Au Revoir City Cafe

What used to be the best mini stretch for food Worli Naka is sadly depleted. Starting with City Bakery (The best palmiers ever) you had Viva Paschim (A very good buffet for lunch. Never been there for dinner), City Cafe and then Bharat Lunch home a wee bit ahead. Bharat had good sea food (The best Prawns dakshin I've ever tasted) but it still exists. The last couple of times I passed through Worli Naka City Cafe has been shut. Hopefully its for renovation and not permanently like Viva Paschim. City Cafe was one of the last few true iranis. They had a insanely great caramel custard and a even better trifle pudding. On it's day the biryani and kheema were just zingily dreamy. Here's hoping you come back to the City....

Not too much Vong with this place

In a vain attempt at pump priming this depressed economy four of us dined at Vong Wong. The location is awesome but the views are so. I mean watching the Oberoi/Hilton/whatever its called now palls after a while. Anyway enough with the views and lets talk about the menus. The food is a  mix of Thai and Chinese but good Thai and Chinese and not Indianised.  The beef was awesome, the calamari divine and prawns were ok. The Thai Curry was insanely great but still not quite as good as Thai Me Up. The small slip ups were when we got steamed buns which were extremely underdone. The service was good enough to accept that they were not quite done and it got replaced with Sticky rice which was. And on a sweet note please do do do have their Chocolate cake. For something which is without flour it is the high point of the evening. Warning though pretty steeply priced. Suffice to say that a meal for 4 cost the same as 1 months Emi for a car.

The Universal Being

Cafe Universal in town remains one of the few undiscovered joints (Read not that crowded). For a place thats situated so close to Excellensea its amazing how empty it always is (Except at lunchtimes on working days and Early evening on aforementioned days. Bloody lawyers and their disclaimers). The food is amazingly good. Had a bite of the diced steak which was just so steaky and the fries were also divine. The roast beef sandwich is just deliciously bland and ungarnishy while the steak on a bun is also quite quite amazing. Not as amazing as Burger King in Pune but amazing enough within striking distance. The fact that it serves beers and breezers truly make it even more puzzling (Hah. Betcha were expecting another amazing there) as to its massive emptiness. But then I do like the place and the emptiness just helps in the fact that you can chill there.

What we need is Military rule!!

There is this small little place called Military cafe in town. I used to eat there often back in my younger days and the food was astounding. Rikhav and I went back there when we really didnt want to mess with Brittania's food (Amazingly good thought it is). Military is also a parsi run joint with food that used to be up there. And to cut a long story short the food still is up there. We started off with a nice cold Beer (A amazingly severe lack of which cripples Brittania) and then worked our way through some Kheema Ghotala, Dal Gosht accompanied by slices of Pao. I don't know where Military gets it Pao from but I wants it all the time. The Dal Gosht was amazing and the Kheema was competetent. Unfortunately the Bheja was over (At 1.20 in the noon) but then it must have been good to get over so soon. Military also has specials through the working week and does consider Saturday to be the weekend. All this accompanied by a 300 ml bottle of Dukes Lemonade (That is also becoming a rarity- The 300 ml bottle that is) was bliss. And to finish it off there was one of the best Caramel Custards in town.

The Kitchen works

Being forced to watch my food consumption by the diet fanatics at Talwalkars has reduced my writing. I am too weak to write food reviews. Anyway whilst in the midst of a insane bout of travel had a nice quiet meal at The Kitchen in Khan Market. Thats in Delhi for those wondering. Yes that means you Anita. Part of the pleasure was meeting up with good friends as well as the inspired company of Pinky. Yes Trupti you were inspiring as well but you are married. My portion of the meal was a fairly decent Smoked Salmon Salad which had decent amounts of the Smoked Salmon and not just a token presence. Then with visions of being chased by the dieticians I also had the Grilled Snapper which was so so. The Ginger Ale was nice and the Veg Dimsums were quite good. Overall I quite liked the place and the ambience. Service was good by Delhi standards. Incidentally would you believe that we ended up in Big Chill post the meal and all I had was a Strawberry yoghurt. I think I need help

Drive a Stake through this house

To celebrate MG's birthday we ordered in food from a place called Steak House in Bandra. We should have been warned by the fact that the take away menu had precisely 3 or so steaks on it. There was a Lambsteak, Fish steak and the frigging Paneer steak. Granted this was take away but where is the massive side or even a plain decent steak. Anyway having ignored such blatant warning signs we ordered a melange of lamb chops, roast lamb, biryani, mutton masala and surmai tawa. The food was of a uniform standard if the standard aimed for was disappointing. As my friend Sandy put it people just put masala and mutton and call it Malwani. The only thing worthwhile from this entire misadventure was the Low Carb chicken salad (which incidentally came up on the bill Low Crab chicken and caused some confusion) and the Garlic Bread. And considering a average price of 200 bucks per dish it was by no means cheap. Incidentally a couple of reviews inform me that Steak is available in the restaurent but no clarity of why not on the menu.

Mela - Where the windmills are

This trip down memory lane was pleasant. Mela at worli was a old favourite for office lunches. Hadnt been there in eons but revisited for a sort of office lunch. They have a decent lunch buffet which is priced reasonably. The food was good but nothing stood out apart from the Gajar Ka Halwa. Considering how much of a droolable it is for me if it was red and sugared it would pass. But all things aside the kebabs were good including something covered with papad which I failed to find out the name of. Prolly something like Papad Kebab or something. But all in all a very decent experience for Moi. Also a fruit platter with something on it besides Watermelon, Pineapple and Papaya. Mosambi. 

Memories of China - Nahinnnn

Went to Flora at worli on a nostalgia trip. Hadnt been there in about 10 years - college I think was the last time. I remembered it as being a treat place ie to be gone when something good happened. After this meal was wondering about what the heck was wrong with us in college. (Shut Up. I know I know).  The food was awesomely gruesome.  With the exception of the dipping sauce which was great everything else tasted blah. The bacon wrapped prawns were shall we say memorable for all the wrong reasons. As Sandy put it the only thing which was positive about the meal was the bill which he could use to claim exemptions.

The Wine is Fine

The last weekend was spent in exploring the best of Mumbai. Saturday lunch was at Mocambo which continues to serve competent food. The Beefsteak I had was highly edible (as my friend who kept taking pieces inspite of my protests would attest) while the mushroom gravy starter was very so so. The evening was a revelation. Good Earth in Lower Parel has a restaurant which is called the Tasting Room or something like that. It has one of the widest varieties of wine on offer outside five stars both by glass or by bottle. My experiments with Chilean wine led to me ordering a bottle of red which was acidic at first but post letting it breathe was just smooth. The feta cheese with bread (good really thin bread crisps) was also very nice. Must go back there someday for dinner. The atmosphere was very chilled out. Dinner was the exact opposite. In search of something Mumbai the choice was either Friends Union or Rajdhani. Rajdhani was chosen as being more salubrious (I was with a delhiite and so not very sure about how FUJC would be viewed) We just about made it inside before they closed (In Delhi we would have been shooed out) and then the machine that is Rajdhani took over. The food was very decent (This was the crawford market one mind you and not the offshoots everywhere) and came at the speed of light. The sheera stands out and so does the teekhi dal and khichdi. Post a sumptuous meal which was over in 25 minutes (From entry to exit) dessert was being contemplated. A choice between Badshah and Theobroma led to Theobroma being chosen. The brownies there are awesome.

What struck me was that something like this could happen only in Mumbai. Imagine in the space of 5 hours we transited from having wine with a side dish to a full blown gujju meal and then brownies for dessert. Truly Mumbailicious

Three and a half meals in Chennai

Was in Chennai over the weekend and for a change got to eat out a lot. My typical chennai trip consists of lots of meals at various relatives houses and not too much eating out. I mean to say no point telling you lot that the Garlic rasam at Bhanu Chithi's house rocks since you won't be getting any.

Some quick observations in general.
Sambar really rocks in Chennai. Compared to the sweet Udipi crap you get in Mumbai such a pleasure to get some real sambar with spice and flavor.
I hate the bloody government for shutting down Drive In Woodlands. It was bliss for breakfast and whoever thought of not renewing the lease should be drowned in Udipi sambar of the worst kind.
Chennai is odd. Most people go out and eat the same kind of food they get at home. Even in places like Saravana Bhavan the number of people still eating meals is insane.

Had a decentish meal at a place in CHennai Citi Centre. Sangeethas or something. While my cousins od ed on Paneer (Their meal was Paneer Tikka, Paneer Koftas and Paneer Parathas. Shudder!) I had something called a Cauliflower dosa. (Shades of mumbai coming here). Con job where instead of the Alu sabji which you get inside a masala dosa you got a Cauliflower sabji. Outstandingly average but saved by the aforementioned Sambar and some rocking Chutney

Lunch was at a Saravana Bhavan with seating and AC. (Chennai of course being one of the cities where you need a AC through the year. Exception being the 4 hours in December where the temperature sort of looks towards the 20s and the thathas get their Monkey Caps out) While various people indulged in meals, more paneer et al I ordered the Mini Idly and Kaima Idly. The mini idly is a great concept where you get lots of bite sized idlis (12-14) all drenched in Sambar and then served piping hot. (Key words here being piping hot - The idlis and not just the frigging Sambar). Each idli has sambar infused and tastes incredible. The Kaima idly is something which only Chennai could invent. Basically a fried idli crumbled up and then served like a Keema. The veggie varient of Keema (hence Kaima in Chennaiese. Anita - simple enough for you ?) Just a feast of carbs. Incidentally Saravana also has a super rich all natural ice cream range which is just too creamy and hard.

Then a meal at something called Cornucopia. Average vaguely continental food of the type done to show that you have cool tastes. Galloping Gooseberry does this much better in Chennai. Redeemed solely by some awesome lemonade (Had Cinnamon in it. Finished a pitcher) and a really good Passion Fruit Sorbet. Just go for the lemonade and dessert.

The half meal was at the Chennai Citi Centre food court. Extremely bleah food with absolutely no memory of what was consumed. The only thing I recall are the Cookie Man cookies for afters.

La de lah Idli

The tam brahm genetics is hard wired to Idli. As opposed to the Gujju genetic which is favourable to "Itli". Being a hardcore TB the pleasures of a Idli are many. One of the simple pleasures of living in Mumbai was to go to the streetside dosa wallah and have a steaming hot idli and molagaipodi. If you timed it right you could get your idli just when he was getting it off the steamer and it would be soft and awesome in too many ways to describe. But alas poor Perumal or Kandasamy the BMC has to play spoilsport and he has disappeared from Matunga. The muttai dosai was also awesome and so was his masala vadai. And his molagapodi actually had a kick to it. Anyway getting back on track the idli is so awesome. The pleasures of going by train to "native place" (My native place is Wadala but then...) was that in addition to puliyodharai sadham and thayir satham you would get Idlis coated with Molagapodi for breakfast. These Idlis would be soaking in the Molagapodi and oil overnight and were insanely great the morning after. Wonder why is it that no restauranteur makes it. I am sure if you mark it as day old both Thayirsatham and molgapodi idli would rock..

Hello Boys

Apologies for the delay but been a bit tied up with work. Lots of meals but standouts including a beach shack at Vagator (Awesome Calamari), Howrah in Mumbai and a extremely forgettable meal in a place I forget in Chembur. Hope to get this done soon. Till then milte hain

Meals Galore

Well coming suspiciously close to my last post about Vegetable Sets I did end up getting one from Manis the last week. The concept was pretty good with 1 a decent potato curry (dry), A very very competent avial, A ok Sambar (with small madras onions yummy!!) and a kickass pulinji. For a price point of 60 bucks it was insanely great value. Frankly the food was by no means very good but given the choice of having Udupified south Indian this was far better value.

And a few random thoughts - Why do we not get peeled Madras Onions here ? The SPencers and the ilk in Chennai and Bangalore seem to have them but no sign here. Madras Onions are so intensely flavorsome that they must be amongs the top 10 veggies of all time.

Vegetable Set and Match

Back in the days when Sion, Matunga, Wadala and Sion Koliwada were South indian ghettos (as opposed to the Gujju Ghettos that they are now. Soon I'll need a permit to eat non veg I tell you... Down boy)  there were three great bastions of meals in Matunga. You had South Indian Concerns, Society Mess and Mysore Concerns. And for all those who pipe up and say Udipi Rama Nayak @ Matunga station - Shaddup always was, is and will be a gujjufied Udipi meals place. There was a synchronicity to their meals across the week. Thursday was Potato Curry and Onion Sambhar at Society and Friday was the same @ Concerns.  Families used to select their meals on the menu...

And the glorious concept of vegetable set where you got only the veggies and made the rice at home ahhh that was bliss. Anyway that was then and now Concerns has stopped with the food, Mysore Concerns is now a Country Liquor bar and what was Society is now taken over by Mani of Podar college fame. Mani's is now the only place in Matunga where you can get a "meals" ala South India.

Down Kalbadevi Road

Thanks to some friends I did a trip down old memory lane. In the past few years (Almost a decade plus actually) thanks to not being in Mumbai and not being in fort I missed going for Gujju thali. Gujju thali was a longstanding tradition in my slightly penurious state at that point. The best way to get a completely fulfilling meal and then take a nice double decker bus home on the upper deck dozing away. Anyways Friends Union Joshi Club was revisited. Nothing much had changed. Prices of course had gone upwards but the food was still awesomely great. There was a garlic chutney which was worth the price of the meal by itself. Its one of the few places which offers both the non sweet dal and kadi as well as the sweet ones. The Chapatis and Rotlis and Khichdi was excellent and the chaas was just so chaas.....

Happy New Year

Greetings and salutations to you in the new year. May the best meal you ate last year be the worst meal you eat this year. (Nice but not mine unfortunately. Paraphrasing something that Sandy says). Anyway new year, new challenges and all that. Unfortunately this new year has been somewhat dry. A combination of me feeling under the weather, people traveling and other stuff has meant that the new year has so far yielded nada. Anyway suffice to say that the highlights of the past weeks have been boti kababs at Ayub, Gulab jamuns from a shop off Mohammad Ali road, Malpuas from ditto and the rediscovery of Guru Kripa. Three quick trips there made me wonder. The Gulab Jamuns are still divine (Hint for the unwary is that they taste better after being stored for one day. Don't ask me why but I can't stand sugary sweet Gulabos). The samosas are as crunchy as ever, the sev puri still kicks ass and the gol puris (weird cross between gol gappas and pani puris) are awesome. Taking a recovering punjabi with me there ensured some good karma points. Never seen someone so enthusiastic about the chole and apparently the chana bhatura there is more authentic than any other place....