The Banyan Tree - Avoid at all costs

Rest: The Banyan Tree
Loc : Worli behind the Petrol Pump opp Podar.
Meal : Lunch

The Banyan tree sounds like quite a charming little location where one could munch on good food and watch a Sunday afternoon pass. Its not.

However the place is anything but good, it was my second visit there and everything is perfectly dissapointing. The menu is a hodge podge with no real theme, they serve breakfast items from eggs to pancakes, sandwiches, pastas and curries.


The Fresh lime soda was pretty good and i ended up having two


The roast tomato soup was horrible. It had a sour bitter taste and was nothing like you would expect, most places when they offer a tomato soup go out of their way to top it up with herbs or garlic or cream to make the taste unique but nothing here.

The pasta salad with pesto sounded excellent in theory. Practically it had nothing going for it, the pesto was tasteless (if you can believe that) the lettuce was fresh probably three days ago.

The Jalapeno poppers haha.. this one was funny, they weren't really jalapenos it was green peppers filled with cheese. what a rip off !

Fresh mushrooms stir fried with peppers on a bed of lettuce. Or more like hot steaming tasteless fire to burn your tongue. Too spicy, the freshness and taste if there was any was lost in the heat...

The Thai Green curry was so full of bamboo shoots and broccoli that one could not chew without having to spit out. The curry itself was average nothing great but not as bad as the rest of the food.

They were supposed to offer pineapple rice which they did not have, so i chose plain rice.


The dessert was Tiramisu and it was actually not too bad. Seems like they accidentally got it right. However it was too warm!


Overall, i have not had such a dreadful meal in a long time. Almost every dish was dissapointing to a large extent, i am all for different tastes and am ready to excuse authencity for fusion. There are amateur cooks who can do a better job surely.

The service was also fairly horrible, completely scatter brained, no training, no finesse no manners. We had to ask for plates each time and for silverware, at one point one of the waiters when asked for the dessert to be brought showed us his palm (wtf is that!) to ask us to wait.

I would avoid this place like the plague.

Food : 3/10
Service : 3/10
Damage : 1300

Cafe Basilico

Rest : Cafe Basilico
Meal : Dinner
Loc : Opp Radio Club, Apollo Bunder, Colaba

Basilico was one of the first restaurants to offer thoughtfully created gourmetish cusinine at relatively reasonable prices. Their menu changes on and off and a lot of the dishes on the menus simply kill. I have been going there for quite a while and have rarely had an off experience (previous visits here and here )

The food has a strong Middle Eastern bent but there is enough of Europe in there to keep everyone happy. The salads are attractive but the soups and appetizers are on the weaker side.

started off with an iced tea which was briliant.

the salad was the greek salad with feta cheese. no one can really go wrong with feta in my opinion.

the bruschetta was allright, the wife liked it but i was not too impressed.

the pasta tubes filled with cheese, spinach in a tomato sauce, is the best dish on their menu (used to be the Penne Gremalota which is now gone) and is actually one of the best dishes anywhere. brilliant, the rich tasty tomato sauce, the bursting tubes, they just go brilliantly well together.

this was the moroccan broth, which was veggies in a brown soup like broth, it was hot and pretty tasty.

it was served with couscous and they went brilliantly well together.

Overall the food was great, except for the weak appetizers, the service was quick and friendly. they have a large selection of desserts for the so inclined.

A great place to eat at, especially on a lazy sunday afternoon if possible.

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

Cafe Basilico
Sentinel House, Near Radio Club
Arthur Bunder Road
Colaba, Mumbai
Phone 66345670, 66345671

Vong Wong

Rest : Vong Wong
Loc : Express Towers, Opp the Hilton, Nariman Point
Meal : Sunday Lunch

My last visit to Vong Wong was above average (here) however since then i have heard many polarizing views about the place, some at the extreme end of good (few though) and many saying how horrible it is.


We set out on Sunday for our little meal towards Indigo Deli but due to delay were given a 20 min wait, the Moshe outlet next door had no power so no go there either. Taj was mentioned briefly but we decided to drop in at Vong Wong and give them another shot.

Vong Wong is a Chinese-Thai restaurant, the place is brilliant for lunch, large, airy well lit, and fairly expansive. Very few stand alone restaurants are as well located or laid out as VW. The place was mostly full and we got one of the last tables.

The menus were produced promptly, they had a Dim Sum menu with pleny of rice, noodle and veggie options as well as one can choose from the regular menu. We ordered from both. We avoided the Thai appetizers, in fact we avoided Thai all together as the last time was not very memorable. The peanuts were nothing like Henry Tham and all the table sauces sucked big time.

What is a Sunday brunch without a bloody mary? i got one and it was brilliant...

the wife got a kiwi cooler which i assure you tasted better than it looks in this picture.

our appetizers were all from the dim sum menu, the crystal dumpling, the chung fun roll were all right. They all tasted the same, sweetish not great flavour.

the steamed mushroom bun was also disappointingly average.

the entree was stir fry veggies with water chestnuts in black bean sauce, good stuff, just the right amount of heat and taste.

The wok fried yellow noodles with veggies were brilliant by themselves and tasted great.

Overall, the food was good but the Dim Sums really need some work. There is very little difference in the way they taste, maybe ordering off the regular menu for the appetizers would be a better idea.

The Service is friendly but def on the slower and forgetful side (the wife's diet coke was forgotten, and despite ordering the drinks immediately they did not come until the appetizers were there)

The place is brilliant for a Sunday lunch and they have these little private rooms segregated by curtains if you are bringing more than 6. Will def return again!

Food : 8/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 2300 (including a cocktail & a bud)

Vong Wong
Express Towers
First Floor, Ramnath Goenka Marg
Nariman Point, Mumbai
Tel 22875633, 22875634, 22875635

Status Fast Food

Rest : Status Fast Food
Loc : Nariman Point
Meal : Evening Snack

Status is a fairly popular restaurant for north Indian and snack food and gets extremely busy during lunch due to its great location.

Status has a large sit down dining option which serves snacks, north indian as well as a thali. However they also serve plenty of snack food options at the exterior sitting area.

The rasam bunda was good, well the rasam was good and the bunda was just okay.

We got two brilliant Dosas a cheese masala and a mysore masala. Both were soft, crispy and pretty much on the money.

The tomato onion uttapam was fairly average, would not recommend it.

Overall the place is quick, efficient and the food is fairly good. You have to pay first and then get served which can be inconvenient but its worth it if you want good food fast.

Food : 8/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 350

Status
208 Regent Chambers
Nariman Point, Mumbai
Phone 22872821, 22872829

TGIF

Rest : Ruby Tuesday
Loc : INOX CR2, Nariman Point

Ruby Tuesdays continues to grow strong, despite being an out of the box dining experience i continue to visit the place as they deliver the goods (last visit here)

A traditional frozen margarita, brilliantly executed just wish it was bigger

the wife had a strawberry daiquiri, Ruby Tuesday barman knows his stuff, this too was pretty on the money.


the nachos were fantastic. the next time i am here for a movie, will def pop in for some nachos and another drink before heading on upstairs!

the baked potato was served with cheese and it was fabulous. the whole place is selling Americana down to baked potato.

Food : 8/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 1400

Ruby Tuesday
Crossroads 2, Nariman Point
Phone 66510709

Indigo - New Years Day Dinner

Rest : Indigo
Location : Behind the Taj, Colaba
Meal : Dinner

Indigo continues to be a stand alone gourmet dining option towards the high end, the place continues to do well and we should have a Indigo sibling at the Mahalaxmi Race Course soon. It is also in terms of price stayed in the same band (which is great) without sacrificing on any of the imagination. Places like Prato, Wasabi, Dum Pukth, have taken over as the pricier options. So it offers a value for money proposition (in a sick twisted relative way)

Since we weren't really celebrating on New Years Eve we decided to do a dinner on new years day. We decided to go gourmet and ended up at Indigo. The place was emptyish when we got there for out 8.30 sitting but filled up as the evening wore on.

I decided to forgo the wines and went in for a Bloody Mary. Fairly good too, it could have been slightly tangier but not a bad start.

The wife had a citrus cooler that actually tasted like liquid candy. good stuff, i liberally drank from this as well.

i went for the goat cheese patty with grilled figs and a walnut vinaigrette and some greens on the side. Excellent, one can never go wrong with goat cheese, the walnut drizzle added a dash of taste to the greens, the figs were an interesting addition.

The tomato tatin was grilled tomato served with a side of cucumbers and tomatoes in a frozen pesto. The tomatoes were fantastic, the tatin was great too. The pesto and the little salad were just too cold to get anything out of them however.

The garlic bread was all right!

The sweet Garlic fettuccine was excellent, served with bits of walnut and sun dried tomato, it was a heavy tasting dish, i am not a big fan of white sauces but this one was alright. A good pick.

The gorgonzola & water chest nut risotto was served with sweet potatoes and charred onions. An excellent dish, most of the items by themselves didn't taste great but when taken in combination the dish really came together. excellent.


The chocolate fondant with a jalapeno is one of their signature desserts served with vanilla ice cream. Honestly its not really worth the 20 min advance notice it requires. The jalapeno again is innovative but there is no real point to it. I would have much rather gone for the creme brulee.

Overall the food was good, bordering on great. The service was excellent. The place is also not as expensive as some of the others ones i have been to , so though its costs a bit it does not hurt as bad. The only downside is they seem to have a lax dress code, they really ought to ban shorts....

Food : 8/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 3500

Indigo
4, Mandlik Road
Colaba, Mumbai
Phone : 66368980, 66368981