Eating Around the World in Mumbai

In Mumbai, there are a growing number of restaurants that serve cuisines from all over the world. Many of these restaurants Indianized their cuisines to suit the Indian palate (heavier spices), which is understandable since there aren’t many expats in Mumbai to cater to. Fortunately for me, I have discovered restaurants that stay relatively true to the authentic flavors of the international cuisines.

Mexican Food

I don’t really see Mexican restaurants in Mumbai, which is expected because Mexico is on the other side of the world. I’ve been to multi cuisine restaurants that serve nachos, but the nachos would either taste like Indian food (which isn’t bad actually) or just subpar (doesn’t taste Indianized or good). Luckily I came across Sancho’s last month, which serves Mexican food and Tex-Mex. The owner of Sancho’s is an Indian who used to be a cook on a cruise liner that traveled all the time to Mexico. Sancho’s claims that many of the ingredients have been imported from Mexico to preserve the authentic Mexican flavors.

The first dish we ordered was fiesta nachos (yellow corn tortilla chips, refried beans, cheese sauce, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, olives, and jalapenos):

These fiesta nachos are aptly named because they were a party in my mouth. I especially liked the crispness of the tortilla chips.

Priam ordered a Brazilian tenderloin burrito with refried beans, Mexican rice, pico de gallo, and sour cream:

I thought that it tasted so-so; the Brazilian tenderloin wasn’t as tasty as the beef burritos I’ve had in the US.

In other news, four days ago the government of Maharashtra banned the sale or possession of beef; those who are caught can be jailed for five years and fined 10,000 rupees (about 160 US dollars): http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/beef-banned-in-maharashtra-5-yrs-jail-rs10000-fine-for-possession-or-sale/

This means that these international restaurants would no longer have access to beef.

I initially asked for the chocolate mole chicken, but the waiter persuaded me not to get it because it is too sweet. This was surprising to me because from my previous experiences in the US, chocolate mole chicken has an earthy smoky flavor that isn’t sweet. The waiter advised me to get the green mole chicken instead, which contained roasted pumpkin seed, green tomatoes, green chilies, coriander, onion, garlic, and oregano:

Unfortunately this dish was a bit on the bland side.

For dessert, we ordered cajeta flan with milk caramel sauce:

While the taste and texture of the flan wasn’t what I was expecting (I expected it creamy pale yellow with browned caramelized sugar on top), it was still good in its own right. I prefer the flans in the US though. I have never seen whipped cream paired with flan before, but in this case they complemented each other well.

Overall, I would eat at Sancho’s again because the nachos alone are good enough for me to revisit.

French Food

I found my ultimate favorite dessert crepe place in Mumbai, and the name of this cafe is Suzette. It’s actually the only place I know of that makes crepes, so I’m happy that they do a good job. I think the owner is French because when I asked a question that the Indian employees couldn’t answer, they called over a French guy to talk to me. This cafe is across the street from a gym that I joined in January, so I’ve eaten here three times already.

This was my Nutella, strawberry, and banana crepe:

The texture and flavor of the crepe was incredibly good, and I’ve always been a big fan of Nutella, strawberries, and bananas.

This was the homemade salted butter caramel I took home:

I love salted caramel and butter, so needless to say I found this delicious. The texture was also perfect (I think that the French really nailed down the art of making perfectly textured desserts). While the instructions on the label said to consume the salted caramel within 30 days once opened, the French guy explained that the French actually can keep it for up to a year. He decided on this conservative expiration date because of the humid hot weather in Mumbai and just in case the salted caramel is stored improperly.

The savory items I tried at Suzette weren’t as great as the dessert crepes, but they were good nevertheless.

I had a mushroom and mascarpone cheese crepe:

I’m not a fan of this buckwheat crepe because it tasted like diet food (perhaps to cater to the gym goers across the street). The texture and flavor of the buckwheat crepe were not as appealing as the dessert crepe, and the mushrooms and mascarpone cheese were bland.

The buckwheat crepe came with a side of salad (I picked the orange salad):

I had expected the salad to contain lettuce with some orange ingredients, not to be 100% orange. Nevertheless, the carrots and oranges were very refreshing and tangy.

I’ve tried two of Suzette’s entree sized salads, both of which I liked better than the buckwheat crepe but not as much as the dessert crepe. The salads were great because Suzette didn’t skimp on all the good stuff (I don’t like salads that consist mostly of lettuce and hardly anything else).

This was my grilled chicken salad with roquette, pan-seared potatoes, cheddar, boiled eggs, and mustard dressing:

This was my spicy salmon Thai salad with chili powder, cherry tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, and fresh Thai herbs in a lime, ginger, and sesame oil dressing:

Soon after I placed my order, I doubted my decision because I realized I had just ordered Thai food at a French restaurant in India. While the Thai salad predictably didn’t taste Thai at all, I was still happy with my salad because of the abundant salmon in it. I couldn’t taste the lime, ginger, or sesame oil dressing because the soy sauce was incredibly overpowering:

It’s been a long time since I’ve had soy sauce, so I was fine with this. This dish was probably made according to French tastes because despite being named spicy Thai salad, it was not spicy at all.

Suzette offers smoothies for the health-conscious:

This smoothie contained kale, apple, pineapple, cucumber, ginger, and mint, and it tasted like your typical healthy green smoothie in the US.

This smoothie consisted of pomegranate, pineapple, and lime, and it’s not bad either:

The 100% Arabica expresso next to it was very bitter, just the way I like it.

Pizza

I’ve had Domino’s pizza in Mumbai, and it tasted just as unspectacular as Domino’s in the US, the difference being that they offer typical Indian toppings like paneer and corn. I decided to try out two more pizza joints: Di Napoli and Pizza Express.

At Di Napoli, we first ordered the watermelon feta appetizer:

Because I’ve had better watermelon feta in Mumbai, I felt that the execution of this dish could have been better. The watermelon and feta chunks were too big and separate from each other, so they did not blend together as well as they should.

We also had mozzarella cheese balls wrapped in prosciutto with grilled artichokes and cherry tomatoes:

This dish was pretty good (I also really like prosciutto and mozzarella cheese).

Di Napoli claims to have the best hand-tossed Italian pizza in Mumbai, but unfortunately the pizza was a let-down:

Although the name of this pizza was Salame Piccante (imported spicy chorizo, onion, arugula, mozzarella), it really should be renamed as Salad Pizza because I felt like I was eating a salad and a pizza at the same time. Perhaps Di Napoli is trying to cater to the health-conscious crowd, but if that’s the case, I’d just order a salad. The arugula sitting on top of the pizza didn’t blend with the other ingredients at all, and eating a slice was very awkward because the arugula tend to fall off with every bite. Even worse, there was hardly any chorizo on the pizza. I love chorizo, and unfortunately I could barely taste it on this pizza.

Pizza Express overall was much better. They also claim to serve the best Italian pizzas, although they originally started in England. Since I went with a large group, I was able to sample three pizzas and a dough ball appetizer.

This was the dough ball appetizer:

The dough balls (bread) were nice and soft, but the highlight was the garlic butter. I love garlic, and the butter was very garlicky.

My most favorite pizza was the American pizza (pepperoni and mozzarella):

I’m not saying this because I am an American; I really did think that the flavors were spot on and the texture just right. In fact, I initially didn’t want to order this pizza because the ingredients seemed too few and boring, but I’m glad Priam ordered it. I’d come back to Pizza Express just for this pizza.

The other two pizzas were okay:

Etna (spicy sausage, jalapeno peppers, speck ham, emilgrana cheese) – This pizza was the second best of the three. The base was a little too thin and crispy for my taste and the flavors were not as appealing as the pepperoni and mozzarella, but overall it’s not bad.

La Reine (ham, mozzarella, olives, button mushrooms) – The flavors of this pizza were alright. I wouldn’t reorder this one.

Pan-Asian Food (other than Indian)

There are many pan-Asian cuisine restaurants in Mumbai, but so far I have found most of them not that great (jack of all trades, master of none). However, there is one pan-Asian restaurant that I really like: Busaba. I like Busaba because literally everything I have tried there were bursting with great flavors. I don’t know if the food is necessarily authentic, but it is tasty for sure. On the weekdays, Busaba has an unlimited lunch menu that differs from day to day at a relatively reasonable price (700 rupees, or about 11 US dollars). I decided to go on a Thursday when there was a holiday. The unlimited lunch menu is like a cross between an a la carte menu and a buffet; you pay a set price for an unlimited amount of food, but you can’t physically see the food ahead of time.

The first dish was salt and pepper prawns with onion, garlic, and chili:

The second dish was juicy Tibetan chicken dumplings with red chili sauce:

The third dish was sushi with asparagus and pickled vegetables:

I didn’t expect to like this dish because it didn’t have any seafood and looked like it had too much rice, but surprisingly it was very flavorful and delicious.

The fourth dish was basically Asian flavored french fries with chili and scallions, and it was perfectly crispy and way better than regular french fries:

The fifth dish was Korean sweet potato noodles with spinach, carrots, red peppers, and sesame:

The sixth dish was Indonesian stir-fried vegetables with peanut sauce, onions, and tofu:

The seventh dish was sauteed vegetables with black bean, chili, and ginger:

Needless to say, I was stuffed by this point. The host had even tried to accommodate me by instructing the cooks to cook only half the usual portions, but my stomach is not -that- big. Consequently, when the waiter told me that the main courses were yet to come, I considered calling it quits. However, I was curious about the rest of the food, so I continued eating.

Entree clockwise from the bottom left: Vietnamese sizzling fish (coconut juice, tamarind, onions), rice, yellow Thai coconut curry with chicken and basil, vegetable tossed noodles, and Cambodian curry (potato, shallots, baby corn, lemongrass).

I would like to go to Busaba again on a different weekday so that I can sample other dishes, and preferably with at least one other person so that I do not feel uncomfortably stuffed for the rest of the day.

Cute Cafes and Bustling Bakeries

Mumbai has many cute continental cafes and bakeries. These eateries (including The Pantry) are known for their brunches and/or pastries, so I went for lunch on the weekends during the festive holiday season.

In Bandra, there is a little cafe called Fat Mans Cafe (no apostrophe after “Man”):

There are kitschy cartoons of fat men on the wall:

Kitschy fat man quotes on another wall:

It was a few days after Christmas, so I ordered a seafood stuffed rolled pasta from the Christmas menu. I also ordered a Nutella coffee shake.

While waiting for my food and drink, I looked at my surroundings in more detail. In doing so, I noticed on a little chalkboard that Fat Mans Cafe was offering a fresh strawberry milkshake as its Christmas special (it was not listed in the Christmas menu). I asked if I could change my drink, but the waiter said that the Nutella coffee shake had already been made for me. Initially I felt disappointed, but as soon as I tasted my drink, I was really glad that the order couldn’t be changed. This Nutella coffee shake was just perfect – great texture and not too sweet. I tried not to drink too much before my food came out, but ended up finishing half of it by the time the pasta arrived (normally I try to reserve my last bite/sip for my most favorite food item so that its flavor would remain on my tongue after my meal is over).

The seafood stuffed rolled pasta was really good too; the pasta was very generously stuffed and the flavor of the sauce was delicious. I’d make this dish part of the regular menu if I were the owner of Fat Mans Cafe.

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On another weekend morning, I visited Bandra again to try out The Birdsong Organic Cafe. This cafe has rustic charm:

I first ordered a cup of hot chocolate:

This hot chocolate was excellent; it was very thick and full of flavor. At the end of the drink, I left behind the milk skin that was sitting on top of the hot chocolate.

I then ordered honey mustard chicken served on a bed of mashed potatoes and vegetables:

The honey mustard flavor was delicious, and the textures of the chicken, vegetables, and mashed potatoes were just right. However, the portion size was small; I would have preferred four or five pieces of chicken instead of three, more vegetables, and less mashed potatoes (generally I feel that mashed potatoes are just fillers).

I get a 15% discount for Organic Birdsong Cafe from my Coup card, so overall that makes this place worth a repeat visit.

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In downtown Mumbai, there is a relatively new cafe that opened up in November called The Nutcracker:

This is an eggetarian cafe (vegetarian + egg), and it is incredibly popular. Normally when I go for lunch at noon, restaurants are empty. At The Nutcracker however, I had to wait for half an hour. Granted the cafe is small and probably seats only 20-25 people, but still, waiting around noontime in Mumbai is a new experience for me. After I finally got a table, I took a look at my Christmassy surroundings:

There were interesting books behind where I sat, including E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Nutcracker. I skimmed through the book while sipping on a mint lemonade:

The mint lemonade tasted okay (I got it because it had great reviews on Zomato). It is good to order if you want a healthy-tasting drink.

I had ordered a warm Lebanese sandwich (crisp warm falafel, fresh salad, and pickles topped with garlic mayo and a spicy harissa):

This sandwich was good, but not great. Just when I started eating, the waiter asked me if I mind sharing my table with other customers. I said that I didn’t mind, so I ended up listening to other people’s conversations. One person told the other that she had been to The Nutcracker three times already, that the food is incredible, and that the black bean burger is the best. Immediately I couldn’t help regretting ordering the Lebanese sandwich. At one point, one of the girls called over the manager and said, “There is too much of sauce on the salad, it’s very pungent. I’m sorry but I cannot eat it.” The manager apologized and asked, “Is the burger okay?” The girl said, “Haan it is yum, no issues.”

I finished my meal with the seven layer cookie, which also had rave reviews on Zomato:

The seven layer cookie dessert consisted of biscuit crumble, gooey Belgian chocolate, butterscotch, and almonds served warm with vanilla ice cream. While this dessert looked good, I felt that I would have been better off sharing it with someone; I was tired of eating it halfway through because it became too sweet.

Overall, I felt that The Nutcracker is overhyped, or perhaps I didn’t order the right items. I may consider another visit to try the black bean burger.

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I used to go to Theobroma in Powai at least twice a week to buy a brownie or some other goodie after school in Gorai. The only reason why I stopped going regularly is because I don’t think regular visits would be good for my health in the long run. Normally I don’t go out of my way to buy sweets, but Theobroma’s offerings (both sweet and savory) are really good. Specifically, I like the different variety of brownies, banoffee pies (English pies made from bananas, cream, and toffee), dense chocolate cakes, and butties (fries, garlic mayo, cheese, and your choice of bacon, egg, or chicken stuffed in between toasted burger buns). I was informed that the owner of Theobroma used to work as a pastry chef for Oberoi (a luxury hotel chain throughout India), but then she decided to branch out and open up Theobroma (literally means “food of the gods”).

A few days before Christmas, I decided to eat at Theobroma’s in the downtown Mumbai location. Most people (including me) do takeout due to slow service and limited seating, but this time I decided to eat on the premises. Theobroma’s in Mumbai was very busy and crowded, making my experience less than peaceful:

I wanted to try something new, so I ordered a Parsi Akoori (spicy scrambled eggs cooked with garlic, spices, fresh herbs, and (when available) green mango) and a fruit & oat lassi (banana, apple, yogurt, oats, and apple juice). To my disappointment, the waiter told me that green mango was not available, but I went ahead with the Parsi Akoori anyway. The Parsi Akoori came out before my fruit & oat lassi did:

The Parsi Akoori tasted like a healthier version of egg bhurji sold on the streets, except I actually prefer the spicier, greasier, unhealthy street version. I looked at my nearest neighbor’s frittata and had temporary food envy.

My fruit & oat lassi tasted okay too:

It’s not bad, but it tasted like something I can make myself.

I also bought a Christmas cake (left) and a German stollen (right):

I didn’t really like either of them; the Christmas cake tasted like Indian fruit cake with rum, while the German stollen was not memorable.

I’ll continue to try new things at Theobroma, although now I know not everything there tastes great.

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There’s a small bakery in Bandra called The American Express Bakery, and unlike all the other places I have mentioned so far, this place has no seating. Generally I prefer Theobroma over this bakery, but whenever I feel like spending less money for continental baked goodies, I go to The American Express Bakery. On my last visit, I purchased a lemon flan, a spicy mutton sandwich, and two macaroons:

I have had the lemon flan before, so I knew that it would be good. It has a hint of lemon flavor and mostly tastes similar to regular flan, which I like. The spicy mutton sandwich was very spicy and flavorful. It could be improved with better tasting buns, but for the price it’s what I expected. The macaroons did not taste like macaroons at all, but they were decent in their own right. One flavor was chocolate, and I don’t remember the other flavor. I probably wouldn’t repurchase them considering that there are many other options in this bakery.

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Fat Mans Cafe

Address: Shop No. 9, ONGC Building No. 3, Kosamba, ONGC Colony, Bandra West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400050

Phone: 022 2640 2055

Birdsong Organic Cafe

Address: Shop No. 1-5, Jenu-Jenai, Off. Hill Road, Waroda Road, Bandra West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400050

Phone: 022 2642 2323

The Nutcracker

Address: Modern House, Dr. V.B. Gandhi Marg, Opposite One Forbes Building, Kala Ghoda, Fort, Mumbai

Phone: 022 2284 2430

Theobroma

Address: Shop 24, Cusrow Baug, Colaba Causeway, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400005

Phone: 022 2288 0101

The American Express Bakery

Address: Villa Sushma, Hill Road, Ranwar, Bandra West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400050

Phone: 022 2641 5769

Sunday Drunch at The Little Door

Happy New Year everyone! I’ve gone to many restaurants since my last post due to friends visiting and various outings, but I haven’t made the time to blog during the holidays; therefore now I’ll be playing catch-up. I’ll still limit my posts to describe one or few restaurants at a time so that they aren’t too long to read.

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A few weekends ago, I decided to travel to Andheri West to have “Sunday Drunch” at The Little Door. As the name implies, drunch means unlimited booze to go with brunch. Google Maps helped me find the little blue door on a relatively quiet street:

There were inside and outside seating; since it was a nice day (not too hot) and I love al fresco dining in general, we opted for outdoor seating. The ambience was very much to my liking:

Even the bathrooms were cutesy:

The Sunday Drunch prices were fixed for two starters, one entree, unlimited drinks, unlimited salad bar, and unlimited dessert bar. We started off with drinks:

Priam got a mojito while I decided to try the Bloody Mary. They both tasted okay, pretty strong.

Next, our eggs came out:

The starter pictured above was called “Eggs on the Beach”, and it consisted of eggs, mushrooms, and prawns paired with butter garlic toasts. The flavors of the mushrooms and prawns were barely there though, so my eggs tasted practically like regular scrambled eggs. It’s not bad, just nothing special.

I think Priam’s first starter (pictured above) consisted of eggs and ham (sorry can’t recall fully), although similar to mine, I tasted mostly just egg when I tried it. The toast is average as well.

My second starter consisted of mushrooms stuffed with cheese and jalapenos:

These basically tasted like jalapeno poppers that you can get frozen in a bag from a grocery store.

Priam’s second starter consisted of chilly garlic prawns:

These were strictly okay too.

The indoor salad bar (which had more than just salads) looked a lot more promising:

I was pretty excited, so I loaded up two platefuls of food. This was one of the plates:

There was a large variety to choose from, and the flavor of most of the items were pretty good. There weren’t really any outstanding or terrible items in this mini-buffet.

While we were eating, we were given shots without asking:

I do not know what these were nor do I remember how they tasted, so basically they weren’t memorable.

After finishing my second plate of salad bar morsels, I was really full, so I did not mind that the service was really slow. While waiting for my main course to arrive, a waiter (or manager?) went around pouring drinks in everyone’s mouths including mine and Priam’s:

This drink was the most pleasant-tasting drink of the drunch because it tasted like spiked fruit juice. Priam joked that this restaurant doesn’t take itself too seriously.

When my main course came out, I was still full so I couldn’t really eat it:

It also did not help that I did not like the sauce of whatever they put into the pita. It’s supposed to be a chicken shawarma, but it did not taste like one. The potato wedges were decent.

Priam ordered a peppered steak for his main course:

He said that the steak was not that great either. Soon karaoke started, so while we ate, we listened to people singing incredibly out of tune on top of their lungs. The songs played were a mix of cheesy old-school and current American hits such as Britney Spears’s “Toxic” and Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me”. Some of the people at the other tables started dancing, while one girl nearby would exclaim, “I love this song!” every time a song started that she liked. It was pretty hilarious to witness and made my lunch quite enjoyable.

There’s always room for dessert, so we grabbed some from the dessert bar:

The desserts were cute to look at, okay to eat.

On the whole, I liked my experience at The Little Door not because of the food but rather because of the hip and trendy atmosphere. This place also has magazines and board games in case you aren’t having enough fun. I’d skip the food but would recommend The Little Door for parties and hanging out in general.

The Little Door

Phone: 022 30151835

Location:

Andheri Lokhandwala, Andheri West›

B31, Ground Floor, Shree Siddhivinayak Plaza, New Link Road, Andheri Lokhandwala, Andheri West, Mumbai

A Christmassy Woodside Inn: Eat Up, Drink Up

I recently went to Woodside Inn in downtown Mumbai to celebrate a recent marriage of one of Priam’s brother’s friends. I really like this pub because it has a cosy, chill atmosphere and comfort food (at least in my opinion). While I had been to Woodside Inn before, this second experience was much better because I was comfortably seated in the upstairs dining area surrounded by Christmas decor and laughing friends:

We had around five orders of onion rings for 10 people throughout the night:

They tasted really unspectacular, but I guess someone must have liked them a lot since it was constantly reordered despite the variety of appetizers available on the menu.

I ordered an IPA and the Woodside-Inn beef burger in a bowl with avocado, candied bacon, mushrooms, sunny side egg, lettuce, and spiced sweet potato chips:

The IPA was nice and flavorful, very pleasantly hoppy. While I was surprised to see that my dish looked more like a salad than a burger (they gave me toasted bread slices instead of burger buns), overall my dish was tasty. The only minor issues were that the avocado was very unripe and the texture of the meat seemed soggy at the end of the meal. The sweet potato chips were pretty good and spicy. The portions were just right too because when I finished, I was neither hungry nor stuffed. I had thought that I was done eating for the evening, but that turned out not to be the case (people kept ordering food to share, so I was nibbling away the whole night).

Priam had ordered filet mignon with pan seared bell peppers:

I took one bite each of the filet mignon and the bell peppers. While I’ve had better steaks in the US (most likely because Indian steak comes from water buffalos and not cows), the filet mignon at this place was still great considering how the whole dish cost less than 10 US dollars (545 rupees to be exact).

Since this outing was a celebration, we had many celebratory drinks. After I finished my meal, I decided to order a mojito:

My mojito was very minty and refreshing, and my sugar cane stick was fun to chew on. It was one of my favorite drinks for the night.

A friend ordered two rounds of sambuca shots in Red Bull (not at the same time):

It went down pretty easy, although later a couple of people said that they had trouble sleeping that night.

Someone ordered chocolate cake, so I had a bite or two of that:

This cake was gooey, chocolatey, and good.

I tried a few sips of someone else’s Tennessee toddy:

This drink reminded me of mulled wine, except I like mulled wine better. This drink had a tad too much of the alcohol flavor for me.

Fries were ordered for the table (they were strictly average):

The most Indianized dish ordered was some chicken skewers:

I took one skewer. It was very spicy and average tasting.

Several rounds of pizza were ordered too:

The pizza was my most favorite dish for the whole night, so I ate three slices. I really liked the flavor, the mild spiciness, and the crispy thin texture.

I can’t remember exactly what was in the shot below:

It definitely had Bailey’s in it, and it was kind of sickly sweet.

Priam had Old Monk mixed with Coke:

I was informed that Old Monk is the cheapest drinkable branded liquor made in India (cheaper liquor in India is possible but can immediately harm the drinker). I didn’t get a chance to try it by itself because Priam already poured the Coke into it. All I tasted was the Coke.

I ended the night with a Whiskey Sour, which tasted very refreshing. A friend had one too and liked it a lot, saying that it tastes better without the usual egg whites. I couldn’t tell the difference because I’ve had a Whiskey Sour only once before that, and I don’t remember how it tasted.

The Woodside Inn is great for chilling with friends or I’d argue even alone. I’d go there again, although next time I’ll eat and drink in moderation (unless it’s a celebration, then I’ll make an exception).

Woodside Inn

Address: Wodehouse Road, Near Indian Mercantile Mansion, Opp. Regal Cinema, Colaba, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400001

Phone: 022 2287 5752

A New Twist on Mumbai Favorites, Healthy Eating, and Breakfast Recipes

There were two weekday holidays last week, so I had more time to visit restaurants and make breakfast. I had been unsuccessful walking in at 9 pm to SpiceKlub before, so this time Priam and I arrived at this restaurant right when it opened at 6:30 pm (on a side note, booking a table is also an option). SpiceKlub is a vegetarian Indian restaurant that serves food highlighting molecular gastronomy. We ordered three appetizers and one dessert, and afterwards we were comfortably full. The first appetizer served to us was naanza (the menu described naanza as “mini naans stuffed with spice cottage cheese served the Italian way gratinated”):

They looked like little slices of pizza to me, but they did not taste like pizza. The toppings were really delicious, the cottage cheese was very creamy and spicy, and the naan had the perfect soft texture. This naanza was my most favorite dish out of everything we ordered.

After we finished the naanza, the waiter gave us our pav bhaji fondue (tomato-based fondue with cheese, onions, and possibly other vegetables):

A Mumbai street food favorite, this particular pav bhaji was all gussied up complete with fancy fondue forks. This version was creamier than the pav bhaji I have had in the schools. The flavors were good, albeit not mind-blowing.

The third appetizer we ordered was pani puri:

This was the first time I’ve seen the chili liquid in test tubes on dry ice and the sweet liquid in a syringe (click here for my description of pani puri). I had a fun time assembling my pani puri together. While the presentation was unique and eye-catching, in my opinion the taste isn’t any different from the pani puri available on the streets.

For dessert, we had the bubbling kulfi (Indian ice cream traditionally made with condensed milk):

This kulfi came in little pieces on a flask filled with liquid nitrogen. The five sauces (from top left to bottom right counterclockwise) are rose tapioca pearls, malai (Indian sweet cream), caramel, blueberry, and chocolate. They all went really well with the kulfi (I tried them each separately with the kulfi and then combined some), with my favorites being the rose and the caramel. The combination of rose tapioca pearls, malai, and kulfi tasted like a falooda (Indian cold sweet drink traditionally made with rose syrup, basil seeds, jelly pieces, tapioca pearls, vermicelli, and ice cream). Priam was at first wondering why the kulfi was in little pieces, and then he came to the conclusion that the kulfi would be too difficult to break apart if it were in one large piece. This presentation was also unique and fun, with liquid nitrogen smoking out of the spout and flower petals strewn around the sauces.

Overall, I really liked the presentation of the dishes and their flavors, although you can get the same flavors of pani puri for much cheaper on the streets. SpiceKlub is the most innovative restaurant that I’ve ever been to, and I would like to visit again to try their other dishes.

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Yesterday I went to The Yoga House, not to do yoga but rather to eat. I had eaten here over a year ago and liked their food, so when I used Google maps to find this place, I was surprised to see that The Yoga House relocated to a much bigger house than the one it was in before:

The Yoga House had an upgrade, as there are now more rooms and seats available. I really like the ambience of this new house because the colors and decor make it look very serene and peaceful:

The Entrance

The First Flight of Stairs

The Second Flight of Stairs

The Third Flight of Stairs

Where I Eventually Decided to Eat (I painted my bedroom in Boston in this same shade of blue)

My View as I Ate Lunch

I ordered The Yoga House’s signature quinoa burger and signature smoothie (the menu listed the following ingredients: banana, milk, almonds, cashew nuts, raisins, grated coconut, puffed rice, beaten rice, sesame seeds, dates, figs, poppy seeds, ginger powder, and cinnamon):

Both my beverage and food tasted very healthy and organic. There were extra hummus and greens on the side, which I slathered onto my burger. Unlike most restaurants I’ve been to in Mumbai, this quinoa burger tasted like no chili was added. The water was in a copper cup, which I have heard gives health benefits. I really did not like the metallic taste of the cup though, so I avoided the water.

For dessert, I ordered masala chai and three homemade ladoos (ball-shaped Indian sweets):

For some reason I can’t really put my finger on, holding this particular cup of masala chai (top left) felt really soothing to my hands. Initially I did not know what was in the metal bowl in the top right (looked similar to Indian pickled mango to me), so I tried it and found it delicious. I asked the waiter what it was, and he told me that it is organic jaggery to be used as a sugar substitute for the masala chai. According to Wikipedia, jaggery is concentrated date, cane juice, or palm sap.

The ladoos tasted healthy, yummy, and not too sweet. I could see pistachios in the ladoos, and I think the crunchy texture was due to puffed rice, though I’m not sure. I had no problem finishing off these three ladoos.

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Last Tuesday morning, I decided to make breakfast consisting of caramelized onions, spinach, and eggs:

I followed the recipe online (click here for the recipe) with the following modifications:

1. I used ghee (Indian clarified butter) instead of butter. Ghee smells really nice when it is used for cooking, and a small amount is sufficient. I had gone to the supermarket last week and decided for the first time to purchase ghee instead of butter. This was the first time that I had cooked with ghee, and my kitchen smelled great for many hours afterward.

2. I used Spanish cheese that was given by Priam’s brother’s friends from Spain instead of Parmesan cheese. This cheese is hard, so I think it’ll last for a while.

3. I microwaved the dish in the end instead of putting it in an oven because I don’t own an oven.

Overall I thought my dish was good, although the spinach for some reason had a slightly bitter taste. I think that this dish would have tasted better if I had an oven to put it in.

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This morning, I decided to make French toast. I had made French toast several times in the past, and each time I had not been satisfied. This time I decided to do more research (click here and here for tips). These were the changes I made based on the recommendations:

1. In the past I had used multigrain bread, so this time I bought brioche. The brioche was indeed perfect for soaking up the custard. Additionally, the multigrain bread I used before were pre-sliced too thinly, so this time I cut the brioche myself into 1-inch thick slices.

3. One online article advised not to add too much sugar to the custard, while another article advised two tablespoons of sugar per cup of milk. Since my previous French toasts had been very bland, I opted to add two tablespoons of sugar.

4. I added three eggs per cup of milk instead of two (I had previously looked at a different recipe calling for only two eggs).

5. I blended my custard in a blender to avoid egg whites forming on my French toast. The articles above did not specifically mention using blenders, but one recipe did so I decided to try it out.

Generally I followed a recipe I found online (click here for the recipe) with the following modifications:

1. I added three eggs while the recipe didn’t require any.

2. I used slim milk instead of coconut milk because that’s all I had.

3. I omitted the nutmeg and cornstarch because I didn’t have any.

4. I did not serve with maple syrup because I had added two tablespoons of brown sugar to the custard beforehand (I don’t have white sugar).

5. I did not have any bananas that Americans eat (long and big), so I used two Indian bananas instead (short and small but more flavorful).

I think that the articles are great because my French toast tasted much better today than they ever did before. They were sweet enough that no extra syrup was needed. This was the first time that I used coconut oil, and it imparted a very nice flavor and aroma. One improvement I can think of is if I had half-and-half or whole milk instead of slim milk, since skim milk wouldn’t produce as rich a flavor. Still, it was the first time that I felt satisfied with my French toast.

My ingredients:

Some of my French toast after eating several slices:

I cooked six slices and two end pieces, and Priam and I became pretty full after that. Since I still had a fair amount of custard left and I did not want it to go to waste, I decided to add about 1/3 cup of flour to it. This amount was enough to make the resulting batter suitable for making crepes, which I did:

Since the crepes were very thin and light, I was able to eat them despite being relatively full from the French toast. I liked them even more than my French toast because the crepes were less dense. I had pinned quite a few breakfast recipes on Pinterest, so I will be making them on future lazy mornings.

A farewell party and a bungalow-turned-restaurant

Last week, I attended a farewell party for a Berkeley alumna who was going back to the US. The party was at another Berkeley alumnus’s home in downtown Mumbai. After some drinks and appetizers (various dips with breadsticks), we were treated to a huge spread of homemade, delicious Punjabi food. I asked the host if I could write about his food, to which not only did he say yes, but also he and his mother explained every dish to me (gotta love Indian hospitality). Upon hearing that I have a food blog, one of the party-goers said that I could take a picture of him enthusiastically chowing down on papad (crispy fried dough) dipped in paneer makhni:

Paneer is a type of Indian cheese and makhni means butter; this particular paneer makhni, however, was made with a tomato base instead of butter. It tasted just as good and creamy as if it had butter in it. The dish looked like this:

There was one vegetarian biryani (mixed rice dish with lots of spices) and one chicken biryani. I really liked the combination of the black caramelized onions’ sweet flavor with the other spices in the biryani:

You can view the whole spread here:

On the top left is a bow tie pasta dish (not an Indian dish but good nevertheless), on the left is bindhi masala (okra in spice mix), on the bottom left is either the chicken or veg biryani, on the bottom right is kaali dal (black lentils), which alternatively can be called maa ki dal (mother’s lentils), on the right is paneer makhni, and on the top right is biryani. Afterwards there were mini cupcakes and gulab jamun (milk solids soaked in sugar syrup), which were not homemade but still good. I ate the desserts despite being really full already from the dinner. It was a great party overall and the girl going away said that she plans on coming back to India soon.

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Today I decided to go to downtown Mumbai to buy some Bollywood sheet music for my violin students. Since I don’t like to travel long distances just for one errand, I had decided to have lunch downtown as well. I went to Busaba because I like their Khow Suey (Burmese coconut milk noodles), only to find out that it had been closed down. Luckily next door is Indigo (a continental restaurant); I’ve been to Indigo Deli in various locations and thought they were pretty good. This restaurant looked fancier than the other Indigo Deli restaurants on both the outside and inside:

The Entrance

The Bar Area

The Restroom

The Dining Room

I really like the color contrast of the marigolds (partially blocked by other diners) against the bright blue walls.

After being seated, I saw that this location served fancier dishes as well; I decided to go with the prix fixe lunch menu. I chose a pumpkin and caraway veloute for my first course:

I had no idea what caraway veloute was initially; I ordered it mainly because I like pumpkin. When I looked up “caraway veloute” online, I learned that caraway is fennel (a very popular digestive aid among Indians), and veloute is a soup made from stock and cream. The plate (bowl?) had an unusual shape in that it curved downwards rather than upwards. The pumpkin soup itself was really well done with lots of flavors popping out at different times. The waiter placed a block of solid foods in the center and poured the soup until it was completely covered; I then proceeded to break the solid chunk into smaller pieces. I assume the pop of different flavors depended on whatever solid piece I happened to bite into. For instance, if I had a bite of the greens, I experienced a pleasant bitter taste. If I had a bite of fennel, I’d taste it quite prominently (the taste of fennel is strong). There was also something nice and sweet in the soup, but I do not know what it is.

For my second course (main course), I had the pan roasted red snapper with crab dumpling, curried spinach, and coconut lime sauce. It was the fanciest presentation of pot stickers that I’ve ever seen (I’m used to pot stickers in hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurants):

I liked the coconut lime sauce the best; it made everything taste really good. The pot stickers were mildly sweet and okay, not exceptional (I couldn’t taste any crab in them). While this dish may look small in the picture, it was actually quite filling.

Lastly, I had passion fruit and banana pavlova for dessert:

I didn’t know what pavlova was initially, but I ordered this dessert because I like passion fruit and bananas. According to Wikipedia, pavlova is a meringue-based dessert. This dessert tasted great (not too sweet), and I like the dragon fruit and star fruits thrown into the mix.

After my meal, I learned from my waiter that Indigo is for fine dining, while Indigo Deli (all the other locations I’ve been to) is for casual dining. He also informed me that this British bungalow-turned-restaurant was the original Indigo, and it has been around for 15 years. There is a terrace upstairs, but is closed for the monsoon season (although I’d think that monsoon season is pretty much over by now). I do like Indigo more than Indigo Deli, but it is (obviously) pricier as well. I would like to come here again to try out their other items, since overall I liked everything I ate here.