terms of food. There are reasons why standardisation exists in a McD but not across Udipi hotels ranging from ownership patterns to food preparation methods.

But, the so called battle between standardisation and variety (of the positive kind), is like the battle between hard work and genius. Genius is hard to come by, isnt it!

And I would prefer the Tilak Nagar (Mumbai) vada pav anytime for its lip smacking chutney over a perfectly personality less tomato sauce!