Indigo Deli - Its been a while

Rest : Indigo Deli
Meal : Evening Snack
Loc : Near the Taj Mahal Hotel, Colaba

Indigo Deli the younger more general sibling of the very accomplished Indigo continues to get stronger. Unfortunately they have not changed the menu in a fairly long time, though they have a few specials almost every day.


we started with some brilliant ice tea with a hint of mint, went down very well on a hot day.


the cheddar jalapeño sandwich was brilliant, very tasty, though it could do with a little more filling besides the jalapeño.


i foolishly avoided the spaghetti a decision i immediately regretted when my garlic & sun dried tomato risotto showed up. It looked goon on paper but just didn't add up. over salted under taste not a patch on the sinfully tasty spaghetti.



i finished off with a very fine cappuccino


and she finished off with a fine tiramisu. Complaining still that it didnt match the one she had in Milan. Oh well...

Overall, the place is the same which, in this case is not a bad thing. I just wish they could throw a little more imagination in the menu. The service is and always has been on the slower side.

Some of the cool things not to miss are the fantastic Spaghetti, the dulce de lece & the sangria.

Food : 8/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 1500


Indigo Deli
5, Ground Floor
Pheroze Bldg, Opposite Dhanraj Mahal,
Apollo Bunder Colaba,Mumbai
Phone 66551010

Trattoria

Rest : Trattoria
Meal : Dinner
Location : Taj President, Cuffe Parade


Trattoria is an old old city favorite, I have been going there for about 12 years and its always been consistent in cuisine, service, popularity and ambiance.Its also open 24 hours and one of the better options (vs something like Shamiana at the Taj or Marine plaza's Bayview) at 3am.



The place is designed allright but be aware that it is just slightly quieter than a fish market at full bloom (or boom) the people are loud.


I started with a mushroom soup which i did not find all that impressive. it seemed to lack a strong taste of any kind. It seemed more watered down in taste rather than texture. Weak would be the right word for it.


they have a decent selection of dipping sauces, we chose the spiced tomato which was excellent if a little too sweet.


The tomato soup was good, not as good or strong as say the one from ITC but it was still fairly acceptable.


The pizza was the coup de grace. Excellent. The thing was cooked to perfection, the cheese was just slightly sour. Good ol plain cheese was wow!

Overall the food was above average, pizza was great and the service was okay. The place continues to be consistent, loud and popular.

Food: 8/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 2100


Trattoria
Hotel Taj President
90 Cuffe Parade, Mumbai
Phone 66650808

Pan Asian

Rest : Pan Asian
Meal : Dinner
Location : Near International Airport

Pan Asian has been a sort of favourite place for us to go, except that it is exceedingly far away. They continue to offer the best cocktails in the city and typically attentive & friendly ITC service. The food itself however is mostly okay.



I started with a couple of Bloody Mary's (they were THAT good) a lot of bartenders ought to come down here and learn a lesson or two.


The Margarita was again, fantastic, not the most authentic i would say as it was more like frozen shaved ice but it was great.


The starters were these potato thingies which were okay, the dim sum was a complete disappointment, no great taste or flavor anywhere.


The main course was an off the menu burnt garlic fried rice which was okay. The entree was an above average mix of veggie and bean curd in a chefs special sauce (soya based)

Overall, the food was just above average, the drinks were fantastic as was the service. The place is ridiculously expensive and i would advice a detour to any other place for better food and better value for money. For cocktails you cant do better than these guys.

The pricing is mostly 5 star and ITC is usually the more expensive of the other chains. Apparently the ITC properties in Bombay have been bumped up to luxury/gold level by them internally. So for no apparent reason you have to pay even more now.

They also have a Sunday brunch inclusive of drinks which is reviewed here
Food : 6.5/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 3600 for two with 3 drinks.


ITC Grand Maratha Sheraton & Towers
Sahar Road
Sahar, Andheri (E), Mumbai
Phone 28303030

Jumbo King

A vada pav is literally (bread & ball) the served like a burger, except its vegetarian and spicy. The ball is essentially a mix of peas, potato, garlic and sometimes green chilly. This is then mixed with flour and then fried. It is a cheap, quick and filling snack tremendously popular in Bombay and a must have.




Jumbo King is the McDonalds like Vada Pav vendor across Bombay. They were the first people to standardize the snack as well as offer a myriad options to spice (sometimes literally) the offering. Their product is untouched by hand unlike the usually hygienically suspect vendors across (the Jumbo vada is slightly more expensive)

They have a few centers across the city, mostly near the train stations.

The alternatives range from Regular, Schezwan, Chole (spiced chick peas) cheese and a new paneer makhani one. The pricing is between 6-16 rupees. You can also get a combo with pepsi & fries (though i have not seen any fries ever) you also get the choice of brown bread (which is brilliant)

I dont think i have had a vada pav any place else since Jumbo King opened up.

Swati Snacks

Rest: Swati
Meal : Dinner
Location : Near Bhatia Hospital, Tardeo.


Ended up back at Swati as my wife had a burning desire for some Panki. I had some work in the neighbourhood so we mixed in business with gastronomy.


So the panki was what we ordered, two versions, the mint and the chutney. Panki is a traditional gujarati snack not found everywhere, its like a uttapam or a chila but steamed between leaves and served with chillies and chutney. Delicious.

I also got the Dahi Misal, which is a more traditional Maharashtrian snack and it was just incredible. I haven't had such a good one anywhere, it was less spicy than usual and maybe thats why the taste came out so well.



The wife wanted some good old batata vada and we got some but i was not too impressed. no real taste or bent of any kind, plain, simple & boring.



the whole thing was topped of by the baked masala khichadi. Fantastic, not as spicy as usual again and a good call. piping hot, it was just delicious with a capital D. do ask for extra dahi (curd), it will go very well with the heat.

Overall the food was great, the service was quick and friendly.

Swati is a great option to get a taste of Indian snacks in an upmarket ambiance and a hygienic setting. They also serve two of the coolest and uniquely Bombay things, the Kala Khatta Gola (sort of like a slurpy on a stick) & Sugarcane juice.

Food : 9/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 300

Swati Snacks
248 Karai Estate, Tardeo Road
Opposite Bhatia Hospital
Tardeo, Mumbai
Phone 66808405, 66808406

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Gola

typical gola shop

Yesterday i had a quintessential Bombay experience, nothing to do with trains or traffic, i had a gola. A gola (literally means ball or even grenade) is ball of ice stuck into a stick, you then dip it in flavoured syrups and suck on it. Kinda like a slurpy but with a little more work.

the one i had was a kala khatta (literally salty black) which is a fairly unique flavor, sweet and sour tang with some added black salt mixture.

There are a bunch of flavors such as Orange, there is a simple one with just lemon juice and water as well. There is a more exotic one with milk and cream which tastes pretty amazing and is expensive too (40-50 rs) compared to the normal flavoured gola (15 rs)

The best place to get one of these is Swati if you are a hygeine freak or at Chowpatty beach.

This thing rocks, a little fun never killed anyone :)