Team-BHP - A Guide: Eating out in Mumbai

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NOW is a good time. kidding!
how does thursday/friday sound? come on guys. anything for food, remember? :-P

Quote:

Originally Posted by SohailPistawala (Post 1155452)

superselect: where you from christ church school at Clare Road, because, Falsa was available at the small outlet right outside the school, opposite st.agnes girls school ;). I dark coloured drink, outside that tiny shop on the pavement was also a ragda wala. I believe that was the usual haunt for students of both the schools.

Aprandiv: i used to buy those sweet cigarretes just , i think it somewhat tasted like mint. lols . Rola cola is a coca cola flavoured sweet right.

Hey Sohail good to see someone else too, go ;) at the mention of St. Agnes Girls' School ! I'm from St. Mary's, very close to Christ Church..
Btw Sarvi at Nagpada is heaven, close to your school.

Gogi bhai, Friday afternoon suit you ? Gujarati thali ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by V-16 (Post 1156062)

No boss cant make it tonite as i have a dinner fixed up already.

I just met up at Good Earth with my wife and my dear friend from out of town. Wifey had taken him shopping for his family and we decided to meet up at te Good Earth Cafe (called the tasting room) at Raghuvanshi mills.

Almost empty the place has a wonderful ambience and is probably one of the most inviting restaurants for lunch/brunch. A great place to catch up with your friends or mate where one can be seated in an informal atmosphere. Very recommended.

Our order:

1)Ceaser's salad @ Rs 190/- (can be ordered either with or without chicken, ours was with) This is a must have here as its probably the only place the greens are ice cold, one of a pre requisite to a good crunchy salad to be had in a tropical country.

2) Pink Grapefruit and Prawn salad @ Rs 350/- in green pesto dressing..Ho hu not recommended. The greens were not chilled and the prawn was overcooked. Very important to cook the prawns just right. A little overcooked and they tend to get rubbery and loose that crunch.

We ordered two sandwiches (which can be ordered in either a multigrain bread, foccaccia or a bagel. I recommend the multigrain. The foccaccia is not a foccaccia and the bagel is not fresh. One gets the feeing its a mucrowaved into being rubbery. The filling is great.The salad portions are quite substantial for one while the sandwich is a real small serving for the price.

3) Chicken and Parmesan sandwich @ RS 190/- in a multigrain bread

Attachment 97047

4) Bacon and Gorgonzola @ Rs 250/- in a bagel

The food is good, and quite standard. The presentation of sandwiches is good and comes in a plate in which you can play football...with the food in it.

Heres the empty plate. I met a friend and went to her table to wish her and when i came back the bagel was gone, hence the empty plate with the accompaniments intact.
In the background the almost eaten grapefruit and prawn salad.

Attachment 97048

Washed down with a Watermelon Caipiroshka - non Alcoholic
(could be a tad less sour) and of course a Diet coke.

Attachment 97045
Attachment 97046

One thing that needs to be addressed here is the lethargic unfriendly service. My wife and me go there on a very regular basis and we have always found the service to be very lethargic and uncaring, besides always seeing new faces. Where have all the staff from the last time gone? Although not rude, they do tend to just take the customers for granted. The food is not exactly cheap (for a salad at Rs 350/- and a sandwich for Rs 250/- plus taxes plus 7% service charge).

You are served a bread basket o arrival. Ask for it to be warmed, served with herb butter.

Service charge is another issue. How much tip does one leave when you are charged a service charge? I generally put in a minimum of 10-15% of the tab as a tip. If im charged a service charge, then i will deduct that percentage from the tip. I think its fair as you are already being charged a tip in the form of a service charge in the bill.

I have in the past had their soup and some main course. The main course is not as good as the sandwich or the salad. The one thing that is really really good in the main course is the grilled fish and the Steak. (Approx @ Rs 350-385/-)

Then deserts to choose from. Frankly i wouldnt waste my palate on desserts here. I have not liked a single one (not bad but not as good as say, Moshes or Basilico and the others)

The Bill arrives in a period wooden box. On close inspection it is a box made of cloves. How ingenious. The damn thing smells so good. I have never seen it anywhere else. Im told it is sold in the store next door.

Tonite: Woodside in and Lepopld's again:D

They have an excellent coriander chicken salad as well. I agree about the service part - it wouldn't be right to say that they're rude but they definitely don't go out of their way to help you. The one thing that's really weird is that the head chef is more polite and concerned about you than the waiting staff. Their deserts aren't all that bad and they have a nice Bailey's irish cream cake. Basilico had an excellent one but they've replaced ith with a mousse cake which isn't anywhere close. The only other place I know of that has a irish cream cake is Churchill/mocambo. The wooden box the bill came in had a cinnamon handle earlier but I noticed a lot of the sticks were flicked. One thing that really adds to the ambience is the furniture, a lot of which can be bought. Also I think this is one of the first places in Mumbai with a community dining table.

Superselect : Sorry i am not from Christ Church, hehe, i am from St.peter's close to your school ;), but yes i use to go on weekends for the falsa, dam thats when St.Agnes was shut hehe. Yes I enjoyed food at Sarvi (nagpada), Sigdi (next to christ church school), even the small restaurant opp St.Mary's ICSE calles as Queen mary's, Infact i still go to the restaurant for Morning Kheema Ghotala.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmmjgm (Post 1156813)

Gogi bhai, Friday afternoon suit you ? Gujarati thali ?

Why not??:D Early noon what say?

Quote:

Originally Posted by khanak (Post 1156820)

They have an excellent coriander chicken salad as well.

Oh then i must try that salad.

Quote:

I agree about the service part - it wouldn't be right to say that they're rude but they definitely don't go out of their way to help you. The one thing that's really weird is that the head chef is more polite and concerned about you than the waiting staff.

I never said they were rude...just indifferent, see quoted text from my post below:)

Quote:

Although not rude, they do tend to just take the customers for granted.

Yes I do agree that the head chef I think his name is Samir, is really friendly and goes out of the way to accommodate you.

Quote:

Their deserts aren't all that bad and they have a nice Bailey's irish cream cake. Basilico had an excellent one but they've replaced ith with a mousse cake which isn't anywhere close. The only other place I know of that has a irish cream cake is Churchill/mocambo.

Im not a big fan of these cold cakey, moussey desserts so i rarely find something like this exciting. On the other hand i go for the verdict by my wife whos crazy about these things and didnt find the desserts too great at the Good earth cafe.Yes the Chocolate Walnut Maple pie at Basilico and Moshe is really a killer. Thats what i really really love

Quote:

The wooden box the bill came in had a cinnamon handle earlier but I noticed a lot of the sticks were flicked. One thing that really adds to the ambience is the furniture, a lot of which can be bought. Also I think this is one of the first places in Mumbai with a community dining table.

Its not just any wodden box mon ami, its made of cloves, all of it. Yes i noticed the cinnamon stick handle. They must have more than one of these things

Whats a community table Adheesh?

Quote:

Originally Posted by V-16 (Post 1157884)

Why not??:D Early noon what say?

Friday afternoon it is then.

Cheers
M M

@ V-16
Talking about Phantom Cigarettes, it was nostalgic, thinking about the good old days, i just bought one yesterday...lol:

OT

^ The guy in the pic kinda looks like Harbhajan singh imo. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by faithless_1984 (Post 1158985)

OT

^ The guy in the pic kinda looks like Harbhajan singh imo. :D

lol:

I agree!

OT: The first thing that came to my mind is that the Phantom picture looks different from how it used to when I was a kid.

lol: exactly my thought too. Bhajji, lol

My best friend, a bori bhai comes down every month from the US on company work. For a week we go out every night. This time on Monday we started off with Janta at Pali Naka, our oldest meeting point. After that we went to Soul Fry where there was Karaoke Night. The place was rocking as usual. We did not feel like leaving but i had a early morning the next day. Tomorrow we are going to haunt Mohammed Ali Road to all our favourite joints at Bachuwadi, Do Taaki for Seekh Paratha & there's a small bakda at Musafir khana where i heard you get the best Brain Fry with Pao/Bread Naan. Normally when he used to come once a year, we would go to Shalimar Bhendi Bazar & have the Raan Tandoori there. Our itinerary would be Janta, Pali Naka--> Harmony, Reclamation (until they made a mess of it) --> get a cab and drink in it too --> Shalimar, Bhendi Bazar --> Tavern, Fariyas Hotel Colaba (One of our oldest haunt). Am going tomorrow and will try to click pics if i am sober stupid:

Quote:

Originally Posted by anilkalvani (Post 1159414)

......& there's a small bakda at Musafir khana where i heard you get the best Brain Fry with Pao/Bread Naan.

Trust me anil, that guy is the pits. If you see him cook, you will never go there again. I have eaten at many a filthy place but this one you mention and Noor Mohammadi next to Shalimar take the cake in filth. While NM is plain dirty, this guy is unhygenic. I went there twice and both times i didnt eat. The first was when there were roaches roaming of the cooking platform. Then i noticed that the make shift platform in placed on an open gutter.
The next time they company had grown. There were giant Roaches and huge Rats...no Bandicoots. Im never going there again.

Ig you want a great Bheja, go to Riyaz next to Bandra Railway station or then the bakda next to Idris cold drink house at Bohri Mohalla. This guy is definately the best. I used to go to a Surd guy opposite the Hotel Royal Inn next to the Telephone exchange on Linking road. He has some decent Brain an Paya. You could try there though i have not been there for a while. Seriously, avoid the Musafir Khana guy.

thanx v-16 for your advice ill skip musafir khana, the guy near khar telephone exchange is amritsar da dhaba fyi. but off late he has lost his touch. i think i will try the bohri mohalla joint tomorrow. riyaz near bandra station i have eaten zabaan there the first and the last time, after that i never went there. cant wait wor tomorrow lol: slurp slurp.

there an old chacha with a beard there who used to make the stuff now he just supervises. While youre there, try the lovely sherbets from Idris. On the same street is the famous Nan sandwich and roll wall that Khanak so much loves (as do we) try some of that too. Bon Appetite.

How about lowdown on some the good buffets across the City with the cuisine and the prices, from normal lunch, brunch, dinner and midnight buffets?