Chez Vous

For my annual birthday blow out (yes I know birthdays are supposed to be annual) landed up at Chez Vous. Now this is a french bistro type place in Mumbai. Unsurprisingly it does look to be a bit of a uphill struggle. The food ranged from the sublime to so so. Surprisingly the non main course type food was excellent. Quick nod of the head to the french onion soup, the crab cakes and the pomfret slices. Some of it was so good that we ended up ordering the same again. The main course was a bit of a disaster. The ratatouille was bleah beyond belief. The beef steaks were so so. Unfortunately it was the preparation which was so so and not the meat which was spectacular....

Memories of China - More like nightmares

Apologies for long hiatus. Work happened.

Went to Flora at Worli after what seemed like a millenium. Vague memories of Flora being good from college days led to this rediscovery. Frankly should have left sleeping memories lie. The food was downright awful. Then only redeeming feature was the dipping sauce which was awesome. I wonder how would it taste spread on a vada pav. Hey fusion cuisine is supposed to be the new buzz word right ? The bacon wrapped prawns were awful, the rice was insipid and the less said about everything else the better. Suffice to say Flora failed. The upside was dessert at Banyan tree after.

Quick food tips try the pizza appam at Soam. Gruesomely good. Also the malpuas there. Very very very awesome

Quick Life Updates

Since a decorous 9 months have passed since my last post thought it time to deliver a new post. Have now shifted to the wilds of Vile Parle East to the extreme outer rims of the universe aka Andheri East. What one does for the filthy lucre. While MIDC does have Something Fishy (Very very decent - review follows) and also hotel Samraj and Sai Palace.

Apologies and all that

Sorry for not posting in eons. Stuck in the culinary wasteland that is Vile Parle E due to work means that eating out is restricted at best to weekends. Anyway quick summary of memorable meals from last 6 months

1. Thali @ Vindhyas - Good food with everything unlimited. But VFM @ 900 bucks a thali all depends on perspective I guess
2. The matunga dosa wallah is back and then again disappeared. Pity - Egg dosas are a rarity in this city
3. Idli house in Kings Circle. Good Idlis and great variety. And of course particular soft corner since he makes Jackfruit idlis. Jackfruit is one of my favourite fruits
4. Sadichha - multiple visits. Still very good
5. Gajalee @ Phoenix - Nice but nothing inspirational
6. Asia 7 @ Phoenix - Great dimsums and a kick ass Caprioshka. Got quite smashed on those.

More i guess will be added

Roti aur kapda gaya baad mein

Last week I had the most divine Roti ever. The flavor was so good and piping hot from the Tandoor. Worth eating by itself which is what 2 of us did. Ignored the rest of the spread and just focused on the Roti. Amazing Amazing.

Joss me up

Twas the day after new years when not a drink was being stirred. 6 beings crept towards Joss with a foul and fiendish plan to get treated by the fattest of them all.

The menu was long and the atmosphere was warm. The waiter was friendly and the ordering was copious. The Mekong Whisky Fried Prawns I say, The Smoked Salmon Nori Sounds Good, The Oriental Crab Bisque sounds risque and bring on the Teppan Grilled Eastern Veg. The eating began and it was good. The wine from Hardy's said Riesling Gewurztraminer and it was drunk by the bottle. The Jura was 10 years old and that too was sipped. But ahead lay the main course.

The main course, The main course oh what shall we have for the main course. The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain but what about the course main ? Lead on The Wood Flavored Tender Ribs, Bring out the Grilled Lamb Chops, Lay Out the Prime Tenderloin steak and reinforce with the Tataki of Prime Beef. Prithee how can we forget the Bacon Wrapped Scallops or the Nori Maki Sushi.

That was the main course, that was the main course but then what about the dessert. The dessert, the dessert give the fat one his just desserts. The Hot Kahlua Chocolate Souffle is decent I heard vouched one. And twas twas. Glory Glory Halleleujah The Hot Kahlua Chocolate Souffle is absolute pleasure and sin. How can something like this be a mortal creation ?

The bill was long and the bill was onerous but the food was excellent and the desert extraordinary so the bill was paid.

The food was worth repeating but the bill the bill, the butcher's bill...

RIP Anantashram

Just heard that Anantashram is no more. Apparently shut down due to a family dispute. And for those who ask what is Anantashram. It was by far one of the best khanavals in Mumbai. Their crab curry was to die for. The food and the fish were just out of this world. As restaurants go it perhaps was irreplaceable. I am truly depressed.

New Year and nothing new to report

happy new year. Been a sloooowwwww couple of months. Work has been seriously hectic and not had too many opportunities to eat out. In the words of a friend - No time to experiment and have been sticking to the tried and trusted. Went to Jugheads somewhere near Powai and found it ok. Nothing startling nothing astounding just average.

All Stir Fry - Not Quite

This is one restaurant that seems to be always meant to visit but never (You know what I mean). Anyway finally made it down. The concept is interesting that you can have unlimited stir fries with noodles or rice. You can mix it in whatever combination you want and add sauces to the same. To be frank perhaps I was a newbie but the experience was underwhelming. The choice of stuff to stir fry was fairly large and the sauces were also varied. The end product sadly was lacking. The sauces tended to overwhelm and it was not that they were that great. In fact the best part of the stir fries was the one that was sans any sauce. Just stir fried with lime, ginger and garlic. That was good. A word of advice - Avoid the cocktails and stick to beer. A Sangria I had was amongst the lowlights. Last but not the least stay with the stir fries. A Papaya salad and some curry with rice was also tried but were disappointing to state it mildly.

Kwality - Mixed feelings

Continuing with my eats down memory lane was at Kwality in Worli the other day. Coincidentally it was with a bunch of really old friends. The first thing that struck me was that the average age of the staff was plus 50. I mean I know its a old restaurant but never seen so many old waiters. Anyway onto the food. The kebabs were so so. The Seekh could have been spectacular but the meat was a bit dry. The main course was very good. The Alu Ghosht was good, the dal makhani so so and I have been informed that the Paneer Bhurji was amongst the best Paneer Bhurji ever. Post Delhi I am not a Paneer fan so I really have no opinion there. The Chicken drumstick was succulent while the fish was a tad over fried. All in all a good trip down memory lane as opposed to the really bad trip that was Flora

Ayub's - Yub Yub

My knowledge of late night eating joints is minimal nowadays. Considering that my genetics compel me to be in bed by 11 and up by 6 (More on that later. Hopefully much later) its a option I haven't exercised in a while. Then post a late movie in town ended up hungry around 1 am. Ayub's near Rhythm house was a memory from the past and it turned out to be good. Boti kebabs, Chicken tikkas, chicken reshmi tikkas, baida roti - Mutton and chicken, Shammi kebabs and blissful bottles of Thums Up. The kebabs were good (If slightly on the spicier side) and the baida rotis were divine. Oddly enough the car next to ours had people ordering Alu in various grilled avatars. Seriously takes all kinds. The service is fast and the place was buzzing. And the pricing was way too reasonable.....

The joys of a Irani

As Matunga increasingly becomes a veggie only ghetto, there is a pressing need to appreciate Koolar. Koolar which has been a lot in the news is a fairly traditional Irani (With high prices mind you). It is by far my Irani of choice and where I prefer to meet. At one point my desire was to eat through all the dishes on the menu card but my stomach and heart failed me.  My top 5 dishes there are the cheese masala omelet, bhurji, fried eggs (20 for 1, 25 for 2), Fried eggs alti palti and the kheema. The kheema mind you ranges from the spectacular to the average and depends on your luck. All of these washed down with chai - medium strong.

Sunny shines in Chembur

Chembur station has a string of restaurants which do Kerala food. Udaya is very well known, There is Pradeep and now Sunny. Sunny is further down from the station towards Shell colony. The outer core is not very inviting but they have a AC section which is ok. Anyway onto the food. Wanted to experience a variety and avoided the lunch thali so not really able to comment on that. The Leap fry (Trying to find the english name for this fish but very pomfret like) was just zingy. The Ginger chicken and the Chicken curry were good (the chicken was a bit tough), the mutton was good, the egg was eggy and the parottas were flaky. All in all a good food experience. A word of warning - go early. The Kerala red rice, the payasam and poppadoms were all over when we wanted them. The cost is decent at 200 bucks per head. Highly recommended for a Sunday lenj experience.

Peep Inn ???

Pujo normally means that you get to eat food otherwise normally available only to Bongaloids. Discovering that the Shivaji Park Pandal had a shop called Peep Inn and that it was serving Mughlai Paratha - Mr. Desai and I went to titillate our voyeuristic taste buds. (Look Ma - Big Big Words) The moghlai paratha was patchy. Patchy as in the patches which had kheema were flavoured and to die for but the non kheema patches were bleah. The mutton chop was just incredibly great. The fish roll was flaky and very fishy and very fine. I had something called a fish chop but think I got a mutton chop by mistake as there really was no difference between the two. They also had a tomato ketchup which was quite good. Must find out what brand it was.

And the finale was the super fresh rossogollas from a sweet shop there. Very very nice.

In the past few weeks havent really been eating out. Great Punjab at @ Dadar - good robust food but they have a bedbug problem. Something calle Oasis (I think) in Chembur. Avoidable to the extreme.

Hopefully now can expand my horizons along with my ever expanding waistline

Iftar blues

Being laid low by a series of health issues (Sins of the past catching up me thinks) have been forced to stick to the straight and narrow. Home cooked food its been. Will write about the joys of it sometime later. But tis the time when my mind normally turns to Minara Masjid. I really love the sweets and especially the phirni. The spare parts that you get (Take the first left or right after you enter the lane are great). Really fresh brain and some awesome meat including bater.

Damn Damn Damn Damn

Jai Hind ki Sena

Observant mumbaikars would have noticed that Jai Hind Lunch Homes are proliferating all over. As of last count there were 5 of them. 3 of them are in sequential order on Tulsi Pipe Road. Coming from Worli - The first and IMHO the lousiest is the one opposite Kamala Mills. Crowded as heck and fish with no zing. The second and the original one is at Prabhadevi just before Shaitan Chowki (Not strictly on Tulsi Pipe but in the generic area). This is closer to the roots and crowded with Bhau's ani Vahinis on weekends and weeknights. My new new favourite is opposite Kohinoor Institute just a wee bit down from Mhatre Pen Building. Uniquely its the only Jai Hind with a bar attached. The place used to be a quarter bar before and much of the crowd is a hangover from them days. Definitely not suitable for families unless you have a non discerning one. The food there is definitely way better than most other joints.

On a lazy Saturday afternoon the place was packed with quarters of McDowell No 1 the most popular main course. The AC section had halfs of McDowell No 1 but that was the only difference. The food though was incredible. Super fresh Surmai done just right both fried as well as in the ambot tik. Brilliant bombils, perfect pomfret (As you can see practice does not make perfect in my case) and a surprising bangda. All of this washed down with KF. Incidentally the alcohol comes with nothing extra ( a good thing in my opinion as I share the Indian weakness for anything free and ruin my appetite).

The best part was at the end - Outside of the bill which was about 1k for 6 fish dishes and 2 beers with chappatis and rice, I asked the friendly waiter for dessert options. The look on his face was like "Desserts? We don't do no steenkin desserts".

Sadichha - Yum Yum

Apologies for the delay. Especially to the backless one. Been a bit caught up. Bandra East has some very awesome restaurants. You have Highway Gomantak which is still incredibly good after all these years but is now pricey, Rice Boat where the food is good but the service takes as much time as getting it from Kerala and then you have Sadiccha. This non descript eatery near the MIG club is very good fish wise. The bombils are awesomely crunchy, the pomfrets are fresh and juicy. The Bangda is outstanding. That plus a mean custard makes it very complete food wise. One downer though the mutton is average but the clams are superb. Highly recommended.

Incidentally would suggest sitting on the claustrophobic ground floor as the service is faster. Go early at lunch time to avoid waiting.

 

My heart goes ding a Ling a Linga Ling

Dinner yesterday was at Ling's pavilion. Just incredibly good. Details follow

Simbly Kerala

Chembur has a couple of outstanding Kerala food places. They are both suitably downmarket. Udaya near Chembur station has to have the slowest service ever but their fish and kadala curry and everything else is awesome. Home delivery is guaranteed to have something missing but still worth it. The teeming hordes of homesick Keralite families on Sunday and the service which is unionised I am sure makes this a very rewarding experience.

Another place is Hotel pradeep. The beef fry (Just ask for the fry) and the parottas are incomparably good and cheap too. While the location is a bit suspect with food like this who gives a damn. I do have the urge to explore more from the menu but somehow just the 2 items are enough to satiate me.

Brittania - Shutting down

Just heard a very disquieting bit of news. Brittania and Co in Ballard Pier is apparently shutting down. Am in shock.

Update : Brittania is not shutting down but selling out. This is from the owner's mouth. Wonder if I will ever get the oily mutton cutless, the fried bombil or the mutton dhansak ever again. The Berry pulao is also something to be missed but perhaps @ 270/- bucks a plate not so much in these times